Minorities in WoW?

[Wiccan]

Hey guys,
first, I apologize for my bad english but its not my native language, so be kind

I just were playing some AION at a friends house and I did a few quests for him. There was a male npc who told me to get some stuff (I cant remember what, a relic or something) and bring it to his beloved. I didnt really read the questtext and just got to the place the other npc was supposed to be. To my surprise this npc was also male. I was kind of confused and abandoned the quest and ran back to the first one to read the questtext. And yes, indeed these npc seemed to be a couple. I just thought "cool, I didnt expect something like this in a videogame...". And then I became aware of the complete abscence of minorities in WoW. It doesnt really bother me, but I would like to hear your opinion.

I mean, the sexuality of a npc shouldnt be the most important aspect since this game is a mmorpg and about guilds, monsters and heros. But I also noticed that there are just so few black npcs. Why is that?
I would like it if blizz would make this game a little more like a real world, and gay/lesbian/bisexual and more black Npcs would just reflect that reality.

Would you like/dislike to see that happen? Could you imagine a npc (or even hero like Fordragon or Sylvanas) to be homosexual? Who could it be? I dont want to go through this whole "gay agenda"-thing, I just came up with this idea cause I saw it in AION. And it would be really nice if we all could talk about this in a mtaure tone and without (too much) insults.

Thx 4 reading

Wiccan

[patrux]

That would mostly be disturbing.

[Ais]

So Mankrik's wife should be guy instead ?

[zorg]

And yes, indeed these npc seemed to be a couple.

inb4 wheres mankriks wife jokes
(had to sorry)

well depends how much is gonna get dragged up before this gets locked, its a touchy thing to discuss on forums before ppl get offended.
If you really want to get pathetically silly then theres a Black dragonflight...why not a White dragonflight? (see what i mean as a example)
personally i think its fine theres no need to alter things you can customise your skin color when making a char and im sure theres black humans in stormwind, and around the world of azeroth.

As for the homosexual side of things i dont really see a good way of making some npc's gay or why theres a need to.

[coolaide2]

There's no reason why there shouldn't be. but theres no reason why there should be gay couples or more black people or chinese etc.. since this game isnt the sims its not about the people and there lives its about us defending azeroth, if it makes anyone feel better you can pretend tirion is arthas' gay lover.

[vesseblah]

Few random thoughts/answers...

- WoW is fantasy game, it's not meant to reflect reality and there is no reason for it to reflect reality
- WoW has age limit of 12, AION 18, therefore WoW is limited in the amount of mature content allowed
- How exactly would it make the game better if some well-known NPC has same sex partner somewhere?

Awareness and tolerance is one thing, but there is no reason to flaunt sexual preferences or minority status to everybody you meet. It makes you look insecure or just as bigot as the other side of the argument. Because people are minority or some previously oppressed group, it does not mean they should get preferred treatment as a (over)compensation, that would be totally counterproductive to the equal rights people are asking for and deserve.

[Azyoulike]

But there are loads of minorities in wow!

http://www.darklegacycomics.com/

http://www.darklegacycomics.com/190.html


Semi-seriously though, leaving the sexuality issues aside, wow is essentially part of an anglo-saxon fantasy tradition stretching through CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein to earlier folk stories. At least in WoW (unlike CS Lewis) black people aren't the enemy.

[Elothie]

You are messing with a very sensitive matter here m8 .Anyway I don't think blizz even though about that...they just created what it seemed to them normal.I wouldn't mind delivering quests to gay/lesbians in a game but well imagine the reactions of some people that claim themselves scientists or mindless mothers crying about the game so many children play to have that kind of stuff....it's stupid but it is the way half a nation will argue about, smth that definately blizz don't want to.(It is the last thing they want right now).
Sorry for my english.

[Anthonymagus]

more black Npcs

Wouldn't be called minorities then would they?
I'm just saying, and it's not like there's a comlepete lack of black npcs they're just, like you called em, minorities >_>

As for homosexuality i can't speak for blizzard but i for one would avoid the whole topic just to avoid the shitstorm from closeminded parents.

[Douwe]

sigh at americans

[Banned] For Trolling. See you in a week.

[Douwe]

is anyone offended that there are almost no black people in WoW?
is anoyone offended there is no male gnome to gnome sex actions?
i

[Skullmaster]

As for homosexuality i can't speak for blizzard but i for one would avoid the whole topic just to avoid the shitstorm from closeminded parents.

The topic offends more than just parents, it should be left alone tbh.

[jutsfortehlulz]

But I also noticed that there are just so few black npcs

This is actually incorrect. Yes, there are few "black" humans in the games, but consider that entire races in the game (Orcs, Trolls and Taurens) are more then a tribute to "not caucasian" people.
By the way I think a "black" human would have no sense in WoW, since the humans of Azeroth are not "real" humans and have a totally different genetical history. So I find the current available black skin and the asian face between the human looks really out of place, to be honest. It has no sense to try to "please" black or asian people by giving them a black skin or a pair of asian eyes. How could they be offended if WoW is not a real game and WoW races are not real?

[Zebraz]

BE males don't count? ;D Seriously though like we need more homophobic 12 year olds to spamming lame jokes in the trade channel.

[Douwe]

Yes, because obviously America is the only close-minded country out there. That HAS to be it.

Then again, judging by your second post, I'm not entirely surprised you're a moron.

it's a fact that is world known

[Fuse.core]

You make a good point Wiccan.

While there are some black NPC', and players can choose to be one, it's against the lore.
Originally, humans live mostly near Lordaeron, where the climate isn't right for evolving into a darker tone of skin.

About the sexuality thing, yes, there should be more of that.
And I don't think there is taboo on it, since we even have cross faction children. (Gorona Half-Orcen)
I suspect they just didn't think of it.

[Anthonymagus]

It's not the only one but they are the worst at the time.

[Fenixdown]

I'm sure I speak for many when I say one could only wish Sylvanas was a lesbian, and that Jaina was her love interest.

Otherwise, would it bother me? No. My first ever guild I was in the GM, a few of the CLs, and a few of the members were all gay, and we even had a token black guy. None of that bothers me as long as you're a nice person.

As far as NPCs are concerned, I wouldn't really pay that much attention so that should show how much it would or wouldn't offend me. When something offends you, you notice it. When it doens't, you don't. That's just how it goes. Takes a whole lot more than that to make me take notice.

Also, Alliance have this sort of thing already. Que and (I forget the other chick) out in Alterac Mountains for the Hints of a New Plague questline. They always seemed to be far friendlier than one would normally think. :P

[Wiccan]

Okay guys, this isnt really the discussion I wanted it to be. Making this whole "sexuality-thing" an issue is what I wanted to avoid, but its my own fault. Im gay myself and I dont feel offended by the lack of minorities in the game. You learn to deal with things like that
So its nothing I desperatly want to happen cause as many of you mentioned, it could make sexuality an issue (im not naive, I know it actually is for most people). But what I defnitely dont like ist this "lets just act as if this doesnt exist"-behaviour. Just because something isnt easy to discuss or hard to figure out, it shouldnt be ignored.
I just liked it that AION did this, cause it makes you (as one of the 10% worlds homo-population) smile and identify more with the world you play in. And would it really make YOU enjoy the game less?

Just to get this clear, I dont really know how to think about this, thats why I started this thread, to learn arguments from you.

And I think male gnome sex wouldnt be gay, would be kind of...uaaargh *insert-fu-smiley*

[Mythricia]

There's a flirty pair of female night elves at Star's Rest as well, so it's not a completely unknown thing in the game..

I think it's alright that they keep it toned down I guess, else people who are more close minded would go berserk over it and well, frankly, Blizzard are more political than that. Personally I couldn't really care less, I'm open to both sides of the coin myself and honestly don't really think about it.

Compared to Aion though, which I also played for a while, you've got to keep in mind that it's a game created by/for a very different culture - not necessarily one more open to sexuality and what not, but one with a lot more respect and also stronger sense of intimacy than what we learn to expect over here ("Over here" assuming most of us aren't Asian, though I'm sure there's some of you here too!). This just basically leads to a different take on things - some aspects more relaxed (Just look at how female characters and clothing looks in Aion...), while some aspects are more tightened up (Swearing, violence to some degrees).

As long as WoW remains a "Western" MMO, it will be more toned down in these things - for the forseeable future at least, unless our own culture changes drastically in a very short amount of time :P


I've no idea why I just wrote all this but anyway, maybe there's a point somewhere.