Rick Shaft (New Warcraft Character)

[Soon-TM]

If they could get away with the Indiana Jones meme across half of Uldum, I can't see how could OP's proposal hurt. Bring it on, I say

[Niwes]

ok. /10chars

[xwolf1989]

it's not adding the face style that's racist.

i bet the first thing that pops in your head when you hear/read black is "racist".... some ppl... smh

[Shadowspire]

You're storyline isn't very shaft like.

He'd have to go from working with si or the guard to see that they're to held up by rules and thus three steps behind, resulting in him being dismissed and doing things his own way.

As a black wow fan I'd enjoy this buuuuut...the wow community as I've seen multiple times on both here and the wow forums tend to freak out and turn mildly racist and well... I don't really feel like seeing the uproar over diversity like the soon to be additions are already making.

[Kyphael]

You're storyline isn't very shaft like.

He'd have to go from working with si or the guard to see that they're to held up by rules and thus three steps behind, resulting in him being dismissed and doing things his own way.

As a black wow fan I'd enjoy this buuuuut...the wow community as I've seen multiple times on both here and the wow forums tend to freak out and turn mildly racist and well... I don't really feel like seeing the uproar over diversity like the soon to be additions are already making.

That did cross my mind, but isn't the S:I on itself kind of a rogue organization? As it operates somewhat from the shadows? I went with them rather than the character operating on his own because in Warcraft's setting really, you can't operate outside of the monarch's jurisdiction and prosper. The Defias are vilified but from a gamer's point of view, they're actually not as evil as the Alliance paints them out to be, and were really just people trying to make ends' meat or get justice for being ripped off by the greedy and wealthy Stormwind nobles. If we went the traditional Shaft route with the character, he might get vilified by the baby face Alliance, vilified and turned into a 5-man dungeon end boss. As a rebellious and outspoken member of the S:I, he can maintain the Shaft attitude and personality while constantly butting heads with the likes of Genn, and other seasoned hard asses without being dealt the villain card.

[VinceVega]

Soooo... blaxploitation in wow with non of the history that led to that? Why?
You want him to eat watermelon too? Maybe open up a KFC in SW city...

Seriously though that just doesn't fit the game.

[shise]

I don´t like that they are introducing African alike humans. Not because they are black, but because there is no point. Humans from Azeroth should not look like us. Simple as that.

[Gurahk]

The humans of Azeroth don't really have different cultures or any kind of line between them regardless of their appearance, so I don't see why having someone act in a certain way HAVE to be black.

[Kyphael]

Soooo... blaxploitation in wow with non of the history that led to that? Why?
You want him to eat watermelon too? Maybe open up a KFC in SW city...

Seriously though that just doesn't fit the game.

You're taking it way too seriously. What history would be necessary to create a pop culture character? World of Warcraft is a melting pot of pop culture references and elements borrowed from every type of fantasy and sci-fi game imaginable. We have gnomes in flying machines, Indiana Jones rip offs raiding pyramids, knights in shining armor, orcs, elves, and everything in between in every role imaginable, parodying cooks, kings, and adventurers in every way. What's the problem with widening the scope and including pop culture icons of different ethnic groups to coincide with those new ethnic group appearances now being available as customize options that players will now use to populate Azeroth? What's the problem here?

- - - Updated - - -

The humans of Azeroth don't really have different cultures or any kind of line between them regardless of their appearance, so I don't see why having someone act in a certain way HAVE to be black.

Pop. Culture. It's a tongue-in-cheek reference that only those interested might get. Obviously, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but this isn't something Blizzard doesn't do. Not everyone likes the silly side of WoW, regardless of race or cultures it's depicting but I don't see why it should be exclusive to just any particular group.

- - - Updated - - -

I don´t like that they are introducing African alike humans. Not because they are black, but because there is no point. Humans from Azeroth should not look like us. Simple as that.

I agree with that in terms of the most serious story lines. When I look at Varian Wrynn, I see a gladiator that no man in our living world could probably beat up in a fight. But when you get to the sub plots, and generally, non-canonical side quests about poop, and pop culture in WoW, that's when it opens the game up to real life references to pop culture. Obviously these characters like Harrison Jones aren't on the front line with Anduin Wrynn fighting Sylvanas, or the dwarf in Badlands that claims he punched Deathwing in the face.

[gutnbrg]

So we all know Blizzard loves its pop culture references. Harrison Jones, and the Temple of Uldum, anyone? Well, I was watching Shaft starring Samuel L Jackson last night on Pluto TV, and it got me thinking. With the new Stormwind human customize options with emphasis on skin color and an array of new ethnic appearances, giving Stormwind humans African American facial features, how cool would it be if they got a bad mother (shut your mouth!) Haha, kidding. If they got a bad ass black NPC character along with it? He can be a jive talking S:I agent who takes over Mathias Shaw's position after Mathias Shaw is mysteriously murdered by a Forsaken assassin. Who is the brother man that Anduin puts in charge to bring Mathias' murderer to justice?



He can get in Genn's face all the time, and then teach Anduin how to be cool, and spout out lines to Tess Greymane like "it is my duty, to please that booty" that'll only piss off Genn even more.

Oh, and of course, the amazing Blizzard art team can find a way to copy without ripping off the classic theme song whenever we're doing a quest including Rick Shaft.



What do you think?

"He can be a jive talking S:I agent"
"Who is the brother man that Anduin puts in charge to bring Mathias' murderer to justice?"
"He can get in Genn's face all the time, and then teach Anduin how to be cool, and spout out lines to Tess Greymane like "it is my duty, to please that booty" that'll only piss off Genn even more."

Maybe his name could be slappy...yea, I like that. You want to add a black character to the game for no reason and he has to be a jive talkin, in yo face, brotha man.
Why? just why? This is all im gonna say, i wont reply again. Educate yourself, Im not here to teach.

[Kyphael]

"He can be a jive talking S:I agent"
"Who is the brother man that Anduin puts in charge to bring Mathias' murderer to justice?"
"He can get in Genn's face all the time, and then teach Anduin how to be cool, and spout out lines to Tess Greymane like "it is my duty, to please that booty" that'll only piss off Genn even more."

Maybe his name could be slappy...yea, I like that. You want to add a black character to the game for no reason and he has to be a jive talkin, in yo face, brotha man.
Why? just why? This is all im gonna say, i wont reply again. Educate yourself, Im not here to teach.

You're not here to teach, but you are here to preach, from the looks of it. The entire post outlines the character is based on popular 70's superhero SHAFT. Those are all personality traits Shaft possesses. What the hell do you expect a pop culture reference character based on Shaft to act like? Mr. Rogers?

[Maljinwo]

He can get in Genn's face all the time, and then teach Anduin how to be cool, and spout out lines to Tess Greymane like "it is my duty, to please that booty" that'll only piss off Genn even more.

Yes please

[Clone]

Yes. Nothing in this thread is racist

There was no intent at posting anything remotely racist.

I don't doubt your intent, but gutnbrg has pointed out the problematic parts.

"He can be a jive talking S:I agent"
"Who is the brother man that Anduin puts in charge to bring Mathias' murderer to justice?"
"He can get in Genn's face all the time, and then teach Anduin how to be cool, and spout out lines to Tess Greymane like "it is my duty, to please that booty" that'll only piss off Genn even more."

i bet the first thing that pops in your head when you hear/read black is "racist".... some ppl... smh

I bet the first thing that pops in your head when you hear/read the n word is "not racist," see how that works?

[Kyphael]

[QUOTE=Clone;52290796]

Yes. Nothing in this thread is racist

I don't doubt your intent, but gutnbrg has pointed out the problematic parts.

"He can be a jive talking S:I agent"
"Who is the brother man that Anduin puts in charge to bring Mathias' murderer to justice?"
"He can get in Genn's face all the time, and then teach Anduin how to be cool, and spout out lines to Tess Greymane like "it is my duty, to please that booty" that'll only piss off Genn even more."

I understand the criticism and concern, but I addressed those are personality traits identified with Shaft, the 1970's superhero character. It's not meant as a general blanket characterization of how all black characters on Azeroth would and should act like. Their flirts wouldn't be "it is my duty to please that booty", they would still have the same /silly and /dance as all humans do. This is a singular pop culture reference character to coincide with the release of additional customize options, to celebrate it and have some fun with it, not poke fun at it.

[Aucald]

This is getting a bit too close to forbidden topics, so I'm going to close this here.