Mike Morhaime replies to open letter over diversity in Blizzard games.

[Dreknar20]

Isn't that a MAJOR issue with the game being stale?

Because whether the Dwarves head you just chopped off fucks dudes or not is totally gonna change things.............

[Kakokun]

Personally I wish Blizzard would step up their storytelling. There's lots of diverse characters in their games they just don't utilize more than a handful of characters at a time which makes almost all their characters feel really weak and absent from the game's reality and the ones they do use gets their character motivations pinballed around like crazy.

And I guess they could make more practical female armor but, eh.

[Zoaric]

Dat superiority complex. If you put time and effort in and love and create something with a passion, then it's art. If it doesn't meet your standards then it doesn't appeal to you.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"

Fel, I hate splatter paintings, I think they're insanely lazy. But are they art? Yeah,
damn right they are.

[AeneasBK]

TBH once you market most things, especially mass market; they lose a lot of artistic integrity See: Classical artworks are described by their value more often than their artistic merit. See: The majority of the music industry. Hollywood.

That isn't to say there is no art to be found in those places.

[Willias]

yeah cause that will end well
"Damn you Roflcopter69 for ruining my plans"

If Roflcopter69 did in fact ruin Illidan's plans, why shouldn't that be acknowledged. I can name Link BUTTZ! in Legend of Zelda and have every character call me BUTTZ! for the entire game. BUTTZ! saved Hyrule. My character, and my in-game accomplishments as that character are acknowledged by NPCs in the game world. WoW has never done that, and quite frankly it's kind of dumb.

Skin color eh? I see green, purple, brown/tan, blue, gray. More colors than there are on Earth.

You know, I've never understood why we call different character species different races. Either way it's still dumb that all main human characters share the same skin color.

[Lothaeryn]

It is funny, calling changing your opinion a bad thing, yes. Why does that bother people so much? You would think being dynamic would be goo... oh yea, change is bad.
Where you under the impression, i'm somehow wrong because I think, forcing The people who make the game to do change how they go about writing it is some how bad?
Isn't that a MAJOR issue with the game being stale?

You are forcing people to change their view, the very act of which is hippocritical of the argument you are trying to support and garner support for.

you want people to view the world YOUR way, and then bicker When people refuse to do so. You cannot change people's minds for the sake of changing them, people must come to change their views on their own, video games and the industry in general are no exception to this rule.

it's called indoctrination, which is exactly what you wish to foster here, and no person of reason will ever support it.

[Zoaric]

Personally I wish Blizzard would step up their storytelling. There's lots of diverse characters in their games they just don't utilize more than a handful of characters at a time which makes almost all their characters feel really weak and absent from the game's reality and the ones they do use gets their character motivations pinballed around like crazy.

And I guess they could make more practical female armor but, eh.

While I agree that the main driving forces need to be moved about a bit, the reason
they only use a few at a time is... well, frankly writing for 50+ powerful characters in
a single story isn't easy or conducive to a good narrative.

[AeneasBK]

Because whether the Dwarves head you just chopped off fucks dudes or not is totally gonna change things.............

Regarding the homosexuality thing, you seem more than a little hung up on the sex part. You know being in a loving relationship can involve more than just having fun with each others, what was the term you used... "fuck holes" I think it was...

[helmaroc]

Fel, I hate splatter paintings, I think they're insanely lazy. But are they art? Yeah,
damn right they are.

Yep I hate em too but that doesn't diminish their value to other people. I won't laugh or judge them for liking them. Perspective and subjectivity.

[Dreknar20]

There's lots of diverse characters in their games they just don't utilize more than a handful of characters at a time which makes almost all their characters feel really weak and absent from the game's reality and the ones they do use gets their character motivations pinballed around like crazy.

Whelp I stand by that WoW just has waaaaay to many people in its cast of characters and too little content to go around

[AeneasBK]

While I agree that the main driving forces need to be moved about a bit, the reason
they only use a few at a time is... well, frankly writing for 50+ powerful characters in
a single story isn't easy or conducive to a good narrative.

You end up with Wheel of Time style stagnation where story progress is so broad it never gets a chance to go anywhere...

[prwraith]

Indeed, end of discussion.

WoW is not art. You can have your own views and opinions on that and go call your McChicken an artwork, but I won't agree with it. And that is all that needs to be said.

You make me lol

That high horse is gonna tip over some day.

[Zoaric]

Yep I hate em too but that doesn't diminish their value to other people. I won't laugh or judge them for liking them. Perspective and subjectivity.

I actually had to do a research paper on them for an art class... that was torture.

- - - Updated - - -

You end up with Wheel of Time style stagnation where story progress is so broad it never gets a chance to go anywhere...

I know WoT is a game, but the reference is lost on me as I've never played it. Care to
elaborate?

[Willias]

You are forcing people to change their view, the very act of which is hippocritical of the argument you are trying to support and garner support for.

you want people to view the world YOUR way, and then bicker When people refuse to do so. You cannot change people's minds for the sake of changing them, people must come to change their views on their own, video games and the industry in general are no exception to this rule.

it's called indoctrination, which is exactly what you wish to foster here, and no person of reason will ever support it.

Jeez man, quit trying to indoctrinate him into your line of thinking!

People have different opinions on things and constantly try to convince others to see the same way they do. It's a basic part of human interaction.

[Tastyfish]

Because whether the Dwarves head you just chopped off fucks dudes or not is totally gonna change things.............

It does not matter at all but you are mentioning like combat when I am more about flavor text.
There is a lot of flavor text, a lot of story in wow, and most of it is the same. Breaking that up a little isn't too bad. Maybe cause the subject matter is unattractive but opening the door for different story makes things more exciting or can.
It's like when Lor left silvermoon and actually started acting like a serious leader, that was an exciting change that was heralded by a lot of player QQ. Remember the jokes about, "who is that guy"

[Dreknar20]

Either way it's still dumb that all main human characters share the same skin color.

It about as dumb as complaining too many people in China for being Asian or too many people in Somalia for being black

[AeneasBK]

I know WoT is a game, but the reference is lost on me as I've never played it. Care to
elaborate?

It's a series of books (14 of them) all 600+ pages long or so, involving an epic fantasy world. The first 3 books are awesome (they all are tbh imo) but at the start of the fourth books some of the main characters head seperate ways, more secondary characters have been introduced (and aren't dead yet) and so the book has to split its focus several ways. THe result is by the end of the book, much less time has passed, the same amount of "action" but spread over a much larger area; I think book 7 or something covers about 2 or 3 days of "in world" time. The pace increases again by the end but there are definately moments in the middle of the series where you are tempted to "skip this bit" and get back to a plot-line you're more intrigued by. Makes for great re-reading though as a result.

But yeah if they gave equal attention to all the B-list WoW characters we'd have enough time for them to say "This is Moira, she's the head of the Dark Iron Dwar_ and this is Thassarian he's like a Death Knight leader or some shi_ and this is ... etc. etc."

[Willias]

It about as dumb as complaining too many people in China for being Asian or too many people in Somalia for being black

All humans in the Eastern Kingdoms are white? I had no idea.

[Not Againnn]

typical blizzard email "WE KNOW AND WE WILL TRY BUT NO PROMISES"

lame. whats so hard about saying sorry and working harder. no need to defend your position over the topic when you are bleeding subs and this guy wrote a novel to explain it.

[Kakokun]

While I agree that the main driving forces need to be moved about a bit, the reason
they only use a few at a time is... well, frankly writing for 50+ powerful characters in
a single story isn't easy or conducive to a good narrative.

Well they don't have to use all their characters at all times but focusing on a bit more than just the same old faction leaders (and then ignoring most of them) would be a start. They could also make some of the NPCs in the quests play a bigger role in the expansion. If they're making a new character there's nothing stopping them from making it a female character or a different colored one, most people wouldn't really notice, and unless they're actively highlighting what that person is it wouldn't really be forced either.

I find it funny how people in this thread post like adding diversity to your game somehow makes the story less fluid or harder to write and that it takes away something if a character is something else than a white male.