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

[Deleted]

Okay...let's see here...

Lord of the Rings had only...what; three women in the entire series that were prominent? And they weren't even prominent; they were minor, supporting characters to the story. While yet, pretty much everyone you saw in the series was a guy. Did that offend the women who read the books? Who came to watch the films? Perhaps a little bit, but that wasn't the point of the story. Regardless, women still loved the story - even if it was all boys in the story.

In the same way - LotR (the films) was all white guys. Does that mean it was racist towards non-whites? Ofcourse not. Does that mean non-whites can't enjoy it? No. I know many non-whites who enjoyed LotR - even though pretty much everyone in the films were white.

Silly normal person, SJW don't actually consume the media they complain about.

[Deleted]

Are you really saying your typical SJW cares about the issues properly and not just using them as an amazing new trend to feel special important and like they are contributing to the world?

Of course not. And this is no different.

[Dispraise]

Fucking Blizzard, why are they spending their time developing a game for entertainment when they could be changing the world by writing literally thousands of Tumblr blogs?

If they implemented a system where you made gold for posting SJW blogs, chinese gold farmers would set up bot networks to post thousands of them per minute. And it's not like you'd be able to tell a difference in writing quality. Could have the world fixed up overnight.

[Deleted]

How should I answer this?

On one hand I want to say: "I personally really don't care about LBGT, diversity or sexuality being adressed in my entertainment."
Yet on the other hand I fully recognize and observe that mainstream media and attention is shifting towards putting much weight and value in seeing those things becoming an important part of their entertainment. Up to a point I feel as if I currently might not care for these issues being adressed, but I slowly feel myself being more open to them, and feeling as if entertainment wouldn't be 'up to par' if it doesn't adress them.

How about this? We stop giving a shit about diversity for the sake of diversity and stick to letting artists, writers and directors making stories, situations and entertainment with their own ideas in mind?

[Zoaric]

The Hobbit is a part of The Lord of the Rings (to mainstream culture, at least.) And you
didn't answer my question.

Just gonna reply to this to see if I can get Anarch do answer my question.

[Deleted]

Of course not. And this is no different.

Damn fucking straight it's no different. SJW is a fad, Mainstream media doesn't demand it, it merely tolerates it.

[Revi]

How should I answer this?

On one hand I want to say: "I personally really don't care about LBGT, diversity or sexuality being adressed in my entertainment."
Yet on the other hand I fully recognize and observe that mainstream media and attention is shifting towards putting much weight and value in seeing those things becoming an important part of their entertainment. Up to a point I feel as if I currently might not care for these issues being adressed, but I slowly feel myself being more open to them, and feeling as if entertainment wouldn't be 'up to par' if it doesn't adress them.

So, you're not really concerned about it, but you feel like you have to be to be "up to par"?

Is this a new sort of SJW Hipster thing?

[High Marshal Sigismund]

That is just the day you've become outdated. The mainstream market will be loving it.

You are the furthest thing from a mainstream audience, I assure you.

[Deleted]

You seem to miss the part that LOTR was fashionable last decade. WoW is trying to remain fashionable still today and in the years to come. To be able to do this, they'll have to adapt.

If LoTR had been released this summer for the first time on the big screen, people wouldn't have cared much. Timing is everything.

Are you fucking kidding me? Are you saying LotR is an outdated concept just because the movies are a decade old? What about the Hobbit movies?

[Deleted]

How should I answer this?

On one hand I want to say: "I personally really don't care about LBGT, diversity or sexuality being adressed in my entertainment."
Yet on the other hand I fully recognize and observe that mainstream media and attention is shifting towards putting much weight and value in seeing those things becoming an important part of their entertainment. Up to a point I feel as if I currently might not care for these issues being adressed, but I slowly feel myself being more open to them, and feeling as if entertainment wouldn't be 'up to par' if it doesn't adress them.

You're still not clear on what you say. Either you're implying that the media uses social issues for entertainment which is a really bold and horrible statement to make and thus you are advocating Blizzard to do the same horrible thing or you are implying that anything that isn't current has no relevance, which is demonstrably wrong to several magnitudes of degrees.

[Arewn]

Good, a generic "don't worry we're nice" letter to get the idiots who make up these problems to stop. Probably the best way to deal with these self righteous social crusaders, don't address them, just pat them on the head like the petulant children they are and assure them it's ok until they quit complaining.

[Tailswish]

So... games where gay people are walking stereotypes?

I'm not sure where you're getting walking stereotype in those games. Hell, most of the characters involved in those games are bisexual, with a "love is love, and gender doesn't matter to me" mentality. How is that a stereotype?

[Yarathir]

We have an universe where the main two factions that are focused upon possess such totally pro-social justice driven races as.. the xenophobic, purple elves that kill anything different from them that enters their forests, a species of tusked, fur-covered people that haven't advanced in over 10 millennia, aside from one specific group, and aside from yet another specific group, that entire species enslaves women and sees them as nothing but trophies.



And how could we forget the green-skinned, war-mongering species, that sees honor and worth only in the strength of an individual, and feels like dying on the battlefield is the greatest honor ever.


Those people and their buddies seem like totally great guys to insert gay and transsexual characters into, huh? A bunch of xenophobes, mudhut savages, and those that respect only based on strength?


Or how about the straight-out medieval-age humans. I mean.. those'd just be great at accepting that kind of shit.


I mean.. that totally would make sense, right?


This is why people say "Don't push your shit where it doesn't belong.". WoW is driven mainly by species that, by all means, would probably execute transsexual or gay characters. And now you want to insert those types of characters simply because you are too shallow to connect with anything but those characters. I could accept it if they did it for Draenei, or Pandaren. But otherwise, gay acceptance and transsexual acceptance is totally out-of-character for most of the Warcraft universe's driving species and cultures. Yes, that sounds shitty, but that's the world they've created. One based on tropes and older cultures.

[Dispraise]

Is this a new sort of SJW Hipster thing?

It's like scouts, they collect SJW badges to level up their rank.

[Deleted]

They can do that. Nobody is saying they can't do that.

But then nobody should be surprised when more and more people (and media!) start saying it's of bad quality and it sucks.

Ah yes, I forgot. Because the Tumblr audience is the only audience that matters.

Last I checked Transformers 4 is one of the greatest grossing films of all times.

As is The Avengers and other superhero movies.

Are these all super diverse, super PC and super designed to your little cloud of Social Justice? Not at all.

They're fun movies that are made to be enjoyed, not made to fill quotas for clucking 20 ton hens.

[OrcsRLame]

You seem to miss the part that LOTR was fashionable last decade. WoW is trying to remain fashionable still today and in the years to come. To be able to do this, they'll have to adapt.

If LoTR had been released this summer for the first time on the big screen, people wouldn't have cared much. Timing is everything.

Ha, hahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA. I have two words for you.

Prove it.

I'm laughing because I think your claim is absurd, and I asked you to prove it because I know you can't. Ain't I a stinker?

[Post]

I'm totally aware of Anarch's posting habits. However, I'd like to think there's at least some interweaving integrity in what he's saying. Whether or not he actually believes the things he says.

On one hand I want to say: "I personally really don't care about LBGT, diversity or sexuality being adressed in my entertainment."

And there it is.

[Feali]

Just gonna reply to this to see if I can get Anarch do answer my question.

He won't because it doesn't support his point. He'sonly picking things he can twist into being wrong.

[Deleted]

I'm not sure where you're getting walking stereotype in those games. Hell, most of the characters involved in those games are bisexual, with a "love is love, and gender doesn't matter to me" mentality. How is that a stereotype?

Because they had no real sexuality beyond "Click the gay options" and were written with retarded porn dialogues.

Just look at the new Dragon Age and how fucking terrible that is.

[Xires]

Wow. I think this has to be the most ignorant post in this whole thread, and I hope it's a troll. A game can have gay representation without being a walking stereotype. Look at the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games. Look at the Elder Scrolls games.

Hell, if you want an MMO example, look at Elder Scrolls online. A small smattering of quest givers happen to be gay. They don't make a big deal of it. In many cases, it's just one of the various "My husband/wife/child/pet/item has been stolen/lost/kidnapped. Please go get them back." quests having a male character with a husband, female character with a wife, etc. Does it make or break the decision of whether or not I play the game? No. Still, it was refreshing to see, and brought a little smile to my face.

And really, especially in an MMO, that's simultaneously all I'd really expect and seemingly not a big issue to implement. No one's saying suddenly make major established lore characters gay. All I'm saying is why can't a quest giver somewhere in the WoD leveling experience happen to be male and have a husband, or something similar?

Well, ISIS wants to have representation aswell...so maybe a few quests where we have to blow up a church or something just so that they can have representation aswell. Oh, and NAMBLA I think they are called? That group that thinks it is there right to have sex with little boys....should they get representation aswell? They are after all apart of the real world.


Infracted.