Weird case of discrimination in WoW

[CptStern]

Sara Andrews thought it was a big misunderstanding when she received an e-mail from a game master in Blizzard Entertainment's popular online role playing game "World of Warcraft" citing her for "Harassment - Sexual Orientation."

Andrews had posted that she was recruiting for a "GLBT friendly" (gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender?)guild in a general chat channel within the game.

Blizzard's policy on "Harassment - Sexual Orientation," which is set forth in the games' "Terms of Use" and cited in the e-mail to Andrews reads, "This category includes both clear and masked language which insultingly refers to any aspect of sexual orientation pertaining to themselves or other players."

A series of e-mails back and forth concerning the incident, seems to make it clear that Blizzard may be inadvertently using a policy meant to protect GLBT people as a way to discriminate against them.

The response from Blizzard was, "While we appreciate and understand your point of view, we do feel that the advertisement of a 'GLBT friendly' guild is very likely to result in harassment for players that may not have existed otherwise."


so in other words she was reprimanded for advertising a gay positive guild because it's very existence may lead to it's targeting by homophobes


I've read it a few times and I still cant understand Blizzards stance in this issue ..it just seems like they're quickly burying it so that wont snowball into something bigger ...but pandoras box has already been opened


"We have determined that advertising sexual orientation is not appropriate for the high fantasy setting of the World of Warcraft and is therefore not permitted"

?


read the whole article it's pretty interesting

http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ga&article_code=1172

I'm heterosexual and I dont care if Blizzard knows it

 

[The Brick]

Lol that's just silly. I understand the point, but lol :upstare:

 

[Glirk Dient]

If someone in general chat advertisses for a GLBT guild then this is what would follow

noob: OMG teh gays are here!
noob2: lawl gay peoples
noob3: omg wtf GLBT? buttsecks?
noob4: omg get off wow, glbt FTL
noob5: zomg gay buttsecks!

And so on.

It would snowball in game to something larger just for advertising then it would carry over into the forums and after that there would be many harassment complaints filed because 75% of the community would say something dumb to that advertisement. So in order to stop the contstant harassing you gotta stop it before it starts. To fix this situation would require fixing people to not be so immature and rude, and when those people are the ones playing WoW where half of them are 12...good luck with that.

 

[CptStern]

read the whole article, it talks about that

 

[Glirk Dient]

read the whole article, it talks about that

I did and I am just clarifying and trying to help people that don't understand why they would do something like this. IMO it is for the better of everyone. The less flame bait there is the less whining we all have to hear in global chat.

 

[$kelet0r]

well its a bit of a conundrum - i suppose you dont get guilds of men who like cars etc. - just anonymous faceless names on the internet which is one of the main advantages of the net
on the other hand while i personally think its a really stupid idea well blizzard at the same time are wasting their time trying to stop it and setting themselves up to be sued - if someone is naive enough to believe that a LBGT guild will not attract negative attention they will soon enough learn the error of their ways

 

[CptStern]

I did and I am just clarifying and trying to help people that don't understand why they would do something like this. IMO it is for the better of everyone. The less flame bait there is the less whining we all have to hear in global chat.

you dont seem to get it ..whether you agree with the ruling is immaterial ..blizzard is setting a bad precedent and it's going to come back and bite them in the ass

 

[Glirk Dient]

you dont seem to get it ..whether you agree with the ruling is immaterial ..blizzard is setting a bad precedent and it's going to come back and bite them in the ass

Protecting paying subscribers is bad precedent?

Perhaps it would be best to allow people to say whatever they want so the complains/chats are flooded and alg out constantly and they have to hire more GMs and up the monthly subscription? I think not...

 

[CptStern]

who are they protecting here?



the language they used

"We have determined that advertising sexual orientation is not appropriate for the high fantasy setting of the World of Warcraft and is therefore not permitted"

it's open to intrepretation and can lead to slippery slope that leads right back to discrimination based on gender ...I'm sure if I advertised that I had a male only guild Blizzard wouldnt bat an eyelash

 

[Glirk Dient]

the language they used

"We have determined that advertising sexual orientation is not appropriate for the high fantasy setting of the World of Warcraft and is therefore not permitted"

it's open to intrepretation and can lead to slippery slope that leads right back to discrimination based on gender ...I'm sure if I advertised that I had a male only guild Blizzard wouldnt bat an eyelash

Becuase that wouldn't spark a giant flame fest. I am sure if someone reported it they would step in. If people don't report it they won't know or do anything about it. If a lot of people report something controverisla(such as GLBT guild) they will have to step in and do something. Much like a noisy kid at a movie theater. If people complain you gotta do something.

 

[CptStern]

umm nobody reported it

again I'm asking you ..whom are they protecting here?

 

[Glirk Dient]

umm nobody reported it

again I'm asking you ..whom are they protecting here?

Most likely everyone on the server. Probally not so much the GLBT people. Granted they are saving them from constant flame but they are also restricting them so it's more or less moot there. Believe me...nobody wants chat spammed with homophobic statements every time they try to recruit. For the GMs to have responded without a complaint it must have been a huge isseu already only making things worse.

Go start an anti-gay guild and if there are mature people on the server you will also find an e-mail.

 

[Lemonking]

can I make a arian uber people only guild plz?


lol, its a game people take it to seriously

 

[DeusExMachina]

They're protecting the people who would join them. You're average gamer is a ignorant homophobe. Plain and simple.

 

[Yuri]

Blizzard knows that most WoWers are 13-year-old homophobes, and doesn't want to have to deal with whatever happens to the GLBT friendly guild... that's all.

What's the point of a Homosexual guild anyways? Why would that ever possibly matter when playing WoW?

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Blizzard knows that most WoWers are 13-year-old homophobes, and doesn't want to have to deal with whatever happens to the GLBT friendly guild... that's all.

What's the point of a Homosexual guild anyways? Why would that ever possibly matter when playing WoW?

agreed.
if Blizzard lets this go..and when (yeah i said when because most gamers are young 13 year olds) someone does start a flamefest against this GLBT friendly guild, Blizzard by that time will have something pretty messy on their hands.

and with all the recent Jack Thompson hatin' on the gaming industry articles around, its only a matter of time before the media would get their dirty hands on this story and then gamers would yet another "games ruin kids" blame story.

its sad...but true.

 

[Ome_Vince]

in that case i think Gays are going a little overboard.
I meen in Holland ( in the north i live in the south ), we get more and mroe "gay-bars" "gay-parades" etc etc. All fun and dandy but what if we straight guys go making : "hetero-bars, for hetero's only" "hetero parade, proud to be hetero".
We'd get suid in a day by gays.
I think this positive discrimination by the gays is bs, and if i were frustrated and have to much time, i'd sue them

 

[DeusExMachina]

There are plenty of hetero bars. They're called Strip clubs.

 

[CptStern]

Blizzard knows that most WoWers are 13-year-old homophobes, and doesn't want to have to deal with whatever happens to the GLBT friendly guild... that's all.

What's the point of a Homosexual guild anyways? Why would that ever possibly matter when playing WoW?

it's not a gay guild, it's a gay positive guild. They have non gay members

 

[DeusExMachina]

it's not a gay guild, it's a gay positive guild. They have non gay members

Not only will the gay members be harassed, but then the non-gay ones will.

 

[CptStern]

which I'm sure they are in real life anyways

it's like they're discriminating against them so that they wont be discriminated against


why dont they stop the religious groups from forming guilds? they're rediculed for who they are ..it's a double standard plain and simple

 

[DeusExMachina]

Sexuality is more taboo than religion. Apparently.

 

[Raeven0]

I understand Blizzard's point of view. Given only two options, A) Allow GLBT(Q)-friendly guild and ban half of all users for anti-GLBT(Q) idiocy or B) Disallow GLBT(Q)-friendly guild and slightly annoy the 12 or so people on Earth who care at all, which would you choose?

The former is nicer, the latter is more profitable...

 

[ríomhaire]

I can understand where they're coming from, but I don't agree with it.

 

[Lemonking]

why would talk about sex in WoW anyway? plain dumb imo, of course people are be a jackasses about it.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

I don't think it's appropriate to be on WOW. But the reason Blizzard gave for the citation is also incorrect. If they were also concerned about it being innapropriate to talk about sexual orientation on a game that little kids play, they should've said just that. Not that "it might bring negative attention and harassment to members"

 

[DeusExMachina]

Little kids aren't the general population of the game though.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

I'm too lazy to check, but if the ESRB rating is Teen then the arguement by Blizzard that "We have determined that advertising sexual orientation is not appropriate for the high fantasy setting of the World of Warcraft and is therefore not permitted" makes sense only if they restrict every other guild to Roleplaying status too (EG: restrict any guilds based on car fans, movies, etc)

If it's below Teen though, then it shouldn't be on there.

For all I know it could be rated T though, someone with a gamebox near them can let us know.

 

[Glirk Dient]

As blizzard said WoW is a fantasy world. Real life issues don't need to be a part of that world. Especially controversial issues. With that people can leave real life issues in real life and out of WoW. There is no need to bring them into that world.

which I'm sure they are in real life anyways

it's like they're discriminating against them so that they wont be discriminated against


why dont they stop the religious groups from forming guilds? they're rediculed for who they are ..it's a double standard plain and simple

On my server we had a religious guild. We reported them and they had to give up the religious crap or disband. The fact is that GLBT is far too controversial a thing to overlook. Many people are religious and don't have a problem with religious guilds, only a minority would. However 99% of the kiddies playing that game will flame a GLBT guild. Hence the action by the GMs to stop a problem before it snowballs.

 

[Ome_Vince]

There are plenty of hetero bars. They're called Strip clubs.

You think a lesbian wont like stripping women?

serisously, its about "calling it" not "where do all gays go".
Gaygames, gaybar, gay this gay that,

 

[Sainku]

What does your sexual preference have anything to do with a game? That was a stupid idea for a basis of a guild and of course it would just attract homophobes.


Night Elf Hunters Guild, is an appropriate guild.
Night Elf Hunters Guild who by the way don't care what you have sex with when your not playing world of warcraft, is not.


It is all irrelevant in the game, there is no need to bring an issue like that into it.

 

[CptStern]

far too many of you are overlooking a bit of crucial information:




"Andrews' original posting read: "OZ [the name of her guild] is recruiting all levels ¦ We are not 'GLBT only,' but we are 'GLBT friendly'!"

 

[oldagerocker]

Stern, i really think your talking shite.

There's no point in a fantasy world to bring sexual orientation, friendly or otherwise into it. Most people who play WoW, such as yourself, are gay, lesbian, bi, transexual friendly... but you dont have to advertise it everywhere you go. It just doesnt need to be said, at all.

 

[DeusExMachina]

EDIT: Wait, nevermind.

 

[Yuri]

it's not a gay guild, it's a gay positive guild. They have non gay members

Okay. My question is still why the f*ck would anyone need to play a game with other "gay-positive!" people? Why does that matter? I don't give a shit what the hell type of person I play games with.

I also don't see the point in religious guilds, either.


Its funny, though. This whole thing can be compared to the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy in the US Marines. They would defend the policy in the means that they are "protecting" gays from others, since I'm sure you can safely assume that a lot of Marines are homophobes.

But, then again, the Marines is way, way, way different than playing a video game. And Blizzard is a company that I'm sure would rather deal with patches and new games than lawsuits and complaints about 13 year old homophobes "attacking" a certain guild with spam and viruses and just general flaming because of their sexual orienation.

And are there "Asian-positive!" and "African-American-positive!" guilds? I wouldn't think so. Cuz nobody gives a shit.

 

[kirovman]

In my opinion, having a specifically GLBT-friendly guild is insulting to other guilds, implying that they are somehow not GLBT-friendly. Not that I know anything about WoW, it's a whole other world.

 

[CptStern]

the whole point of a glbt guild is to create a safe enviroment free from harrassment where they can say do whatever they want ....way too many of you seem to care too much about what they're doing ...I really couldnt care less if a guild had any agenda/purpose ...if I dont agree I dont join simple enough


oh and I very highly doubt other guilds are positive ..as someone rightfully pointed earlier: this is gamers we're taling about ..a fertile ground ripe with homophobia and pretty much every other social stigma imaginable. Gamers, I'm quickly discovering are anything but progressive/enlightened in fact they're the exact opposite

 

[kirovman]

If you have an agenda, you can be sure someone will be against it, just for the hell of it.

Bastards.

 

[Edcrab]

I'd have to disagree. It reeks of tokenism to me...

"Hey, we're just like any other guild... but by the way, we'll let you in regardless of your sexual orientation!"

As kirovman states- even though it's true- it's implying that every other guild will repulse a homosexual or bisexual gamer on sight and that hers is the only enlightened group. It's entirely unnecessary in any setting- I don't want people declaring their sexual preference to me under any circumstances because it's utterly irellevant- and what's she done, quite simply, is put Blizzard on the spot.

I can sympathise with both, but she's the one that has forced Blizzard's hand- whether Blizzard is right or wrong, this woman needs to realise that she's just as responsible for creating this kind of "discrimination" as the games company is. Because, quite simply, would this issue have ever appeared if she hadn't brought it to the fore with her own misguided aims?

 

[Danimal]

Actually, I read when the guild was originally being formed. I remember it like it was last DECADE! D:

I forgot how it ended, but I think I ended up defending them from those homophobic "1337 d00ds"...