Blizzard Defends Controversial World of Warcraft Changes
Over the last few months, Activision Blizzard has seen allegations of sexism, racism, and a "frat boy culture," which has resulted in the departure of several key staffers. As the company works to turn things around, it is making changes in a number of its games to offer greater inclusivity, and to remove in-game references to some of those no longer with Activision Blizzard. World of Warcraft is one such game seeing changes, and its official blog has been updated with a new post discussing these changes, as well as the importance of evolving to make things more enjoyable for all players.
In the blog post, the World of Warcraft team says that some of the changes that are being made are relatively small ones, but they still believe that they are important. The team also wants to continue to develop the game's sense of humor.
"Goofy jokes and occasional mature innuendos are part of WoW, and probably always will be. Still, we want to remain mindful of whether certain elements of that world are welcoming to all players. In short, we want our jokes to be inclusive and not punch down," the blog post reads.
Comedy is constantly evolving, and jokes that punch down are the ones that have aged the worst. Finding a way to balance humor and sensitivity is not always an easy task, and many comedians are finding that in the modern era. As the World of Warcraft team works to make the game more inclusive, it will not be dropping any "existing player looks or cosmetics." This is because the developer wants players to be able to express themselves. Instead, it will work to offer more diverse cosmetics, so players have a greater range of options.
"An example of a post-9.1.5 improvement is the creation of an incubus demon, which we can add to places where succubus models currently appear. We're also planning to make the incubus a glyphable option for Warlocks when they summon that classification of demon."
It remains to be seen how these changes will be implemented, and whether or not they will be accepted by the game's userbase. Making players feel more welcome in the game's community will not be an overnight fix, and Activision Blizzard is pledging to continue listening to feedback to improve the game. For now, we'll just have to see how things play out.
What do you think of the changes Activison Blizzard is making to World of Warcraft? Is there something you'd like to see updated in the game? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!