Blizzard has finally addressed the numerous changes in World of Warcraft. They are also promising something for Warlocks: the Incubus.
Since the huge sexism scandal at Blizzard has come into the spotlight, a lot is changing – especially in World of Warcraft. The developers have broadly begun to tidy up the old content and remove inappropriate references and double entendres. Some depictions of women have also been altered or completely replaced. Now Blizzard has explained why they are doing this.
The main points at a glance:
- World of Warcraft is meant to be inclusive and welcoming to all players
- Minor updates may seem insignificant, but they are important to the team
- Goofy jokes and double entendres will still be part of WoW
- The character customization (Transmog, etc.) will not change
- Warlocks will get a male succubus – the Incubus
What has happened? In the official WoW forum, Blizzard has now addressed the many changes that have already been made on the PTR of Patch 9.1.5 after weeks of silence. Although they do not go into individual changes, they explain what the overall purpose is. Despite the changes seeming minimal and being a small part of the game, they are important for the team – because WoW should also represent what the developers stand for. They state:
In the course of the past few weeks, our artists and writers across the WoW team have adjusted a small amount of old quests, assets, names, and dialogues that we considered outdated and inconsistent with our values as a team. These updates are a relatively small part of a comprehensive, company-wide effort to improve the WoW team and Blizzard as a whole, but they are important to us as developers. […]
In a game that has thousands of artistic elements and a word count in the millions, we realize that these updates only comprise a very small part. Nevertheless, we believe these changes are worthwhile. World of Warcraft evolves over time, and every day new players from all walks of life and from every corner of the world come to our in-game content and experience it for the first time. As a team, we want them to experience the world as a reflection of our talent and principles.
Goofy jokes and occasional adult references are part of WoW and likely always will be. Still, we want to consider whether certain elements in this world are welcoming for all players. In summary, we want our jokes to be inclusive and not disparaging.
What happens to revealing clothing? Some players have feared that Blizzard would remove many of the old, revealing armor pieces (often referred to as “Slutmog”) during a “wave of censorship”. However, that is not the case, as the developers do not want to restrict players’ freedom of self-expression. They state:
We also want players to be able to express themselves through their characters; therefore, we plan to change nothing regarding the existing appearances of players [Transmog]. Instead, we want to offer a wide variety of options for players to represent themselves. This work is happening in parallel with our development of new content and features. You will see more of this soon in Patch 9.1.5 and future updates – and where applicable, also in WoW Classic.
New demon coming for Warlocks: A particularly nice announcement for Warlocks, as they can look forward to a new demon. The Succubus can be retired in the future and swapped for a handsome Incubus. At least that’s the plan of the developers:
An example of the improvements after Patch 9.1.5 is the creation of an Incubus demon, which we can introduce as an addition and place anywhere there are currently Succubus models. We also plan to bring the Incubus as a glyph option for Warlocks when they summon that kind of demon.
What is an Incubus? Simplified, it is the male counterpart to the Warlock’s Succubus, thus a male demon who is distinctly easy on the eyes. For many years, players have wished for these demons as an alternative to the female Succubus. During Cataclysm, it was stated in an interview that a male variant was being considered – but it never came to fruition. Now Blizzard is obviously serious after many years and is introducing this demon in the future.
However, there is no exact date for this yet, only that the Incubus is supposed to come “sometime after Patch 9.1.5”.
Are you excited about a new demon for your Warlocks? What do you think about Blizzard’s reasoning for all the adjustments?
