The renaming in World of Warcraft continues. Even more NPCs have been renamed and the memories of three developers have been erased.
As Blizzard already announced in advance, a whole series of NPC names and various items in World of Warcraft are being renamed. This is a reaction to the huge scandal that has shaken the game developer in recent months.
A new hotfix has now made further changes and eliminated “problematic” names.
Why is this being done? For several weeks, a major topic in the gaming industry has been the sexism and discrimination scandal at Activision Blizzard. The team around World of Warcraft has been particularly criticized. Some employees have already left the company.
The remaining team has decided to alter in-game honors that commemorate those employees. Therefore, NPCs, items, and also locations with the corresponding names are being renamed so that they are no longer associated with the former employees.
Which names have been changed? In addition to almost all NPCs and items, which referenced Alex Afrasiabi, the hotfix last night affected NPCs and items that recall Jesse McCree, Luis Barriga, and Jonathan LeCraft. Some of the changes discovered so far are:
- The signatures in the “Sleazy Romance Novels” have been changed from Lawrence E. Craft to Noah Scribeson.
- All quest rewards from the Blood Mythos Islands, originating from “Jessera of Mac’Aree,” now belong to “Maatparm”.
- Marshal McCree has been renamed to Marshal Patterson.
- Head scribe Barriga in the Dragonblight has been renamed to Head Scribe Kinnedius.
- Jessup’s report from a quest in Dun Morogh has been renamed to Kharman’s report, as has the corresponding NPC.
- Torturer LeCraft has been renamed to Torturer Alphonse.
As noted by colleagues from wowhead , not all references to the developers seem to have disappeared yet. There is still the city Mac’Aree and NPCs like Crafticus Mindbender – albeit only in the English version of the game. These names will probably also be adjusted in the coming weeks and months.
What do you think of all these adjustments? A good thing? An absolute no-go? Or just not that important to you?
