In World of Warcraft: Legion, Sylvanas Windrunner gets a new model – and this is being hotly debated. Did the Banshee Queen fall victim to censorship?
The Midriff-Baring Banshee
With the next expansion of World of Warcraft, some main characters in the story are getting a visual upgrade, including Sylvanas Windrunner, the leader of the Forsaken. A large part of the community is currently divided over her new look, as the Banshee Queen is no longer dressed as sparsely as in the current live version.
Instead of her midriff-baring armor that she received with “Cataclysm,” she now wears ranger attire inspired by Heroes of the Storm – albeit with a small addition, as her stomach is now also covered by leather. For many in the official forum, it’s clear: this must be censorship! Especially since the brown of the belly protection does not quite match the rest of the outfit, there are numerous speculations that this was rather hastily integrated than thoughtfully crafted.
As an argument, people often refer to a speech by Chris Metzen at BlizzCon, where he had to explain to his daughter why the women in a WoW cinematic all wore bikinis. He had no answer for that and questioned himself why the characters were actually portrayed that way. Fans now conclude from this: The fantasy is being lost, and they are trying to accommodate the ‘screaming feminists’ in some way.
The arguments are not always particularly coherent. In response to the statement that Sylvanas’ model had “never been altered so drastically and that it is clearly a sign of censorship,” a user posted the following image showing the Banshee Queen over the years.
Although community manager Nethaera tried to smooth things over and explain that it was merely an evolution, and models change over the years, it did not help. Ultimately, the thread was closed due to too many outbursts.
Also in the forums of various fan sites, such as on mmo-champion, emotions are running high. While many players rate the changes positively, for another similarly large group it is clear: The “guilt” for this obvious censorship lies with the “Social Justice Warriors” (SJW) and the “Feminazis” who are only happy when no skin is depicted at all.
Mein-MMO says: Well, it can happen so quickly. Blizzard covers a belly button, and fans go completely off the virtual deep end. While some accusations are understandable – such as the inappropriate colors of the additional armor – others are already quite ridiculous to judge. Especially the “parenting tips” given to Metzen for his daughter are presumptuous and far from the topic.
What one makes of the “new” Sylvanas is subjective – she now resembles her appearance from Heroes of the Storm much more – just without a belly button. Was all the excitement, discussion, and forum bans worth it? We think: Definitely not.
