Blizzard is currently changing a lot about World of Warcraft – which seemingly nobody wants. Now the developers themselves are speaking out and saying: Yes, we want this.
The situation around World of Warcraft is currently tense. The MMORPG from Blizzard is currently suffering from content poverty, more and more players are taking a break. At the same time, there’s almost daily news about new changes to the game: the removal of suggestive jokes or the exchange of revealing graphics.
From the community, it’s often said: “These are changes that nobody wants and things that haven’t bothered anyone.”
The developers of World of Warcraft are responding to this and clearly stating: “Yes, someone wants this. We do.”
What is the problem right now? With Patch 9.1.5, World of Warcraft is changing many old contents. Many jokes of the characters are being removed, numerous quests are being renamed, suggestive puns are being kicked out of the game, and in general, the depiction of women is being revised in many areas.
The acceptance of these adjustments in the community varies widely. For some changes, there is agreement and understanding, while for others, there seems to be a general consensus that Blizzard is going too far.
Many WoW developers explain: We want it this way
In the subreddit for World of Warcraft, the user “ArandomUserNameThatW” has compiled a series of tweets from the developers, which essentially say: The changes are coming because the WoW team developers want them and believe it’s the right thing to do, not because the higher-ups are demanding it.
With this, the developers are also trying to counter one of the most common allegations, namely that these changes are dictated “from above” and are quasi coming from the upper management. That is not the case. The entire changes and adjustments are an initiative from within the team and are being made because as a team they support these ideas and not because management wants to “wash things clean”.
Thus writes Batrick, who is responsible for the design of game systems:
Please read. Recently, I have seen a lot of (admittedly sad) comments from people who follow me […], about how some of the updates to the in-game content are merely “artificial smoke screens” designed to “distract from bigger issues”, when truthfully these changes were initiated internally by people who genuinely care.
Later, in response to another comment, it was added:
Believe me, I understand and agree that [the community] is watching us closely. But I think we’ve earned the right to say: ‘These changes are not being made because the company’s leaders are forcing us to sprinkle some water on the fire, but because it makes us happier to work on a game that better represents us.’
Valentine Powell, who is also responsible for the interface in World of Warcraft, also explained in this regard:
As a developer on the WoW team, when I see people say ‘No one wanted this’, it feels strange to me, because… yes, someone wanted this, we as developers wanted this. If you support the developers of a game, then please remember that we also have opinions regarding inclusion in our games.
There’s often discussion that players currently have the impression that the discrimination and sexism scandal is being offloaded onto them. That is also not the case, rather these are two different efforts. Kenneth Huang, one of the encounter designers for World of Warcraft, says:
As I see it, there are “the” two completely different groups. “The” that advocate for company-wide changes are not “the” that deal with changes to WoW content. I agree that changes in the company are needed, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be changes in the game.
Allison Blightsteel, also responsible for game systems in WoW, also speaks out about the accusation that all the changes are just distractions to divert attention from bigger issues:
If this were planned as a smokescreen, it would have been promoted. You only know about it because someone did some data mining.
Players have little understanding
This is how the community reacts: Although some of the developers receive support for the plans, the overall sentiment in the community remains rather negative. Here are some voices from the community from the relevant Reddit post:
More inclusivity is always welcome. Incubi? Yes, please. Male prostitutes? Definitely. More male slutmogs are also very welcome.
Lil_Smao
But more options are not the only thing they are doing. Blizzard has started to delete every single hidden reference from the game. Removing references to specific people is okay, I think (even though it can be debated), but just cleaning everything that has anything to do with sexuality or stupid puns is just insane.
This is such an unreal, dumb situation. Along with a morally bankrupt corporate management, we also have developers on a moral crusade, viewing this moment as their personal calling to cleanse everything they deem risky or politically incorrect from a fantasy world.
Battlehenkie
This game has violence, death, slavery, torture – but a pun related to masturbation? THAT’S TERRIBLE, OMG KIDS PLAY THIS GAME!!!
Katorga8
“No one wanted this… yes, someone wanted this. We as developers wanted this.”
That doesn’t really give me much confidence to want to return to the game again. How many hundreds of thousands of people have asked for fundamental changes, like solo completion of Legion raids or complete transmog sets that are missing just belts or shoes?
I realize that the developers created the game, but that doesn’t mean they are right. If they want something, do they just get it? If we want something, does it mean: ‘You think you want this, but that’s not true.’?
Zythyx1
No matter what one thinks about the changes themselves, the comments from the developers are evidence that the adjustments are being made because the team behind World of Warcraft considers them right and important.
Whether the changes are really right and important must be decided by each individual for themselves.
The developers have also provided a more detailed justification for the changes – and have promised an incubus for warlocks.
