An unofficial one World of Warcraft Discord server has gone up in flames in the past few days. Right now, Twitter is full of screenshots showing people condemning Blizzard for adding people of color to the MMORPG, with a special comment complain that there are “too many black people in Stormwind”. This resulted in an expected backlash from the community, but the discussion surrounding the inclusion of BIPOC NPCs in the high fantasy game requires more explanation.
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In November, Blizzard did everything to found a local council with the aim of collecting player feedback for detailed improvement possibilities World of Warcraft. The community then split up on its own, creating an unofficial Discord server called the Seat of the Council. This new community was partially populated with members of the official, and also the home of the two protagonists of this story.
So, Impressive Players recently noticed that NPC people appear to be in Stormwind Town suddenly to BIPOC
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I get the anger from the community. To say there are “too many” of a particular identity or ethnicity is an exclusionary and separatist ideology – unless you are in the majority of what qualifies you for the course. Since the hateful comment was circulated, the Discord server has been closed, scrubbed clean, and reopened under a new name (Vacant Seat of the Council), but the argument continues.
Much of this ongoing discussion seems to be led by another user named Asjon, who has argued on Discord that it is “lazy” and “curious” for Blizzard to blackface / blackwash just a bunch of white NPCs and it’s diversity and Mention inclusion. Asjon expects Blizzard to create “cool lore” about how and why BIPOC NPCs are being added to the game. The Discord community seems to vehemently contradict this thinking, which makes sense.
We’ve contacted Blizzard for a comment and will update it if we hear anything.
My mind is torn in a couple of different directions, however. First, it is outrageous to say that there are “too many black people”, trolling or not. That particular person has been banned from the old and newly opened server – as they should! It’s racist. I kind of agree with Asjon too. For blackface / blackwash white NPCs, as if this were a diversity solution, this is mere appropriation. But I don’t endorse Asjon’s request for a statement or “cool lore” to justify BIPOC’s inclusion.
As a black man, I shouldn’t have to explain myself. I shouldn’t have to provide context or rationale for why I am where I am. I just do it and that’s enough! Blacks get tired of justify yourself all the time
You probably see people of color all the time, and their existence just makes sense because people of color are real. Besides that, World of Warcraft is a high fantasy game with elves and orcs. Do we need to explain why green skinned people are walking around in one of the game’s cities? If not, we certainly don’t have to justify why BIPOC NPCs are more noticeable.
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The subject is of course complex. There is a lot to be said about what Asjon argues for. I would love to see more BIPOC NPCs incorporated into the game from the start, with careful consideration of aesthetics and background. But there is no explanation for whites either – apart from the fact that the game is coded as “Eurocentric”. Still, this is a high fantasy game with limitless possibilities. Reasons are not required.
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