- Races in WoW are based on real-life cultures and their stereotypes, argues Asmongold
- The treatment of the Goblin race is akin to that of the Jewish people during the Holocaust, one part of the community argues
- Players are divided over Asmongold’s choice to comment on the issue with some calling it much ado about nothing
Popular Twitch streamer Asmongold takes an issue with the latest racial stereotypes propagated in a Blizzard book expanding on the Warcraft lore and franchise.
Expanding the Lore or Reinforcing Stereotypes
For those who read into and study the World of Warcraft lore, the game itself is often not enough. Adding numerous books over the years has really helped flesh out some of the backstories, stoke the imagination with new character plots and unanswered mysteries, and more. Yet, Asmongold, an avid critic of Blizzard’s shortcomings and failures, and a die-hard fan of the Warcraft franchise has not taken kindly to the latest book released by Blizzard.
In WoW: Exploring Kalimdor, Twitch showman Asmongold has taken an issue with what he described as a book that spreads racist stereotypes. According to recent allegations, the book is supposedly pushing incendiary stereotypes against the Jewish people.
The criticism is directed at how the Goblins, a gold-loving race in the World of Warcraft that is tasked with most monetary operations, are treated similar to how the Jewish people were treated during The Holocaust. The comparison seems to be over the top at first glance, but too Asmongold, it’s not easily dismissible.
Real Races and Cultures Intertwined with WoW’s Backstory
Asmongold has not been too specific on the Jewish people issue, but he agreed that some of the contents of the book were derived from real-world stereotypes, not to serve a great purpose, but fit a convenient and easy narrative. In other words, the writers were lazy:
“I think that it’s weird if you have a race that is depicted as a real-life culture, and then you have the problems and the stereotypes of that fantasy race mirror the stereotypes and problems of the real-life culture that it’s representing. I think it’s bad writing to be honest because you’re just creating an allegory at that point.”
Asmongold
Asmongold was ruminating on the issue as he was reading through a WoW Head post that touched on the topic. Asmongold confirmed that in his opinion the Goblins were “clearly” based on the Jewish people, and that there were a lot of similarities both in how they were depicted and how their fates unfolded.
Some chat members disagreed and started arguing that it was an oversensitive issue and hence the overreaction. However, Asmongold explained that he was not in the habit of jumping in on sensitive topics and seeking attention. If he were saying that, there was a good reason for it.
“What I’m saying is that there a lot of the stereotypical things that people say about Jews, they say the same things about Goblins,” Asmongold added calmy.
The current controversy is compounded by the fact that Blizzard recently released a Warlock armor that had a lot of similarities with the robe worn by the notorious Klu Klux Klan, a racist outfit that propagate white supremacy and committed acts of crime towards humanity.
