- WoW players call out Blizzard's approach towards censorship hypocritical
- Removing offensive references in-game but doing nothing against toxicity has annoyed people
- Blizzard needs to act quickly if it expects to retain people and Patch 9.1.5 is an important test to the company's ability to react
Players have rallied on Reddit to call out Blizzard on taking action against offensive in-game content but doing nothing to mitigate rampant toxicity issues.
Toxic Behavior Stifles Loyal WoW Fans
World of Warcraft players are once again up in arms against the course of action Blizzard has taken towards its game. While you can argue that WoW players are a tough crowd to please there are also the company's faux pas that just keep piling on.
In a bid to clamp down on references to fallen-from-grace former employees, Activision Blizzard is censoring content in the game, removing mentions and references to controversial figures. The company is planning to remove a Jesse McCree tribute in Overwatch and is planning to change the name of the character altogether. The character is a namesake to Jesse McCree, whose name is now associated with the discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard and is now an expelled company employee.
As the controversy keeps piling on, though, fans are eager to see another issue worked upon and quick. WoW fans want to have the toxicity removed from the game, and this has been a serious issue that Blizzard has mostly left unnoticed.
Elitism aside, WoW has a toxicity pandemic that has taken on every level of play, whether this is among top guilds or on the grass-and-roots levels. Patch 9.1.5 promises to alleviate some of those concerns and bring fixes, but the game has been transformed into a cesspool where such behavior seems almost expected from players.
The Time to Act Is Now and Nobody Wants Excuses
Calls for tougher actions on toxic players have grown vociferous on discussion boards both on Blizzard's game forums as well as Reddit. Users have called out the duplicity of removing in-game over-sexualized images but doing nothing against those who constantly spout foul language in chats or lead to poor experiences.
“Seriously, it actually ruins my day when another player tells me I should go off myself because I pulled an extra pack in a dungeon by mistake,” one Redditor wrote in a post that has now gone viral, getting 13.3 likes at the time of reporting.
While some gaming communities may call this “whining,” Redditors have stepped forward and argued that OP (a term used to describe the author of the discussion) had a point. Players argue that Blizzard is not simply turning a blind eye to rule-breaking, they simply do not care as the game already has very clear-cut ethical guidelines about bad language and harassment.
Blizzard should listen to its communities to plug the holes of its sinking MMO ship lest it wants to have even tougher decisions ahead of itself.
