A courteous word about LGBT representation

I haven’t visited the forums since I started Dragonflight, so I have no idea how much this topic has already been discussed, although I would assume quite a lot. I still haven’t even stepped in Thaldraszus but I’ve still noticed a… pattern of sorts.

There is a huge amount of quests representing gay couples in Dragonflight. So far I’ve noticed…

  • The ecologist dragons, which I found cute.

  • The crafting tutorial that gave me a Reagent Bag, which left me indifferent.

  • The centaur wedding quest in Ohn’ahran plains, which particularly annoyed me because centaurs didn’t really strike me as a culture to have officialized weddings.

  • The two ladies helping animals just south of… Rhonin’s shield, I think it was. Which it was nice to have women, for a change.

  • The crafting orders tutorial NPC, which I found very forced and unnecessary.

  • And my friend tells me there is at least one more in Valdrakken, which I haven’t yet visited.

So we’re currently standing at 6 separate occurrences, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two more popped up as I explore the last zone (I tend to take my time and read every quest). So now, I really hate using this as an argument. I think it doesn’t help any civilized discussion. But I’m pretty much certain that I’ll get dragged into the dirt if I don’t say it. I am a homosexual man.

With this out of the way, let’s get into the actual point I would like to make: Homosexual relationships represent 8% of the population, assuming every single bisexual just so happens to be in a same-sex relationship at the time of observation. Realistic representation, which I would assume to be the ideal goal of such an endeavor, would mean that at least the majority of romantic encounters that the player meets are heterosexual. But so far, my memorable interactions stand at 5 to 1 in favor of homosexual couples. And my favorite of them all was the heterosexual Tuskar couple with their paintings, because I didn’t feel like their romance was being shoved in my face. And they only came after all the other occurrences.

Blizzard. I implore you to realize that the way you are handling representation is doing a disservice to the LGBT community, as well as, I’m sure, annoying many people who just want a good RPG story. Please realize that what you are doing here is unrealistic and borders on the caricatural. Please realize than not all NPC couples need to have a questline, and that a subtle nod often is enough, and sometimes more respectful, than a full-on questline.

Dragonflight is wonderful so far. Please, let us wonder at the world you’ve created: Let us make use of our imagination. Let us discuss and think about wether these two people by the lake might be together, or just close friends. Or let us not think about it at all, because there is that much more value in a thought that we’ve come up with on our own, rather than one that was so bluntly thrown at us.

Three-Falls Lookout now requires my aid in restocking their supplies. Farewell, adventurers, and thank you for your time.


Edit: As Nemestrïnus pointed out, the two crafting quests actually use the same couple. I feel sorry for this oversight.

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Ooh. Those 1st sentences already set off my internal bs detector.

Though to be fair I’m wary of anyone on the Internet

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You missed the lesbian centaur widow, to whom you bring a memento of her deceased wife.

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Sure bud.

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Don’t worry, there’s all sorts of straight tuskarr.

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Or so you say. :upside_down_face:

Bliz is trying to work its way out of its horrible womanizing image of late. They might be over reacting taking things too far, maybe not, but they have a LOT of activist sorts screaming at them for more representation…so Id think theyre scrambling around just trying to figure out how to douse the flames…kinda like my black friend who is VERY conservative dealing with his VERY liberal family. They EXPECT him to be liberal and when he isnt, in order to keep the peace he has to behave in ways that are contrary to his nature.

Bliz very likely has no clue what to do with all this right now given their own issues added to everything else going on.

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Very eloquently put, I agree that wonder and imagination on lore of characters is far better. That being said I would go one step further and say I just want to play the game and have an adventure I don’t need or care who the person I might be helping sleeps with. Its an RPG not a dating sim, last time I checked you cant romance an NPC in game so that kind of stuff really seems shoe horned in, same sex or straight.

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I give the OP credit for having the courage to post this… if it’s genuine, that is.

I’m sure there are many members of the gay community that feel the same, yet don’t feel comfortable saying so, in fear of being targeted and attacked.

It’s sad that a differing opinion doesn’t seem to be tolerated in that group, but it is what it is…

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i just want to kill dragons & heal azeroth’s woonz, not a constant reminder of my crippling depression & loneliness as i play in complete darkness.

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Can’t we just pretend this is a fantasy game and your fav characters are whatever orientation they want to be because we are playing in a fantasy world of fantasy characters

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Get yourself one of those lights that projects starscapes onto your ceiling.

You might still be depressed as hell, but at least you can vibe out while being so.

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i prefer pitch black darkness to emulate the empty void inside my heart. i dont even play with any sound or music on, just complete silence.

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Hmm

very metal.

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The reality is, would any of these bother you if they were a straight couple? The answer is no.

So if something wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t “Representation” then you have no justification claiming it bothers you the other way around.

Have a nice day.

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indeed. ive never even listened to metal as i dont listen to music much in general but im edgier than a sharpened blade.

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That is a very round about way to say you think same sex couples are icky.

And why is it always a level 10?

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these are all the same couple

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I can’t remember…did people whine like babies in Cata when a large portion of Twilight was dedicated to a Dwarf wedding or we spent time with Thrall’s wife as she yelled about Go’el? Suddenly it’s an issue and it needs to be left to the imagination when discussing a couple lmao

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I literally woke up this morning and went on “oh wow I feel so validated seeing these couples in a game.” Not.

These quests are just a click and forget type of deal. Do you even remember the names of the straight couple in Elwynn Forest? Or any other of the countless couples in the game? A lot of this is just writers having fun with side quests and isn’t harming you in any way lmao.

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