World of Warcraft: Exploring Kalimdor Heavily Criticized for Depicting Racial Stereotypes
- The only “heavy criticism” I’ve seen against this novel (thus far) is only found within the article itself. Several other places on the internet have copy/pasted this article, but it’s still the only source of this specific criticism that I’ve seen.
- The article reads like a lazy hit-piece against Blizzard for easy click-bait. I’m not sure if comments were disabled to avoid backlash against the article itself, against Blizzard, or both.
- Just because trolls have been literate for thousands of years in the WoW universe does not mean that all trolls are literate. To assume otherwise might be considered… racist. Humans (in real life) have likewise been literate for thousands of years, but not every human on the planet today is literate.
- Zekhan doesn’t have to know the word “Erosion” to understand the concept it describes, similar how people might be familiar with the concept of a really old car but not be familiar with the word “Jalopy”. The article is as quick to presume Zekhan’s familiarity with vocabulary as some people are when presuming another person’s gender identity.
- The description of Goblins found in Orgrimmar’s market are specific to the goblins which sell goods there. The article would have you believe that Zekhan’s statements are a reflection of his views on goblin-kind as a whole. It is the article, not Zekhan’s statement, that inserts the assumption of stereotype.
- Zekhan isn’t making judgmental comments. He’s declaring that he doesn’t understand something that the Night Elves (at least some of them) are doing. It’d be like wondering why the Jews want to go to war with the Germans for something the “National Socialist German Workers’ Party” did (there are more comparisons that could be drawn, but I think just the one is sufficient to mention here). Again, the article just comes across as… petty.
- Zekhan is allowed to hold goblins accountable for what the goblins clearly did. Even if Zekhan was referencing all goblins instead of just those responsible for that particular sequence of events, the vast majority of goblins (even goblin shamans) shown anywhere throughout the Warcraft universe are depicted as apathetic towards nature’s care. The fantasy culture illustrated for Goblins in the Warcraft universe is somewhat comparative to the careless corporate greed we see out in the real world (like certain oil companies spilling oil all over the Gulf of Mexico in the pursuit of profit). Even if the goblins didn’t mean to make a mess of things, they’re still responsible for it.
- Fair point that the letter feels more like Gallywix wrote it than Gazlowe, but there could be a lot of lore surrounding Gazlowe that Blizzard might not have had the chance to reveal yet (until perhaps now). And, perhaps, Gazlowe is experiencing an opportunity for character growth as he faces many of the same greedy temptations that Gallywix “thrived” in. The goblin starting zone does a great job of explaining the corporate cut-throat nature of (most?) goblins in the Warcraft universe, and it would be interesting to see how and if Gazlowe changes as his social position rises.
Would the author of the article have been more pleased if Zekhan were revealed to have homosexual preferences and a more celebrated attitude towards the various horde races in spite of their compliance/permissiveness of what was done during the 4th war (or at any other time during Azeroth’s history)?
Disclaimer: I ain’t no Blizzard apologist. I don’t like what’s been done with Warcraft’s story. I don’t like what’s been done with Sylvanas’ character. I don’t like borrowed power systems which get recycled every expansion. I don’t like how much of the gameplay cycle of WoW is FOMO-driven. I don’t like the bad things that some people at ABK have done. I don’t like being required to purchase novels and books and extra content in order to understand core events in a story I already pay full price and a monthly subscription for. I’m hoping that Blizzard can turn things around… but we’ll see.
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I saw this and immediately thought, who in the world would read this and the first thing that pops in their head is this? People will pick things out of thin air now a days
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The book has been slammed (rightly) for several days now, the fact that you were unaware is your problem.
Even if you ignore the racial element, it’s still riddled with lore mistakes, and is supposed to have been written by the loremaster at Blizzard (lol).
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Shadowlands is riddled with lore mistakes. Listen did you know that newborn elephants suck their trunks for comfort? Now you do.
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The Regent-Lord of Quel’thelas having the time to teach a random troll how to read is an inanely stupid plot point, regardless of if you see the (obvious) racial element.
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As for troll literacy specifically, trolls live in tribes that all vary pretty widely. Zekhan is darkspear and I doubt most jungle trolls can read. It simply isn’t an important thing to most of them. But Zandalari trolls of all castes surely know how to read. But there are casteless zandalari trolls and they definitely can’t read. Most are homeless.
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Since Wowhead is not part of blizzard, they can publish anything they like. As a consumer, you also have the choice not to use their site. So the next time a Blizzard GM refers you to that site tell them that you don’t visit it because you disagree with the content they put on it.
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Either way it’s a left-over of the bro-culture of early days. The fact that the author seemingly did not notice how problematic that was is indicative of a blind-spot on their part.
It’s not something to be defended. It is instead a learning opportunity.
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This thread reminds me of the time I decided to complain that Garrosh was the only orc to go to college. 
I didn’t read the article but after skimming over OP’s initial post, it sounds like someone tried to apply real life to a video game.
People are so weird.
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I do like the apparent suggestion that Zekhan being prejudiced against goblins is an unforgivable plot hole.
'Cause if one thing is consistent across all WoW lore, it’s that trolls definitely aren’t racist, right?
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I appreciate you pointing out the other problems with the novel. I haven’t read it nor looked much into it, so I’m unaware of the other unsatisfactory elements held within the book. My opening post was primarily a critique of the Wowhead article and its focus on an issue I saw little to no evidence for in the examples they provided.
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In-lore racism existing in Azeroth is perfectly fine.
Using real-world racist tropes based on the racial coding of the Horde races…that’s a problem.
The way Blizzard treats the Horde as villainous at the drop of a hat was already a problem. This to me is a ticking time-bomb going off.
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The Internet was a mistake. People and their twisted sense of what can be said anymore are ruining everything.
Don’t like Racial bias and prejudices ? Don’t play a game build around the fact people are at war with each other literally because of their races then. Go play Hello Kitty Adventure : Diversity Inclusion Equity edition.
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You’d be incorrect. There’s a lot of complaints about it.
It really doesn’t.
No, this is now a canon book describing things— incorrectly.
You don’t randomly change a character into a different one. It’s called bad writing.
And yet you’re trying to defend a book that has screwed up lore to the point where it sounds like someone who never even played the game tried to write these books.
Go read all of the issues with these books and how they actually got the lore wrong. It’s all listed on Wowpedia. All of the errors are all over the internet.
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My favorite part is they’re actually the ones being racist by implying the races they were based on have the same issues that the FICTIONAL RACES that are based on them have.
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It really should be taken down.
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Complaints don’t mean the complaints are right.
There’s a lot of complaints that Blizzard added a male/male couple in one book. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong of them to have included it.
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Orcs are orcs. Trolls are trolls. Night elves are night elves. Goblins are goblins. They’re fictional races in a fictional universe. Most grounded adults realize this.
It honestly says more about you people when you’re comparing formerly cannibal, voodoo worshipping, ritualistic trolls, warmongering orcs, or greedy goblins to real world human beings while berating others for Racism™
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You’re acknowledging that the races in-game are based on real-world races.
That’s a big step considering Blizzard officially (ridiculously) does not acknowledge that. Even though we all, even you and your ilk, know it. Per Sean Copeland’s, the Blizzard loremaster and author of this “book”'s, wife.
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