Hello everyone, First off, Vill, Grobbulus, He/Him
Just really quickly, I know we’re all very excited for WoW classic, we’re rearing to go and get out there and share our enthusiasm with everyone we see. So I won’t take a lot of your time, but there’s an important issue that’s flown under the radar on many realms, but I feel that it’s important, especially for those of us on RP realms. I am, of course, talking about nonconsensual “friendly” buffs.
For many of us, our characters are heroes with distinct personalities who never waver from their moral compass. As a Holy Paladin of the Light, I draw strength and inspiration only from the divine Light itself as well as other sources that uplift and affirm my faith. Unfortunately, wherever I go, random passer-by undermine my character integrity by casually tossing secular or pagan buffs on me. Of course I do not resent that mages and druids want to share with me what they feel they have to offer, but I would like to be asked first. I am not sure whether the Church approves of enhancing one’s intellect through powers of the arcane, or bearing the mark of pagan druids, but I would politely decline these buffs just to be safe.
Probably the most horrific breach of buff etiquette occurred one time when I was in a party and suddenly realized that my gear and stats did not fully account for my health pool. It was larger than I expected. At first I believed that our party’s priest had cast Power Word: Fortitude on me. I am always willing to accept this buff from Human or Dwarf priests who explicitly affirm the complete authority of the Archbishop in all spiritual matters. Just as I was about to inquire of our priest after this point of doctrine, I realized with a sickening feeling that the party’s warlock had, through his imp, initiated a blood pact with demonic powers on my behalf. I wanted to retch, and I swear as I looked toward the hateful little creature it cackled with a sinister grin. Now, this is a multiplayer game, and I understand that players from the opposing faction will often initiate nonconsensual and hostile acts against me that are not in harmony with my faith. But it’s one thing for my solemn vows of premarital chastity to be sorely tempted by a Horde warlock’s succubus. It’s quite another for my ALLIES to bind me to demonic servitude in hell for all eternity just for a fleeting boost to my stamina.
Now, you may be thinking, Vill, I have been stressing the importance of obtaining affirmative consent before casting buffs since release. How can I be a better advocate for buff justice? Well, gentle reader, you need to understand that many, or even most of the people that run afoul of buff etiquette do so out of ignorance and not malice. Often you can simply open a dialogue with them and come to an understanding. For example, a warrior in my party recently wanted to give a great battle shout to increase our party’s melee attack prowess. That sounded a little suspicious to me, almost like bloodlust, so before he did so I inquired as to the nature this buff. Things got off to a rocky start, as he just said that it was basically the same as my Blessing of Might. Holding back my anger and addressing him with the charity that the Light commands, I explained to him that no, it is not remotely the same, and that I convey individual holy blessings on my party members that inspire them to fight with righteous might. As the discussion continued, he eventually explained that the battle shout was just to raise morale and help him inspire us as a temporal (not a spiritual) leader. I then consented for him to cast the battle shout, so long as he agreed that whatever he was shouting was consistent with and affirmed the Light’s grace. He did so and afterwards our party was able to dispatch Mr. Smite on only our third attempt.
So you see, it’s possible both to create a positive culture of affirmative consent surrounding buffs and to educate those who do not understand the importance of that culture with very positive results. I appreciate your time and I hope you all can profitably incorporate this message into your gameplay going forward.
