With the addition of Mei and other races in wow recently, the shift from a fictional universe to imitating the fanbase (or desired fanbase) is gaining momentum. Creative energies are dying off at Blizzard when your character designs reflect the players you want to have paying for your games.
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Medieval… these are fictional universes with fictional characters and archetypes of heroes. Political correctness waters down these monolithic story realms, and imitating the playerbase rather than inspiring the playerbase will generate a massive loss of appeal.
Take for example the launcher promo for Arenas right now. There’s a female human toon with jet black hair and a modern haircut. There’s nothing fantastical about that. It looks like a plain college girl, not even an athletic one. Foxes with their comfy, made-for-outdoors snuggy apparel… Borderline imitation at least of sedentary comfy spectator homestuck female. Mei, an overweight bachelors degree in environmental studies trying to undo the damage of her overconsumption… It’s 100% pitiful, and the only people supporting it are forum shills with pre-existing shill posts with such constructive feedback as “I like this” and “That’s like your opinion, man” (verbatim).
Inb4 “That’s like your opinion, man. LOL I GOTTEM”
Inb4 “Your post has been hidden.”
Inb4 “Your account has been placed on hold.”