I worry that unless certain Developers like the dolt who was saying âI asked for this!â and then proceeded to call players crap like âphobesâ on Twitter, as well as caustic individuals like the Developer that blew up on Twitter when the whole DFEH Lawsuit started in July, and had the arrogance to say âplayers asking about content are the problemâ are not involved in any meaningful way with this game, I fear we are going to get a lot more of the same.
I only say that because such individuals appear unable to discern between their personal lives and their professional duties, and it certainly seems most of the time like those sorts of individuals appear to thrive on making intentionally bad decisions.
In short, such people have a serious case of schadenfreude. They appear to be at their happiest when players grumble about the game because it tells them their sanctioned BS is angering the people they detest. Sad but this is what Blizzard has created. Employees or affiliates ALWAYS represent the company and itâs values. Silence is the same as affirming it is an acceptable view.
So no, a good first step if Blizzard/Insight/ wants to prove people wrong, would be to show that they are serious about change by actually doing things such as other folks on this list have suggested, and massively expand transmog / player customization. Additionally, coming down hard on any employee who cannot discern between their personal views and their professional obligations would be smart.
A good second step would also be to remove the Maldraxxian racist from the game, as the NPC is offensive by itâs mere presence in the same way as others you removed. That is of course assuming that Blizzard actually does care about equal application of the rules.
Frankly? I doubt they do. Because of their past actions in the last year it sure as hell looks like the company believes it is cool to hate on a specific ethnic groupâs skin color, but damn do they go unhinged when itâs a case of shoes on the other feet. So one will forgive me if I say âprove otherwiseâ. Actions. Not words. Otherwise I think they are full of it and I canât take them seriously when they say theyâve changed.
Personally were I advising them, Iâd look to dropping all political narratives in favor of a solid and enjoyable fantasy adventure that is largely apolitical. Something so broad in scope that it would appeal to many people, other than a small knit focus group internally.
I of course am operating under the assumption that such a thing can still actually be done by the folks working at Blizzard. As much as I hate to say it, they appear to be far more focused on personal wish fulfillment, than creating products that will appeal to the majority of players, and competes with their competitors.
The company feels like over the years it has become more and more comprised of developers who would rather hold the IP hostage in stagnation, use it as a soapbox for social activism, and watch the game burn; simply to stick it to players. Thus the shareholders are probably the ones who are going to have to do something about that.
I will however give this company one major point of credit where itâs due. I expect Ghostcrawler and his âfrat-buddiesâ would of already conducted a massive forum purge of the players by now. I mean he did so back when CRZ was a topic. Discussion of it? Bang, banned from forums.
So yeah, the fact that people are actually being allowed to discuss such concerns and matters âisâ an improvement. But for how long that arrangement will last before someone in the company goes full dictator hat mode again, because they feel they were the victim of a micro-aggression, is anyoneâs guess.
Whether you call yourself Blizzard, Insight or Whackbag Inc., your words do not matter.
Your actions do. Players are not responsible for what those actions bring.
