Yeah I can’t explain “spices”, haha.
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Well if I had to take a guess, it’s probably an intimidating fear, rather than a fear of some ancient enemy.
Wrathion went from feeling secure in his legacy, that he was the son of Neltharion and heir to the Black Dragonflight, to quickly finding out that not only was he not the only son of Neltharion, but that both of the other surviving sons are far older than he is, and one has far more draconic support than he has.
So the flop sweat could come from the fact that he’s secretly intimidated by Sabellian and fears that Sabellian may take the leadership of the Black Dragonflight from him. He’s trying to puff himself up, make himself look bigger than he is, because Sabellian is a legitimate contender for the leader of the Black Dragonflight and right now, he has a far stronger claim.
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This makes me very uncomfortable. It’s like the writer went to 4chan /int/, picked out certain stereotypes and called it a day.
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The wording sure does leave a lot to be desired. It doesn’t seem to serve any purpose really. How did we go from something as good as the orc heritage armor questline, to well….whatever this is?
Probably ignorance. I think the writer doesn’t have the background or knowledge of the cultural influence that they’re trying to portray using Wrathion. I don’t want to assume ill-intent in this, but I’d really recommend they at least try to research more about the culture. Including the things that have been used to attack them. It requires some extra effort, but I feel like it’s important.
I’d love to chalk it up to ignorance. But I think it’s been pointed out already, but this is the sort of subtle racism they used before in the past.
Was that their intention? I honestly can’t say, but I’m not even a PoC and the wording makes even me cringe/uncomfortable
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It’s likely because I don’t trigger easily, but can anyone care to explain to me what the issue is?
It just read as a joke at Wrathion’s expense to me, which I thought people would love considering how many people hate the guy.
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Hear, hear. That’s a hard nope for getting me interested in any future faction conflict.
I actually dispute that villains you can empathize with (type 1) are inherently better than villains you can just enjoy hating (type 2). It’s just that type 1 has been very, very, very popular over the past few decades, to the point where it’s become a little boring and a type 2 villain is refreshing by contrast.
Sounds to me like they’re suggesting he smells like Old Spice, which seems in character.
Baal, as I recall, you don’t live in the US? Old Spice is a hugely popular line of soaps etc. for men. They have a whole ad campaign about the “Old Spice Gentleman,” which is a character type that Wrathion would fit.
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It’s a topic I have not given much consideration cause I feel like given it’s an American game, I can’t fully expect American writers to know about these things. Perhaps that needs to change.
I think Wrathion is coded to be of an ethnicity that I’m a member of and ‘smell’ has often been used to as a point of differentiation. It might seem innocuous, but I’ve noticed how it has led to some negative perceptions that can be quite hurtful. Anyways, I don’t have an issue with a writer describing a character’s smell. But I do find it interesting why it’s being singled out like this. I’m not sure if WoW has a historic precedence of describing a character’s smell, but this seems a little pointed and unusual.
It’s not something I’m triggered or outraged about. However it does make me feel uncomfortable because it makes me see that the people writing may not actually understand the culture they’re trying to write for. It’s like, thank you for the representation, but I’d hope they also spend some time talking to people of that culture to learn some of the nuances of these things.
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It’s also possible, as stated, that Wrathion is simply wearing a fragrance made from oils and spices, and the Niffen is picking up on the elements of that fragrance thanks to their strong sense of smell (would also explain how the Niffen can detect the flop sweat). Spices are used in fragrances to this day (Nutmeg, Mace, Cinnamon, Saffron and Cloves to name a few)
I honestly feel like this isn’t malicious at all, but there are definitely people who would like us to think it is.
Honestly the only argument I’ve seen supporting the whole racism angle is built almost entirely around Wrathion’s old MoP model, which, yeah, that was a bad model. A model that I’m fairly sure is no longer in use, unless they still use the model for the Fangs of the Father quest chain and in Mists of Pandaria. I haven’t checked either.
Like thats the thing that’s makes me question what’s the hubub about.
Cause when looking at it, all it reads is like someone wearing various perfumes and fragrances to mask the fight he has flop sweat.
Which is funny joke. I have simple senses of humor.
What culture are they not understanding? The use of fragrances to mask body odor? Is the only reason it has to be a cultural thing is because Wrathion’s visage is dark skinned? Can dark skinned people not just want the world to know they get smelly when sweating?
I feel like when it comes to matters like these, it’s more important that we share experiences and learn rather than point figures. Also I can’t speak for everyone. Some others may see no issue, some may find it funny, and some may take offence.
But at least from my experiences, there’s a negative stereotype of being smelly and sweating more easily and having to cover that up. In my country, it leads to things like rental discrimination, although that’s a whole other topic tbh. I won’t say it’s like this terrible thing where people are outright discriminatory. Things have improved significantly, and there’s people who also appreciate and enjoy aspects of my culture. Especially the food. But I’d say a lot of the microaggressions with that has also made me quite hyperaware of smell. In the sense of like I gotto smell good, I gotto carry around wet wipes to stay fresh etc… I mean that’s my own stuff and I can deal with it. That’s just my personal feelings on the matter tbh.
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Why the flip are we talking about smells now. How did it come to this? I can’t with this community.
Would you like to talk about the Horde reclaiming Kalimdor instead?
This has got to be the most hilarious post I’ve seen on this board in many years, I cannot lie.
Like…the sheer audacity lol
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That was just me having a bad day. I am better now.
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Personal feelings are fair.
As I said above in my statements to Baal, I am opposed to racism being used in game and racist references, so if this is indeed someone being sneaky and trying to throw some racism back into the game after Blizzard worked hard to remove it and work with the people of the cultures they are basing their races off of, then it should be removed, 100%
But if, as I suspect, it’s just an innocent line showing that Wrathion uses fragrance made from oils and spices and is sweating a little (likely due to being intimidated by Sabellian) then I don’t think it’s a big deal.
The only other standout example I can recall is old patch 5.3 dialogue that described Vol’jin having an awful smell to the alliance player.
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That was indeed a case of racism. That was Blizzard saying “Yes savages stink get used to it.”
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Grew up in the US and c’mon now, it is not a commentary on his deoderant choice
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