A blizzard of policy questions and terrible puns.

[pauraque_bk]

Of interest to WoWers: Blizzard of GLBT gaming policy questions and Blizzard stormed on 'GLBT' policy. In brief, a gamer was reprimanded for advertising her guild (group of people who play together) as GLBT-friendly within the game. Despite a fair amount of uproar, they've not rescinded that decision.

All I can say is that the answer is surely not to boycott the game, but to speak up and demand that Blizzard serve all its paying customers fairly. I also agree with this:

"I think [Blizzard] should be faulted for having an environment that is hostile enough to the GLBT community that someone like me could reasonably predict, the moment you let someone say 'GLBT-friendly' over chat it is going to get ugly."

*

Unrelatedly, it's hard to deal with your mortgage when every time you see the word, you think of Senor Cardgage.

Comments

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

Yeah... my column this Sunday is on the GLBT/Blizzard kerfuffle. Pisses me off. They cite this woman for sexual harassment... because she's openly GLBT-friendly. The convoluted logic, it hurts my brain.

[pauraque]

Yeah, it's ass-backwards. While it's surely true that mentioning that you're gay in chat could result in harassment, the answer to that is not to tell people they can't say they're gay.

Uh-oh, racism is a big problem. Let's give out theatrical makeup kits so everyone can pretend to be white!

[0x.livejournal.com]

Damn. That's pretty horrible. :|

[pauraque]

Yeah, you get screwed coming and going. The hostility towards queer people in the game is the whole reason such guilds are formed in the first place.

[sedesdraconis.livejournal.com]

do you have a recommendation on the best way to communicate protest to Blizzard?

Another crucial line I think is:
"Of particular concern to us is that the policy in practice punishes players for hypothetical harassment at the hands of another. This is not only a GLBT issue; but one which could easily escalate to impact guilds who are family-friendly, religious, geographical, or recruit gamers of a certain age," reads a statement sent to Blizzard and signed by members of Stonewall Champions and The Spreading Taint. "Silencing a guild that is seeking friendly new members is not a satisfactory preventative for harassment. Rules should exist to punish the harasser, not those who may be harassed."

[pauraque]

I'm not an expert on such matters, but if companies are like politicians, the best way to get their attention is to write a letter or make a phone call. Signing petitions or using a form letter someone else wrote is less effective. It's usually said that emails are given less weight than snail mail letters, though since this is an internet-based company, I don't know if that applies.

[laverinth.livejournal.com]

The funniest response to this I've seen so far was a comment on the forums. I forget where it is now...

"In communist Ironforge, GLBT guild warns GM!"