Feministing dislikes Noblegarden.
(I do too, but only because it’s really tedious.)
To be a bit more serious, they do have a valid point, and one that could have been minimized very easily with intelligent design (for example, requiring both players to trade an item to activate the bunny state). But Blizzard has shown time and again that not only do they tend to encourage their community to minimize social concerns, they also tend to respond childishly when those concerns are brought up.
And yet, hey, 12 million subscribers!
#1 by Bugz on April 29th, 2009
Damn Lum. You are really on a roll with this stuff today!
#2 by Joshua Meadows on April 29th, 2009
(Darkfall!)
#3 by Mailius on April 29th, 2009
The strange part about the happenings with Martin Fury was their forum mods were (for once) really cracking down and generally deleting threads about the subject as soon as they popped up.
Although some of Blizzard’s decisions are immature (putting rabbit ears on female characters, uh hello Playboy?) are there any game companies that are a beacon of social awareness that all others should aspire to (and make good games?).
#4 by TPRJones on April 29th, 2009
You know what? It’s just a game.
If this is all that feminists have left to worry about, then in the real world women must have pretty much licked problems in equality across the globe. Congratulations women!
#5 by TPRJones on April 29th, 2009
Although I will admit it was rather short-sighted of them to limit the bunny ears to female avatars. Surely they had to know someone would take it amiss?
#6 by Drey on April 29th, 2009
There’s a subtle irony, to me at least, that the page header for feministing contains a pair of curvy female silhouettes, similar to the mud flaps you often see on pickup trucks and semi tractors; I’d have thought that would be construed as demeaning to women as well.
#7 by Mortarion on April 29th, 2009
That author sounded like she was trying really hard (and mostly failing) to be offended. It comes off more snarky towards online games than anything.
#8 by DrewC on April 29th, 2009
I’m genuinely surprised they limited it to female avatars. Seems like you get the same comic value by making it male or female avatars (if not more, cause we all know teh ghey is funny), and you can pretty easily deflect claims of sexism at that point by saying “oh we’re just making a pop-culture joke, go protest Playboy.”
Also, back when I played WOW (mmm free time) I thought you could only cast targeted costumes on players in your group. Seems like a pretty simple and obvious restriction to keep. I mean, I’d be pissed off if someone overwrote my wicked awesome skeleton costume with their stupid bunny ears.
#9 by Longasc on April 29th, 2009
Double standards indeed.
I am a bit tired of this “It’s just a game” talk. World of Warcraft is a social meeting place, it is not that disconnected from the real world. If I call someone a nigger, I get banned immediately. Racist comment. Talk about sex – and you are in danger to get banned.
I agree that this should not be blown out of proportion. Some female players probably liked it, too. But I am a male and do not have to endure this and similar oh so funny ideas over and over.
On a related note, more achievements please. For every possible bullshit one can think of, more please… sigh.
#10 by Sutro on April 29th, 2009
What makes you think the author’s a she?
No, I was offended, and in informal conversations I’ve had, I’m not alone. From my personal standpoint, I think it’s ridiculous to implement an achievement that has a chance of offending -anyone-. I spotted the potential for it to offend strongly right away.
What I think is the important takeaway here is that there’s apparently a content creation culture at Blizzard that *doesn’t* recognize this capacity to offend, at all. To me, it speaks greatly about a wide variety of things, including male viewpoint dominance
Think about it. Blizzard’s a pretty rigorous content machine. How many eyes did this pass before and not ONE person stopped to think, “Mmm, maybe we should do it a little different.”? “Little” being the operative term: Change the bunny ears to both sexes, and you’ve got a somewhat puerile achievement (like so many others,) but one with a lot less capacity to rile people up. Do what Lum suggested, and it’s perfectly fine.
#11 by Gexx on April 29th, 2009
@Drey
The zaftug women are flipping the bird. Here we are reappropriating a cultural meme and telling the the kyriarchy to f*ck off.
#12 by TPRJones on April 29th, 2009
@Longasc: You do realize that WoW is a completely racist game, though, right? I mean come on, the very first thing you do is choose your race, and what side you’ll take in the ongoing horribly bloodthirsty race war that rocks the world of WoW and is the basis of the entire first half of everything you do.
Almost all the major quest lines are rooted in one way or another in attempted genocide.
#13 by Somedudepassingby on April 29th, 2009
“From my personal standpoint, I think it’s ridiculous to implement an achievement that has a chance of offending -anyone-. I spotted the potential for it to offend strongly right away.”
By that logic, it’s folly to implement any achievements at all, because whatever you do somebody’s gonna be offended….
#14 by Vivianne Draper on April 29th, 2009
Not only did they limit it to females, they had to be over level 18. How creepy is that?
#15 by Sutro on April 29th, 2009
@TPR: That’s fair, and there’s a long line of Internet discussions about if that’s appropriate or not.
But let’s enter into a hypothetical and say it’s wrong. Does that mean that the achievement issue is the right way to do things, just because genocide is wrong? I didn’t know that there was a reason in society that we can’t fix one wrong because another thing that’s wrong is so much bigger.
Just because item A, which takes a complete structural overhaul to change, isn’t the best way to go, does that mean that item B (which takes a minimal amount of time to change) is invalid?
#16 by Exeter on April 29th, 2009
Too bad that so many female avatars (most?) are actually played by dudes.
#17 by miber on April 29th, 2009
I’m offended by people being so easily offended.
#18 by Daniel on April 29th, 2009
@TPRJones
The thing that is even more shocking to me is that when you do the Betrayal series of quests in Northrend all the Scourge talk like Jamaicans. It’s all ‘dis and ‘dat and mon. It’s kinda funny but really I’m shocked that no one has made a big deal about the “bad guys” talking black. I can only assume that there aren’t too many black folks that play WoW.
#19 by Informis on April 29th, 2009
My wife plays WoW and does not hide the fact that she is female. The amount of misogynistic nonsense she has to put up with is appalling. From being accused of starting drama (she doesn’t), to getting one-on-one strategy sessions to help her improve (she pulls 4.5K-5K DPS), to being told she doesn’t know how to play (she does), to getting offers from males who want to take her guild off her hands so they can whip it into shape (it doesn’t need whipping into shape), she puts up with more humiliating BS in one week than I could stand in a year.
The point being, if you’re a writer looking for a women’s-issues topic in WoW, you can do a whole lot better than exploring the chauvinistic underpinnings of Noblegarden.
#20 by Mailius on April 29th, 2009
In that particular quest you’re mostly talking to trolls if I recall– Trolls have always had a Jamaican accent (setting wise Trolls are also from a chain of islands). Just like in Warhammer where each of the races has a real-world analogue, in Warcraft (which is based on Warhammer) each race has some degree of similarity to a real world race.
#21 by ikew on April 29th, 2009
Warning : Some people might be offended by the following comment.
…. aaaand :
The people that get offended by such things are idiots.
Now, don’t take me for some male supremacy neo-nazi, some of my best girlfriends have been female (now that i think about it, all of them were), but i say that people (and women) of all genders should just stick it and shut up. Freedom of speech > freedom of not being offended. Bad jokes make me angry and i’d like to throw some shoes at people for coming up with that shit, but it’s my personal opinion (though i’d prefer the shoes to be someone else’s) and to insist that my gender shares my feelings, basing this assumption on a few friends i have talked to… Well that would be pretty dumb. And if feminists do it, they are dumb. Yea. Take this, feminist… dumbs. Dumbies. Somethings that are dumb. Bah. You got the point.
@ Informis – the people she plays with are idiots. Dumb idiots. A friend’s girlfriend is a raid leader in a good guild in wow and get all due respect. She even got that position faster than most male raid leaders there.
It depends on the PEEEPEEEL you play with, is that sooo hard :/
I gotta grab some booze
#22 by Din A3 on April 29th, 2009
Wow… PC is so last century. I thought people were over it already. Anyway, since we’re at it… I’m offended by violence. I’m a pacifist. So I think WoW should have a lot less violence-related achievements. And quests. And raids too. Also, no races. Or factions.
We’re one big happy family.
#23 by neispace on April 29th, 2009
All i have to say is they better not discover the entire mithra race in final fantasy xi, or they’ll pop a blood vessel. You can youtube “mithra character creation” and I think you will soon realize that this is nothing compared to the power of the dark side of the (japanese) force.
They can even be school girls with scholar artifact armor!
#24 by ml on April 29th, 2009
using the bunny item should flag you for free for all pvp. there, problem solved.
#25 by Gexx on April 29th, 2009
@ikew
And yet Blizzard and it’s environments are not a free speech zone. That’s the issue. Blizzard has committed itself to create a relatively safe space with restrictions on speech, and Sutro even quoted their legal-eese. So here, Blizzard is blatently going against their set policy and creating a situation where targeted individuals not only are removed of their agency in ways not consistent with typical game play (ie- pvp on a pvp server), but also rewarding others for participating and perpetuating this view of the female body as public property.
Oh, and when someone starts a conversation with “Don’t take me as…” or “I’m not X but,”… yeah. It’s both a derailing technique (see: http://www.derailingfordummies.com/) and a fake apology.
#26 by Joshua Meadows on April 29th, 2009
Freedom of speech only applies to government interaction.
So what does this have to do with a privately-owned video game? Or even freedom of speech?
#27 by Gexx on April 29th, 2009
@Informis
And they have been written. And feel free to write more. And encourage your wife to write them and to support female gamers undergoing the same things that she and I deal with.
This article is (coincidentally, surprise surprise) corresponding with Noblegarden which is going on RIGHT NOW.
Just because this is the article that appeared on Broken Toys doesn’t mean it’s the only one in existence. After all, absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence.
#28 by Sutro on April 29th, 2009
@Informis: That’s very valid.
The point I’m trying to make here is that the game’s creators – the environs of the virtual world itself – are supporting a degree of misogyny. No, it’s not the greatest travesty ever perpetrated within World of Warcraft to females, but I dare say it’s one of the biggest that the developers have put their rubber stamp on and said, “This is the content we feel you should experience.”
There’s some chicken-and-egg things you could say about it, but in my experience, reducing misogyny, racism, whatever, in the environment tends to change the behavior. Daryl Gates thought the same about crime in New York (broken glass syndrome) and it worked out pretty well for them.
#29 by Iggep on April 29th, 2009
These are the same type of women that for years have preached how they support women. yet what they really mean is they support the “right” kind of woman. In other words, only women that support their own narrow point of view.
Callous or not, these women are ridiculous. Their point is ridiculous, and I can only bring myself to feel pity for them.
#30 by dartwick on April 29th, 2009
Lets see if you can guess my thoughts here.
On second thought – more drama queens.
#31 by Arkazon on April 29th, 2009
There is a very, very easy way for anyone strongly offended by Blizzard’s choices to take action: cancel your account. If you continue to pay for a service that you are offended by, then truly you are the fool, no?
If the offended folks cancel their accounts, Blizzard will be able to gauge right away just how much of a minority this voice of the public really is. Otherwise, it’s whining without action to back up your principles.
#32 by Informis on April 29th, 2009
“Just because this is the article that appeared on Broken Toys doesn’t mean it’s the only one in existence.”
Of course. It’s just that, on the Internet there are billions of people vying for my outrage. I have learned to spend my reserves carefully. The Noblegarden bunny achievement isn’t helping things, but it is small potatoes.
#33 by J. on April 29th, 2009
I don’t think anyone suggested that anyone was going to cancel their accounts over un-asked-for bunny ears on all the female characters.
#34 by Sutro on April 29th, 2009
@Arkazon: That’s one way to look at it.
Here’s another way. Take the example of an article in your local newspaper that is biased. Now, the rest of the content’s pretty good, you’ve had a gripe or two in the past, but overall, the service has been positive. You want to continue to use the service the paper provides you.
But this one article is just too much. So, you write a letter to the editor. The reason you do so is that you WANT to continue to use the service, but the one piece of content produced that day is just not acceptable.
Consider this a letter to the editor. I get a lot of entertainment utility out of World of Warcraft, but this one piece of content – in the mix of lots of others, that I like – is really objectionable. If content like it continues to appear, I’ll quit.
I don’t feel that’s an unreasonable position.
#35 by Gexx on April 29th, 2009
@Informis
And even small potatoes are enough for you to devote two comment postings to.
#36 by geldonyetich on April 29th, 2009
I’m with Lum – they might just have a point in this case. Lets break that down again:
To get the Playboy achievement, you must place bunny ears, involuntarily, on female only characters of all the races of level-18 or above.
Does it promote sexism? Not necessarily. However, it’s close enough to griefing on the ground that it’s causing involuntary, unexpected changes in other player characters, and that it’s gender targeted certainly raises raises some eyebrows.
If I can’t shift it around to something guys wouldn’t mind if it were targeting them specifically, I can’t justify the act as being baseless as pertains to sexism.
The “Playboy” title just seals it. I think Blizzard’s money hats have been cutting of the circulation to their brains that they live in such an incredible lala land that this made it past quality assurance.
#37 by tmp on April 29th, 2009
Perhaps Blizzard could also introduce a matching buff, one working only on male characters of level 40+. The buff would attach extremely tiny, bright red sport car to character’s crotch and be called “Rev your stuff in high gear” or something.
#38 by JuJutsu on April 29th, 2009
I think the potatoes are so small, that I’m only going to devote 1 comment posting.
#39 by Facebook User on April 29th, 2009
It’s anti-feminist to say that I’m a woman who isn’t offended, isn’t it? Ah well.
#40 by Gx1080 on April 29th, 2009
First, that wasnt for sexism, it was for the lulz (In that thread, you can see a female gamer saying that). And, yes it did get the lulz, but they should add an archievement on male characters over level 40. I propose “Taking the blue buff”. You are welcomed to propose any.
PS: DarkFall.;)
#41 by The Alien on April 29th, 2009
Since I know lot of the people getting mad about this don’t actually play the game in question, I first wish to point out that you can put ears on anyone. The achievement is just female-only. This is just background information, not support or condemnation.
Second, I would like to mention that the linked article includes discussion of the Hodir-themed quests. From my point of view, they are not in any way exploitative of women.
Why? The Sons of Hodir are all male. Their tasks are typical burly male warrior stuff. I promise you, they are all polishing each others helmets, blowing each others horns and thrusting their spears with each other.
It’s all terribly homoerotic.
#42 by ceolstan on April 29th, 2009
I’d argue that the problem with something like Noblegarden is that it’s an institutionally-supported amount of crap. I’m also female, and in my own small gaming niche, it’s fairly well-known that I’m female. Right now, in my community and in my game, I’m generally not subjected to a lot of the kinds of sexism that many women face in game. That’s refreshing.
However, most women realize that online communities will attract some people who like to exploit their anonymity by making sexist comments, using game emotes as a way to make sexual overtures, etc. The people who think those kinds of actions are funny are juvenile, but more importantly, they’re able to be written off as individuals.
It’s different when the game itself creates and promotes sexist behavior. At that point, it’s institutional, and while it may seem like small potatoes in the greater scheme of things that women have to put up with, it’s galling because if women want to play the game, they have to put up with crap that the game encourages and even rewards.
#43 by Gexx on April 29th, 2009
@ceolstan
exactly! that’s a wonderful way to frame this frustration!
#44 by Mist on April 29th, 2009
A reference to Playboy? Women were associated with bunnies long before Playboy was around. Like about 2000 years.
PS: There is no Playboy title, author is misinformed.
#45 by Mist on April 29th, 2009
Also, how putting bunny ears involuntarily on someone is somehow different from all the love and heart shower related stuff for the Love Fool holiday?
#46 by dartwick on April 29th, 2009
This promotes sexism about as much as killing horde promotes violence.
#47 by taodon on April 29th, 2009
Gee, why aren’t there more female gamers?!!
#48 by hitnrun on April 29th, 2009
@ceolstan
Well said. Longasc, too. When I can yell real life racial slurs at night elves, I’ll tell people annoyed by this to shut up because it’s just a game.
Hell, I’d feel sexually harassed on my female characters, and I’m male. (If my WoW account were still up, that is.) Who the hell needs creepy shit like that? Not even so much in town – the bank areas of WoW are hives for all kinds of irritation – but when you happen to be alone with someone, on the outskirts or in a quest area, and he decides to do something sexually themed to your avatar that you aren’t allowed to prevent, specifically because it’s female.
You don’t need to be a PhD in Women’s Studies who wrote in Hillary to see how that’s fucked up.
#49 by Nerd Rage on April 30th, 2009
Come on, the tin foil hat thing was funny. The rest of it… meh.
I can’t help but say something about how this is, for every disgruntled WoW player who won’t quit, essentially a dysfunctional relationship. You’re with someone who acts like you don’t matter, and treats you like shit, but rather than leaving them, you’re the type of person who reacts to this by actually wanting them more. Oh but it’s more complicated than that, what about the kids / my guild? You see where this is going… and it happens to both men and women all the time.
Given the nature of the internet, I’m certain it’s impossible for someone to disagree with the claim that bunny ears equals misogyny for completely non-sexist reasons, but I’m going to do it anyway. If bunny ears in a video game honestly bothers you, your life is pretty good right now. Take your misguided energy and focus on a serious problem. How about building homes for the homeless, or volunteering at a soup kitchen? No? Is it because those things don’t actually benefit you? I’m going to reword the title of that feministing post to reflect the true intent of the author. “My Life, That’s Boring. Let’s Add Sexism!”
I’m not saying there aren’t legitimate concerns among females regarding actual cases of sexism that occur every day. There are real problems we, as a society, must work on. But bunny ears in the world of warcraft… not so much. That’s good for one thing and one thing only. Inciting drama so people will pay attention to you, even if only for a little while. And in the end, it only serves to push people away from legitimate issues because they’re tired of hearing about the insignificant crap like this.
#50 by Raelyf on April 30th, 2009
I’m not really sure I’d call sexism on this one. Annoying? Quite possibly – but sexist? I don’t think so. I mean, of WoW’s entire population of female avatars, I’d estimate somewhere between 50-90% of them are male behind the computer. At that point, does avatar gender have any real meaning?