Sara Andrews wanted to create a guild in WoW that was friendly to GLBTs. What she got instead was a notice from Blizzard for sexual harassment. I don't think this is right, considering that there is already so much language in the game that is pretty derogatory towards the GLBT community already. To create a community where they'd be safe from the gay-bashing would be a nice change of pace.
The audience in WoW is older than most games, but it doesn't mean it's more mature by any respect -- it's still a hostile environment for certain groups -- anonyminity seems to protect both those victimized as well as the victimizer. The difference is that in WoW, you can essentially mute people. Someone has a political view you don't agree with? You can silence them and never have to interact with them again. And I guess that's the problem I see with Blizzard's view that it would cause more issues of harrassment -- because of this ability to ignore the other person -- the issue need only go on long enough for the person being ignored to become tired or bored of the non-interaction.
For everything great that a MMOG is, there's alot of garbage that comes with it. MMOGs act as a mirror -- serving to reflect the best and worst of people.
Blizzard on GLBT policy.
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