Arabs in wow (Wastewanders)

Community General Discussion
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Hello folks.

I’m going to talk about a topic that might be a bit sensitive for some forum folks so if this ain’t your type of thread please simply click away.

I made this thread because I wanted to talk about the Arab representation in wow, specifically with the Wastewanders. As an Arab gamer, I love noticing little elements of my culture in games. In FF14 it’s the kingdom of “Ul’dah” which I love seeing people appreciate the Arab culture of that area and comment on it in a positive way.

What I want to talk about today and focus on is the Wastewanders, a group of human sailors/pirates who ended up in Tanaris around Warcraft 3 era and they’ve been there ever since, with the majority moving to Uldum and making their capital there in the Obelisk of the moon (BFA update)

They started out as villains and bandits who were hostile, which was not a good representation of tan skinned humans with Arab names, and their leader was called a “Caliph” which doesn’t help lmao :rofl:

But luckily, after cataclysm they changed to be on the “good side” whatever that might be. Neutral to both horde and alliance and helping us defeat N’zoth during the Uldum assaults. What they did in BFA was very good with the Wastewanders, and I hope it doesn’t stop there and that they grow to be a good civilization with children NPC running around and maybe a few friendly activities that reward you items. We need a bit more from the Wastewanders that make them more human and not just a group of bandits and pirates living in the deserts. If they are the only human group with Arab names, then they need to be represented a bit more in a good manner. Bring them on par with the gilneans or Stromgarde or any other human groups out there.

The reason why I’m saying this is because, typically, the Wastewanders are the only humans on Warcraft universe who seem to be inspired by Arabs/ Middle Easterns. Even their names are Arab, as some names are “Zahra” which means flower in Arabic. “Farah” which means happiness in Arabic. Among other names that are Arabic/ Persian.

Given that they are the only humans in wow who have Arab names and somewhat Arab culture, we do hope they would be taken to a direction that makes them more human and more good. At least, as a middle eastern I would appreciate it much more.

Arabs are often stereotyped negativity in the media, so any positive representation we will take it. And I’m very happy to see the change you did to the Wastewanders in BFA and I hope it continues to that direction

Real Arabs :point_down:

some suggestions I have for the Wastewanders to make them more “human” is:

  • adding some children NPC, 1 or 2 is enough. Maybe even 1 baby NPC held by a mother. Stormwind has something similar by the lake side.

  • a merchant that sells unique cosmetic dresses

That’s it. Thanks for reading.

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Don’t worry there will be more Arab represantation in the future.

https://www.ign.com/articles/controversial-saudi-crown-prince-invests-billions-in-three-more-game-companies

I have a feeling, probably next expansion.

Not all arabs are good guys not all arabs are bad guys like all other races, it is simple. Media does media things and pushes agendas of their sponsors and investors. I prefer to judge people individually rather than based on race or something I see on mainstream media. Mainstream media is like Silithus of WoW, nothing good comes out of it, if something good comes out of it, it is probably an accident, caused by a mistake. :smirk:

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Allied Race (Neutral like Pandas) that can choose which Faction to join.

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:100: can’t argue with that.

You want them as an allied race? Pretty sure they are just humans with a different culture. Same body and same hairstyles. Although they did get unique voicelines in BFA which is sweet.

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Truer words were never spoken.

Well…that’s an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.

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I want this to remain a complete fantasy tyvm, we get allot of “representation” in all other things i feel like im sufocating, cant even watch a show or a movie without that being the main thing they push.

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I think you are confusing two things here. Forced representation is when you switch a race of a character in order to show representation that is not necessarily needed.

The Wastewanders have already been clearly shown as being inspired by middle eastern people. Their leader is called a “caliph” and their NPC’s have Arabic/ Persian names. If they expand on that but in a good way, it won’t be force representation. It would be good representation. It would be fixing what was considered a horrible representation of brown people as being hostile bandits that was slightly fixed in BFA.

Are you bothered that the taurens are inspired by native Americans? Or the pandarens are inspired by the East Asians? I’m personally not bothered. If anything I started appreciating the culture more. This is what you call good representation.

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You dont get it, i want pure fantasy, thats it.
I dont want to play a game to learn about culture, i just want to play a game that has nothing to do with anything culture related in real life, i do like to learn and watch alot and read about in my non gaming time about diferent cultures.
Please dont try to straw man me.

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Then WoW isn’t the game for you as there’s references everywhere as well as holidays.

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I’m not. I just misunderstood your comment. And im sure I’m not the only one who got confused.

That’s not what I was implying at all. I just want good/ better representation of Arabs. The Wastewanders are already there, they just need to expand on it.

Every game has cultural inspirations, even if it’s not 100% clear. It’s made in a fantasy way, but the cultural inspirations is usually very clear.

This is very prominent in wow, for Stormwind is based on a culture, gilneas, pandaria, and many other places in wow.

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I think a whole city built around the theme of Throne of the Four Winds/Vortex Pinnacle could be a fitting hub for them. Yes, I would like a hub like that very much.

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I’m pretty sure “less representation” isn’t going to happen. Blizzard probably won’t want to stop using their diversity tool which they put quite a lot of effort into. I mean an Arabic character would score at least 7 points for being Arabic alone. Imagine how inclusive and representative they could come across if they were to add say a strong independent bi transgender Wastewander factional leader. Won’t score as many points as Majordomo Selistra probably, but still a lot.

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Please, just play the game… i already got very bad rep for my “culture” with vampires all named after common names in my country, i dont need that, even if it was a good representation i wouldnt need that.
Play the game…why cant you just do that… ?
Why is there always some1 who asks for representation in everything? Ur just atracting more bad things then good didnt u learn that already ?
Play the game for what it is and maybe ask for more class fantasy or more ballance i dont know

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Oribos gave me some real persian vibes with the music and brokers having a persian accent, but in my opinon uldum and egyptian styled zones could fall into those categories aswell, tbh the game is not going anywhere i think we are going to see all cultures in this game at somepoint.

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Kul Tirans and Gilneas are basically Humans too.
And Void Elves are basically the same as Blood Elves with some different customisations…

If they did add Wastewanders as an Allied Race there would need to be some tweaks, some different customisations, racials, transmogs etc.

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I do play the game. One of my favorite things in the game is Roleplay, which relies heavily on established lore. That’s how I stumbled upon the Wastewanders and wanted to Roleplay one badly. Then I realized how horrible their lore is and how they have Arab names :sob:

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You have almost 4k achievement points and almost 2k posts on forums, u barely play the game yet u keep making threads about Arab stuff in wow, why ?
It makes you look like ur not even interested in the game per se and look like you got another agenda, come on man…

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Are we achievement shaming now? Come on man.

I’m a roleplayer. I already mentioned that. I don’t M+, I don’t PVP, and I don’t raid for I have a disability that makes it 10 times harder for me to do any of these sensory overload things .

I simply quest, Roleplay, and transmog. That’s it.

Please don’t bully me for my achievements. That’s low

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So if I make the thread it has more meaning cause of achievement points?

Good ideas =/= achievement points

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You get 4k achievement points for just logging in almost thats why im mentioning it and you should know that, dont try to play the victim now, like wth…

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