Not enough RP? Well… I could write a 100 pages long post of how certain characters are afraid of Void Elves.
What do you mean by “not enough”?
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Regardless of whether it’s done well or not (eg. its an obvious self-insert, it’s overtly done to the point of avoiding consequences etc) it’s still part of the setting, isn’t it?
And even if it is, what if we don’t need to acknowledge it? I couldn’t care less if someone gets off to hating blue Elves IRL if it’s not pushed in my face or being constantly whispered to me by the individual in-game.
Bad roleplay is bad roleplay, the daily orc who used to stomp around Silvermoon and shout racist jingles is not missed. Whether its part of the setting is irrelevant if it’s just trash roleplay.
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Unfortunately I do, because when this is the case, it very clearly spills out into their roleplay. It’s something that I find very uncomfortable to engage with. For me, it’s on the same level as the characters who shout about sexual assault toward their foes.
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IC racism is absolutely okay.
None of my characters scream ‘BURN THE X’ in the streets - but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a bias against various things (in Chieun’s case: warmongering cultures, users of darker magics, etc)
Turns out sometimes travel and understanding can make your bias grow…
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Honestly I can agree with that. At the same time, in Stormwind in particular, I see vastly different scenarios where Void Elves (and their enlightened sycophants) call out others for racism (?) as if it was something derogatory. I don’t feel that’s on the same level.
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If species from another world arrives on your planet and immediately starts war of eradication against your species, are you a racist for hating that species?
If another race of your species (that is so different from you that they might be considered their own species) arrives from another continent and takes over your land and sacred places, are you a racist for hating them after they force you into hiding in half-ruined capital of your former empire?
Warcraft is about race warfare and portrays a lot of hatred between races on opposite sides of wars (a.k.a., Alliance and Horde). However, it´s extremely different from racism we see in modern times where one person hates another simply because of color of their skin or because “they are taking their jobs”.
Really the only prominent example of this type of racism (and even that racism was fueled by loss of one´s home) is Garithos, who isn´t even considered important enough to be mentioned in Anduin´s “club of Alliance´s mistakes”.
Unfortunately, much of racism I´ve seen portrayed by roleplayers is the second category, where it´s not against those you are at war with, but rather your closest allies. And no, I´m not talking about humans hating void elves, I am speaking about racism against gnomes or dwarves. Races that have always been allies of humans, live among them and work closely together, yet for some reason, they are hated and it´s all justified by one side character in lore or by the fact that Warcraft is about racial war and therefore you can punt midgets.
Note: I am speaking mainly about the Alliance here, since that´s the scene where I roleplay, Horde might be a bit more complicated due to undead being undead, orcs being a-holes and history between elves and trolls even if those have been completely different trolls.
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Yeah you are but it’s justified.
Which is just a thing on Azeroth, justified racism. It’s p normal
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But yeah, racism in RP is 100% okay, as long as you’re not doing it just to be funny. I hate elves, because of how snobby they are, and how they view themselves as so cultured and superior, despite literally the majority of their entire race being in divided ruins.
And, of course, because of their long, disgusting ears.
When it comes to void elves specifically, I feel like the race would lose a lot of narrative value and uniqueness in the context of RP if everyone suddenly became okay with not only void use but also those so extensively delving into it that you get yourself badly corrupted.
Being controversial IC is really their thing. Even Blizzard has mentioned them being viewed in such a manner (a treatment not even the former Iron Horde Mag’har, who presumably also were met with a degree of distrust, got).
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One of yesterday’s incidents involved a Blood Elf within Stormwind City where she was vehemently defended against evil “racists” by Guard RPers and some pirates.
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Agree a lot, the combo of outspoken muh Garrosh orc and hating [whoever is currently running the area of choice] was never good
I think there is a tasteful way to play it - ie. showing prejudice doesn’t necessarily have to be sprinting through Silvermoon yelling about killing the knife-ears or whatever but can be played out in a cool / nuanced way and I think setting-appropriate prejudices are generally more interesting - like hating everything that isn’t human just because it’s extremely badass isn’t that compelling but (for example) I really like people roleplaying at least some level of racism against Forsaken post 8.25 on the Horde because it fits cleanly with the narrative
In the same way, N’zoth popping up should have void-influenced races experience similar trouble. I don’t think the average joe schmoe guard will be arresting people for being rude to void elves when a very real threat to their sanity is invading world
A case of a lower order roleplayer seeing muh valeener sanguinar / muh centaur who joined the horde to justify truly whacky RP I think
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For me personally, it becomes an issue how some people roleplay it. The “Male Human Paladin” trope/meme is a big example of this.
Warcraft/WoW in general does show us that racism/xenophobia towards diffrent races and cultures definatly exist and is very much a thing today still, -very- much so towards the opposite faction. The War Campaign shows on several ocassions just how agressive the Alliance can be in their racism towards the Horde species or other natives, see Vulpera.
The problem for me that I tend to often criticise though is when you have specifically human roleplayers, and in most situations are all soldiers, often high-ranking, that absolutley loathe their own allies. And im not talking void elves now, but things like gnomes and dwarves. I have in the past on several ocassions seen people roleplaying as military commanders loudly berating how gnomes, dwarves etc are worse than orcs, talking about how it was a shame the orcs didnt permamently kill the Draenei etc.
Distrust towards new allies like the void elves, especially due to what they are and in an age of war and more prevalent xenophobia is fine. But it strikes me as odd when they show -more- hate towards some of the oldest and loyal allies of the Alliance than they do towards the Horde.
And when you ask them either IC or OOC about it, Garithos is brought up as an example, and it just goes 
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Some of my greatest RP on this character was RPing through the racism and earning my place in the Alliance. It’s genuinely disappointing to see so many people get so angry OOC when it’s literally free RP content. Is standing AFK in cathedral square really that entertaining?
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Was racism against draenei a thing when they first came out? Cannot say I know too much about the RP in that time period.
@Swooce @Swooce
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Even ignoring the corruption, look at their history. How many times have they switched teams by now?
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I heard it was. But when I joined AD in wrath, it still very much was. The whole "lol space goats, you are all so strange xD"ooc jokes was geniuenly used alot in roleplay, and you still find some people doing it today.
Yeah it was a bit, especially in the angle I approached. My character desired to be a part of human society, which had its own trials. It was great to do that RP, especially when you found people that actually engaged that angle of your character and acknowledged the fact that you really do look like one of those cosmic horrors that just invaded the world.
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