I knew you were trying to make this reference before you even added the edit, smh
Rule of thumb, if homophobia isnât explicitly stated to exist as part of fantasy universe, you can safely assume itâs not supposed to be there. You have Altmer in TES, obsessed on propagating legacy and good genes, and even there there is no word on scorning same sex relationships. You can depict some RL issues using more fitting stand-ins like being racist towards orcs or whatever, but on this particular topic I think most developers would prefer to not tackle these problems in their escapist fantasy.
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i forgot which chat i had uploaded and it took me a min to search it
Sad reminder that the big guys at the top came out and said that Stoletalon Garrosh was due to a internal communication misstake, and he was always meant to be like his SoO persona. Basically Stonetalon is soft headcanon 
I am going to play devilâs advocate here and bring up that I myself, and no doubt many others, see the cultures in WoW as similar to their pseudo-medieval counterparts (and by pseudo-medieval, I mean the medieval period as typically portrayed in fiction). Of course, there is a large degree of divergence and each race and faction brings their own flavor to it, but most are about at that level of social and cultural advancement (exceptions being Goblins and Gnomes). As such, I believe a homophobic character isnât really out of place in the setting. Itâs hard to say either way though, as I donât think thereâs been an explicitly non-heterosexual relationship portrayed in the game or lore yet (I may be wrong of course, but I donât recall any). I can really see someone justifiably wanting to play a character that is prejudiced and choosing that as a flavor different from the usual âorc is badâ type.
WoW isnt medieval based though. Yeah, it has swords and shields and knights, but other than that itâs a whole mix-match of everything with itâs own history.
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Long as you do your divine duty and advance your bloodline with impeccable genes, Altmer donât care what you do after that and with whom as long as it stays in line with the societal laws of good conduct and grace in public. Spilling wine is illegal in public, but privacy of oneâs home is another matter. Even straight people arenât allowed to do PDA beyond hand holding in Summerset.
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The issue with this is that the primary reason for the scorn in IRL medieval societies doesnât exist within WoWâs setting.
Hell, in WoW when a King who dies comes back to life? Heâs kind of a villain rather than a messiah.
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Oh yeah I totally agree, Iâve argued enough with people over the years about to have stopped giving a toss about measuring it so to speak. If people wanna measure the success of their masculinity by being a spanner to other people thatâs their time to waste.
Iâve always been considered quite flamboyant I suppose which is maybe why I relate to gnomes. Yet Iâve always known I was straight, but Iâve received a fair amount of eyebrows raised in my life and still do because my interests are very non masculine.
I just think people need to stop giving such a toss about others and what they do or who they love. Itâs a wierd thing to make that your business. Like people have twisted their faces beyond belief about how I can be like I am and not be gay. Like, who cares, does my wife care? No. So why should you? Youâre not my wife, that position is taken.
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This is a very important part for me. Roleplay has always been a vehicle for players who are wrestling with real life identity issues, and it affords them a âsafeâ environment to explore that side of themselves possibly before theyâre comfortable with engaging without out-of-character.
I was definitely one of those people as a teenager, and my formative years roleplaying â particularly with accepting guilds â benefited from this.
As players, I think we each have a responsibility to make our community (be that broadly AD or just our guilds) accepting and safe for these people to join and enjoy themselves in. We donât know the damage that homophobia or transphobia can do to a player when theyâve come to WoW to help avoid that kind of bigotry.
When I was in school, I was openly âflamboyantâ, with dyed hair and a muted interest in traditionally masculine topics like sport. When eventually I got a bit older, decided I was bored of long-hair and adopted a more âregularâ aesthetic, I was complimented for âmanning upâ. Thatâs always stuck with me, and Iâve always made a point of not caring that I am not - and never will be - traditionally masculine.
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Essentially the only prejudice shown in-game is cross-species racism, Humans hating Orcs and vice versa etc.
Wanting to portray your character being prejudiced can be done in a lot more lore-friendly ways than homophobia, which apart from not fitting the setting, is also not at all interesting in the context of the game
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Iâm not quite sure what youâre trying to implyâŚwhat do you think is the primary reason again?
Torn on this tbf.
On one hand Iâd say itâs fine if not taken far - A mere comment in passing like âughâ would be all right?
On the other hand⌠It does hit people hard.
But why is IC racism to, say, Void elves fine (passing comment that is) and not a passing comment on something LGBT?
Maybe neither should happen. Maybe it should be kept IC.
If you hate LGBT irl though youâre trash and shouldnât live it through a game. Same with racism etc.
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Mainly various forms of IRL religions and political power players which impacted history over the years up until the middle-ages.
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Itâs a shame that this thread needs to be made, however, Iâm so glad that someone did. I certainly wouldnât have had the confidence to do it in fear of the backlash that might have happened, but seeing this many people being supportive is really damn heartwarming.
On a bit more an on topic note, Iâm gay myself, and I find the characters where their personality exists -just- to be gay irritating, because I find it demeaning myself. But I would never call someone out for it, itâs just a character that Iâd rather avoid.
Travis is a character thatâs gone through a few phases, heâs been in a straight relationship for a while and now heâs in a same sex one, but itâs -never- been the focus of him, itâs just⌠A thing that he happens to be involved in.
The homophobia that Iâve fortunately avoided myself, others havenât been so lucky. We live in a world where so many people are pushed down every damn day for being who they are, it really has no place in this one where we come in here to get away from all that crap that we suffer IRL.
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Frankly, using âgayâ to talk about homosexuals and not as an adjective for something cheerful or joyful (and vice versa for queer and strange things) is that much more unimmersive for me personally because of how archaic English has a natural connection to early modern settings.
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No, it wouldnât. It might not make me feel actively uncomfortable, but I would make a mental note to avoid that roleplayer from now on â Iâm not interested in engaging with even low-key homophobia, because frankly it has no place in the context of Warcraft and it is not interesting or fun whatsoever.
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The difference is the disconnect with the game world. Disliking a ficitonal group of people based on their fictional religious views is just that - fiction. It may mirror some real life conflicts, but it is not those real life conflicts.
Homophobia in WoW manifests in the same way it does in real life. Itâs a little close to home and crosses the border between player intent and character intent.
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The former is a comment against people who could be seen as a member or a race with chronic backstabbing disorder who has now started tampering with powers that even Warlocks would probably back away from nervously. The latter is just pettiness.
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I get this, I really do and to see homophobia would make me feel odd, but at the same time Iâm also very keen on keeping this separated, IC from OOC etc, and personally canât imagine ever letting something said IC affect me as a person no matter what it is.
But again, I understand both sides of this and such is why Iâm like âeeeeh I dunno?â