I am going to assume you are heterosexual. You have never faced genuine homophobic abuse or bigotry in your life. You have absolutely no idea how you would/would not respond to it in roleplay; you only have an idealised view based on your lack of personal experience with the subject.
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It very clearly states that such language isnt allowed, period.
Genuinely I am sorry that you had to go through that. That very much sounds like the whole ābeing gay is unmanly and being unmanly is badā rhetoric that highschoolers and people who never quite grow out of high school tend to go for. But thatās the thing, while you did have to toughen up in order to make it through that process, would you really wish for others to do the same?
Iām going to assume that you think you were treated unfairly for allegations of sexuality (because, frankly, you WERE treated unfairly), and surely then if you hold the belief that what happened to you isnāt fair, then youād want to see othes avoid the situation that you are in?
Like, I have episodes of anxiety and depression. Sometimes Iām too scared to do things I enjoy, sometimes Iām too unmotivated. And it sucks, and itās unfair. But Iād rather have myself pushed up to the standards of living of others, rather than dragging everyone down to the experience I went through. Do you not feel the same with your situation?
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It always makes me laugh when people are adamant that āThere would be X because it exists in the real world!!ā
Likeā¦ thatās not how it works? Thereās flying ships, thereās magic space lasers, thereās Goblins that will inventions into existence through magic rocks and belief, thereās shape shifting which is totally normal for a bunch of races.
There doesnāt have to be; racism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia or r*%&. People putting that into their characters is a choice. And that says a lot more about them, imo, than it does the world.
If the devs turned around and said tomorrow āYeah, none of these things exist in Azerothā then thatās that. And yet Iām sure people would, for whatever reason, still argue for their ārightā to put questionable content into RP. Funny thatā¦
It stopped bothering you because being gay is not who you are and the people you are around eventually realised that. A mistake from vicious classmates culminating in misplaced homophobic abuse is a terrible thing, and Iām sorry that happened to you, but it does not compare to people who are genuinely homosexual and are having the very fact of their existence abused by others. This goes far beyond just petty playground behaviour, too.
At the very least, though, I would have hoped it would give you a sense of empathy for otherās suffering the same or (very often) much worse.
Characters arent players. Threatening the life of little jimmy behind his pc isnt the same as threatening Ograr the Warrior
Homophobic language however is the same whether its a player or an avatar saying it, because the issue isnt who it is aimed at.
Cāmon, you seem clever enough to get the difference.
Nooo why cant they force homophobia into WoW its not fair
I am just afraid that we create āweaponsā and precedence cases real homophobes, racists and RP-haters can (and will) use against LGBTQ+ people and us roleplayers. That is my whole reason for being overly cautios and smartassery.
How are they gonna use ādonāt bring homophobia into the gameā against us
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I understand this. I do. But I still canāt agree with it, not in this instance. Because the thing to consider for people RPing gay or bisexual characters, is that the adversity is already present - itās their daily lives. Itās having to hide themselves from friends and family. Itās having to lie constantly and convincingly in order to avoid detection. Itās fearing being kicked out of the house by a family that might not accept what they really are. Thatās why Iāve remained so adamant on homophobia being a non-factor in roleplay and why Iām going to continue to hold that stance.
You are right in that adversity does build strength, but injecting adversity into peopleās means of escapism is honestly quite cruel when you consider those living conditions.
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To add onto this. Iām not going to stop criticising the use of homophobia in roleplay out of fear of the retribution of online incels with an aversion to progressive culture.
As I said. My fear is (which MIGHT be unfounded) that one could report Roleplayers for āViolenceā and āThreatsā, because they happened IC.
I wouldnāt fear from rping out something that exists ingame. Not much of a āweaponā tbh.
Sure. But there are GMs who decide if the report has any value or not.
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Probably not. But the larger guilds on Argent Dawn tend to use the forums as a method of promotion and discussion, and if posts like these can influence the larger guilds, then maybe the smaller guilds will follow suit.
The alternative is just not saying anything at all and allowing something I personally find to be very inconsiderate go unchecked, and Iām past the point in my life where I allow such things to happen.
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What makes u think we can only do one or the other lol
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yea honeslty homophobia in wow is possibly the stupidest rp you can do
warcraft is not the setting for it as it simply doesnāt exist in this universe
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Wellā¦ this failed with the belf posters, so it will not always work Iām afriad, one can try, but if folk are so stuck up their on nose, then there is really nothing one can do but push them aside and not associate with them.
i think instead i will condemn it on the forums for all time
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I believe I tried to be civil at the start, but oneās good will only lasts so far.
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It is not our job to educate homophobes in our leisure time. If they have questions and want to put an end to their ignorance, thatās great and I will happily explain things to them ā but, as weāve seen in this very thread, there are a great many people who donāt even realise the harm that their āreasonable, centre-groundā and utterly tepid takes can cause.
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