Apology from Mike Morhaime

[Monica Gems]

So wait. Some singer I've never heard of from a band I've never listened to dissed my fake club from my video game?
RRRRAAAAGGGGEEEE!!!!!!!

... >_> You ... missed the parts where they bleeped out a bunch of slurs (and badly I might add) insulting homosexual people among other things. Yeah, yeah, most of us who play Alliance are used to the slams but honestly. That doesn't even -begin- to compare to some of the triggery words they used. :/ And that's in the badly bleeped version.

And while there is no accounting for taste, I'm still surprised Blizzard went through with this.

No I didn't. I just don't care. If some random loser wants to cuss and throw a fit of a fake group of fake people in a video game, good for him.

[Novikova]

Wow. That's... Uh. Homosexuals aren't a fake group of people. o_o Most of us aren't really bothered by the Alliance bits...

It's just bad form for a company to do this sort of thing. Eh.

[Syleye]

Does anyone else remeber growing up under the sticks and stones rule? I do and frankly I feel, and this is just my opinion, that if people stopped reacting so much to dumb stuff like this...and yes it was incredibly dumb, grew a little thicker skin, that the jerks who insist on talking in this manner would stop...why becuase they only do it for a reaction...please don't give them that power.

[Wain]

Does anyone else remeber growing up under the sticks and stones rule? I do and frankly I feel, and this is just my opinion, that if people stopped reacting so much to dumb stuff like this...and yes it was incredibly dumb, grew a little thicker skin, that the jerks who insist on talking in this manner would stop...why becuase they only do it for a reaction...please don't give them that power.

If the scenario was as you described, then maybe that cliche would have some merit. But it wasn't the case. The reaction wasn't to the guy in the video, a video which, as you say, was made very much for attention-seeking. The reaction was to Blizzard using and perpetuating it. A company that isn't doing it just for attention seeking, and who could react in a positive way to feedback that what they'd done was inappropriate. And they did. It was a case where a negative reaction was worth it. Some things don't change unless pressure is applied to remind people that it does hurt others - the racial "N" word would still be thrown about casually if not for social pressure. But you have to pick your battles. If people are doing it just for attention, and for some damaged people even bad attention is good attention, then this kind of feedback is probably not the way.

[Wain]

Wow. That's... Uh. Homosexuals aren't a fake group of people. o_o Most of us aren't really bothered by the Alliance bits...
It's just bad form for a company to do this sort of thing. Eh.

But... on the internet "not caring" is the new cool.

[Lisaara]

Wow. That's... Uh. Homosexuals aren't a fake group of people. o_o Most of us aren't really bothered by the Alliance bits...
It's just bad form for a company to do this sort of thing. Eh.

But... on the internet "not caring" is the new cool.

Sad but true. :/ Though I agree with Novi.

[Moore]

Does anyone else remeber growing up under the sticks and stones rule? I do and frankly I feel, and this is just my opinion, that if people stopped reacting so much to dumb stuff like this...and yes it was incredibly dumb, grew a little thicker skin, that the jerks who insist on talking in this manner would stop...why becuase they only do it for a reaction...please don't give them that power.

Have you ever known any of the bully type? Since when has any bully you've ever met stopped after you've ignored them?

[Nachtwulf]

They don't. They just try harder until something breaks (usually you).

I'm glad they apologized for it, but I'm still angry about the video as a whole. I personally have seen far FAR more immature behavior come from the supposedly-superior Horde, which only culminates in Mr. I'mAProfessionalAsshat's video confession. I'm already mad over the fact that I feel that Blizzard tends to hand the Horde everything on a plate (which may or may not be the truth but that's how I feel about it) and then to be publically ridiculed in front of Blizzcon?

Sorry, no, not okay. If I'd actually BEEN at Blizzcon instead of on a virtual ticket, I probably would've thrown things at him when he was on stage. What a complete bloody tool. AND ON TOP OF IT they didn't even have the decency to play any REAL music during the closing ceremonies like they did two years ago.

[Lisaara]

Does anyone else remeber growing up under the sticks and stones rule? I do and frankly I feel, and this is just my opinion, that if people stopped reacting so much to dumb stuff like this...and yes it was incredibly dumb, grew a little thicker skin, that the jerks who insist on talking in this manner would stop...why becuase they only do it for a reaction...please don't give them that power.

Have you ever known any of the bully type? Since when has any bully you've ever met stopped after you've ignored them?

None that I knew ever did. I got bullied regardless....and I'm not lesbian either. I got bullied just for being the quiet girl reading manga or a novel.

Lets also remember the teens that ended up committing suicide after being told 'ignore them' but couldn't take it anymore cause ignoring wasn't working.

[Syleye]

Have I ever known the bully type? really, lets just say my whole life was at the mercy of one type of bully or the other. You don't even want to know what I went through in school, or what some of my friends went through, and yes I learned by not giving in and giving them the power either though verbal reaction or emotional that eventualy they got bored and went away. I'm really sorry if you all don't like the fact that I choose to pick my battles and who I let affect my life. I also have learned that people make mistakes, companies make even bigger ones live, learn and deal. As I sated it was my opinion and you don't have to likem it or agree with it but don't think you know me or my life.

[Kyria]

Have I ever known the bully type? really, lets just say my whole life was at the mercy of one type of bully or the other. You don't even want to know what I went through in school, or what some of my friends went through, and yes I learned by not giving in and giving them the power either though verbal reaction or emotional that eventualy they got bored and went away. I'm really sorry if you all don't like the fact that I choose to pick my battles and who I let affect my life. I also have learned that people make mistakes, companies make even bigger ones live, learn and deal. As I sated it was my opinion and you don't have to likem it or agree with it but don't think you know me or my life.

None of the people who responded sounded like they were trying to personally attack you to me. They were simply stating opinions, just like you did, because their experiences with bullies were different from yours, and I don't see anything wrong with that.

[Syleye]

I'm sorry but by refering to my personal way of dealing with bullies as a "cliche" its personal.

[Flyra]

I feel sorry for Alliance cannibal corpse fans...but seriously, what made blizz think this was a good idea? Did they not see it was offensive?

[Kyria]

I'm sorry but by refering to my personal way of dealing with bullies as a "cliche" its personal.

Is it? It didn't seem in any way to be a knock on your actual method of dealing with bullies, especially since he said twice that your method would have merit in most other situations and would probably be the correct way to go about things. I can understand why the phrase would be hurtful to you, but I don't think he meant for it to be. Again, just the way I'm reading it. I could be entirely wrong.

[Novikova]

It's situational. It's the standard response to 'oh? You're offended? JUST TOUGHEN UP/IGNORE THEM'. It ... might work for some situations but in the long haul, someone being constantly insulted for their sexual orientation from all angles is going to snap if all they get is 'ignore it!' People fall into despair when all they get is 'you're just not tough enough, let it be!'

Companies need to know crap like this is not okay. It is NOT okay to tell female players concerned about armor at a panel to go 'just wear a shirt if you want to cover your tummy tums'. It is NOT okay to sling around homophobic slurs. LGBTQ people have to deal with that far too much. We can't tell the persecuted, 'just toughen up'. It's bad on a professional level and bad period. o_o

As for the Alliance thing, it's a bit 'ehn'.

[Syleye]

My point wasn't to toughen up my point was to empower the target not the offender...by acknowledging their attitdues you give them power...turn it the other way and empower the people who are being affected, to me it a positve vs. negative response, that being said i'm done with expressing my opnion here. I have enough "real" people in my life who want to me to feel like a worthless moron without adding to it

[Kalliope]

You're bringing your personal experience into this debate a little too strongly, Syleye. No one has called you a moron or anything else. (How ironic that you're getting offended by words while defending a position of ignoring others' words.)

That said, having a thicker skin, as you say, is a good thing. However, as others have said, there is a time to acknowledge the problem. After all, sometimes ignoring the troublemakers empowers them as well.

[Wain]

I'm sorry, Syleye, if my words offended you personally. It's always a difficult situation when, in a debate thread, someone uses their personal philosophy as the way they think things should be handled. It means that any criticism of that viewpoint can be turned around as a "personal attack". In some threads I've seen this done in a deliberate, manipulative way, though I know that wasn't your intent here.

The phrase "sticks and stones..." is, on its own, a cliche. Or perhaps an "old adage" might have been less offensive. If you take that as your personal philosophy for certain situations then I can respect that. I also agree this one has its merits, though I don't believe it does in all sitatuations. In this situation I don't believe we're talking about an issue of bullying as much as the casual (thoughtless) endorsement of belittlement and hatred. Blizzard were called on it, they realized they had gone too far, and they apologized. And I do believe it was nothing worse than thoughtless on their part. I don't think the people involved really thought about it until it was brought up. A case where addressing something offensive can be a positive thing.

[Impulse]

They don't. They just try harder until something breaks (usually you).

I'm glad they apologized for it, but I'm still angry about the video as a whole. I personally have seen far FAR more immature behavior come from the supposedly-superior Horde, which only culminates in Mr. I'mAProfessionalAsshat's video confession. I'm already mad over the fact that I feel that Blizzard tends to hand the Horde everything on a plate (which may or may not be the truth but that's how I feel about it) and then to be publically ridiculed in front of Blizzcon?

Sorry, no, not okay. If I'd actually BEEN at Blizzcon instead of on a virtual ticket, I probably would've thrown things at him when he was on stage. What a complete bloody tool. AND ON TOP OF IT they didn't even have the decency to play any REAL music during the closing ceremonies like they did two years ago.

Yes Blizzard did good job deciding to apology, yes he should've been more careful with words he chose.

But really? We all know he's a WoW player (or at least pretending to be) and doing this hardcore RP talk. He didn't really mean what he said we adults should know well enough this doesn't mean Blizzard automatically cares more about Horde. What Blizzard care about is to keep their players happy not act bias based on their personal preferences.

Some people really need to learn how to be flexible and read mood. Did he really look like he was being super serious or did he look like he's giving some act to hype things up? People say and hear a lot of stuff they don't really mean it in their lives, some times it is less stressful for yourself to not take things literally or too personally on things that obviously wasn't intended. I am not justifying it that is alright. It is not, but if you don't learn to cope with things around you, there will be a long road ahead of you.

[Vephriel]

The video shown was actually from years ago during a metal fest. He was being interviewed and went on a WoW tangent (he was pretty drunk at the time too, iirc). The full interview is longer and has been on youtube for a while. I have no idea why Blizzard decided it should be shown at an event like BlizzCon, it really wasn't suitable at all. Definitely a moment of poor judgement, but they seem genuinely abashed for it.