Tuesday, February 14, 2006
I do not see why this became news worthy. WoW is in the news for warning someone that promoting there guild as being 'glbt friendly'(gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) is a violation of the EULA.
I can understand why the player is upset. Why would a person that is saying he is tolerant of others sexual orientation be accused of violating a harassment clause in the EULA? What I do not understand is why the article keeps saying this player was punished. There was NO punishment, they were just asked not to recruit for their guild in that manner in game, or they risked being banned. The account was not locked for any time, the player was not kicked off the server, the account was not banned which could result in the player loosing all the fees that have been paid. No, the player was just asked to take the recruiting practice out side of the game. They can still promote their guild anyway they want outside of the game.
I will admit it is confusing, but I think Blizzard was trying to prevent problems before it started. Generally, the Game Masters will not intervene in a situation, unless they have other players complaining. They are not omni potent, nor can they see all the conversations going on in all the cities. I myself have a hard time keeping up with General chat in one city. My experience is that people will complain to a GM about most anything. Someone doesn't like a guilds name, the guild is reported to a GM. Someone said a cuss word (which players can have filtered), the person gets reported to a GM. A person makes too many sexual innuendos (which are also keyboard commands provided by Blizzard called Emotes), the person gets reported. Someone makes a reference to snorting [Strange Dust](an enchanting item in the game), the person gets reported. This is Blizzards world, you have to live by their rules that they set up to try and make this game most enjoyable for everyone. Your only ‘bill of rights’ in their world are the EULA that you have to agree to before you can enter their world.
I wonder what I can get warned for in WoW that will get me my 15 minutes in the news?
|
I can understand why the player is upset. Why would a person that is saying he is tolerant of others sexual orientation be accused of violating a harassment clause in the EULA? What I do not understand is why the article keeps saying this player was punished. There was NO punishment, they were just asked not to recruit for their guild in that manner in game, or they risked being banned. The account was not locked for any time, the player was not kicked off the server, the account was not banned which could result in the player loosing all the fees that have been paid. No, the player was just asked to take the recruiting practice out side of the game. They can still promote their guild anyway they want outside of the game.
I will admit it is confusing, but I think Blizzard was trying to prevent problems before it started. Generally, the Game Masters will not intervene in a situation, unless they have other players complaining. They are not omni potent, nor can they see all the conversations going on in all the cities. I myself have a hard time keeping up with General chat in one city. My experience is that people will complain to a GM about most anything. Someone doesn't like a guilds name, the guild is reported to a GM. Someone said a cuss word (which players can have filtered), the person gets reported to a GM. A person makes too many sexual innuendos (which are also keyboard commands provided by Blizzard called Emotes), the person gets reported. Someone makes a reference to snorting [Strange Dust](an enchanting item in the game), the person gets reported. This is Blizzards world, you have to live by their rules that they set up to try and make this game most enjoyable for everyone. Your only ‘bill of rights’ in their world are the EULA that you have to agree to before you can enter their world.
I wonder what I can get warned for in WoW that will get me my 15 minutes in the news?
