Geek Humor

Found this site today (geek-2-me), and it looks pretty cool. Just a quick note to make a point of sharing it.

:-)

Don't Ask Don't Tell hits WoW Guilds

Excerpted from the article:

A Blizzard spokesman said it was only trying to enforce a policy designed to protect all WoW members from being harassed. And in fairness, in a gaming world where many players are young, male and prone to hurling insults, that the company wants to avoid potential problems makes sense

Although there is a part of me that understands this approach to preventing harassment from taking place, the idea that we must be silent (in the closet), in order to be protected from abuse ... well that just doesn't sit too well with me. It feels awfully close to blaming the victim for the crime.

This is where the social networking component of these online games crosses the line from gaming, technology and geekdom into politics. The approach Blizzard has taken is an echo of the military policies currently in effect. Please note that the policy doesn't seem to work so well for them, either. I suppose there is a certain logic to this. WoW is a militaristic game, so taking their cue from the US military is not that far-fetched, if ill-advised.

What do you do, as Blizzard? It would take a lot more resources to protect the minority than it would to tell them to shut up and pretend to be straight. I am thinking this is not overt bigotry, but a byproduct of the homophobia rampant in the US combined with a bottom line strategy that demands the "biggest bang for the buck." Once again a minority group gets steamrolled due to fiscal policies.

What do you do, as a gamer? Go elsewhere? WoW is so huge, that it, like Microsoft, sets the stage and determines a lot of the rules as they exist elsewhere, too. Add to that, the fact that WoW is the place to be. I have literally heard of WoW being used to get employment. Proving your networking skills in a virtual environment can be very enticing to a prospective employer. (see http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/learn.html)

This isn't an easy problem, but I hope that Blizzard finds a more equitable way out of the maze.