Since July, a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) against Activision Blizzard for workplace discrimination has led to a slow but constant reform across the company. At the same time, Blizzard has taken measures to address problematic content within games likeWorld of WarcraftandOverwatch. Now, with its most recent efforts, the name of a few achievements inWorld of Warcraftare being targeted.
The change comes along withthe 9.15World of Warcraft: Shadowlandsupdatewhich also introduced a slew of character customization options for the Lightforged Draenei and Nightborne races, and changes to the Island Expeditions content fromBattle for Azeroth. At the end of the patch notes, Blizzard announced two achievement name changes, marketed as its first move towards cleansingWorld of Warcraftof inappropriate references.
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The two achievements in question were added along with the achievement system back in 2008 duringWrath of the Lich King. While some players view the names as rather innocuous, the argument was made by others for the change, and in light of details surrounding the recentlawsuit against Blizzard, the company decided it would be best to purge its game of potentially offensive references.
The first achievement, now named “My Storage is Gigantique” is given to players that buy a 1200 gold, 22 slot bag from Haris Pilton—an obvious reference to Paris Hilton—in Shattrath. The second achievement that was changed, now called “Holiday Bromance,” is granted to players that cast the Mistletoe spell on a number of NPCs that have the word “brother” in their name. In addition to these changes, the 9.15 patch also ushered in stronger chat moderation as well as harsher punishment for repeat offenders, in a continued effort byBlizzard to crack down on in-game griefingand unsuitable behavior.
Of course, the majority of fans saw the move as putting a band-aid on a bullet wound, sarcastically applauding the company for its efforts, suggesting that the work to address major internal issues could hardly be achieved with in-game changes. To make matters worse, the forum discussion highlighted a number of other potentially problematic achievements and NPC names that could have been addressed along with the two changes. For many, the tiny changes made during the 9.15Shadowlandspatch were considered too insubstantial for them to consider renewing their subscription, and many fans decided to join a growingexodus away fromWorld of Warcraft.
World of Warcraftis available now on Mac and PC.
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