Wow, that really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I too think people are getting way too worked up over nothing, but while I don't like sounding like an activist, reading those articles infuriated me. WoW, in my limited experience of it, seems to have stepped beyond the realm of just an RPG game (or even an MMORPG, which is its proper classification I suppose). For some players it's as much a social experience as a gaming experience.

In real life I'd be totally pissed off if someone told me I wasn't allowed to date another guy because it might make people uncomfortable. Of course, that stuff happens every day. And while an online game is obviously not nearly as important as real life, it reflects it in some ways. And simply because it is a game, and therefore should be taken much less seriously, I get even more perturbed just thinking about it. Some players might feel "harassed" because other players might not choose to identify as heterosexual. Jeez, come on, it's a game.

And yet, it totally turns me off from wanting to play it again. Why can't people just leave each other alone???

Been immersed in WoW myself for a couple of months and, despite it's advances in communication in game (back in UO days, we had outside programs to talk to each other, which was a pain) and the fact that I play with a lot of people I know, the game itself is far less social than any MMORPG I've played. UO was far more social-centric.. events and quests (not in the same sense as WoW, because many were player run) that were more people oriented instead of hack-slash stuff. Maybe it's because the GMs and Counselors interacted in the game. They were visible and available and so the world evolved around the players, not just Origin.

I dunno. This really isnt about the topic at hand.. I guess I just wish WoW was more social and less power-level. Without the link working, I dont understand how anyone would know if I decided to marry my lesbian lover in game, so how would they be offended by it?

Interesting. Personally the only experience with MMORPGs I have is with Lineage II, and WoW is definitely much more social than Lineage II. Though Lineage II had better graphics.

It's funny; after playing Lineage II I thought leveling up in WoW was ridiculously easy. It's next to impossible in Lineage II.

Anyway, I think that if any game wants to evolve in a social sort of way, then its GMs shouldn't be doing stuff like that. But then, it ends up mimicking real life anyway--the people in charge try to project their own views on the masses.

Personally I don't know how anyone would know if you married someone of the same sex in WoW. Do they keep track of stuff like that? And if they do, that's just sad.

Leveling is pretty easy, you're right. I guess I never expected anything else though, coming from a Diablo/DII background where it's very similar. Kill, get level, get better item. Kill more.

GMs in UO didnt fuel the social aspect, but they did assist it. If someone (in the beginning days anyway) wanted a wedding, the GM would attend, perform the ceremony, do all kinds of special GMy effects and things. It gave players access to cool stuff in social situations that helped with the roleplaying aspect I guess. WoW (I'm on a PVP server, so my following statement is pretty dumb) is very anti roleplay in my experience, and maybe that's why I am finding a lack in social stuff. I should try out a RP server.

Unless someone went around Orgrimmar obnoxiously yelling and spamming "SUSIE AND SALLY ARE GETTING MARRIED!!!!", I dont see how they could track it.

I'm definitely interested more in the role-playing aspect of games like that, too. I think so much more could be done than what is currently being done, but a lot of people seem to be all for PvP and nothing else. Which, to me, gets lame really quick.

I've heard a lot of people talk about Diablo...I'll have to try that one, one of these days.

I still play quite a lot of D2.. Blizzard makes games that age very well. Whatever complaints they may earn about their policies, their products are always top-notch.

Why can't people just leave each other alone???

I actually have a whole theory about that. :p

Still working on the proof, though...

Link points to a page that says :
Nothing for you to see here. Please move along

Whups. Somehow a space crept in there that wasn't supposed to be there. Sorry about that. It's fixed now.

I'd read the other two articled but just now read the one at the top of your post, as the link is fixed now (thanks ^^)

'While I do understand where you are coming from, there are those who do not have the maturity'

What. The. HELL. Other people don't have the maturity to accept relationships that aren't heterosexual?? I completely fail to see how that should be the problem of anyone wanting to have a same-sex marriage (in a game, for pity's sake). It's like...because some random stranger can't handle the way somebody is, that means that somebody has to censor themselves? Because someone else can't handle it?

Oh I'd love to see that applied, because I have a whole list of things I can't stand in other people. LOL. I can't help but laugh at it, because what else can you do? Some people really do have ridiculous ways of reasoning things out.

I was just wondering... does 'Blizzard' by any chance, belong to a parent company that goes by the name of 'Clearchannel'?
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No. Blizzard is a computer game company, Clear Channel is a media-broadcast (mainly radio) company.

But Clear Channel is also on my shit list. ;P

I would bet that they're connected somehow . Even if it's just because their PR people get together on Tuesday nights to kick puppies and drown kittens.
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