Ah, Azeroth. So glad to be home, riding through the lavender fields on my trusty Talbuk, collecting dinosaur bones and cleaning out guild banks. So satisfying. Look, little monk! Why don’t you try to get some off-spec gear from Ordos – your human is doing nothing better than sitting on the couch drinking wine and eating left-over Halloween candy…go for it!
What, what is this? Two big minotaur-ial bullies blocking the way? That’s okay — if you die (which you will cause you suck), the graveyard is close by and you can just spirit past them to the group.
No– NO! You spawned in the graveyard at the bottom of the hill?! And have to run ALL the way back to Ordos? When did that happen? What? NO – there is a warlock with nerd rage yelling at everyone to come back in if they die? And then…no. This warlock thinks you were slacking! Because you were dead the entire time of the fight!
Those who know me know where this is going. That I can’t leave well enough alone. Yes, I did engage in a conversation trying to explain the situation, but young warlock did not get it, and then proceeded to call me not only a moron, but a liar. Time to log off of Whisperwind and go pay angry warlock a visit on his/her server and set them straight. In a nice way. I wanted them to know that i was not an asshat, that I was sorry for the misunderstanding, and diffuse the nerd rage with my kill-them-with-kindness positivity. All merry sunshine and healing spells, that’s me. He seemed to calm down and be satisfied.
Now I have a friend in Azeroth who told me he is going to be writing an English paper on the g&m&er&&G/hate thing. I also told Dahahka about CD Rogue’s theory about the huge influence Japan/Sony has been in the gaming world, with ugliness and misogyny. I thought last night I would turn over some rocks, in a scholarly pursuit of information. I wish I hadn’t. Gentlemen: take me at my word: Japanese culture, like all cultures, has very, very dark sides. Little girl faces with exaggerated, absurd, grotesquely figures and a lot of mention of horrible things. The thing that maybe the average player does not consider is how incestuous the gaming industry is: if one works for this company or that, the game worker takes that culture to others and spreads some of the yuck like a hate virus. I don’t want to link some of the “rocks” I overturned. I need heart soap. It’s ugly, ugly stuff. Young men justifying, smugly, why they are entitled to rape video games. That’s the least of it. And I must admit: I am a more than a bit irked when the CEO of Blizzard, Michael Morhaime, mentions the ‘tough subject’ of g*m9erh/ate and how they don’t condone it, while I’m looking at a backdrop of muscly testosterone. It’s hard to believe they are really that invested in equanimity at this moment. It’s a lovely gesture though.
While standing in line for souvenirs and goodies, this banner hung over us for hours:
This is truly the expansion for Orcs. I still feel kind of betrayed. That all the while I was marching with Dwarfs and heroes the Orcs in the battlefield would wipe their snot-noses, take a shower, put on some Axe body spray, and come out smelling like roses. There is not a single female represented in that tableau, either. Compositionally, the highest point is the Orc-in-Front, causing the viewer’s eye to move and stay on his figure. What’s his name? Hellscream? Looks like he’s wearing an Armani suit, while Varian pouts, small and petulant, in last season’s Dolce and Gabbana. And Velen? Damn, man, take your meds.
In any case, young squires, I cannot help you seek knowledge about this. This is not a judgement on my part, or cowardice. The human condition is extreme and fascinating. We’re all trying to navigate our way through a lot of muddy, invisible rules. And run back from far away graveyards.
Sugar&Blood 