GLAAD
A swift post on this issue, because I’m joining the party late and it’s pretty much all been said. Joshua Meadows summarized some of my thoughts pretty well: Making any kind of crusade against homophobia in MMOs is only ever going to result in a backlash.
I differ significantly from the many that have raised their voices on this issue, because of a strong belief that the root of the problem lies with a massive misconception. People with little understanding are making assumptions of the average teenage MMO player’s mindset and attitude that are blindingly inaccurate.
Words like ‘fag’ have lost their meaning amongst today’s young gamers. It’s now just a catchy insult with a plethora of basic meanings and not a great deal more. It isn’t a hate word, it’s something you call your friends when they are being annoying. I think this confuses some people: They don’t know whether the word is really associated with the sexuality anymore. If it is then it’s outrageous that the meaning has been so negatively twisted, and if it isn’t then who the hell cares. I’d suggest that in virtually all cases of it’s use amongst MMO players there is no real association being made, and no homophobic intention, so… who the hell cares.
If you still feel you need to take those terms away from the 15 year old population of Azeroth then you need to treat it like taking a bone from a dog: Do it quietly when it’s not looking. I’m talking about the word filter. You talk to developers privately and without making a scene, and you ask them to add a few more words to the filter. For a couple of weeks there’s some drama on the forum and in-game because their experience has been tampered with, but it goes away because there isn’t a specific group or party to direct it towards.
I think it’s silly to get up in arms about the behaviour of teenagers in an MMO. The fact that definitions for terms like ‘fag’ have evolved into ambiguity is a good thing, and any association they had with their original meaning needs to be left to rot. If you make an issue out of the use of these negative terms then it only reinforces that they are associated with you.
Focus your energies where it matters – where the homophobia is real.
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