author: Michael Zegar
Blizzard Removes Some Jokes and Flirting From World of Warcraft
Blizzard removes more content from World of Warcraft that does not comply with the company's new policy. This time it's the humorous layer of the game. It's a shame, some of the erased jokes are real gems...
Censoring in subsequent Blizzard games - related to recent allegations pressed against the company - continues. It started with the announcement of renaming of one of the characters in Overwatch, and in recent weeks has also affected the ancient World of Warcraft. With the entry of patch 9.1.5 into the public test servers, the developers not only decided to get rid of references to the names of developers and replace the portraits of women with images depicting still life, but also decided to remove a ton of lines of dialogue and jokes, such as:
"Have you seen Prophet Velen's new dance? He calls it the 'Mac'Areena'," said Lightforged Draenei Female.
"Why yes, I do have a vibrate setting! Why does everyone keep asking," said Mechagnome Male.
Blizzard had already announced that they were going to make an "update" to the naming, which they consider "overdone" and "inconsistent" with the studio's values. These updates are a relatively small part of a comprehensive, company-wide effort to improve the team responsible for WoW and Blizzard as a whole.
"Nice pants. What's the drop rate," said a Pandaren.
"I'm a free spirit. I don't like to be tied down. What? You mean literally? Oh no... totally into that," said Goblin Female
"What's estrogen? Can you eat it," said Orc Female.
Additionally, the curse-filled "tirade" that King Ymiron utters upon being repeatedly clicking on after being "recruited" into the Hall of the Order of Warriors in Legion has also been removed.
"Are you sure you're not part-demon? I find myself wanting to stalk you," said Blood Elf Demon Hunter Male.
"When we arrived here I lost many jewels that had been in my family for generations. If you could get your hands on my family jewels I would be deeply appreciative," said Draenei Male.
Every playable character in World of Warcraft has a set of fully voiced emotes that are randomly selected when using the "/joke" or "/flirt" commands - many of which are quite... suggestive or play on various stereotypes.
"You look pretty, I like your hair, here's a drink... Are you ready now," dwarf.
Interestingly, not everything in the new update is about removal. Male models have been added to Karazhan, as well as the Black Temple harem, where previously you would have encountered mostly women.
"I'll have you know I can flatten steel with my thighs," said Dwarf Female.
"Oh, look, I'm dancing again! (Darkly) I hope all your friends are enjoying the show...," said Night Elf Female.
