A new World of Warcraft social contract asks players to be nice. Which is too much for some.
WoW Wednesday: Trolls Hate The World of Warcraft Social Contract
Though the Activision Blizzard debacle may have died down, that's not to say that Blizzard's work is done. As many World of Warcraft players are all-too aware of, there's bad behaviour to be found in more than just the development team. So in its attempts to stave off the toxicity within its community, Blizzard has implemented a new World of Warcraft social contract. Which is a great idea, and its criteria are pretty tame. But has it drawn the ire of many individuals in and out of the WoW player base? Of course it has.
In the week where the Diversity Space Tool is coming under fire, the World of Warcraft social contract has been introduced with Patch 9.2.5 and will pop up upon starting the game with a handful of rules that include the banning of "harassment, threats or abusive/derogatory language and behaviours," among others. Players must then "Accept" these terms or exit the game.
The point of the World of Warcraft social contract is designed to ensure that all players, no matter their background or experience, feel encouraged to get stuck into the world's foremost MMORPG without being abused, chastised or otherwise put off by other players they may come across. But for some toxic WoW players, even the mention of the word "gender" is like red to a bull.
Where Final Fantasy XIV comes into its own is with its famously affable community. Which is so welcoming thanks in no small part to the mechanics that encourage new players to seek help from veteran players, such as the Novice Network. The general spirit of 'help thy neighbour' is drilled into the players' psyche from the start. And aside from a few outliers - whom Yoshi-P is coming down hard on - it has obviously worked.
World of Warcraft , meanwhile, has something of a reputation for harbouring some veterans that are cantankerous at best and outright abusive at worst. It is worth stressing, however, that WoW is a huge MMORPG and will inevitably harbour unsavoury characters. They may or may not be the very same people that are railing against the idea of being friendly on Twitter.
But this social contract certainly goes some way to neutralising this unwelcoming underbelly. Provided Blizzard actually enforces these rules, that is.