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| [Oct 28, 2011, 10:41 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments |
GayGamer has more follow-up on yesterday's news of outcry over anti-gay slurs during the closing performance at BlizzCon 2011. They recieved an apology from Mike Morhaime, the president of Blizzard who is also apparently a member of Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain, the band that performed at the closing. Here's word: Dear members of the Blizzard community,
I have read your feedback and comments about this year's BlizzCon, and I have also read the feedback to the apology from Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain. I'd like to respond to some of your feedback here.
As president of Blizzard, I take full responsibility for everything that occurs at BlizzCon.
It was shortsighted and insensitive to use the video at all, even in censored form. The language used in the original version, including the slurs and use of sexual orientation as an insult, is not acceptable, period. We realize now that having even an edited version at the show was counter to the standards we try to maintain in our forums and in our games. Doing so was an error in judgment, and we regret it.
The bottom line is we deeply apologize for our mistakes and for hurting or offending anyone. We want you to have fun at our events, and we want everyone to feel welcome. We're proud to be part of a huge and diverse community, and I am proud that so many aspects of the community are represented within Blizzard itself.
As a leader of Blizzard, and a member of the band, I truly hope you will accept my humblest apology.
- Mike Morhaime President, Blizzard Entertainment
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Re: Blizzard's BlizzCon Apology |
Oct 28, 2011, 14:48 |
Evil Timmy |
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Excellent post, Yaogun, and I totally agree. As Ben Folds oh-so-sarcastically sang, "Y'all don't know what it's like, being male middle class and white." After growing up on the west coast and fitting into that category, I moved to Hong Kong with my family at age 15. With white people making up 0.6% of the population, I got to experience being a minority, and even in a place where foreigners are generally accepted and treated with a level of respect, I still ran into racism on a fairly regular basis. Even those small doses were hurtful, but more than anything frustrating. Given the strong American sense of individuality, anyone ascribing something to me as a group rather than as myself, based on a snap judgment of some demographic they thought I fit into, felt humiliating, unfair, incorrect, and just plain wrong.
And that's simply casual bigotry, nothing targeted, but simply a reflex from ignorance or carelessness. Any group that's targeted, not just for verbal abuse, but exclusion, legal separation, and violence, has my utmost sympathies and support. Acts like this are dehumanizing, they separate you from both your individuality and from the rest of the human race. We're free to say what we want, and especially think what we want. I support anyone's right to put forth whatever biased, bigoted trash they want, would defend it to the death etc., but the consequences are that they can and should treated like ignorant, shameful, backwards pariahs that have no place speaking when grown-ups are talking.
Of course, as with nearly every socio-political issue on the planet, South Park has mentioned it in one of their episodes (the first 30 seconds is Cartman fighting a midget, skip at your own discretion). |
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