General Discussion

In WoW, many think there are 'racist' undertones.

Worgen.  Say that word backwards, then think about how that type of  NPC is situated in the game.  They are shackled slaves that drop watermelons when you kill them.  They are animals with human traits.  They are ruled by a white leader. 

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Outside of thinking that:

Dwarf females look more masculine than Blood Elf males.

All gnomes must perish.

Some taurens wear leather armor.  Weren't they born with that?  And why would they want to wear the flesh of another cow? (silence of the lambs?)

Foresaken perpetuate the 'thin is in' movement.  Other races may get a complex about their weight. What's their relationship like with tauren... for the sake of needing calcium?  And do the tauren males mind?

Do fem taurens have udders?

Dren's... klingons with hooves. 

NIght elf... big ears, big hands, big feet... big xxxxx?

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SWG... races other than Human used to get penalties to faction gains, if they rolled Imperial (if I remember that correctly). 

Now you can finally unleash all the rage you've gathered when being forced to keep such comments inside yourself, and without suffering any consequences either!.

is this thread serious? Anyhow be thankful yer not a gnome, there fun to punt, throw, kick, eat, play gnome bowling with 'em, make jokes about how elevators smell different to gnomes because there nose is at ass level. And toanswer your question has there always been racism in mmos...well i think to be serious and look at the larger picture wherever there are humans there is racism of some type, or there is the hen pecking, and the pecking order, but hell man i play mmos to escape all that bs and hope that serious racist and fascist have a painful afterlife. But there is joking too, which can be confused with racism, ya know haha about the gnome punting and a hehehe about elvven males looking effeminant or however it is spelled, If racism truly bothers you I would find your local A.R.A chapter near you, which stands for anti racism association and keep this crap out of gaming forumns. I dont think complaining about racism on a faceless internet does anygood, you need to face the face of it and do what you must to stop it if yer really into trying to stop any kind of racism.

Originally posted by MST3K84

I don't mean real life races of course, but hatred directed towards races within the game.

Every time I go to the Warcraft general forum there always seems to be at least 4 or 5 new posts on the front page flaming people who play Elf characters. I played WoW for a little over a year before BC came out as a human warlock, and I was excited to play the new Blood Elf race when they were announced, but now I regret ever having rolled one.

 Every day I'm reminded that I picked a race that people deem gay, and ruined the Horde. It was bad enough just seeing it on the forums, but now I'm experiencing it everywhere. Just a few days ago there was a GUcomic about an orc relishing all the dead belfs on Sunwell Plateau, and it got me wondering if this kind of hatred was experienced in other games as well? Regardless, I've learned my lesson, and will never again roll an elf in an online rpg.  

People love to have things in common, and if everyone can agree that one person is a moron.. for whatever reason be it haircut, voice, race, race of character, it gives them something to have in common, which is something people strive for.

I don't so much think at the heart of it all racism is the common factor in most of these actions. In my eyes, it's bigotry. Some people want to take out their aggression on something that reacts instead of something inanimate or productive like normal people, so they do so without caring about the consequences. The anonymity of the internet makes it even easier. Race is just one of the easiest excuses people have ever had. If a game had all the same races, they'd turn to bashing armour choices I bet. It's already close to that in Mexico.

Originally posted by NoUrbanLight

I don't so much think at the heart of it all racism is the common factor in most of these actions. In my eyes, it's bigotry. Some people want to take out their aggression on something that reacts instead of something inanimate or productive like normal people, so they do so without caring about the consequences. The anonymity of the internet makes it even easier. Race is just one of the easiest excuses people have ever had. If a game had all the same races, they'd turn to bashing armour choices I bet. It's already close to that in Mexico.

Roleplayed racism ain’t da same as REAL racism ’coz it ’as no ’armful effectz. If a person getz upset ’coz I call ’is stunty avatar a "stunty" den he right needz to develop betta emotional strengf.

What I really wanted to know was if this kind of hatred from the playerbase directed towards an in-game race was common in other MMO's.

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Originally posted by MST3K84
What I really wanted to know was if this kind of hatred from the player base directed towards an in-game race was common in other MMOs.

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Its all gnomish propaganda really.. Those short little bastards have always had it out for the elves..

Seriously though,  the racial hatred goes back way further then just being an MMORPG thing.. Most fantasy books you read will have hatred between the various races that inhabit that particular fantasy world.... It would be a pretty bland game where all races got along with each other..