MMORPG.com World of Warcraft Correspondent Deborah Diterich sounds off on Blizzard for the events in this year's incarnation of the popular event, "Children's Week", that sees players rewarded for being unusually mean and cruel to their young charges.

What has happened to Children’s Week? This used to be one of the most heartwarming events in Azeroth. To quote Blizzard: “ Children’s Week is celebrated by both the Horde and the Alliance…. At the beginning of May and lasting for a week, it is a time for the heroes of both sides to give back to the innocents of war…The orphans!

How that has changed. With the initiation of the achievement system, Children’s Week has metamorphosed into Traumatize an Orphan Week. Rather than giving back to “the innocents of war,” players are required to behave in a manner likely to traumatize their orphans. They are directed to take children already wounded by the tragic loss of their family and expose them to the mayhem of battle. Having lost their parents to the horrors of war, players are now required to take these fragile children into active battlegrounds where they are certain to see both friend and foe slaughtered in front of their eyes. What is Blizzard thinking? I guess this puts the final nail in the coffin that there is any support for roleplaying in this game.

Read (Traumatize) Children's Week