420Knight, Sister Sativa, Dwarvenbud, and WeedWizard cannot play in World of Warcraft, but KegKnight, Sister Champagne, DwarvenBudweiser, and WhiskeyWizard would be welcome.
Blizzard Entertainment sells the most-popular MMORPG in cyberspace, “World of Warcraft” . (That’s MMORPG, or a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. For those of you my age and older, think back to your old Dungeons and Dragons game, but instead of you and five geeky friends, a bunch of arcane rule books, 2-liter bottles of Mountain Dew, and funny-looking dice being thrown on a library table, imagine hundreds of thousands of people worldwide playing that D&D game online in real time.)
Players in this cyberspace world can become wizards and fighters and clerics and so forth, all your typical fantasy world Tolkien-esque stuff. Players can give themselves fantastic names and as players gain power, they can join together and form “guilds” with fantastic names.
So long as those player names or guilds are not in any way a slang reference to marijuana.
A Stasher named Thomas noted this policy when his online character’s name was changed because it was a slang term for pot (he never told me what the original name is, maybe he’ll explain more in the comments). As Thomas so adroitly noted:
there are multiple references to different herbs in the game that are not only hallucinogenic but way more potent and dangerous than marijuana (which by the way could be said about almost anything). all of which are illegal as well. theres even an herb you can be addicted to as well am i correct?
After many emails to many different employees at Blizzard Entertainment, Thomas finally got an answer:
Thank you for your continued interest in how the World of Warcraft policies are created. I have looked at your account history and I will do my best to answer any questions you have had regarding our naming policies.
I understand that your concern is that your name was changed due to its association with a slang term for marijuana while there are numerous references to alcohol within the game. Please understand that the naming policy currently prohibits the use of any name which refers, directly or indirectly, to illegal activity. As the use of alcohol is not illegal, names and activities associated with the use of alcohol are not currently against our policies.
Sincerely,
Karliss
Account Administrator
Blizzard Entertainment
www.blizzard.com
So, let me see if I understand this. You run a game where a person can become a fighter, name himself “Skullcrusher”, purchase a two-handed broadsword, and murder other people in battle, yet with a straight face you tell me you’re concerned about Warcraft promoting illegal activity. Player characters can become “rogues”, whose skills include assassination, lock picking, and thievery, but we can’t have that “rogue” have a “420″ anywhere in his name, because we don’t want to promote illegal activity. We can’t promote illegal activity in the World of Warcraft, but for a significant portion of players (those under 21), the promotion of alcohol does represent an illegal activity. Ironically, player characters can become “herbalists” and use any number of plants with mystical or hallucinogenic properties, like “Ghost Mushrooms”, “Black Lotus”, and “Deathnettle”, and they can sell those plants for a profit to “alchemists”, but we can’t have any “420″s anywhere reminding people of the illegal market of selling cannabis plants for a profit.
Ultimately, the marijuana may be less harmful to you than the World of Warcraft itself:
According to Stiftelsen Ungdomsvård, a Swedish youth organisation specializing in game addiction, “(World of Warcraft) is the crack cocaine of the computer world.”
The Youth Care Foundation is about to release it’s report in which labels World of Warcraft as “the most dangerous game on the market.”
Author of the report, Sven Rollenhagen, claims, “There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part.”
The poster child for the report is a 15-year-old Swedish boy who collapsed and suffered seizures after playing World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King for 24 hours straight.
The report also has the backing of the Swedish National Institute of Public Health, which warns of the ever-growing increase worldwide of game addiction.
I’m not a fan of throwing the word “addiction” around unless we’re talking about physical withdrawal / severe craving akin to kicking cocaine, meth, heroin, Oxycontin, Vicodin, or alcohol, so I don’t buy the idea that World of Warcraft is like crack cocaine. But if we’re talking about compulsion or dependence, then I’m willing to personally say that for some people, World of Warcraft is more dangerous than marijuana.
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I am so tired of this litigation BS. Haven’t we grown up enough to realize that these types of things don’t MAKE us break the law, that we choose to break the law on our own? This is the same crap that parents tried to pull after Columbine. After the incident parents went on a witch hunt trying to find something to blame (in the case of Columbine it was shock-rock music). Enough of this crap!
Jesus Christ come off your high (no pun intended) horse! So you can’t make a character named after pot, big deal. Give your characters meaningful names, not stupid shit. I don’t even play on a RP server and I still avoid names like Xxfallengodxx and Pwnznoobz because they make you look like a dumbass.
I’ve played lots of rpgs in my time, so I like to use obscure names from them to see if anyone picks up on it, this usually leads to conversation, which in turn leads to similar interests, which ultimately fills up my friends list with players I can really get along with.
My fiancée and I, both political activists, were the latest victims of this hypocritical policy. We were forced to change our names, Sobaked and Alsobaked. At the time we made our toons, WI Assembly Bill 554 (medical marijuana) was an upcoming vote.
Others have already touched on other hypocritical references in the game, such as over consumption of alcohol and hallucinogenics. I’ve had a family member die from alcoholism, and responsible drinking is NOT promoted in this game, quite the opposite. I would also like to point out the objectification of women on this game. Some of the clothing is rather revealing, toons can strip down to their bras and panties (some players even offer lap dances for gold), the breasts are unrealistically large on many races, and the voice emotes on some toons are rather offensive.
Additionally, there is an NPC named “Crazy Cat Lady.” This is quite offensive to anyone who suffers from any kind of mental illness, including the most common – depression.
Their own business name may violate their naming policy. “Blizzard?” I’ve heard that term used as a “code” reference for cocaine on many occasions, along with “snow.”
I will be contacting Blizzard and demanding if I must change my name, Crazy Cat Lady and some of the other offensive material must go as well.
I have become the latest victim of this discriminating policy. After a year and a half of incident-free existence, my guild forcibly had it’s name changed. I hope you have not given up your fight, as you have gained several allies today.
its because you didnt get reported by some jerkoff with a tainted agenda
[...] Online multiplayer game “World of Warcraft” promotes alcohol but … [...]
I am a long-time player and I have had several characters with awesome names, and I’ve never had one changed:
* Sensemilla of Kilrogg
* Indicas of Kilrogg
* Sativas of Dethecus
Sense is my main, and I’ve been playing her for YEARS and she’s the GM of a guild.
My feeling is that Blizzard generally enforces the rules in order to get individuals who are making the complaints to shut up and keep playing (and paying.)
There are plenty of pot references throughout the game (I love the hookas in the Scryer inn!) and the “official” response of “we do not encourage illegal activities” certainly comes from a legal mitgation perspective.
It’s lame, but that’s because our laws are lame. Let’s get out there and change them!!
<3 ~Sense
never played but try something like packindabowl or twistinaJ or puffinherbz..just a few suggestions lol i have many more just ask
I would never pay to play an on line game. What kind of a weenie would do that ?
For me its FPS all the way, on my computer. I must have played Doom III 5 times now. Looking forward to Duke Nukem 4 ever, if it ever comes out.
I have some Blizzard stuff. I think I will send back the Cd’s with a nasty letter and boycott Pronouncement. Free the weed !
How ’bout…
Fredaweide, i.e.
Free da weed
I guess you could try “FourNineteenWarriors” and ask “Got a minute?”
lol the reason why this happened was because i was arguing with a cop about weed and how he was shot because of people high on weed. when i laughed at him i think he got angry and reported my name. ur name doesnt get changed untill someone reports you usually. so its not just blizzard its the blizzard community as well
my name was anything you could think of relating to weed. I tried the wink wink form that was spelld all goofy. but they caught on. my guild name was even FOURTWENTYWARRIORS and that was changed too. a fucking number. this is just sad.
so from now on. “Thomas and/or bemky = Thomas Boehmke = ME” my name is pronounced ridiculously
I am “Thomas.” I still havn’t gotten a response to MY response to that email. I guess they realized they can’t argue against this because I’m right and they’ll hope I’ll just go away. I’m not. I’m going to borderline harass them until i get a real answer or conference call. I refuse to let this continue unscathed. I WILL get this policy hypocrisy into the light at the very least.
I have to admit, I play wow but just as with marijuana you just have to know when its enough. I don’t spend numerous hours playing it like some do but then again I don’t pay to play it either. I play on a server not owned by Blizzard Entertainment therefore name policies are not enforced.
Great blog, Russ. Expose the double standards and bring attention to the facts of this foolishness. Kind of a bad move for them since a large percentage of their players are sitting at home doing what?
I used to call it World of Warcrack. I play it very randomly due to the fact I have a slight case of self diagnosed ADD. I lose intrest for long periods of time. When there’s a “fair” going on I see toons wandering around smashed all the time. And a vast majority of those are kids around 12-15 years old.
I know a few people who play that game constantly, none of them have a job, one of them did but once he got into W.o.W he lost his job because he would get up and not go to work instead fire up the p.c and logged into w.o.w yet i know far more smokers who keep a steady job and have their own place and are doing just fine. in fact one of them owns a gym! All wow players i know either don’t have a job or lost their job cuz of that game.
I have 2 brothers that both work at Blizzard Entertainment the makers of WoW.
They claim to be the only 2 employees that don’t smoke pot. Ha!!
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thats the thing though I have a Xbox360 and in no way has it ever sucked me in like world of warcraft did, WOW is almost like having a whole nother life, you have a new name, you have a job, You have people who rely on you to play who in turn you rely on them to play, Anyway thanks for reading Russ, I to saw with my own eyes how much the game endorses alcohol, heck they even have a whole week witch is there octoberfest that is celebrated in the game,some of the games witch you are told to drink until you can see the pink elephants
were rewards are alcohol and glasses that make you see everyone as a gnome…..
And people ask me why I don’t play video games. Back in my day, that kind of habit cost you 25¢ per play, so at least that roll of quarters provided some end-point to the day’s game playing.
I Quit smoking weed for 14 months and during my sobriety I picked up the habbit of world of warcraft or as we call it WOW Crack, I was spending 12-20+ hours a day playing wow and I put on 100 pounds, I would play and eat, and sit and sit and sit for hours on end, developing back problems and many health related problems do to my WOW addiction, I finally realized that I gave up marijuana for something that was far worse.
I can say without a doubt that WOW is a addictive game that has consumed and destroyed many lives, I quit my WOW crack habbit and now I am back on the reefer, I have lost 30 pounds I am getting back in shape and actually talk to my old friends once again, you kno0w the ones that stoppped talking to me because I was spending all my time playing WOW anyway, thats my story I hope Russ reads this.
WoW is about 1000x worse for you than marijuana. We should boycott WoW, not because they are anti- weed, just for our own health.