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Religious and LGBT Guilds, Yay or Nay?
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So, we started with religion-based guilds, to eating habits, to humans not meant to eat meat, to maybe God didn't want us to eat meat...interesting thread.
We're coming full circle to why these types of guilds are very 'Iffy' in our entertainment.
to be honest , am against such guilds, why ?
well i think grouping type of people according to their political/religious beliefs in an MMORPG is wrong , it would break the diversity in the community and create sectarianism or such labeling behavior , and when you have some douche or fascists in the game , this could cause big issues like , creating a counter guild mainly to offend/attk other ones
personally speaking , i am muslim , and i would strongly stay away from joining guilds labeled by my religion or represents it , it will only cause troubles , plus it doesn't matter who you are and what you believe in an MMO , personal aspects aren't necessary in cyber world , i mean i have faced many many offensive people ingame just by knowing what my religion is or nationality ( palestinian ) even reachs gkick , discrimination , insults , etc
just my 2 cent
Religious and LGBT guilds? If they respect whatever game they are on and their rules, then i dont see a problem.
i see them as no more different than a All Roleplay guild, or a All Military Veteran Guild, or a All Girl Gamers guild, just a conglomerate of folks with like minded goals/beliefs having fun.
if people can tolerate Brony guilds and Bieber Guilds, then this shouldnt be a issue.
LGBT guilds? No problem at all. Religious guilds? I'm not a man of faith, but sure, have at it. Brony guilds...cutting it close to the line. Bieber guilds? GTFO.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
Yeah, kind of night and day when you read the first page of this thread and then skip to the last page (8th), as I did...how the hell...
So anyway, on topic, I doubt that it was as simple as Blizzard considering a ban for LBGT guilds, though they have made some questionable moves in the past...
It's just silly to complain that they 'break my immersion' when you've got a hundred other sources of 4th-wall breaking going on in any mmo, including NPC dialogue itself usually.
That said, I'd echo the sentiments of a poster on the first page, when I say I find it peculiar that anyone would even think to make such a guild or find that particularly desirable (I've never even seen such a guild around, but I'm guessing it must be particular religions that would even think to be that exclusive).
I can speculate as to why though - people use these labels of 'I am a Christian (for the sake of example)" or "I am (LGBT)" as large parts, if not the whole of their identities, and so they dare not threaten that by leaving it out of their virtual lives either, lest their sense of identity become threatened.
I'd never think to push some kind of terms of use that would prevent people from making such a move, though I would hope, at least in certain cases, that they would one day not use such labels as crutches, and it seems like trying to only surround oneself with people who feel similarly threatened is not necessarily the best way to overcome the problem, least of all in the form of a video game guild, whose main purpose clearly is not to deal with such real-world issues...
Interesting subject.
I've never put much thought into it because, well, gaming and sexuality and religion are in practice and design so very far apart from each other that I never felt compelled to settle in with any sort of morality on the subject, as far as my gaming is concerned anyways.
I guess now that I put a little thought into it, I think I do have some sort of opinion. [And let me say as a side note that I am completely liberal when it comes personal freedom.]
Exclusivity in a guild based on IRL statuses is something I regard as a bad thing. There are exceptions I would consider, like Language barriers, Age limits, and perhaps time zone. Those are non-discriminatory and are generally things that benefit both the guild's members and the non-members, as not fitting in with one of those IRL boundaries would basically lessen such players' enjoyment being in the guild.
I think some of this may stem from situations where let's say, a guild leader is homosexual, and when the members find out, they get offensive reactions, so in response, they want to make guilds that state "LGBT FRIENDLY IS A MUST TO JOIN" or something along those lines. /shrug - This kind of thing happens in all the new-gen mmo's that have shitty communities. This was never an issue when MMORPGs were played by a larger percentage of mature people that respected each other enough not to try and belittle everyone around them every chance they got.
But see when it comes to things like people starting LGBT themed guilds, it opens the doors for other things that ultimately would sour the community of any MMO immediately:
- the "ANTI-guilds" : for example "Anti-LGBT" or "STRAIGHTS ONLY" ( I don't even need to elaborate further on this. )
- then you have the other "pro" guilds you'd see popping up, like "THE FARE SKINS" or "THE BLACK PANTHERS", and then naturally, their "ANTI" counterparts... this is train is never late.
When it comes down to it, I don't think such subjects have any legitimate reason to being what a guild is built for. Even if/when these kinds of guilds start popping up, the people that form them should at least admit that they are being very prejudice, because regardless of someone's sexual preference, if they respect the other members of the guild, the fact that their sexual preference may differ from the guild's leader is no reason they should be rejected from membership.
I once started an evil themed guild, where we used to sacrifice a gnome every saturday night. It was actually a casual raiding guild, rather than an RP guild, but I started (or tried to start) some guild traditions, after all it's traditions and common interests and goals that bind us as society.
Anyway, it was all going swimmingly until the "good" guys (christians) turned up and started following us around and spamming the gospel in world chat. After responding to a few of their posts and then infiltrating their guild and causing a bit of havoc, (raiding their bank and redecorating the guild hall was a particular highlight) I got banned along with a few fellow members, but not before destroying the Jesus Freaks guild and reputations.
Moral of the story, don't as a guild p*ss to many people off. Because in the internet, people are less inclined to hold back.
This +10,000. For the life of me I can't figure out what one has to do with the other. What does a person's sex life or church membership have to do with slaying orcs in Azeroth or fighting cultists in Telaria?
I really couldn't care less what goes on in other folks' guilds.
Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Played: Ultima Online - DaoC - WoW -
Personally I believe guilds should be themed within the games atmosphere, there's a very broad spectrum to that, but by blocking yourself off into little chunks/groups your just hurting yourself and your group.
Religion - Sure, All praise No'donn! A good number of people can get behind what No'donn is about.
Sexual Orientation - Gundabar's Fabulously Ranged Rangers. Why not, Rangers, ranged weapons, the chance to be epically fabulous, hell, I'm down for lookin down right deadly on a scouting mission.
It highly amuses me when people who don't want to be segregated, looked at as different or sorted into a specific category do it to themselves and then cry foul.
"Dear me, I've cordoned myself behind my differences and can't be bothered to look past them to see that we are all just people who might all enjoy a hobby together."
Personal preference is just that, personal. If your friends/acquaintances can't see past that, it might be time to find some new ones.
Everyone wants to be accepted, but they refuse to accept anyone else.
Boggling
i was going to mention children play games in regard to sexual orientation. After recently watching a UK show called the Big Questions and the topic being "Should pornography be taught in Schools?", why not have sex in games? If that sort of topic is being debated it just shows what kids today are facing in RL.
As someone else said, It's no different then wanting to play with a Hardcore PvP group, a RP guild, or a guild of persons older then let's say 50.
People can feel right at home with people who share their interests. Makes the game a lot more fun. Plus, unlike those other groups I mentioned, they will much more comfy and accepted among people who share their certain attribute.
who draws that line?
Who decides that the White Pride or Black Pride or Brown Pride Asian Pride or Gay Pride or Straight Pride guilds are hateful or non-hateful?
That's the main problem here. These subjects aren't typically 'welcomed' into public/casual conversation and other such scenarios for a reason. Same goes for an online videogame where thousands and even millions of other people are all enclosed in one large "PUB" -- all of them exposed to everyone else's chatter and antics. How to get everyone to play nice when they start forming "pride" cliques?
I was thinking about this, and you may be surprised to find out how many players feel safer in-game, and are more likely to express themselves. All sides considered.
City of Heroes had posted on they page an all gay SuperGroup pic that posted from theSg's site. The entire SG was on at the same time and had a screenshot taken. ALl wearing their SG colors.
So it's nothing new and shouldn't be anything special>
There are churches and pastors that sponsor gaming nights for Heroclix and Pathfinder, why not for MMO's?
The only time I think groups should not be allowed is if it is not for game play purposes, but for recruitment or spreading a message of some sort. If a church had a bunch of players join the game and start a guild for the purpose of getting more people to join the church, that should be something that isn't allowed. I don't guess that would really apply to a LGBT guild, but what if the U.S. military or FBI decided to start recruiting people through MMORPGs, that kind of thing should be shut down quickly.
That's really all I can think of.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Some people just feel better being around others like them or understands them. I say the more the merrier. I doubt they would go around rubbing it in others faces, It would be away for them to meet more people with their views/values, etc.
As long as they aren't annoyingly spamming over chats or bothering people that don't want to be bothered, i don't care what they do.
I have no issues with such guilds existing in the games that I play or being in such guilds, as long as it does not infringe on (my) gameplay. I knew of a guild in WoW that did not allow people to play Warlocks due to demonic magic or something as such, so obviously since I am a progression minded end game raider that would not be a guild that I would be interested in being in due to actual gameplay impact.
I would never judge someone for having a respective boyfriend or girlfriend nor would I judge someone for their choice of faith.
Truth be told, I would rather be in a guild of mixed people and personalities under the general banner of "don't be an asshat".
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