controversy

World of Warcraft's Executive Producer J. Allen Brack released the following statement via Eurogamer, as a response to the Nostalrius server closure:

"Failure to protect against intellectual property infringement would damage Blizzard's rights. While Blizzard had looked into the possibility of working with unofficial servers, there was not a clear legal path to protect Blizzard’s IP and grant an operating license to a pirate server.We wanted to let you know that we’ve been closely following the Nostalrius discussion and we appreciate your constructive thoughts and suggestions, added Brack. Our silence on this subject definitely doesn’t reflect our level of engagement and passion around this topic. We hear you. Many of us across Blizzard and the WoW Dev team have been passionate players ever since classic WoW. In fact, I personally work at Blizzard because of my love for classic WoW.

We explored options for developing classic servers and none could be executed without great difficulty. If we could push a button and all of this would be created, we would. However, there are tremendous operational challenges to integrating classic servers, not to mention the ongoing support of multiple live versions for every aspect of WOW.

Over the years we have talked about a “pristine realm”. In essence that would turn off all leveling acceleration including character transfers, heirloom gear, character boosts, Recruit-A-Friend bonuses, WoW Token, and access to cross realm zones, as well as group finder. We aren’t sure whether this version of a clean slate is something that would appeal to the community and it’s still an open topic of discussion.

In closing, Brack made reference to the 235,000 signatures for the petition to reinstate the server, saying: "They obviously care deeply about the game, and we look forward to more conversations with them in the coming weeks."

What do you make of all this?

In case you could go for a trip down memory lane, we've provided the original video that depicts the final few minutes leading up to the server shutdown:



You can also check out the compilation of screenshots depicting the original massive pilgrimage staged by players in response to the Nostalrius server shutdown, over here.

Marvel provided the following statement to Mashable in response to the heated speculation over potential whitewashing of Tilda Swinton's 'The Ancient One' character in Doctor Strange:

"Marvel has a very strong record of diversity in its casting of films and regularly departs from stereotypes and source material to bring its MCU to life. The Ancient One is a title that is not exclusively held by any one character, but rather a moniker passed down through time, and in this particular film the embodiment is Celtic. We are very proud to have the enormously talented Tilda Swinton portray this unique and complex character alongside our richly diverse cast."

Doctor Strange screenwriter C. Robert Cargill provided the following reasoning for his changing of the character for the film:

"He originates from Tibet, so if you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that he's Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that’s bullshit and risk the Chinese government going, 'Hey, you know one of the biggest film-watching countries in the world? We’re not going to show your movie because you decided to get political,'" said Cargill. "If we decide to go the other way and cater to China in particular and have him be in Tibet… if you think it’s a good idea to cast a Chinese actress as a Tibetan character, you are out of your damn fool mind and have no idea what the f*ck you’re talking about."

What do you make of all this?

And of course the trailer, in case you need a refresh on that Doctor Strange hype:

Looks like Riot finally swung that Ban Hammer. A statement released by Riot:

"Hey all,

Instant Feedback catches the most unsportsmanlike players in League, but some people go out of their way to continue ruining games for the community. Because of a well-documented history of account bans for verbal abuse, intentional feeding, as well as account sharing/purchasing, evasion of sportsmanship systems, and player harassment, we will not allow Tyler1 to hold a League of Legends account, indefinitely. Any account definitively used by him will be banned immediately upon identification.

We know we’re not perfect, and this dragged on too long, but we want you to know when the rare player comes along who’s a genuine jerk, we’ve still got your back."

Citing reasons such as: "I like the trailer a lot" and "I watch X-men", this little boy begged his mom to let him see Deadpool.  After finally being awarded an 'R' rating for "strong language and violence throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity", it probably isn't the best movie to take your kids to. 

When his mom brought this up to Grace Randolf of Beyond The Trailer on Youtube, Grace started a petition to get Fox to release the movie simultaneously with a PG-13 rating.  According to Grace, that should be super easy because they've been doing it with the trailers already which is totally the same thing as editing an entire movie and resubmitting it to the MPAA and arranging it's release in less than a month, right? 

The petition now has 2,032 supporters so apparently some people agree with her, do you?

When one particularly perturbed Overwatch gamer named Fipps basically flipped the f**k out on a forum over the 'over the shoulder' pose (I mean hey, you're entitled to your own opinion..) the game's director made quick moves to say they'll be removing it in his official statement that reads, "We'll replace the pose. We want *everyone* to feel strong and heroic in our community. The last thing we want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable, under-appreciated or misrepresented. Apologies and we'll continue to try to do better.

And now, the pose in its full and unfettered, and highly controversial glory:



Next, a tidbit from the incendiary monolague unleashed by the outraged Fipps on the actual forum:

“What about this pose has anything to do with the character you’re building in tracer? It’s not fun, its not silly, it has nothing to do with being a fast elite killer. It just reduces tracer to another bland female sex symbol.”

“We aren’t looking at a Widowmaker pose here, this isn’t a character who is in part defined by flaunting her sexuality. This pose says to the player base, oh we’ve got all these cool diverse characters, but at any moment we are willing to reduce them to sex symbols to help boost our investment game.”

“I have a young daughter that everyday when I wake up wants to watch the recall trailer again. She knows who tracer is, and as she grows up, she can grow up alongside these characters. What I’m asking is that as you continue to add to the overwatch cast and investment elements, you double down on your commitment to create strong female characters. You’ve been doing a good job so far, but shipping with a tracer pose like this undermines so much of the good you’ve already done.”

What do you think? Are people getting 'butt-hurt' over a badass pose, or what? 

While most people wait in eager anticipation for the Pokémon Sun and Moon release, while potentially keeping themselves busy by photoshopping the sh*t out of the world's seemingly least favorite Pokémon starter of all time, Popplio...other folks in Hong Kong marched in protest over Nintendo's plan to use the Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese) translation for 100+ Pokémon characters in the Hong Kong version of Pokémon Sun and Moon.

The core of the fans' unrest is with the Pikachu name change. Previously known as "Beikaaciu" but now set to be referred to as Pikaqiu in future games.

6,000 people banded together to sign off on a petition in March asking Nintendo to reverse the changes, but the request went on to be ignored.

George Takei initially picked apart Marvel for what he claims was blatant backpedaling on their part, when Marvel blamed the casting selection on the Chinese market as their reason for avoiding being associated with Tibet.



Then in the comments section Takei went off on what he views as a deep-seeded systematic problem of casting actors in movies for Asian roles.

"To those who say, "She an actress, this is fiction," remember that Hollywood has been casting white actors in Asian roles for decades now, and we can't keep pretending there isn't something deeper at work here. If it were true that actors of Asian descent were being offered choice roles in films, these arguments might prevail. But there has been a long standing practice of taking roles that were originally Asian and rewriting them for white actors to play, leaving Asians invisible on the screen and underemployed as actors. This is a very real problem, not an abstract one. It is not about political correctness, it is about correcting systemic exclusion. Do you see the difference?" 

Assistant game director Ion Hazzikostas responded to a forum thread about expensive vendor items, and actively tried to dismantle the widespread belief that there exists a feeling of consensus in a world as massive and diversified as WoW's. He wrote:

"If I’d instead posted that we were going to reconsider and massively reduce the prices of the cosmetic items on this vendor, there would be other people feeling like their feedback was ignored.

It’s exceptionally rare that everyone wants the same thing,” he added. “And even then, there is a large silent majority that does not post on forums. If there were actual unanimity regarding a certain issue, we would change our design: For example, early on in Warlords, we changed Group Finder loot from Personal back to Need/Greed until we could iterate on Personal loot further, and the community overwhelmingly told us that was a dumb idea. The change was reverted within 2 days.”

He wrapped up his response by honing in on the value of tailoring different kinds of content to different groups, as opposed to just issuing one 'low common denominator' that lacks any real excitement, for anyone.

“If an awesome mount comes exclusively from PvP, the majority of players who don’t participate in PvP yet desire the mount would prefer that it were otherwise,” Hazzikostas explained. “If our goal were to please a majority, we would likely have to make a version of that mount also available through raiding, and one also available through outdoor questing and reputation, at the very least. But doing that would dilute the reward itself. Ultimately, the approach we take is usually to tailor different content and rewards that can feel special to different groups, rather than trying to come up with a lowest common denominator that isn’t special to anyone.”

TorrentFreak reported that Blizzard has filed a lawsuit against Germany-based cheating company Bossland (a company that Blizzard also sued over World of Warcraft "buddy bots") for an Overwatch cheating tool called "Watchover Tyrant."

"Defendants' sale and distribution of the Bossland Hacks in the United States has caused Blizzard to lose millions or tens of millions of dollars in revenue, and to suffer irreparable damage to its goodwill and reputation," Blizzard said in its complaint.

"Moreover, by releasing 'Overwatch Cheat' just days after the release of Overwatch, Defendants are attempting to destroy or irreparably harm that game before it even has had a chance to fully flourish," it added.

"Defendants not only know that their conduct is unlawful, but they engage in that conduct with the deliberate intent to harm Blizzard and its business," the developer said. "Blizzard is entitled to monetary damages, injunctive and other equitable relief, and punitive damages against Defendants,” the complaint reads."

Get the rest of the story, and read up on the lawsuit over at TorrentFreak.

I guess 'vagina bones' is a term that's been hanging around since 2011-2012. Of course we've got a running Urban Dictionary definition of it as well...

“The crease present where the thigh meets the abdomen in physical fit females. Often enhanced by the pelvic bone.

‘That girl is wearing her pants so low that her vagina bones are showing.'”

Rose McGowan, an American actress released the following statement regarding her general disapproval of the X-Men: Apocalypse poster:

‘There is a major problem when the men and women at 20th Century Fox think casual violence against women is the way to market a film.'

She went on to wrap up her interview with Hollywood Reporter, regarding the matter, with:

"I’ll close with a text my friend sent, a conversation with his daughter. It follows: ‘My daughter and I were just having a deep discussion on the brutality of that hideous X-Men poster yesterday. Her words: 'Dad, why is that monster man committing violence against a woman?' This from a 9-year-old. If she can see it, why can’t Fox?"

The poster, as you can see from above depicts the villain Apocalypse essentially choking the living sh*t out of Mystique. McGowan's not the only one to step forward to express some outrage. The internet reactions are already running amok, check 'em out below. Because if you're like me, you probably had no idea who the heck Rose McGowan was..

What do you guys make of all this?