Blizzard has changed the name of a gay WoW guild

A World of Warcraft Classic guild for gay players suddenly had its name changed earlier this week, after what Blizzard says were numerous reports that the title was inappropriate. The guild – Gay Boys – now has its name back after manual review. Blizzard says that the guild is free to continue appealing, but similarly suggests that the same action may keep happening.

A guild in World of Warcraft Classic called GAY BOYS just had its name summarily changed to Guild ZFXPK and its founder was temporarily suspended. When the players involved queried the action on a forum, a Blizzard representative confirmed that they'd been punished because advertising the fact that they are gay invited slurs: "Picking a name that you can identify with without also using words that would illicit [sic] a reaction from other players would be far more beneficial."

Gay Boys member Ahmil Jilani told Ars Technica, "If you reviewed my chat logs, you would see multiple messages from individuals through my recruitment process of getting us to where we are today, with individuals messaging 'Fuck the gays, reported,' amongst other extremely hateful and discriminating comments... These are the individuals that find our name inappropriate. Giving in to their demands only means that you are siding with them as a company, which, after a decade of playing your games, is a surprise to me."

The Blizzard rep further said that “There isn’t a way to stop people from reporting this name, as some find the way the term is used offensive. If you get actioned again, you can appeal like this, and we can look at it once more.”

Blizzard's image has since taken a number of hits as broadcasters, players, and even US senators have decried the ban. A Blizzard spokesperson has since explained the company's lack of response, saying it is "assessing the situation" for the moment.

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