WoW’s removed voice lines resurface following Blizzard settlement
BlizzardBlizzard may have removed a series of voice lines from WoW, but fans have collected them into a damning compilation.
Activision Blizzard has been the subject of legal proceedings in recent months, with the publisher accused of harboring a “frat boy” style culture of workplace discrimination by the state of California.
That’s led to the removal of characters, items, and more from the company’s popular MMO, World of Warcraft, and even the removal of a series of inappropriate voice lines.
Still, WoW and Blizzard content creator OgreJoe was able to collate the lines and put them into one, damning YouTube compilation.
Content warning: The video may contain lines that viewers find offensive.
WoW voice lines don’t remain buried after compilation emerges
The video, which has now surpassed 10,000 views in a couple of days, shows voice lines from characters of all in-game races, with such choice clips as “I like to fart in the tub”.
The game’s community has been reacting on the WoW subreddit, too, with one user summing up the experience by saying “This just makes me really sad. Great job.”
“Listening to them now and, while some of them are probably inoffensive, a few are really weird/crass,” wrote another watcher.
Others are sad to see the lines removed, with one WoW player noting that the game is “unironically dead, if not then at the very least it’s on its last, shaky breath. What a shame.”
Another says “the racially insensitive [voice lines] and ones related to since removed employees I can totally get behind removing. The innuendo ones though? I’m actually a little upset since they helped give the game a little character when doing actual social things.”
Flirts and jokes have also been removed from the game in recent weeks, but the WoW publisher has reached an $18 million settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.