Like many online games, World of Warcraft has had its share of community challenges over the years, especially with regard to players’ behavior. Although in-game moderation is a never-ending debate, World of Warcraft tried to curb the toxicity and harassment within the platform by publishing a social contract in June 2022. It forbade player behaviors that involve abuse, harassment, bullying, and spamming, reminding gamers that a community is only as good as its members.
One year later, it seems that players have divided opinions on exactly what World of Warcraft's social contract was intended to do, and more importantly, whether it actually had any lasting impact on the game since. Blizzard’s intent seemed to focus on reducing in-game toxicity by making players aware of the rules if nothing else, which at the very least might make a few users think twice about their behavior.
World of Warcraft's Social Contract Hasn't Appeared To Have a Lasting Effect
When the social contract was put into place last year, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands was in the midst of a public relations nightmare. Players were frustrated with tedious, compulsory gameplay aspects in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, like Torghast, and they were also angry at Blizzard, which was embroiled in its own legal controversies. Players felt that the gaming company’s attempt to regulate player behavior was hypocritical given its own unlawful dismissal of egregious misconduct between employees.
Because of this, the social contract’s impact on World of Warcraft was already off to a bad start. Players often took out these negative emotions on others, fostering an unforgiving and mean-spirited atmosphere in most areas of end-game content. If the social contract did remind players to check their behavior, there is no apparent result. What possibly had a greater impact was the fact that players had no choice but to accept the terms to continue playing, which would have granted Blizzard the immunity to regulate and punish players’ behavior.
Especially if a player targets another on the basis of their race, gender, sexuality, or any other identity, one would hope that they would face some kind of suspension. However, moderation in World of Warcraft appears to mostly take place behind the scenes if at all, which can leave victims of abuse feeling as though no justice was served. Perpetrators, on the other hand, also need to know exactly what behavior got them in trouble, so there is no confusion as to what Blizzard will and will not tolerate.
Even though abuse is rampant in many online spaces, it seems more prevalent in World of Warcraft, particularly in difficult end-game content. A single player messing up can undo hours of hard work achieved by their teammates, and whether they did it on purpose or not, the frustration of all that time and effort going to waste often ends up aimed at other players. Hence, many tend to steer clear of these activities altogether when it involves strangers, which weakens the game’s experience as a whole.
Few of these problems have simple solutions, but the consensus around the social contract's impact mostly revolves around Blizzard’s part to play. Rules without enforcement will do little to curb the behavior of players, and it seems more must be done. Moderation is not an easy task and requires much personnel, but it’s ultimately necessary for a vast MMO like World of Warcraft, where countless players from all walks of life come together.
Whether players need to take more care in their behavior is always a point of contention, because it’s something that each individual has to do themselves. The onus should be placed on World of Warcraft itself to uphold the rules it has laid out, or the entire social contract becomes moot. There are innumerable factors that contribute to the prevalence of harassment and bullying online, so some semblance of law and order is required on the other end, or no change has any hope of lasting.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is available now for PC.