in-game race threads on ESO official forums

Darethran · November 2017

Now I will admit I have said some things that may have been taken as racist, but that's surely on the fault of those quick to blame, based upon ignorance. The same root cause of the very ills they claim to seek out and put down. Very telling of their individual character, but that is neither here nor there. In fact, some of my best friends are Argonians.

Be that as it may, there are stark realities that need to be addressed. The first, is that Argonians are without any sense of self preservation. Have you heard of their reliance upon that plant creature that they call The Hist? Why on Nirn's own land would they sell themselves as part and parcel to an otherworldly lifeform, so that it may bring the next generation? The answer is quite simple, when you get down to it.

The purpose of an Argonians life, is to be a slave. If that were not the case, they would revile the very being that takes their own children hostage, rather than heap praise upon it. They would be ill at ease when surrounded by primitive, disgusting dwellings made from the very mud and Argonian posterior droppings they freely play around in during their free time. They would be most uncomfortable in the damp, the wet, and the otherwise more unpleasant environments that they are so attracted to.

The final nail in that proverbial Argonian vampire's coffin, is that they have experienced a significant increase in their quality of life, their manners, the upbringing of their indentured young, and the very lives that they lead. If an Argonian was so resistant to being owned by another, they would fight tooth and nail to escape, like our dearest Chimer ancestors fled the Aldmeri oppression back in the days of our skin being pale and sickly.

But they do not. Instead, they adopt superior Dunmer mannerisms, learn to tolerate bloviating Nordic reprobates, and enjoy wearing the very clothes of their master's people. Let it not be said that an Argonian is unfit for tending fields night and day; they themselves fashion shelter out of their own excrement when left alone. They also gravitate towards the wet and the miserable, evidenced by them being so very at home among the lower stands that prop up Lady Morrowind's docks.

To insist on removing these individuals from that which brought them civilization, common decency, and the pleasures of the more consistent and sane life that subservience brings to them, is to do irreversible harm with the intent to inflict evil upon them, regardless of whatever these two-Septim emancipation sympathizers claim.

FloppyTouch · November 2017

Other

#beastlivesmatter

Hokiewa · November 2017

Other

Racism has to be based upon reality otherwise it doesn't meet the definition. Just silly and frankly a bit offensive to those that suffer disparity in real life

nursingninja · November 2017

Keep racist threads, and let others think that official ESO forums promote racism and slavery

If you think that talking smack about video game races is racist then you need a better anthropology then whatever it is you're rolling with.

Maybe they are joking. Maybe they are role playing. Perhaps they are expressing it to conceal real racist beliefs. But you don't know. Put the best construction on it. And remember, free speech is a thing. People can be secret or public racists if they want to irl. They just can't break the law.

Solexe · November 2017

Other

Biased poll, on racial bias is biased.

I am personally fine with people indulging in some roleplay even if its a crude and cursory manner. People like to play the dark side. When i was a teenager playing KoTOR or Fable, i was the most heartless, evil ***. But in real life I was a sweety that wanted to make people happy.

[snip] People that get upset at an MMO not catering to their experience are not a positive addition to our player base.

This one does not agree with views that besmirch the proud race of khajit or the noble Saxheel, but this one shall fight tooth and claw for others right to voice them.

[edited for baiting]

MasterSpatula · November 2017

Well, good job on giving d-bags exactly what they want. The only thing that makes those guys happier than knowing they upset someone is knowing they upset someone so much that person starts acting irrational.

mirta000b16_ESO · November 2017

Keep racist threads, and let others think that official ESO forums promote racism and slavery

when we have actual lizard people and Kajiit people IRL, then we can talk about racism. Don't take the game too seriously.

Rawkan · November 2017

Keep racist threads, and let others think that official ESO forums promote racism and slavery

Axoinus wrote: »

Enslaved wrote: »

Lately, there has been an outburst of racist threads on forums. Comments that promote slavery are pretty common as well.
I can't say I like all ESO races, because that is not true, but there should be a line somewhere.
We all spent money on ESO, many of us are ESO+ subscribers, and also do support the game by buying crown store related items.
So, why do we have to deal with racist comments and worse based on what race we chose our characters to be?
Is money we spent on ESO less worth than money of these "in game" racists?

The "Racism" you speak of would not be a big deal if racial passives were selectable regardless of race.

Why? That's the whole point of races. What a terrible idea.

CardboardedBox · November 2017

Sixty5 wrote: »

CardboardedBox wrote: »

People are saying it's fake, fictional, and you should just get over it. But it's entirely possible all the race hate is making people concerned on if they even should make an Argonian/khajiit, because they might receive hate for it.

Fictional hate is leaking into real life hate, and apparently that's going over peoples heads.

Same thing can be said for any character.

People call Altmer snooty, Bosmer cannibals, Orcs are poop elves, Nords are drunks, etc etc.

A lot of the time those "insults" are really nothing more than banter, and it helps to respond in kind.

I'll walk into an inn on my Bosmer and ask if anyone wants to fight. When they ask why, I rely "I'm hungry"

Sure it plays into a stereotype of the race I am playing, but it does it in a humorous manner.

Anyways, iI just find it incredibly stupid to worry about the possiblity of someone saying mean things about the character you play in a videogame.

Oh don't get me wrong, I talk crap on the snooty elves all the time, and my main is an Argonian that i would never not use because of the slave jokes. I personally think some of the slave jokes are pretty funny, and i find khajiit drug addict/thief jokes hilarious.

But I'm a little worried that our Argonian head count might drop due to some things that are said about them, that some people might want no part in.

kylewwefan · November 2017

No strong feelings about this topic

Why do female Argonian have balls?

PrayingSeraph · November 2017

Keep racist threads, and let others think that official ESO forums promote racism and slavery

Well shiver-me-triggers, we ought to ban DB and TG questline too! Murder and stealing is bad afterall! Dominion players should be forced to change alliance, since they shouldn't be allowed to play a racial supremacist faction! Oh and we need to change the storyline since it promotes negative stereotypes and religious intolerance towards the religion of Molag Bal. #notallmolagbalnecromancers

Get with the year people, its 2E 582 afterall sheeesh

Sixty5 · November 2017

CardboardedBox wrote: »

Sixty5 wrote: »

CardboardedBox wrote: »

People are saying it's fake, fictional, and you should just get over it. But it's entirely possible all the race hate is making people concerned on if they even should make an Argonian/khajiit, because they might receive hate for it.

Fictional hate is leaking into real life hate, and apparently that's going over peoples heads.

Same thing can be said for any character.

People call Altmer snooty, Bosmer cannibals, Orcs are poop elves, Nords are drunks, etc etc.

A lot of the time those "insults" are really nothing more than banter, and it helps to respond in kind.

I'll walk into an inn on my Bosmer and ask if anyone wants to fight. When they ask why, I rely "I'm hungry"

Sure it plays into a stereotype of the race I am playing, but it does it in a humorous manner.

Anyways, iI just find it incredibly stupid to worry about the possiblity of someone saying mean things about the character you play in a videogame.

Oh don't get me wrong, I talk crap on the snooty elves all the time, and my main is an Argonian that i would never not use because of the slave jokes. I personally think some of the slave jokes are pretty funny, and i find khajiit drug addict/thief jokes hilarious.

But I'm a little worried that our Argonian head count might drop due to some things that are said about them, that some people might want no part in.

Kinda hard for their numbers to drop when their racial passives are as stupidly strong as they are.

Gandrhulf_Harbard · November 2017

Other

Enslaved wrote: »

Lately, there has been an outburst of racist threads on forums. Comments that promote slavery are pretty common as well.
I can't say I like all ESO races, because that is not true, but there should be a line somewhere.
We all spent money on ESO, many of us are ESO+ subscribers, and also do support the game by buying crown store related items.
So, why do we have to deal with racist comments and worse based on what race we chose our characters to be?
Is money we spent on ESO less worth than money of these "in game" racists?

I would argue that it is intellectually ignorant to equate comments about a fictional race in a game with "racism".
Not one of the "races" (by which we mean a character creation choice that has differing racial passives) in ESO exists anywhere in reality. To try and equate the two is is belittle the very real impacts of real-world racism.

Racial bias and slavery are an intrinsic part of Elder Scrolls lore, if you are uncomfortable with that may I suggest that ESO might not be the right game for you - perhaps a less "gritty" MMORPG would be more suitable. I personally like the grittiness of ESO and think it entirely appropriate for it include references to both slavery and racism within an entirely fictional setting.

Finally, there must be both some irony, and some double-standards, for a poster whose name is @Enslaved to complain about comments pertaining to slavery.

BTW: The way in which you labelled the choices in the poll are entirely prejudicial to a balanced outcome. There is no valid reason to assume that because ESO touches on uncomfortable subjects within an entirely fictional setting that they condone such behaviour in real life. ESO deals a lot with Daedra Worship - why aren't you complaining that the game condones Satanism, or human sacrifice?

All The Best

DocFrost72 · November 2017

But Master, your loaf was meant to satisfy the Mistress' hunger!

Voxicity · November 2017

Keep racist threads, and let others think that official ESO forums promote racism and slavery

YOUR ESO FORUMS NAME IS ''ENSLAVED''.

PLEASE STOP PROMOTING SLAVERY THROUH YOUR ONLINE ALIAS.

pod88kk · November 2017

No strong feelings about this topic

I think it's part of the lore of the game & people don't actually want to own slaves in real life

SisterGoat · November 2017

Delete racist threads, they send the wrong message and are a shame to official ESO forums

Maining an Argonian myself, hearing they are nothing but slaves after the 200th time gets old and does tend to get on my nerves like an overused TWSS joke.

TequilaFire · November 2017

Urza1234 wrote: »

This thread should just be deleted or locked. As a topic its practically designed as a hotbed of inflammatory content. I would not be surprised if this was a troll post made just to trigger people.

Especially from an OP whose user name is Enslaved.

Merlin13KAGL · November 2017

You agree not to use any Service to:
Harass, stalk, threaten, embarrass, spam or do anything else to another user of any Services that is unwanted, such as repeatedly sending unwanted messages or making personal attacks or statements about race, sexual orientation, religion, heritage, etc.;

I find it interesting that they get to pick and choose which threads they deem appropriate, filtering out any outstanding opinion or perspective on lots of subject matter.

The interest only seems to be in being PC for the masses more so than abiding by their own ToS.

How terribly unlike any other mass media...

Rickter · November 2017

This quote right here has 41 agrees as of my quoting it. Thats a fair statement that the majority agree with this post more than your, OP. Nice try but please do not impose your SJW on the eso community. Elder Scrolls is a mature title with mature themes (such as slavery) set in a FANTASY environment. It is your responsibility to accept and disassociate reality from fiction and "lighten up".

ESO Forums are not your local or major news outlet. For the most part, its just for funzies. Cuz this is a game. And we have better things to do than wage Social Justice War upon other diehard supporters of the game.

Sixty5 wrote: »

Liking or disliking a race in a videogame is not racism.

I'll make all the jokes I want about Argonian skin shoes or a Khajiit fur rug, but at the end of the day none of it really matters, because they are fictional characters in a fictional world.

And if you think that has any bearing on the real world, you must also believe that killing people in a game is tantamount to killing people in real life.

Storymaster · November 2017

On the one-hand, I don't feel like there's anything inherently racist about talking about Argonians and Khajiit and most of the game lore related conversations, but it does seem out of place, weird, awkward, to see Redguard on a poll choice for 'Which Race Do You Hate The Most'. For one, Redguards are effing cool. And for two, it's like... there's enough RL garbage and baggage behind that, you know? So, to a certain extent, I don't believe the concerns of the OP are really founded, but then it comes back to the Redguard question. I come to Nirn to escape and it'd be nice if folks left the RL hate outside of my world.

Know what I mean?

Aurielle · November 2017

Gandrhulf_Harbard wrote: »

Enslaved wrote: »

Lately, there has been an outburst of racist threads on forums. Comments that promote slavery are pretty common as well.
I can't say I like all ESO races, because that is not true, but there should be a line somewhere.
We all spent money on ESO, many of us are ESO+ subscribers, and also do support the game by buying crown store related items.
So, why do we have to deal with racist comments and worse based on what race we chose our characters to be?
Is money we spent on ESO less worth than money of these "in game" racists?

I would argue that it is intellectually ignorant to equate comments about a fictional race in a game with "racism".
Not one of the "races" (by which we mean a character creation choice that has differing racial passives) in ESO exists anywhere in reality. To try and equate the two is is belittle the very real impacts of real-world racism.

Racial bias and slavery are an intrinsic part of Elder Scrolls lore, if you are uncomfortable with that may I suggest that ESO might not be the right game for you - perhaps a less "gritty" MMORPG would be more suitable. I personally like the grittiness of ESO and think it entirely appropriate for it include references to both slavery and racism within an entirely fictional setting.

Finally, there must be both some irony, and some double-standards, for a poster whose name is @Enslaved to complain about comments pertaining to slavery.

BTW: The way in which you labelled the choices in the poll are entirely prejudicial to a balanced outcome. There is no valid reason to assume that because ESO touches on uncomfortable subjects within an entirely fictional setting that they condone such behaviour in real life. ESO deals a lot with Daedra Worship - why aren't you complaining that the game condones Satanism, or human sacrifice?

All The Best

I gave you an insightful, and I agree -- the OP does take it a bit too far. I do think, though, that we need to be careful about suggesting that because the ESO races don't exist IRL, any racist behaviour in-game can be excused away simply because there's racism in the lore. Take, for instance, the example of people dressing their characters in white robes and hoods and slaughtering Redguard characters only. It's pretty obvious what those players were doing, if the allegations are in fact true. I've also seen Redguards with racially-offensive (IRL) names that I've reported. It is absolutely possible to bring RL prejudices into the game, and saying "but I'm roleplaying" isn't a valid excuse.

Also, while I do think the VAST MAJORITY of the Argonian/Khajiit slave jokes are harmless and in keeping with the spirit of posters' Altmer/Dunmer main characters, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are a few posters out there who say "racist" things about fictional races because they feel like they can't do the same thing IRL without facing social repercussions. We can never assume that's the case whenever we see a "racist" joke, of course, but it's still a possibility.

Enslaved · November 2017

Delete racist threads, they send the wrong message and are a shame to official ESO forums

Voxicity wrote: »

YOUR ESO FORUMS NAME IS ''ENSLAVED''.

PLEASE STOP PROMOTING SLAVERY THROUH YOUR ONLINE ALIAS.

In all games I played I used this name - Enslaved. Only reason my acc name is different is that someone already took it in game.

And yes, I am against all forms of slavery, in games or irl. It has little to do with my name.

Demycilian · November 2017

Aurielle wrote: »

Also, while I do think the VAST MAJORITY of the Argonian/Khajiit slave jokes are harmless and in keeping with the spirit of posters' Altmer/Dunmer main characters, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are a few posters out there who say "racist" things about fictional races because they feel like they can't do the same thing IRL without facing social repercussions.

I feel i should point out that Altmer arent slavers.

Shardan4968 · November 2017

Delete racist threads, they send the wrong message and are a shame to official ESO forums

Strange thing that no one has posted boots or handbag made of crocodile's skin, yet. I'm tired of all those threads like "What do you think about argonions and khajiit?", "What are argonions for you?", "How to deal with argonions and khajiots?", "Could you *** beast race?", where everyone comes to say how they like to eat them, make boots and hate them because they are weak, because fudgemnuppet said so. If ZOS delete all those threads, it would be really funny, but sadly It won't happen, because it's just a game.

Aurielle · November 2017

Demycilian wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

Gandrhulf_Harbard wrote: »

Also, while I do think the VAST MAJORITY of the Argonian/Khajiit slave jokes are harmless and in keeping with the spirit of posters' Altmer/Dunmer main characters, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are a few posters out there who say "racist" things about fictional races because they feel like they can't do the same thing IRL without facing social repercussions.

I feel i should point out that Altmer arent slavers.

Right, but they are pretty racist.

Sorry, I should have said something like "Argonian/Khajiit slave/inferiority jokes."

Illurian · November 2017

Enslaved wrote: »

Lately, there has been an outburst of racist threads on forums. Comments that promote slavery are pretty common as well.
I can't say I like all ESO races, because that is not true, but there should be a line somewhere.
We all spent money on ESO, many of us are ESO+ subscribers, and also do support the game by buying crown store related items.
So, why do we have to deal with racist comments and worse based on what race we chose our characters to be?
Is money we spent on ESO less worth than money of these "in game" racists?

Well I mean racism and slavery is kind of incorporated into the entire series of TES. Just off the top of my head, there's a "college" in Auridon, where the Veiled Heritance "teach" the "lesser" races (Khajit/Argonian) that they are inferior and should submit completely to the High Elves.

I don't see how role play racism affects your purchase of ESO or gameplay whatsoever. If you dislike the role play, simply ignore it.

It's moot to compare the morality in-game and in the real world.

Johnfred24 · November 2017

Storymaster wrote: »

On the one-hand, I don't feel like there's anything inherently racist about talking about Argonians and Khajiit and most of the game lore related conversations, but it does seem out of place, weird, awkward, to see Redguard on a poll choice for 'Which Race Do You Hate The Most'. For one, Redguards are effing cool. And for two, it's like... there's enough RL garbage and baggage behind that, you know? So, to a certain extent, I don't believe the concerns of the OP are really founded, but then it comes back to the Redguard question. I come to Nirn to escape and it'd be nice if folks left the RL hate outside of my world.

Know what I mean?

If it feels weird to you then maybe that's your fault? If you associate them with an actually existing race just because they look similar that's your own problem. They are redguards, which is a fictional race in the elder scrolls lore.

Easily_Lost · November 2017

No strong feelings about this topic

Beardimus wrote: »

Seriously??

It's a game, an MMORPG, following lore.

Trying to blow things out of proportion and make real world connotations is a reach. Unless you are joking or in some way are role playing, but it doesn't read that way.

Next will be a poll saying Cyrodiil promotes war, and Nightblades are terrorists I mean comon.

^^^ THIS ^^^

Demycilian · November 2017

Aurielle wrote: »

Demycilian wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

Gandrhulf_Harbard wrote: »

Also, while I do think the VAST MAJORITY of the Argonian/Khajiit slave jokes are harmless and in keeping with the spirit of posters' Altmer/Dunmer main characters, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are a few posters out there who say "racist" things about fictional races because they feel like they can't do the same thing IRL without facing social repercussions.

I feel i should point out that Altmer arent slavers.

Right, but they are pretty racist. Sorry, I should have said something like "Argonian/Khajiit slave/inferiority jokes."

Outside of the designated bad guys of the Veiled Heritance I dont remember Altmer engaging in racist stuff. The same group that kills other Altmer left and right, btw.
I do recall walking past an Altmer in Orsinium that complained about smelly Orcs and rude Nord. Theres no arguing the truth of that statement. To me the high elves seem like the most safe to be around, and being given the look for poor table manners as the worst of fates for a savage.