Jan 8
Language-Based Group Member Selection
The site TG Daily has a piece on WoW groups discriminating against non-English-speakers, requiring them to pass an informal ‘English Test’ in order to group up.
While I’m not a big fan of gold farming, that seems more than a little bit harsh to me.
From the article: “Just before entering, the group leader asked everyone to type two sentences of grammatically correct English. Some members talked about the latest King Kong movie, while others jokingly said, ‘I think Bob Dole is great.’ One by one, the group leader quizzed each person he passed, but the last few who were interrogated kept repeating, ‘Yes UBRS.’ After a few minutes, the non-cohesive players were kicked out.”
The article goes on to describe how the practice dates back to the days of EQ Live, and the harsh conditions that raid groups are under. Group leaders that require fluent English speakers are, in their minds, raising the likelihood of success for the raid. Knowing that everyone speaks the dominant language means that everyone will at least have some idea of what’s going on, and will be able to follow orders.
I understand where they’re coming from. Farmers can be a pain, in many many ways. One of my first ventures into the depths of Mauradon was marred by the hilarity of “Surprise, I’m a Farmer!” I was in a PUG (I know, I know), but all things considered things were going pretty well about halfway into the instance. We had worked our way through Purple-side, and took the leap into the pool. After a short conversation, we agreed to push forward to Princess, but were held up by a laggy group leader. We were in the middle of a fight with one of pairs of Primordial Behemoths that guard her lair when our leader dropped. Thankfully, we already had them on the ropes. He came back up, but when he dropped group leadership was given to one of the quieter members of the group. He was a Hunter, but for the most part was effective. He always waited for the puller (me, in this case) to get the critter’s attention before he laid in with his shot, and he kept the bear that was following on his heels on a tight leash. The change in leadership was hardly noticed, and with our wayward leader back in the group we continued towards our goal. The trouble was, about ten minutes later he pulled a fast one on us. I had to look back through my log to find it, but during the fight with the final pair of Behemoths he changed the loot type to ‘Master Looter’ from the ‘Group Loot’ that we’d been using all along. No one noticed, because everyone assumed that other folks were looting the corpses of our fallen enemies. We buffed up, steeled ourselves, and went up against the big momma of the Mauradon caverns.
I’ve fought Princess about four times now, and this particular fight was probably one of the best cracks at it I’ve participated in. We had fear reduction and a snappy-healing Priest, and a rogue that dealt damage like it was going out of style. Our well balanced group did their thing, and she went down. Our quiet leader knelt down over her corpse, and I looked expectantly at the middle of my screen, waiting to see what phat lewtz I would be rolling on. Then I noticed our leader was hearthing. Standing up, and hearthing. We barely had time to start with ‘wtf?’ before he was back in the depths of Ironforge. *sigh*
Most farmer encounters are more amusing than frustrating. At the very least, many of them know how to play. Many of them know how to play more adeptly than native English-speakers. If you have a moral objection to folks making money of of the game, I guess I can understand a reluctance to have them participate in a raid group. If you’re just doing it to be a dick…well, who’s doing the ‘wrong thing’ then, the farmer or the raid leader? They’re just doing their job. There are plenty of folks who are just punching a clock, who don’t train mobs on real players, and who (in a group situation) may be good to get to know.
Just because you’re doing a job doesn’t make you a jerk. Something to keep in mind about raid leaders and Farmers alike.
3 comments3 Comments so far
The linked article reports that some people feel the practice is racist. That’s foolish. The test is pretty simple: can you read and write English reasonably fluently. Given the importance of communication in a raid, that seems a reasonable requirement. Indeed, becoming reasonably fluent in written English should be easier than spoken. I don’t see it as racist or, as you suggest, “a little bit harsh.” Some people have gone too far in trying to be open to others. It’s appropriate to exclude people who fail to meet reasonable requirements. Being reasonably fluent in written English is a reasonable requirement when written communications are important. Indeed, by phrasing it that way (as opposed to requiring knowledge of US culture or current events), it’s racially neutral beyond the natural advantage that those from english speaking countries have.
You’ll note my concurrence isn’t with the people who feel it’s racist.
I think that discounting non-english speakers out of hand is a practice that should be examined closely before adopting it completely.
In smaller group scenarios especially, good party members are precious commodities. As long as they can swing a sword and get the job done, I could care less if English is their first language.
I’ve had grouping situations with people that are obviously native english speakers who were far and away worse than any ‘farmer’. My favorites are the teenagers who get called away by their moms in the middle of an instance.
Would it be harsh to have people type an English sentence with proper grammar — not IM speak or 1337 speek, but honest-to-goodness real sentences and good punctuation? Admittedly, I see the point of the test — How can you be sure in an instance that you have someone who can communicate clearly what’s going on?
I don’t think of it as racist because we don’t truly know the race of the person at the keyboard. Would it be racist if we were dealing with German people who didn’t have a strong grasp of the language? It’s more of a language concern (which can become problematic, don’t get me wrong). For solid players, I don’t think I’d want to be in a group where I couldn’t understand what people were saying.
I don’t ask for much in a group. I don’t care who’s behind the keyboard. I just don’t want a rude idiot. And the kids can be a pain in the ass, especially if they go AFK for dinner as you’re getting mobbed.