Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich King

March 11, 2009 -

World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King has encountered some bureaucratic stumbling blocks on its way to the lucrative Chinese market.

JLM Pacific Epoch reports that WLK has been rejected twice by Chinese regulatory officials:

The applications were rejected due to content that didn't meet requirements, including a city raid and skeleton characters; the submitted version did not contain WLK's Death Knight first hero class, said the insider.

WoW game developer Blizzard Entertainment recently deleted a link on the game's North American site to the site's simplified Chinese version, said the report.

And, as Massively notes:

World of Warcraft has undergone changes specific to the Chinese market in the past, namely removing skeletons altogether in order to receive approval to operate the game in mainland China.

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Comments

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich

Submitted by Cavalier on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 13:30.

That "city raid" will probably be the Culling of Stratholme event in Caverns of Time.

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich

Submitted by Hevach on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 13:06.

Skeletons aside, I wonder why a city raid would be involved in this round. The raid targets have been there since launch, is it only that it's a specific goal with rewards for completing, and not just a late night passtime for raiding guilds?

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich

Submitted by farlander28 on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 14:37.

Probably.. having the freedom to run around and lay waste to cities wasn't an official goal or reward-bearing event. Even then, it was probably inching towards "red flag" (no pun intended) territory. Now, it's more akin to breaking into a full sprint.. can't have the youngsters putting thoughts of tiananmen-style rebellion together with city raid coordination, can we?

"Life sucks, get a fuckin helmet" - Denis Leary

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich

Submitted by CaptainZM on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 12:55.

So does this mean they didnt have a Dub of Evil Dead in China?

---------------------------------

"Don't Run, You'll Just Die Tired."

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the ...

Submitted by gamegod25 on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 12:54.

Just one more reason I'm glad I live the US

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 11:35.

While I am too pissed off at this ,the WoW logo looks badass in that writing.

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the ...

Submitted by sqlrob on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 07:36.

How do you get rid of skeletons in something named after a Lich?

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the ...

Submitted by E. Zachary Knight on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 09:50.

You can't and that is why they banned the whole expansion.

E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma

E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the ...

Submitted by Michael Chandra on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 10:57.

I wonder why they don't even have info about the Chinese version of WoW, period, on their site anymore? Maybe they decided to stop bothering?

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich

Submitted by TK n Happy Ness on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 07:23.

China: Trying to conquer the world one day at a time. First that U.S. ship they claim was in their waters (they think they own the whole fucking Pacific), silencing the people of Tibet on the 50th anniversary of them being douchebags, and now this.

When Jack Thompson runs his mouth, does anyone really care what he has to say anymore?

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich

Submitted by mdo7 on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 17:09.

@ Michael Chandra

oh, let's not forget about the genocide in Tibet, and how the government kidnapped Falu Gong Practioner by killing them and harvested and selling the organ to the black market. Let's also not forget they send some of their "hardware" to Sudan to help with more killing in Darfur. Last but not least:

-they ban Command & Conquer: Generals (like that game a lot), just because it has China in there. So how come USA hasn't complained about the game (I know US made it).

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich

Submitted by Michael Chandra on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 10:56.

Don't forget the 1200 people still missing after the riots a while ago. (How long ago was that, before the Olympics?)

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the ...

Submitted by 11zxcvb11 on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 06:43.

The Chinese have always been against the representation of skeletons or undead in media (probably has to do with ancestor worship or something).

I remember that, mabye as early as 10 years ago, Magic: The Gathering cards released in China had alternate artwork. (http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/16527_Insider_Trading_8_Foreign_... -scroll down to #6)

There was an interesting article on this, with comparisons, on the WotC site, but I can't find it anymore.

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the ...

Submitted by Magic on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 06:42.

I remember a news post somewhere - I think GP covered it - about Japan not allowing Dead Space due to the use of 'spirits' and ghosts in the game, but that turned out to be fake, possibly made up by someone in marketing or fabricated somehow.

Likewise, this incident with WOTLK can't be a cultural decision, surely? There were skeletons in the original game but apparently they were removed, in which case what on earth were they replaced with? Ghouls? Generic humans?

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the ...

Submitted by Harry Miste on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 06:18.

Skeletons.

FUCKING SKELETONS.

WHO WOULD BAN SKELETONS?

I HAVEN'T HEARD ANY CENSORSHIP OF SKELETONS.

This had better be some "gold farming block" disguised as a "censorship content", because I will give up on China if this is not the case.

| XBOX LIVE GamerTag: Harry Miste | Steam ID: Harry Miste | PSN ID: HarryMiste |

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the ...

Submitted by Afirejar on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 10:46.

WHO WOULD BAN SKELETONS?

The Chinese, obviously. The visible bones of undead player characters have already been removed from Chinese versions of the game on its original release, so this isn't all that surprising. It all comes down to cultural differences. I'm German, our politicians ban violence and swastikas, whereas the US has issues with nudity and views on gun laws that appear downright bizarre to me. The Chinese have issues with skeletons, so they ban that - in the end, it's the same everywhere.

Re: Chinese Govt. Blocking Release of WoW: Wrath of the Lich

Submitted by Deamian on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 05:55.

This is probably either ;

A) China's usual pattern; the govt. posses every last bit of power to be had in the country, and if the citizens disagree with it's decisions, jail/execution time!

B) An actual effort to fight gold farming?

Shout box

Technogeek: If the developer were male there wouldn't have been a "conversation" in the first place.10/19/2014 - 2:27am

Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm

Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm

Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm

Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm

Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm

Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm

Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm

Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm

ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm

MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm

Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm

MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am

Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am

quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm

Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm

Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm

Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm

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