You’re going to see more of it soon in 9.1.5, and in updates to come-and where applicable, in WoW Classic as well. This work is ongoing alongside our development of new content and features. Instead, we want to ensure that we're offering a wide range of options for players to represent themselves. We also want players to be able to express themselves through their characters, so we don’t intend to change existing player looks or cosmetics. It’s important to us that we ensure Azeroth is the best place it can be for everyone, and we will continue to improve our processes when it comes to this kind of decision-making. To be certain that we don’t have any instances in which this art appears in a way that is not respectful, in some cases, we might opt to replace specific elements entirely. For example, some of the art that populates our world is often re-used throughout the game. Occasionally, when determining whether to adjust content, there can be circumstances that further complicate our decision-making. In short, we want our jokes to be inclusive and not punch down. Still, we want to remain mindful of whether certain elements of that world are welcoming to all players. Goofy jokes and occasional mature innuendos are part of WoW, and probably always will be. As a team, we want the world they see to stand as an expression of our talents and principles. World of Warcraft is meant to evolve over time, and every day, new players from every walk of life and every corner of the world experience our in-game content for the very first time. Nonetheless, we believe these changes are worthwhile. In a game that has thousands of art elements and a word count in the millions, we recognize that these updates will amount to very few total changes overall.
The player feedback influenced many gameplay improvements we’re working on for patch 9.1.5, and our internal feedback identified some in-game content that is inconsistent with our goal of building an inclusive and welcoming game world. During this time, we also gathered a great deal of feedback from players on practically every aspect of the game. In early August, we set up internal channels where the WoW team could share feedback on content that doesn't represent who we are as a team today. These updates are a relatively small part of a comprehensive, company-wide effort to improve the WoW team and Blizzard as a whole, but they’re important to us as developers. Over the last few weeks, artists and writers across the WoW team have updated a small number of old quests, art assets, names, and dialogue that we identified as outdated and inconsistent with our values as a team.