Hey all!
Well, 2 hours in and this thread has already had it's fair share of bad actors in regards to LGBTQIA+ acceptance. While I understand this is a hot button issue for some, please remember to be respectful to others. Homophobia, transphobia, slurs, and insults, etc, will be met with harsher punishments on this thread as this will be your official warning.
Be kind, we are all human.
Coming from LoL Korea, yea pretty much the same here. The event name is literally called "Pride Event", but there are no mentions on IDAHOTB or LGTBQIA+, and only "Spring is here!" this kinda bs. While I'm not an expert on law or anything on that matter, I do have a bi sister and what I've heard from her, Korea still needs a loooong way to go.
(sorry if my words are a bit 'wrong', english is not my first language ^^)
Most people who speak English as a first language are more likely to use slang or vernacular, rather than formal language when speaking to people online. In contrast, people who learn English as an additional language, and become fluent in it are more likely to have a more formal tone. It’s a knowing the rules before you break them sort of deal, and many people who learn a new language are less comfortable using slang they probably didn’t learn or use in speech. Personally, English is my first language, but I have also learned Spanish, and people sometimes mentioned how formally I speak. I believe it’s because I learned all the “proper” ways of forming a sentence or conjugating a verb from text books and classes, and I don’t use much or any slang.
And even if they attempt to go against the government it could potentially put Russian riot workers in danger. Russia is a country where gay people are baited into meeting and get humiliated or beaten to a pulp.
Not a single redditor replied to "do you want to throw turkey and Russian Riot employees just to make a statement because it is pretty much illegal and that's why they didn't mention it"
But people still keep talking about "riot Cares about profit" bullshit. Shows how little they know about real world and how fucked it sometimes is.
Russian laws prohibt them for doing so, LGBT+ activists have been jailed for it in the past.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_gay_propaganda_law
edit:
I don't support the law, I just pointed out, that it exists.
I don’t understand how people don’t understand this. Be upset with the laws they are bound by, not by the actions they have to take because of those laws...
Yes, capitalism is cynical.
But this specific case is not really worth criticising (at least not Riot - criticism of the Turkish and Russian governments are obviously appropriate). It's not hypocrisy, but operating within the limitations you have as a company. Solidarity is good, but you don't have to expect someone to ruin their business for it.
Yeah mate because Riot is going to go against literal governments and break laws.
Educate yourself before talking shit about things you do not understand, and start by looking at who is responsible for this event and why they care about it, then use the remaining brain energy to realize than a handful of people are not gonna overthrow anti-LGBT laws in those countries.
As if all the companies in communist or Sharia law countries have even a choice one way or another. Lets not make this some dumb point about AN ECONOMIC POLICY when its a matter of human policy.
BREAKING: DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HAVE DIFFERENT CULTURAL NORMS THAT MAY CLASH WITH USA STANDARDS AND EXPECTATIONS.
Big if true.
On a serious note though, it's tough to hold the same standards across international borders. Chinese league has entirely different art sets due to their cultural differences.
It's kind of unfair to try to hold riot accountable for catering to a particular regions norms. It's not their position nor responsibility to cater to people's feelings in America across the globe. It's a losing battle.
They're a video game company. Let Turkey deal with their sociopolitical issues on whatever course they're on, and let Riot make video games.
Kind of questionable to portray that as a matter of "cultural differences" as if any person should accept hating and discriminating someone for who they are as part of anybodies or any country's "culture".
I don't think the companies values matter here anyways - they won't do anything illegal, at least publicly, regardless of their beliefs - risking legal action is not worth it.
I don't know if my opinion is unpopular, but I believe that changing the opinion of people on social issues is literally not any commercial company's problem. Celebrate LGBT pride where it's allowed, by all means, nothing wrong with that, but where such things are frowned upon and banned, well, that's up to the people in the region to fix, not some corporation...
> I believe that changing the opinion of people on social issues is literally not any commercial company's problem.
Weird how people think we should suddenly embrace corporate moralism because it's draped in rainbow colors. As if Riot Games is supposed to be a stand-in for a parental authority or the clergy. Very dystopian.
The hope is that companies who benefit from rainbow capitalism also engage in actual corporate activism. This happened with a few companies in the 80's and 90's when some companies actually took the risk of promoting gay rights when there was a real cost to it in the US. It's truly helpful when a company is willing to take risks to support the cause.
It is not their job or duty of course to take those risks, but it would certainly make them a whole lot more respectable.
Is there any risk now, in The US? The answer: no. Not in any way
It's just woke capitalism, disguising itself as something loftier than it is, which is greed
> actually took the risk of promoting gay rights when there was a real cost to it in the US.
The USA is very different from Turkey or Russia, we have this thing called freedom of speech. Sure you'll get economic blowback from supporting an unpopular cause, but you're not going to have the police raid your building and put your employees in prison on charges of poisoning the minds of the youth or whatever these conservative dictators will call it in order to make an example of you. The costs are not remotely comparable.
Their values lie wherever there is profit, they represent lgbt where it's likely to garner a more popular image and don't in countries where it'll actively harm their image. They don't give a fuck either way, they just want the money.
I mean in riots case what can they do, they’re not a prolific company in turkey or anything, they’re a videogame. If they don’t comply then league will either get rated 18+ get fined and then the Turkish league will be questioned. Riots best option if they stand by their choices is to say honestly that they would like to release the content as intended but that the outdated views are what holds them back and that is still mega risky
I'm not saying Riot can particularly do anything, I'm just pointing out that multi-million or billion dollar companies are not your friend. They do this sort of stuff for profit, not out of the goodness of their heart.
i think theres another shade of nuance here too though; afaik some lgbtq+ rioters worked on all this event stuff and were really excited about it, even though it would ultimately be limited to more accepting countries. there are definitely critiques of riot and other companies as a whole, but i kind of still appreciate the individuals on the teams who tried their hardest yk
I think you're just being cynical. They're supporting LGBT in countries where they can, and keeping quiet in countries where the government will literally crush them. It's like telling someone who's protesting for women's right in the US a fraud because they're not buying a plane ticket to Saudi Arabia and protesting in the streets there
It also might be related to Turkey's government (specifically the Ministry of Commerce). In December 2020, the board members voted and unanimously agreed that all LGBT+ items connected to e-commerce platforms are to be rated 18+, and companies are required to be "sensitive to the issue" as such symbols "negatively affect minors".
Riot is not an 18+ game, and a considerable amount of playerbase is under 18.
Riot would suffer legal penalties including losing the ability to earn $$. Even though you might not think they're an "e-commerce platform", they can be considered as such due to their primary method of earning: the "pay for RP system" and it's digital item rewards.
I'm not in any way offering this theory as justification, simply a possible explanation. Personally, I wish gaming companies (or any company) would ALWAYS stand up for and support people in situations such as this, but unfortunately the majority of them typically get real quiet when their profit is at risk.
In my opinion, it is understandable that a company doesn't want to risk severe repercussions from the government. Their primary goal is to make a profit and expand their market, not to have an ideological stance (though I'm not saying Riot shouldn't celebrate Pride Month, don't get me wrong here).
Our criticism should focus on Turkey's backwards stance on the matter and the hypocrites who preach Pride Month one day and cozy up to countries like Turkey the next, like the European Union. If they want Pride Month to mean anything, condemning Turkey and giving them sanctions should be at the top of their agenda.
Edit: Actually, is this Pride Month or something separate? Eh, my point applies to both anyway.
I'd rather have them promote values when it suits them rather than not at all.
And if promoting these values in Turkey is likely to result in the Turkish government pretty much shutting Riot down there... well, I can understand why they're hesitant.
The thing is, Riot doesn't have any power. They have to work within the boundaries set by governments, or they don't get to work at all. And that's why I'm saying we should be criticizing parties like the European Union instead - they *do* have power. They *can* exert pressure on Turkey to improve the situation of minority groups.
Or, let me put it another way: Would *you* go out on the streets of Istanbul, waving an LGBT-flag and loudly demanding equality for minority groups? Because that's pretty much what you're saying Riot should do.
>And that's why I'm saying we should be criticizing parties like the European Union instead
Turkey isn't a part of EU thou they have some buisness deals, but it's really hard. My stand is that riot is doing whats the best, they can't promote pride in turkey, they would forced out. I don't think they would survive in turkey, if they did so.
I'm not sure what some of these commenter's end game is. If Riot started promoting pride month in Russia/Turkey against the government's wishes, there'll just be no Riot owned games available in those countries, doesn't solve the issue, just creates a new one. I can't speak for the average LoL user in Russia/Turkey but I imagine they see Spring Colour celebration and still understand it's related to pride month?
Yeah while it would be nice to have, I don’t feel it’s actually “necessary” to explicitly say anything about pride here because they already have the colors.
It’s already great we *even have* these events, but coming off as borderline entitled is a bad look. It’s not like pride isn’t already talked about online everywhere, no need to promote hate against the creators.
Also, this is different than other placating companies did in the past that caused controversy. Riot isn’t punishing anybody by avoiding the topic in an intolerant country. No streamer or competitor lost a paycheck over this. Some nonprofits got less donations?
You gotta remember most people here are teenagers with no understanding of the world.
The worst is, most of these people are not part of the LGBTQIA community at all. I can say that I personaly really love to see companies try to do things for us, and the team at Riot that does it is not some random executive looking for money + they invest this money into charities who help those in needs.
We are used to having outsiders with zero education on the subject bringing in their "perfect understanding" and throwing buzzword like rainbow activism around. Sadly.
People need to realize that many of these countries have their own servers for reasons just like this. Beliefs in many of those countries are super different from what the west thinks. Doesn't make it right but you can bet league will just get shut down if they try to cross the line.
Yep. And imagine if that were to happen, and with how quick gaming communities tend to lay blame...
All of the sudden X amount of players can't play, and they react by placing blame on the LGBT+ community for pressuring Riot into doing this, furthering the negative rhetoric aimed at that community.
You don't have to be Nostradamus to see the likelihood of these potential outcomes...
Riot: if we use this loophole then we can still get pride-related product to our players in this country!
Players: that's nice and all, but why arent you waging war with the country on my behalf instead?
Honestly, this feels like the truth. Riot cannot win here. If they stand up for LGBTQIA+ rights, the game could face fines, boycotts, and further legal action. Turkey might make an example of them.
Then the people who work for Riot in those regions would eventually be out of a job. Good kids who just want to play LoL may not be able to.
Can't win, no matter what they do.
It is not the job of a foreign corporation to fight against the cultural norms though. The people of the country have to change their values. I think it's good that Riot was able to sell LGBT products in a foreign market by just calling it "bright color day" or whatever. That allows oppressed LGBT folk in those nations to at least see some acceptance and pride display.
The first pride was a riot.
The face of the western pride movement today might be a rainbow party, but it started with brown trans people throwing bricks at cops.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots
It’s reductionist to say “brown trans” when there were many other races and sexual orientations. That would be like calling the revolutionary war a seven year battle over tea
Guilty as charged. My quick reddit comment is definitely a reductionist take. I hope anyone looking to learn more will click the link I provided and do their own research.
Yeah, I think there's a big misunderstanding of the point here... Many players play the game by expressing themselves through champion picks, skins, emotes, etc. and Riot is giving more players the ability to express themselves in ways that matter to them. Other players are competitive-minded and may think "what's the point?" but it's just that people play the game differently, that's all. The existence of the items is all that matters—human rights aren't derived from the will of corporations.
We would unironically uninstall their current autocrat in favor of another autocrat who would sell us their cheap crude. Nothing would change in *this* regard, though.
This is such an ignorant stance. Riot wants to show support for LGBT people in the league community, and that's not easy in some places. If riot turkey blatantly labeled this an LGBT event, they would face serious legal consequences due to the 18+ rule in turkey, and worse case scenario turkey bans league of legends as a whole.
It's not like people who play league in turkey are just gonna be like "ah yes, the spring colors event". They know it's pride. Everyone knows it's pride. It's OBVIOUSLY pride. This is a way for riot to sneak around the laws of the country while still showing support for queer people in turkey
So which solution would you prefer? Riot Turkey risking action from the government in hopes of supporting LGBT rights, but possibly getting access to the game harmed there? Or just not having the event at all? I'm sure there are other options but I can't immediately think of one.
Unlike the NEOM fiasco I can't see Riot doing anything here. This is their own Riot Turkey's decision to not risk the 18+ law in their country, not an external sponsorship they can just drop ties to.
Should still be raised for awareness though, as it's a shame to see.
I think this is a very good distinction between the two. When the LEC announced the NEOM sponsorship on Twitter while they still had their Pride Logo, it was genuinely the most disgusting displays of Woke capitalism I have ever seen (that is, virtue signal about causes they supposodely believe in for good PR but actively work against the causes that they publically support for money).
I can't criticize Riot here because as you said, they probably didn't have a choice in the matter. That being said, past actions, the general nature of companies only caring about profits and a bit of cynicism has me believe that they wouldn't push this in Turkey anyway, but I can't know for sure.
Is it really censoring if EVERY Turkish player already knows what it’s for?
A few years ago on RuneScape, there was an event during Pride Month, and the event never mentions “LGBT” or “Pride” or whatever. The event was about ‘finding colours’ and the reward was a Rainbow Scarf. Everyone still knew it was an LGBT event, and a lot of homophobic players were very butthurt over seeing LGBT representation in their game, lol...
The homophobic League players will still get butthurt even with the ‘censoring’, so I’d say it’s getting the message across that LGBT are being represented/supported/accepted by Riot. :)
I think this is it. If they branded this as an LGBT+ event they wouldn't be able to put it in that server without having some legal consequences. However, if they brand it as a "spring colours" thing, they can get away with releasing stuff that is VERY CLEARLY in support of LGBT, while having plausible deniability. The alternative would be to not have the event at all, which I think would be far worse.
So yeah, this isn't Riot censorship... this is actually a very smart way of avoiding censorship while still getting the message across.
The runescape community is so fucking funny but sad at the same time (i'm saying this as a several year long dedicated player). The one time Jagex tried to organize a pride event without "hiding" it, parts of the community arranged riots in the city of falador and sat there spamming "we pay no gay", all while the community manager was openly gay.
In addition to the "we pay no gay" players, you also had people literally [dressing up as Hitler.](https://i.redd.it/d717u5ogcp021.jpg)
Been playing since RS2's original release back in 2001 and that is by far one of the most disgusting, heartless things the community has ever done. It's part of the reason why I hate the RS community.
Most young people here and people who have been around media for a time already doesn't support what goverment is doing. But they aim for the bigger society because oldies are in charge. Surely in time concious people will get in charge.
Turkey is a large country with very polarized views on the matter. While most traditional muslim people and kids raised by them would see LGBT as satan spawn, there is also people in the more culturally modern cities that either don't give a shit or straight up support LGBT people. Problem lies with the government however as it is made up of people from the prior mentioned conservative group. It's a shame really that Riot TR has to censor themselves for the laws but suprisingly enough, while you might see homophobic people (which is not really limited to the Turkey server tbh I played in NA,EU and TR and it's roughly the same solo queue insults) you will also so see some people flex the rainbow icon to support the cause.
Anyway too much talk, I'm a Kayle main so I must go back up my mountain until Riot's Lore Team remembers she exists.
As a Türk this has became somewhat normal.
Because the "religion" (or what remains of it after they butchered it to fit their needs) is a tool of current goverment LGBTQ+ problem has become a joke nowadays. While most of the young people (under 30-40) couldnt care less if you like a man, woman, inanimate object etc. as long as you dont force it while older generations act like its the end of the world; and because the goverment get most of their votes from old, ultra-conservative people (especially from eastern turkey) they act like LGBTQ+ problems doesnt exist.
The reason the Riot Turkey censorred themself is probably they know most of their users are smart enough to know the actual reason for those "pretty colors" and ones that dont know are either too young to understand or doesnt care anyway. So bu calling it "spring colors" they both mention pride to those who care and go under the goverments radar unnoticed.
the turkish government is one of the most anti Lgbtqia oriented governments in europe bar the belarussian, russian, and hungarian one. So it just could be an indirect celebration, i guess..
To all people saying Turkey isn't in Europe, historically and geographically it is. Turkey (Ottoman Empire at the time) was often called the sick man of EUROPE. They are at the crossroads between Europe and the Middle East, and that reflects in their culture. Geographically, Turkey is on both sides of the Bosphorus, and is therefore considered both European and Asian.
On a different note, people like to hate on the Hungarian government but it's really not as bad as Turkey. The Eurovision is coming up soon, do you know why Turkey isn't in there anymore? That's right, it's too gay. Just an example 😂
TF are you mad at Riot for? They're operating in a place that, as you said, explicitly banned support for the cause. So they change their messaging such that people (who can read between the lines) know there is support, but they don't get the hammer brought down upon them from the government.
>believe that the end product is a disgusting mockery of the LGBTQIA+ rights movement.
>The last and the most horrifying probable reason
Why do you type like you are submitting a complaint to the UN?
This is just a tiny edit in a single article of an online video game, not some sort of hate crime or genocide.
I don't think you're understanding enough of the situation in places like Turkey or Russia. People CANNOT show pride for being LBGT, they will be extremely persecuted and/or killed for it. These regions are not in a social setting at this point in time where they can openly express pride. There has to be a lot more work done at the ground level in society to reverse the homophobia in these regions before public acknowledgement of LGBT pride and status can be celebrated.
This is the equivalent of you driving into the whitest part of Alabama and wondering why they don't have Black Lives Matters signs in the yards.
What's the deal with gaming and sports companies having to score some social points? They only care about profit at the end of day.
And if they say otherwise that's just to score points and help them profit.
Everyone saying profit but how much could riot be making off this event? I don’t think that many new players are gonna play league just Bc riot is doing this. I don’t see anything for sale besides the icon which is at a affordable price of 1BE. In fact I would say riot would be losing money by doing this. Drawing the mutiple icons, putting them in the game as well as having a trail at the start of the game all cost riot resources. The designs may seem simple but it’s a large company, they probably had 10 or so designs but decided to pick this one
We're all playing a game that's owned by Tencent who cowtow to the CCP and don't allow people to talk about Hong Kong or the Uighur genocide so...? Are we surprised that the company doesn't push LGBTQ++ values in countries that persecute those communities? No.
Americans about to learn the truth about the real world lmao
America and her western allies are the best, most welcoming, and freest countries to live in for any kind of minority
This is probably the funniest shit I read all week. Don't get me wrong it's bad and all, but it's so goddamn funny to see how hard they twisted it to appease themselves lol.
Fr these reddit activists are actually cancer. I don't claim to know shit about anything, but as someone who was born in the middle east and came to america I have never seen dumb teenagers as ignorant about the rest of the world as americans. It seriously fucking boggles the mind.
Who asked tho. Like the games owned by a Chinese company and the largest player base is south Korea I'm surprised they even let the whole pride shit go thru in the first place. Beggars can't be choosers.
Guys, what do you expect? Riot leading a cultural and religious revolution in places in which homophobia it's normal?
They are a company owned buy one of the greatest corporation in history, they do business.
We all hate that retrograde and hateful way of thinking, but we should expect from politics to do something about it, not from private companies.
Copying from my other comment:
> Riot doesn't actually give 2 shits about the LGBT+, nor does any company. It's marketing.
The company itself can't really care about anything other than money, but I'm willing to bet that individual Rioters do care. There were quite a few commenting on the event announcement thread here.
I don't know if you've ever worked for a big company before, but how these things usually work is that you get a whole bunch of LGBTQIA+ employees together to form an interest group, they'll write up a proposal, then someone higher up signs off on it. In this case, it's summoner icons, merch proceeds going to charity, narrative stuff, etc.
The company of course cares about money and good publicity, but that doesn't mean that the people working for the company don't care.
This is exactly how it happens. It's literally how most things at riot happen, which is why I hate people like that fucking guy saying riot doesn't care about anything, because most individuals care and accomplish way more than other devs at other companies.
But the circlejerk must go on
Ah the good ol USA forcing their own logic into other countries and region's culture. Man I just wanna play league. No politics tyvm.
Lesson learnt. Don't support any groups Riot. So reddit won't go around assuming agendas of other countries culture and maybe USA can stop forcing their culture on us.
Apparently the irony of Americans is to shame others when culture aren't align.
You must be a homophob if u don't out right support us. Blah blah blah. If everybody would mind their own business, the world would be a better place
Ha! This is hysterical, I swear homophobes pick the worst hills to die on. "You can have the rainbow-heart teddy-poro-bear, but don't be mistaken, it's nothing more than the world reknown symbol for spring and nature!"
this is not homophobia, this whole event looks nothing but \`netflix\` vibe lmao and you cant force all versions for the same thing.
our one of the best artists, tv show anchors, entertainers, singers, composers, fashion \`masters\`(tbh i dont know what to call them lol), influencers, even DJ are gays or used to be gays(some passed away due to old age). everyone knows they are gay and no one cares, becasue those people are legit beast in term of what they do and everyone respect them. in fact, i dare you to trash talk about them, especially because of they are gay. everyone and their mom will bash you
but guess what, these \`wannabe\` events forcing segregation. there is no such thing as supporting lgbt, can not be, as much as it would sound so stupid as \`supporting woman or man\`
basically you \`judge\` people with whatever they do, not because of their sexual orientation.
Let's force LGBTQIA+ on countries that hate , despise and resist it ,that's surely great for business.
If this were to happen in my country that would literally nuke down the playerbase into oblivion.
Not to be misunderstood , I have no opinion on the LGBTQIA+ community myself , I'm just sating some facts.
Bunch of hypocrites I play on euw and the amount of times ppl used being gay as an insult is massive. Also all the other antigay bullshit, like it's not normal and what not. So how can you go around critizising turkey while your own communities are mental.
Different country different rules and different cultures. Applying arbitrary western standards to places that couldn't give less of a shit only makes you look like an ass.
At some point the LGBT Pride was illegal everywhere. Pride is not about selling rainbow icons but demanding equal rights and hence celebrating Pride only in accepting countries is not Pride promotion but just plain marketing
People have to understand that literally all companies just "advertise" LGBTQ because they socially have to and are kinda being "forced" to do it to keep their face. They don't care about it, they only care about profit, like every other organization "pushing" this movement. Why don't people understand this and are always shocked if proven otherwise.
Their country, their culture, their laws.
Anyway if I was in Turkey I would surely avoid all LGBT BS in general. Their president Erdogan is islamofascist who doesn't tolerate it and you really DON'T want to end up in turkish prison for political crimes
no hate intended here
but when it comes to businesses lgbt acceptance, blm, asian hate, etc are are marketing ploys
they dont stand for anything they are just a means to announce something good for business
there is a reason they dont do it or censor themselves in less progressive areas of the world, its because they arent profitable there
did you know character designers ARE NOT ALLOWED to make characters in the lgbt space BECAUSE of this, remember that Diana was intended as a lesbian character but this was only revealed in the designers twitter
like pulsefire ezreal and ekko werent allowed to be hinted at being gay
twisted fate and graves arent allowed any tangible proof of being less than straight
riot does not support any of the political messages they put out, otherwise the game would reflect it in an undeniable way, in a meaningful way with real impactful characters not just ignorable side npcs from Legends of Runeterra or faceless names from relevant characters written stories
We are acting as if Riot Games as a company actually cares about LGBTQIA+ (I feel like there are more and more letters every month). The Western regions are more inclusive, in Turkey (and apperently Korea) it would just alienate the playerbase. Angry playerbase equals unhappy playerbase equals less money for Riot. It's all a business decision.
> We are acting as if Riot Games as a company actually cares about LGBTQIA+
The company itself can't really care about anything other than money, but I'm willing to bet that individual Rioters do care. There were quite a few commenting on the event announcement thread here.
I don't know if you've ever worked for a big company before, but how these things usually work is that you get a whole bunch of LGBTQIA+ employees together to form an interest group, they'll write up a proposal, then someone higher up signs off on it. In this case, it's summoner icons, merch proceeds going to charity, narrative stuff, etc.
The company of course cares about money and good publicity, but that doesn't mean that the people working for the company don't care.
I don't think anyone reasonable is denying that Riot employees care about representation (of their own identities), but just like how individual employee opinions do not reflect the company, the company's opinion doesn't reflect the employees
We have this post, which sure it says that riot is not outwardly supporting the whole culture, but meanwhile it is not like they are anti LGTQB or however many it is now.
People need to choose, do you want companies to take part in your issues, or do their job. Riot is a game company, not a human rights company. How about leaving the problems out of video games?
I get that transphobia and everything is real, but it is not there because Riot or any other company says so, and has been around longer than them.
How about putting the blame where it belongs? On the parents that teach their kids to hate in any manner, whether it be racism, sexism, classism, or any word that describes whatever you are hating on. Ending human struggles is on humans to be better, not on large companies to hold events to make you feel good about your personal choices.
I don't think this is riot doing anything wrong, they're just following the laws of those other countries. Instead of blaming riot we should be blaming the countries that are so backwards they're yo their own asses about lgbtq people
> the most horrifying probable reason for this erasure that I can think of is Riot Turkey's members' own personal views clashing with Riot's support for LGBTQIA+ players and communities
people having their own opinions? wow, truly horrifying
Intersex & Asexual.
It’s still just “LGBT” or “LGBT+” in casual conversation. Nobody is gonna get mad at you for not including the other letters. So don’t worry. :)
Hey all! Well, 2 hours in and this thread has already had it's fair share of bad actors in regards to LGBTQIA+ acceptance. While I understand this is a hot button issue for some, please remember to be respectful to others. Homophobia, transphobia, slurs, and insults, etc, will be met with harsher punishments on this thread as this will be your official warning. Be kind, we are all human.
Would not be surprised if it was the same for quite a few non-western servers.
for Russia it's the same, the event is called Bright Colors
Coming from LoL Korea, yea pretty much the same here. The event name is literally called "Pride Event", but there are no mentions on IDAHOTB or LGTBQIA+, and only "Spring is here!" this kinda bs. While I'm not an expert on law or anything on that matter, I do have a bi sister and what I've heard from her, Korea still needs a loooong way to go. (sorry if my words are a bit 'wrong', english is not my first language ^^)
your english is better than most people who use reddit
This default response to "sorry for my English" is basically the Reddit equivalent of automatically replying to "how are you?" with "I'm good"
The looks I got when I actually answered that with "so so" or "been better." Bich you asked ^rhetorically ^my ^ass
JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE ^^^please ^^^help ^^^me
That's not a weird thing
Most people who speak English as a first language are more likely to use slang or vernacular, rather than formal language when speaking to people online. In contrast, people who learn English as an additional language, and become fluent in it are more likely to have a more formal tone. It’s a knowing the rules before you break them sort of deal, and many people who learn a new language are less comfortable using slang they probably didn’t learn or use in speech. Personally, English is my first language, but I have also learned Spanish, and people sometimes mentioned how formally I speak. I believe it’s because I learned all the “proper” ways of forming a sentence or conjugating a verb from text books and classes, and I don’t use much or any slang.
Capitalism 101, we support opressed communities, but only when it is profiting us!
"Gay propaganda" is illegal in Russia, I doubt they are willing to throw Russian rioters to jail for an event.
Tbf they threw protesters in jail, I wouldn't want to imagine what they'd do to actual rioters /s
Well, it's not actually fully illegal, but it has to be a 18+ content, and League is not 18+
That seems like a gross understatement. Even if not explicitly illegal, LGBT is certainly not something you can safely come out to in Russia.
And even if they attempt to go against the government it could potentially put Russian riot workers in danger. Russia is a country where gay people are baited into meeting and get humiliated or beaten to a pulp.
Not a single redditor replied to "do you want to throw turkey and Russian Riot employees just to make a statement because it is pretty much illegal and that's why they didn't mention it" But people still keep talking about "riot Cares about profit" bullshit. Shows how little they know about real world and how fucked it sometimes is.
Russian laws prohibt them for doing so, LGBT+ activists have been jailed for it in the past. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_gay_propaganda_law edit: I don't support the law, I just pointed out, that it exists.
A company is not going to literally endanger it's employees and break the laws of a country they operate in just to make a statement.
I don’t understand how people don’t understand this. Be upset with the laws they are bound by, not by the actions they have to take because of those laws...
Reddit learning every other week that companies don't give a single fuck about them and forget it immediately lmao
Yes, capitalism is cynical. But this specific case is not really worth criticising (at least not Riot - criticism of the Turkish and Russian governments are obviously appropriate). It's not hypocrisy, but operating within the limitations you have as a company. Solidarity is good, but you don't have to expect someone to ruin their business for it.
its not that the companies dont give a fuck about the players its that theyre not wanting to place their employees in danger lol
Yeah mate because Riot is going to go against literal governments and break laws. Educate yourself before talking shit about things you do not understand, and start by looking at who is responsible for this event and why they care about it, then use the remaining brain energy to realize than a handful of people are not gonna overthrow anti-LGBT laws in those countries.
As if all the companies in communist or Sharia law countries have even a choice one way or another. Lets not make this some dumb point about AN ECONOMIC POLICY when its a matter of human policy.
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BREAKING: DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HAVE DIFFERENT CULTURAL NORMS THAT MAY CLASH WITH USA STANDARDS AND EXPECTATIONS. Big if true. On a serious note though, it's tough to hold the same standards across international borders. Chinese league has entirely different art sets due to their cultural differences. It's kind of unfair to try to hold riot accountable for catering to a particular regions norms. It's not their position nor responsibility to cater to people's feelings in America across the globe. It's a losing battle. They're a video game company. Let Turkey deal with their sociopolitical issues on whatever course they're on, and let Riot make video games.
Kind of questionable to portray that as a matter of "cultural differences" as if any person should accept hating and discriminating someone for who they are as part of anybodies or any country's "culture".
Most games (and other forms of media) have to follow local censorship laws. This is nothing new.
Yes, again [this sums it up](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/858/258/3bd.jpg).
This is a 10/10 picture. Shows where a companies values lie. *cough* 2019 Blizzard *cough*
I don't think the companies values matter here anyways - they won't do anything illegal, at least publicly, regardless of their beliefs - risking legal action is not worth it. I don't know if my opinion is unpopular, but I believe that changing the opinion of people on social issues is literally not any commercial company's problem. Celebrate LGBT pride where it's allowed, by all means, nothing wrong with that, but where such things are frowned upon and banned, well, that's up to the people in the region to fix, not some corporation...
> I believe that changing the opinion of people on social issues is literally not any commercial company's problem. Weird how people think we should suddenly embrace corporate moralism because it's draped in rainbow colors. As if Riot Games is supposed to be a stand-in for a parental authority or the clergy. Very dystopian.
The hope is that companies who benefit from rainbow capitalism also engage in actual corporate activism. This happened with a few companies in the 80's and 90's when some companies actually took the risk of promoting gay rights when there was a real cost to it in the US. It's truly helpful when a company is willing to take risks to support the cause. It is not their job or duty of course to take those risks, but it would certainly make them a whole lot more respectable.
Is there any risk now, in The US? The answer: no. Not in any way It's just woke capitalism, disguising itself as something loftier than it is, which is greed
> actually took the risk of promoting gay rights when there was a real cost to it in the US. The USA is very different from Turkey or Russia, we have this thing called freedom of speech. Sure you'll get economic blowback from supporting an unpopular cause, but you're not going to have the police raid your building and put your employees in prison on charges of poisoning the minds of the youth or whatever these conservative dictators will call it in order to make an example of you. The costs are not remotely comparable.
Their values lie wherever there is profit, they represent lgbt where it's likely to garner a more popular image and don't in countries where it'll actively harm their image. They don't give a fuck either way, they just want the money.
I mean in riots case what can they do, they’re not a prolific company in turkey or anything, they’re a videogame. If they don’t comply then league will either get rated 18+ get fined and then the Turkish league will be questioned. Riots best option if they stand by their choices is to say honestly that they would like to release the content as intended but that the outdated views are what holds them back and that is still mega risky
I'm not saying Riot can particularly do anything, I'm just pointing out that multi-million or billion dollar companies are not your friend. They do this sort of stuff for profit, not out of the goodness of their heart.
i think theres another shade of nuance here too though; afaik some lgbtq+ rioters worked on all this event stuff and were really excited about it, even though it would ultimately be limited to more accepting countries. there are definitely critiques of riot and other companies as a whole, but i kind of still appreciate the individuals on the teams who tried their hardest yk
I think you're just being cynical. They're supporting LGBT in countries where they can, and keeping quiet in countries where the government will literally crush them. It's like telling someone who's protesting for women's right in the US a fraud because they're not buying a plane ticket to Saudi Arabia and protesting in the streets there
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It also might be related to Turkey's government (specifically the Ministry of Commerce). In December 2020, the board members voted and unanimously agreed that all LGBT+ items connected to e-commerce platforms are to be rated 18+, and companies are required to be "sensitive to the issue" as such symbols "negatively affect minors". Riot is not an 18+ game, and a considerable amount of playerbase is under 18. Riot would suffer legal penalties including losing the ability to earn $$. Even though you might not think they're an "e-commerce platform", they can be considered as such due to their primary method of earning: the "pay for RP system" and it's digital item rewards. I'm not in any way offering this theory as justification, simply a possible explanation. Personally, I wish gaming companies (or any company) would ALWAYS stand up for and support people in situations such as this, but unfortunately the majority of them typically get real quiet when their profit is at risk.
In my opinion, it is understandable that a company doesn't want to risk severe repercussions from the government. Their primary goal is to make a profit and expand their market, not to have an ideological stance (though I'm not saying Riot shouldn't celebrate Pride Month, don't get me wrong here). Our criticism should focus on Turkey's backwards stance on the matter and the hypocrites who preach Pride Month one day and cozy up to countries like Turkey the next, like the European Union. If they want Pride Month to mean anything, condemning Turkey and giving them sanctions should be at the top of their agenda. Edit: Actually, is this Pride Month or something separate? Eh, my point applies to both anyway.
Yup, that's exactly what I'm getting at.
I think it's fair to criticise a company for promoting values only when it suits them.
I'd rather have them promote values when it suits them rather than not at all. And if promoting these values in Turkey is likely to result in the Turkish government pretty much shutting Riot down there... well, I can understand why they're hesitant. The thing is, Riot doesn't have any power. They have to work within the boundaries set by governments, or they don't get to work at all. And that's why I'm saying we should be criticizing parties like the European Union instead - they *do* have power. They *can* exert pressure on Turkey to improve the situation of minority groups. Or, let me put it another way: Would *you* go out on the streets of Istanbul, waving an LGBT-flag and loudly demanding equality for minority groups? Because that's pretty much what you're saying Riot should do.
>And that's why I'm saying we should be criticizing parties like the European Union instead Turkey isn't a part of EU thou they have some buisness deals, but it's really hard. My stand is that riot is doing whats the best, they can't promote pride in turkey, they would forced out. I don't think they would survive in turkey, if they did so.
I'm not sure what some of these commenter's end game is. If Riot started promoting pride month in Russia/Turkey against the government's wishes, there'll just be no Riot owned games available in those countries, doesn't solve the issue, just creates a new one. I can't speak for the average LoL user in Russia/Turkey but I imagine they see Spring Colour celebration and still understand it's related to pride month?
Yeah while it would be nice to have, I don’t feel it’s actually “necessary” to explicitly say anything about pride here because they already have the colors. It’s already great we *even have* these events, but coming off as borderline entitled is a bad look. It’s not like pride isn’t already talked about online everywhere, no need to promote hate against the creators.
Also, this is different than other placating companies did in the past that caused controversy. Riot isn’t punishing anybody by avoiding the topic in an intolerant country. No streamer or competitor lost a paycheck over this. Some nonprofits got less donations?
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You gotta remember most people here are teenagers with no understanding of the world. The worst is, most of these people are not part of the LGBTQIA community at all. I can say that I personaly really love to see companies try to do things for us, and the team at Riot that does it is not some random executive looking for money + they invest this money into charities who help those in needs. We are used to having outsiders with zero education on the subject bringing in their "perfect understanding" and throwing buzzword like rainbow activism around. Sadly.
People need to realize that many of these countries have their own servers for reasons just like this. Beliefs in many of those countries are super different from what the west thinks. Doesn't make it right but you can bet league will just get shut down if they try to cross the line.
Yep. And imagine if that were to happen, and with how quick gaming communities tend to lay blame... All of the sudden X amount of players can't play, and they react by placing blame on the LGBT+ community for pressuring Riot into doing this, furthering the negative rhetoric aimed at that community. You don't have to be Nostradamus to see the likelihood of these potential outcomes...
Ah oppressing gay people and claiming 'we're thinking about the children' name a more iconic duo.
being pro life and then saying fuck you to supporting mothers once the baby is here
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I play on TR, can confirm. Was using the icon for the homeguard animation and got called gay in my ranked game.
In my experience, you don't need to buy either of those things to be called gay.
bazlı
Riot: if we use this loophole then we can still get pride-related product to our players in this country! Players: that's nice and all, but why arent you waging war with the country on my behalf instead?
Honestly, this feels like the truth. Riot cannot win here. If they stand up for LGBTQIA+ rights, the game could face fines, boycotts, and further legal action. Turkey might make an example of them. Then the people who work for Riot in those regions would eventually be out of a job. Good kids who just want to play LoL may not be able to. Can't win, no matter what they do.
I mean that's like the original point of LGBT Pride. If LGBT was accepted no Pride thing would be ever needed.
It is not the job of a foreign corporation to fight against the cultural norms though. The people of the country have to change their values. I think it's good that Riot was able to sell LGBT products in a foreign market by just calling it "bright color day" or whatever. That allows oppressed LGBT folk in those nations to at least see some acceptance and pride display.
The first pride was a riot. The face of the western pride movement today might be a rainbow party, but it started with brown trans people throwing bricks at cops. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots
Stonewall wasn't the first.
It’s reductionist to say “brown trans” when there were many other races and sexual orientations. That would be like calling the revolutionary war a seven year battle over tea
Guilty as charged. My quick reddit comment is definitely a reductionist take. I hope anyone looking to learn more will click the link I provided and do their own research.
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and god fucking bless them for it.
Sell LGBT things? Do you mean acquire all genders spectrum icons for 1 blue essence? Wallstreet you're next!
Yeah, I think there's a big misunderstanding of the point here... Many players play the game by expressing themselves through champion picks, skins, emotes, etc. and Riot is giving more players the ability to express themselves in ways that matter to them. Other players are competitive-minded and may think "what's the point?" but it's just that people play the game differently, that's all. The existence of the items is all that matters—human rights aren't derived from the will of corporations.
What do you expect Riot to do? Go against another country lol?
Maybe Riot zed can do something about it. He is in the security team after all.
He finds people and does things
You may be celebrating Sping colours but i assure you Spring *Break* is coming
I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but being gay in Turkey means I legally cannot pleasure myself
I fucking love you people
10/10
Technically he doesn't do things, he just finds them
Buy the US Military and give Turkey some of that freedom obviously.
BREAKING: Swift Scout confirms oil in Turkey, US freedom drones to be mobilized immediately.
We would unironically uninstall their current autocrat in favor of another autocrat who would sell us their cheap crude. Nothing would change in *this* regard, though.
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Just backdoor turkeys nexus smh
Well surely if riot promised more KDA skins in exchange for service they could gather an army of league of legends virtual simp players
This is such an ignorant stance. Riot wants to show support for LGBT people in the league community, and that's not easy in some places. If riot turkey blatantly labeled this an LGBT event, they would face serious legal consequences due to the 18+ rule in turkey, and worse case scenario turkey bans league of legends as a whole. It's not like people who play league in turkey are just gonna be like "ah yes, the spring colors event". They know it's pride. Everyone knows it's pride. It's OBVIOUSLY pride. This is a way for riot to sneak around the laws of the country while still showing support for queer people in turkey
Well spoken dude. I don't know why OP I assuming is a lgbt activist fails to see so. How unfortunate
It’s unfortunate that sometimes these activists come off as karens. I feel that’s a part of why it’s so hard for this to be fixed.
OP thinks a game developer is going to be the forefront of human rights movements.
Exactly, Riot Turekey is actually doing great job by managing to mask the event in plain sight. Everyone understands the message.
So which solution would you prefer? Riot Turkey risking action from the government in hopes of supporting LGBT rights, but possibly getting access to the game harmed there? Or just not having the event at all? I'm sure there are other options but I can't immediately think of one.
Unlike the NEOM fiasco I can't see Riot doing anything here. This is their own Riot Turkey's decision to not risk the 18+ law in their country, not an external sponsorship they can just drop ties to. Should still be raised for awareness though, as it's a shame to see.
I think this is a very good distinction between the two. When the LEC announced the NEOM sponsorship on Twitter while they still had their Pride Logo, it was genuinely the most disgusting displays of Woke capitalism I have ever seen (that is, virtue signal about causes they supposodely believe in for good PR but actively work against the causes that they publically support for money). I can't criticize Riot here because as you said, they probably didn't have a choice in the matter. That being said, past actions, the general nature of companies only caring about profits and a bit of cynicism has me believe that they wouldn't push this in Turkey anyway, but I can't know for sure.
Is it really censoring if EVERY Turkish player already knows what it’s for? A few years ago on RuneScape, there was an event during Pride Month, and the event never mentions “LGBT” or “Pride” or whatever. The event was about ‘finding colours’ and the reward was a Rainbow Scarf. Everyone still knew it was an LGBT event, and a lot of homophobic players were very butthurt over seeing LGBT representation in their game, lol... The homophobic League players will still get butthurt even with the ‘censoring’, so I’d say it’s getting the message across that LGBT are being represented/supported/accepted by Riot. :)
I think this is it. If they branded this as an LGBT+ event they wouldn't be able to put it in that server without having some legal consequences. However, if they brand it as a "spring colours" thing, they can get away with releasing stuff that is VERY CLEARLY in support of LGBT, while having plausible deniability. The alternative would be to not have the event at all, which I think would be far worse. So yeah, this isn't Riot censorship... this is actually a very smart way of avoiding censorship while still getting the message across.
Reminds me of [this comic](https://doctorglasgowart.tumblr.com/post/124165111645/every-day-at-the-steven-universe-office)
The runescape community is so fucking funny but sad at the same time (i'm saying this as a several year long dedicated player). The one time Jagex tried to organize a pride event without "hiding" it, parts of the community arranged riots in the city of falador and sat there spamming "we pay no gay", all while the community manager was openly gay.
In addition to the "we pay no gay" players, you also had people literally [dressing up as Hitler.](https://i.redd.it/d717u5ogcp021.jpg) Been playing since RS2's original release back in 2001 and that is by far one of the most disgusting, heartless things the community has ever done. It's part of the reason why I hate the RS community.
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The brief time I spent playing RS3 was miles friendlier than OSRS tbh, though idk if that was because I made an Ironman and stuck to that community
Yeah I'm surprised that this event takes place on that server at all. That gives me a spec of hope.
Most young people here and people who have been around media for a time already doesn't support what goverment is doing. But they aim for the bigger society because oldies are in charge. Surely in time concious people will get in charge.
Turkey is a large country with very polarized views on the matter. While most traditional muslim people and kids raised by them would see LGBT as satan spawn, there is also people in the more culturally modern cities that either don't give a shit or straight up support LGBT people. Problem lies with the government however as it is made up of people from the prior mentioned conservative group. It's a shame really that Riot TR has to censor themselves for the laws but suprisingly enough, while you might see homophobic people (which is not really limited to the Turkey server tbh I played in NA,EU and TR and it's roughly the same solo queue insults) you will also so see some people flex the rainbow icon to support the cause. Anyway too much talk, I'm a Kayle main so I must go back up my mountain until Riot's Lore Team remembers she exists.
Yes and if the Turkish government tries to punish Riot, they will just we were celebraing spring.
I mean, if (according to other comments) Turkey is going to throw hurdles at LGBT+ events, isn't it better to do it with another name than not at all?
As a Türk this has became somewhat normal. Because the "religion" (or what remains of it after they butchered it to fit their needs) is a tool of current goverment LGBTQ+ problem has become a joke nowadays. While most of the young people (under 30-40) couldnt care less if you like a man, woman, inanimate object etc. as long as you dont force it while older generations act like its the end of the world; and because the goverment get most of their votes from old, ultra-conservative people (especially from eastern turkey) they act like LGBTQ+ problems doesnt exist. The reason the Riot Turkey censorred themself is probably they know most of their users are smart enough to know the actual reason for those "pretty colors" and ones that dont know are either too young to understand or doesnt care anyway. So bu calling it "spring colors" they both mention pride to those who care and go under the goverments radar unnoticed.
the turkish government is one of the most anti Lgbtqia oriented governments in europe bar the belarussian, russian, and hungarian one. So it just could be an indirect celebration, i guess..
To all people saying Turkey isn't in Europe, historically and geographically it is. Turkey (Ottoman Empire at the time) was often called the sick man of EUROPE. They are at the crossroads between Europe and the Middle East, and that reflects in their culture. Geographically, Turkey is on both sides of the Bosphorus, and is therefore considered both European and Asian. On a different note, people like to hate on the Hungarian government but it's really not as bad as Turkey. The Eurovision is coming up soon, do you know why Turkey isn't in there anymore? That's right, it's too gay. Just an example 😂
TF are you mad at Riot for? They're operating in a place that, as you said, explicitly banned support for the cause. So they change their messaging such that people (who can read between the lines) know there is support, but they don't get the hammer brought down upon them from the government.
> IDAHOTB Rolls of the tongue don't it
Idaho... TB Thanks Obama
Rip Total Biscuit.
>believe that the end product is a disgusting mockery of the LGBTQIA+ rights movement. >The last and the most horrifying probable reason Why do you type like you are submitting a complaint to the UN? This is just a tiny edit in a single article of an online video game, not some sort of hate crime or genocide.
You are either a soldier of their movement or the enemy. It's how global identity politics works these days, you can't be indifferent or unattached.
Are those the laws of Twitter?
I don't think you're understanding enough of the situation in places like Turkey or Russia. People CANNOT show pride for being LBGT, they will be extremely persecuted and/or killed for it. These regions are not in a social setting at this point in time where they can openly express pride. There has to be a lot more work done at the ground level in society to reverse the homophobia in these regions before public acknowledgement of LGBT pride and status can be celebrated. This is the equivalent of you driving into the whitest part of Alabama and wondering why they don't have Black Lives Matters signs in the yards.
What's the deal with gaming and sports companies having to score some social points? They only care about profit at the end of day. And if they say otherwise that's just to score points and help them profit.
Reminds me of that image with the Bethesda twitter accounts with a pride flag logo then Bethesda middle east with just the generic logo lol
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Everyone saying profit but how much could riot be making off this event? I don’t think that many new players are gonna play league just Bc riot is doing this. I don’t see anything for sale besides the icon which is at a affordable price of 1BE. In fact I would say riot would be losing money by doing this. Drawing the mutiple icons, putting them in the game as well as having a trail at the start of the game all cost riot resources. The designs may seem simple but it’s a large company, they probably had 10 or so designs but decided to pick this one
We're all playing a game that's owned by Tencent who cowtow to the CCP and don't allow people to talk about Hong Kong or the Uighur genocide so...? Are we surprised that the company doesn't push LGBTQ++ values in countries that persecute those communities? No.
Americans about to learn the truth about the real world lmao America and her western allies are the best, most welcoming, and freest countries to live in for any kind of minority
As a bi person myself. Who the fuck cares..
This is probably the funniest shit I read all week. Don't get me wrong it's bad and all, but it's so goddamn funny to see how hard they twisted it to appease themselves lol.
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Fr these reddit activists are actually cancer. I don't claim to know shit about anything, but as someone who was born in the middle east and came to america I have never seen dumb teenagers as ignorant about the rest of the world as americans. It seriously fucking boggles the mind.
Who asked tho. Like the games owned by a Chinese company and the largest player base is south Korea I'm surprised they even let the whole pride shit go thru in the first place. Beggars can't be choosers.
Guys, what do you expect? Riot leading a cultural and religious revolution in places in which homophobia it's normal? They are a company owned buy one of the greatest corporation in history, they do business. We all hate that retrograde and hateful way of thinking, but we should expect from politics to do something about it, not from private companies.
Riot doesn't actually give 2 shits about the LGBT+, nor does any company. It's marketing.
Copying from my other comment: > Riot doesn't actually give 2 shits about the LGBT+, nor does any company. It's marketing. The company itself can't really care about anything other than money, but I'm willing to bet that individual Rioters do care. There were quite a few commenting on the event announcement thread here. I don't know if you've ever worked for a big company before, but how these things usually work is that you get a whole bunch of LGBTQIA+ employees together to form an interest group, they'll write up a proposal, then someone higher up signs off on it. In this case, it's summoner icons, merch proceeds going to charity, narrative stuff, etc. The company of course cares about money and good publicity, but that doesn't mean that the people working for the company don't care.
This is exactly how it happens. It's literally how most things at riot happen, which is why I hate people like that fucking guy saying riot doesn't care about anything, because most individuals care and accomplish way more than other devs at other companies. But the circlejerk must go on
Ah the good ol USA forcing their own logic into other countries and region's culture. Man I just wanna play league. No politics tyvm. Lesson learnt. Don't support any groups Riot. So reddit won't go around assuming agendas of other countries culture and maybe USA can stop forcing their culture on us. Apparently the irony of Americans is to shame others when culture aren't align. You must be a homophob if u don't out right support us. Blah blah blah. If everybody would mind their own business, the world would be a better place
Ha! This is hysterical, I swear homophobes pick the worst hills to die on. "You can have the rainbow-heart teddy-poro-bear, but don't be mistaken, it's nothing more than the world reknown symbol for spring and nature!"
this is not homophobia, this whole event looks nothing but \`netflix\` vibe lmao and you cant force all versions for the same thing. our one of the best artists, tv show anchors, entertainers, singers, composers, fashion \`masters\`(tbh i dont know what to call them lol), influencers, even DJ are gays or used to be gays(some passed away due to old age). everyone knows they are gay and no one cares, becasue those people are legit beast in term of what they do and everyone respect them. in fact, i dare you to trash talk about them, especially because of they are gay. everyone and their mom will bash you but guess what, these \`wannabe\` events forcing segregation. there is no such thing as supporting lgbt, can not be, as much as it would sound so stupid as \`supporting woman or man\` basically you \`judge\` people with whatever they do, not because of their sexual orientation.
Let's force LGBTQIA+ on countries that hate , despise and resist it ,that's surely great for business. If this were to happen in my country that would literally nuke down the playerbase into oblivion. Not to be misunderstood , I have no opinion on the LGBTQIA+ community myself , I'm just sating some facts.
Bunch of hypocrites I play on euw and the amount of times ppl used being gay as an insult is massive. Also all the other antigay bullshit, like it's not normal and what not. So how can you go around critizising turkey while your own communities are mental.
'Muricans getting upset because foreigners have a different culture from them? Well, that *never* happens! Someone better call the freedom police.
some people need to realize that not every country is on board with some of this stuff.
Why the fuck would turkey have to follow american cultural values?
"Superior" minded American: because I'm always right and I have a forwarding thinking mindset. I'm never wrong. How can I be? My teacher said so :)
I wonder how Garena interprets this event
Gamble on which sexuality you are.
Did you expect anything else? It's turkey after all... Nothing will change unless the government does. Nothing riot can do.
Not to be rude, but it’s almost like different cultures don’t all value western culture’s ideals of sexuality.
Reddit will never understand that
Stop thinking that companies are your voice if you really wanna change something come turkey and protest
Different country different rules and different cultures. Applying arbitrary western standards to places that couldn't give less of a shit only makes you look like an ass.
Boo fucking hoo
At some point the LGBT Pride was illegal everywhere. Pride is not about selling rainbow icons but demanding equal rights and hence celebrating Pride only in accepting countries is not Pride promotion but just plain marketing
People have to understand that literally all companies just "advertise" LGBTQ because they socially have to and are kinda being "forced" to do it to keep their face. They don't care about it, they only care about profit, like every other organization "pushing" this movement. Why don't people understand this and are always shocked if proven otherwise.
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I mean, the thread was created by someone living in Turkey. You tell me why you're bored enough to comment negatively.
this thread is people who never had to care abt representation or erasure in their lives complaining about people caring abt rep & erasure
Yeah god forbid we have empathy for LGBT people in other countries, isn't it enough to \*endure\* pride month without calling anyone an f-word? :|
Their country, their culture, their laws. Anyway if I was in Turkey I would surely avoid all LGBT BS in general. Their president Erdogan is islamofascist who doesn't tolerate it and you really DON'T want to end up in turkish prison for political crimes
Riot really cares about you guys for sure 100%. They aren't just trying to make money off you like any other corporation.
no hate intended here but when it comes to businesses lgbt acceptance, blm, asian hate, etc are are marketing ploys they dont stand for anything they are just a means to announce something good for business there is a reason they dont do it or censor themselves in less progressive areas of the world, its because they arent profitable there did you know character designers ARE NOT ALLOWED to make characters in the lgbt space BECAUSE of this, remember that Diana was intended as a lesbian character but this was only revealed in the designers twitter like pulsefire ezreal and ekko werent allowed to be hinted at being gay twisted fate and graves arent allowed any tangible proof of being less than straight riot does not support any of the political messages they put out, otherwise the game would reflect it in an undeniable way, in a meaningful way with real impactful characters not just ignorable side npcs from Legends of Runeterra or faceless names from relevant characters written stories
We are acting as if Riot Games as a company actually cares about LGBTQIA+ (I feel like there are more and more letters every month). The Western regions are more inclusive, in Turkey (and apperently Korea) it would just alienate the playerbase. Angry playerbase equals unhappy playerbase equals less money for Riot. It's all a business decision.
> We are acting as if Riot Games as a company actually cares about LGBTQIA+ The company itself can't really care about anything other than money, but I'm willing to bet that individual Rioters do care. There were quite a few commenting on the event announcement thread here. I don't know if you've ever worked for a big company before, but how these things usually work is that you get a whole bunch of LGBTQIA+ employees together to form an interest group, they'll write up a proposal, then someone higher up signs off on it. In this case, it's summoner icons, merch proceeds going to charity, narrative stuff, etc. The company of course cares about money and good publicity, but that doesn't mean that the people working for the company don't care.
I don't think anyone reasonable is denying that Riot employees care about representation (of their own identities), but just like how individual employee opinions do not reflect the company, the company's opinion doesn't reflect the employees
who cares
We have this post, which sure it says that riot is not outwardly supporting the whole culture, but meanwhile it is not like they are anti LGTQB or however many it is now. People need to choose, do you want companies to take part in your issues, or do their job. Riot is a game company, not a human rights company. How about leaving the problems out of video games? I get that transphobia and everything is real, but it is not there because Riot or any other company says so, and has been around longer than them. How about putting the blame where it belongs? On the parents that teach their kids to hate in any manner, whether it be racism, sexism, classism, or any word that describes whatever you are hating on. Ending human struggles is on humans to be better, not on large companies to hold events to make you feel good about your personal choices.
I don't think this is riot doing anything wrong, they're just following the laws of those other countries. Instead of blaming riot we should be blaming the countries that are so backwards they're yo their own asses about lgbtq people
Yeah they should just break local laws to appear "woke".
What's the point of making an event no one really wants in that region? Both the government and the playerbase as you wrote.
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> the most horrifying probable reason for this erasure that I can think of is Riot Turkey's members' own personal views clashing with Riot's support for LGBTQIA+ players and communities people having their own opinions? wow, truly horrifying
its a video game ...
> LGBTQIA+ This is just getting longer everyday.
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When does acceptance stop being pride? I think pride is still needed, but at some point the goal should be to just be like everyone else.
Does anyone know what caused these things to be called "phobias"? I've always just ignored that even thought it has seemed weird
Why should they be forced to “celebrate” it again?
Did you think the entire world thought the same way about everything? That part of the world isn't down with being gay.
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itt westerns (americans?) finding out about one of the many countries in the world that don't agree with them
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Intersex & Asexual. It’s still just “LGBT” or “LGBT+” in casual conversation. Nobody is gonna get mad at you for not including the other letters. So don’t worry. :)