WoW Player Claims Kicked from Guild for Being Deaf

[Salem_Wolf]

Reposted from BlogTechnical.com [http://www.blogtechnical.com/219/wow-player-kicked-from-guild-for-being-deaf.bt]

I didn't find this story by using the search bar, forgive me if it was already posted.

It seems being deaf can actually get you into a bit of trouble with one guild in the World of Warcraft.

User Unwelcomed explained that he recently was involved in an accident, resulting in his hearing being damaged significantly. As a result, he has had problems conversing with friends and listening to music. The whole ordeal bogged him down so he turned to World of Warcraft to lift his spirits. His guild seemed to be accepting of the matter for just a short time, but when they asked him if he could use the Vent voice chat servers, he said no but also mentioned that he could research raids and use DBMs.

This didn't solve the matter and he was kicked from the guild and ignored. Here is the full complaint:

• • Hey there thanks for clicking my post. This is going to be a bit lengthy.
    
    I recently had an accident that resulted in the permanent lose of my hearing. The last few months have been the hardest i have ever known. I have had to deal with never listening to music and talking to people has become exhausting.
    
    Its become that most people i thought were my friends just didn?t want to deal with me anymore as i had become inconvenient. I felt more alone than ever.
    
    So i came back to wow. Now I've been playing with my guild for about 4 years. We have all become close friends. We have even done some rl guild parties. I explained why i have been off for so long to the guild. I explained my condition. Everyone was pretty supportive for about 5 minutes.
    
    Do you know what the first question i got from my guild leader was? He asked me if i could still use vent. I told him no, but tried to assure him it wouldn't be a problem as i usually research the fights before hand and use dbm.
    
    He tells me that i can't raid unless i have vent. Guild rules and all. I was pissed. After a huge blow out between us i get removed from the guild and put on ignore. Our guild wasn't even that good. We did naxx full clear 10 man once.
    
    After that i cried. I didn't know what to do, who to turn to. I tried joining up with some other guilds but their response to why i can?t use vent went about the same.
    
    So i come to the forums to not only vent my frustrations but to find others with my condition. Are there any deaf friendly raiding guilds out there? Would you be willing to take me in? How have you dealt with being deaf?
    
    Any advice is appreciated, so long as its constructive.
    
    Thanks for letting me blow off some steam, typing this out has helped.
    
    TL;DR version
    Got deaf, got kicked, cried.
    
    Edit: I can't believe the responses i have received. My brother and i have been reading all of them and i have not felt such compassion in such a long time. (And from the wow forums no less lol) Its almost to much to handle. Now don't get me wrong, i'm 6?3 240 pounds built like a truck chef crying just isn?t something i do. lol But here i am making an exception.
    
    My brother and i have decided to make something out of our guild. The offers have been appreciated and noted. Thank You all again for the feedback it means more than you could ever know.

Haven?t they heard of text chat? Guess they don?t know about making exceptions. Luckily there are many other guilds that have non-Vent requirements, and some that cater to the deaf.

My Thoughts: It's horrible what this person had to go through, I've been playing WoW on-and-off for about 5 years or so and to go through what he went through and THEN find himself kick/banned from his own guild, his friends, is horrible and I personally hope the guild leader is banned from WoW permanently, AT THE LEAST. What a terrible person the guild leader is.

Edit: Okay, I changed the title of the thread to "WoW Player Claims Kicked from Guild for Being Deaf" FROM "WoW Player Kicked from Guild for Being Deaf".

I never changed the name because that was the original title of the article I found it from, and I didn't want to change it from that because I wanted to keep this thread and the article I found it from's titles the same. I realize it was stupid to not take a more "further away" approach, but also didn't know what it would stir up. Forgive me, actually I should have been more AWARE of what it would stir up. By time I thought to change it, I'd already become rather entrapped by the flood of messages I wanted to respond to.

My view has changed from "HANG HIM" to "GET THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY" after 9 pages of reading comments and responding to them with my own views. I don't know the guy personally or was involved, but hope he has an enjoyable WoW experience from here on out and hope his disability doesn't hinder him in the long run.

I will be slowing down my responses to let the thread die. I think it has had its time and since we did so well to stay on-topic I'm pleased and wouldn't want to get off-topic from here on out. Thanks to everyone who shared their opinion.

 

[DustyDrB]

I guess it sounds like those people are jerks. I don't really know what guilds do in World of Warcraft, though.

 

[Littlee300]

I hope they mass-report the guild leader because WoW bans you if you get reported before investigating.

Edit: What is the guild leaders name and server? Just out of curiosity of course!

 

[Danceofmasks]

It depends entirely on the guild.
If a guild's rules includes the use of vent (since it's the fastest way to manage your team, rather than having to redundantly type as well), then them's the rules.

However, SO MANY players play WoW I'm sure there are a lot of guilds that are more flexible when it comes to vent.

 

[Sixcess]

Some raiding guilds in WoW are very srs bsns - if you want to start a war in the WoW forums just start a thread about gearscore or achievement requirements - I've heard of at least one that insists on guild members doing a minimum of 8 hours a day, every day, and I'm sure that's not a unique case.

Still, it's a big game and I'm sure the player quoted in the OP will find another and better guild.

 

[Neuromaster]

Understatement of the day: This could have been handled much better. I can think of more than a few compromises that might have been acceptable for all involved.

On the other hand, would you be as surprised if the story read: "Football Player Kicked from Team for Being Deaf"? Big leagues or local, you can study the plays all you want but if you can't communicate quickly & clearly with your team they may be reluctant to play you for the big games.

I would have hoped that the guy & his guild/raid leader could have worked out a better solution. At least keep him around as a casual member, get him in on off-night raids. Let him understudy if a core member can't show, or find him a niche that doesn't require verbal communication.

He's not entitled to a prime raid spot, but when one's among friends I believe one's entitled to a little compassion at least. I don't believe this guild leader was the friend the OP thought he was.

 

[LogicNProportion]

I think all parties involved in this tragic bit of events needs to take a chill pill.

To the Guild: Guy's deaf. Don't be a twat.

To the Guy: It's just a game. You'll find better people. (Most good guild on WoW who own in raids/etc don't even HAVE to use vent, as I've seen.)

 

[adrian_exec]

And that's the reason why I hate hardcore gaming! Not just in WoW but in any game. For me games are most then just "games" I have a lot of passion when playing, but for Gods sake I just wanna slap those idiots who kicked this poor man and yell at them of the top of my lungs: IT'S ONLY A GAME!

 

[Kittenmauler]

I can see how someone not being able to hear vent chat could get in the way of raiding successfully. It's the guilds decision, they can do want they want. I wouldn't want to raid with a blind person either.

 

[TerranReaper]

I can see where the guild leader is coming from, since Ventrilo/Voice chat is often superior in coordinating anything to happen as opposed to quickly typing it. You often see butchering of English just to get a message delivered in time. However, the guild leader is still an asshole for kicking him out just for that reason, even if he's deaf, you can make compromises that would be able to fit him in on a raid. There's a lot of alternatives that probably would've satisfied everyone to some extent.

 

[VincentX3]

Just another reason for me not to ever play WoW.

Way to addictive probably and over 90% of everyone is probably just another jerk.

 

[Wakefield]

The worst part is the people in that thread actually defending the Guild who kicked him. Some people need a grip on reality.

 

[Burningsok]

avoid players who are to lazy to be flexible with their methods of play. They are the ass-hats of WoW.

 

[Baconmonster723]

Losing his raid spot- Totally Justified.
Getting Kicked from the guild- Totally Unjustified.

Do I feel bad for the guy? Sure. Raiding isn't an easy thing, however, one player a second too slow on a progression encounter could be a wipe. But there is still no justified reason for gkicking him simply because he's deaf.

 

[Booze Zombie]

You get cunts in all walks of life, WoW isn't any different.
Not that I justify suddenly turning around to someone you've been with for four years and ignoring them because it's "too much effort", but I'm not surprised by people acting like this towards another.

 

[ethaninja]

Lesson numero uno: Never turn to WoW for spirit lifting.
Still, that's a shitty story nonetheless

 

[dragonburner]

bummer man