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The painful part is that we do have some levels of hate within the OSRS community. Just like any gaming community, honestly. And some of us take that as a responsibility to address.
When I see homophobia in-game, that makes gay people feel unwelcome, like they don't belong, it makes me want to do something in response. To say 'Yes, we want gay people here. And we don't want homophobia. We will fight on your behalf if you are treated that way.'
I'm proud of our team for running that event, and I'm never going to forget how disappointing the resulting behaviour and following lack of action was. Something that was a beautiful, good gesture, had a reaction that isolated and invalidated people. In my mind, it justified the need for future activism. Whether that's content, or literally just making sure that we're active on socials voicing our support for people who've been marginalized, we have to try to cultivate a good environment for people no matter where they fall in diversity.
Sure, it's political. But so is quietly letting homophobia slip past us like it didn't cause pain. I'm personally not afraid to stick my head out and say blame me directly if you're not a fan of a progressive culture in our game, since I'll be one of the most active fighters for this in future.
I think you’re right when saying something should be done to stop not only homophobia, but also racism and blatant naziism in game. But instead of bringing the real world, like pride, into the game, can’t you just ban more? Being more aggressive with the hammer would already solve a lot of these problems.
Oh for sure. I think both things need to happen. I don't know if we necessarily always need a big, unique content update.
We absolutely need to tighten up on in-game conduct. For sure. But I think encouraging inclusivity is just as important to creating a culture that welcomes people.
If I had free reign, my personal choice would be to have some banners up around cities to celebrate certain culturally relevant days of diversity, and maybe some celebratory drinks in the pubs. Something that we put back into the game every year without much change or hassle.