Blizzard garnered criticism for their decision in January 2006 to ban guilds from advertising sexual orientation preferences. The incident occurred after several players were cited for “harassment” after advocating a group for gay-straight alliance.[3][4] Blizzard initially responded by saying their objective was to, “.. promote a positive game environment for everyone and help prevent such harassment from taking place as best we can, we prohibit mention of topics related to sensitive real-world subjects in open chat within the game, and we do our best to take action whenever we see such topics being broadcast.”[5]

Blizzard later reversed the decision to issue warnings to players promoting LGBT-friendly guilds. Included in this decision was the announcement that they intend to set up in-game channels intended specifically for guild advertisements, as well as provide “sensitivity training” for their staff after players complained of anti-homosexual language being used openly and without punishment.