World of Warcraft is finally hosting its very own official Pride event this June as part of a big update to Midnight, and it's safe to say the community can't wait.
After all, The Running of the Trolls has been active (and a hit, if I do say so myself) over on North American server Feathermoon for some 12 years now, acting as a fan-led fundraising event for The Trevor Project – a very neat organization that advocates for and supports young LGBTQ+ folks all year round.
Now, for the first time ever, there'll be an official event for fans to participate in, too, as Blizzard has unveiled the Darkspear Dash. The Darkspear Dash will see players join "the Darkspear trolls as they celebrate individuality and identity," with run organizer Dravvie announcing the "microholiday" on Reddit.
"Just for background, Darkspear Dash Microholiday is based on the Running of the Troll, a yearly community event Warcraft Cares started in 2016 that is held every June to benefit the Trevor Project as the sibling event to the Gnome Run!" Dravvie writes.
Darkspear Dash - WoW's First Official Pride Event Coming in Patch 12.0.5 from r/wow
For anyone out of the loop, the referenced "Gnome Run" is The Great Gnomeregan Run – a similar yearly event that raises awareness for breast cancer.
Dravvie continues, explaining, "I can't comment on everything that's still in the development stage that's been datamined, but it's been a long process since I first talked with the dev team about two-ish years ago about possibly developing a Troll Run holiday." It's finally coming to fruition now.
They confirm that there'll be "lots of details for everyone once everything about the microholiday and its date is solidified and June creeps closer, as well as our yearly fundraiser and more" – so, keep an eye on their account.
Unsurprisingly, fans are thrilled, with one amusingly commenting, "Sounds gay, I'm in." Elsewhere, players of other MMOs like Final Fantasy 14 gather to question if their favorite games will "follow suit" in the future.
Here's hoping they do – I love a good Pride event, and not enough online games host official celebrations for the LGBTQ+ community, if you ask me. World of Warcraft, thankfully, is joining the list of those that do… with more to follow, fingers crossed.
