World of Warcraft is getting its first official in-game Pride event as a part of an upcoming patch (via WoWHead). Even better, it’s based on a community-organized event that’s been raising money for LGBTQ+ charity The Trevor Project for over a decade.
The community-run event, The Running of the Trolls, will be getting some official support in patch 12.0.5. Traditionally taking place on the US Feathermoon server, The Running of the Trolls sees players create new, low-level troll characters and march en masse from the Echo Isles to Silvermoon City (similar to The Running of the Gnomes, which takes place each October to raise money for breast cancer charities). Based on datamined info, The Running of the Trolls has been renamed the Darkspear Dash and will take place this year from June 27-29 to celebrate Pride month. Blizzard and Warcraft Cares–the fan-led community organization that holds the event each year–have reportedly been in talks about making it an official in-game holiday for about two years.
“Just for background, [the] Darkspear Dash micro-holiday is based on the Running of the Trolls, a yearly community event [run by] WarcraftCares, started in 2016, that is held every June to benefit the Trevor Project as the sibling event to the Gnome Run!” founder Dravvie explained on Reddit. “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 years ago about possibly developing a Troll Run holiday.”
Based on datamined assets, it seems that players who take part in the Darkspear Dash will earn a tabard and a rainbow toy for their efforts, though more prizes and items may be revealed when Blizzard officially announces the event.
It’s not immediately clear where the Darkspear Dash will take place. Datamined assets suggest Silvermoon is still the locale of choice, but Silvermoon got a makeover for World of Warcraft: Midnight. This new version isn’t accessible to players who don’t have access to the expansion, which could leave some players unable to participate unless the location is changed. Blizzard will likely release more details about the event once we’re a little closer to June.