You know it's funny but reading the complaints people seem to just skim over an article then declare it as sexist, or gay bashing without bothering to really read the damn thing. There is absolutely nothing bashing gays, or sexist about the article. Not one of you whining about it has posted a single quote from it or said exactly what you thought was offensive.
For those of you who are gay, tell me, where in the article does it say anything about guys dressing as girls being gay? The article was about those who use it to sucker other guys out of money or items, not sexual orientation. Later comments BY SOME POSTERS are about child molesters who also abuse this, and if you have a problem with people not liking that form of abuse you can shove it. Some of you just seem bent on being straight bashing hypocrites.
If you want to claim it's sexist because it uses generalizations about the way males and females act then you obviously haven't been exposed to the world very much. We have some areas where we all cross over but even the biggest flamer out there will still, on occasion, act like a typical man, and even the butchest tomboy will act like a typical female, if you want to try and claim otherwise you're a hypocrite and a liar. I have friends on every side of this little coin, straight and gay, male and female and seen enough with my own eyes to know better.
I think the article was amusing and light hearted, if you got bent out of shape over it you came into it already bent.
Phaylen, I give you three cheers, or something. I loved your post.
As a response the the previous:
I never said the article was gay bashing at all, I merely pointed out that some would argue that men playing as women in MMOs stereotype women and that it is degrading. Well, straight guys also stereotype us gay guys, and that's degrading too, so I really don't see why people should use that as a excuse to complain about "gender-fakers." The bigger issue is the fact that the image of women portrayed is all about sex.
But whatever, this article isn't about us queers, I was merely making a comparison.
Phaylen, I give you three cheers, or something. I loved your post.
As a response the the previous:
I never said the article was gay bashing at all, I merely pointed out that some would argue that men playing as women in MMOs stereotype women and that it is degrading. Well, straight guys also stereotype us gay guys, and that's degrading too, so I really don't see why people should use that as a excuse to complain about "gender-fakers." The bigger issue is the fact that the image of women portrayed is all about sex.
But whatever, this article isn't about us queers, I was merely making a comparison.
The comment wasn't about just one person but about a number of the posts in this thread. Personally I don't see her stereotyping women, she says what is common, not that every woman does the same or acts like what she said, instead she points out that the fakers overdo the stereotype. She's also not attacking every gender swapper out there, just giving a tongue in cheek guideline. Some people abuse gender swapping for gain or nefarious use, it's given those that do it for RP or other purposes a bad rap over the years. You should also remember that some people are complete and utter newbs not only to games and the internet but life itself, they need things explained to them before they get themselves in trouble.
You're right that some people will complain about gender swappers, but those same people will complain about anything, they're the same grumps that grow up to be a grumpy old gumby yelling and muttering at everyone they see . Some just sit here in the forums looking for anything to attack, be it the article, or the swappers, doesn't matter, they'll just grump, the article (IMO) was meant to be lighthearted and something to laugh about, try rereading it in that light.
How anyone can claim this article was done tongue in cheek is beyond me. Claiming women are always violent, use stupid emotes and dance seductively to assert their femininity and "Pretend" to be females to gain gifts and allowances from male player is the only attack made in this entire thread. No, in fact, the attack that motivated this entire thread to begin with. The author was grossly negligent in her journalism, presenting a manipulated verson of her perspective of Female Avatars and their players, and misrepresenting herself as a source of information with which to tell the difference between the gender portrayed and the character player.
Saying all those opposed "skimmed" the article and are making empty arguments are merely endorsing a very damaging mindset in the gaming community. It's not just damaging to women, but anyone who inhabits female avatar. The information provided is divisive to the community, it's extremely inaccurate and yet presented as legitimate on a reputable gaming site. I think gamers should be concerned, absolutely, and question the journalistinc integrity of this "Gaming site." No I don't think those who oppose this article are "Trolls," I think they are valid voices within the community who have a worthwhile perspective that deserves as MUCH (If not entirely more) consideration as the original author of the artical who has no more merit than the average poster here at these forums.
To write an article that essentially bashes women, accuses most of them as being Men, hurls every stereotype in the book (We do our nails while playing... we're always violent... Did you people saying we skimmed the article not see this yourselves?) and presents this maligned information to the community via MMORPG shows nothing more than a lack of journalistic responsibility.
I can take a joke. As stated, I laugh when hit on in the game. I'm a cartoon character. I have a sense of humor. I get sarcasm. Nothing in this article wrung of sarcasm, but instead of a scornful agenda by a sexist author. This wasn't funny to me. This was offensive to any female, or really any individual who plays a female character with the intention it is intended to serve. The goal of the game. This article serves to pigeonhole female avatars based entirely on gender portrayed, and if the author is indeed a female, she obviously has no self respect to speak of thinking an article like this is remotely funny.
I'm an adult. I enjoy recreation gaming. Gender in games I remain oblivious too. It's a non issue and should remain so. Your credibility should be based on your skill as a player, your reputation earned as a player of integrity. This is certainly not even considered in this article. Instead, it comes off like a man who found out his in game lover was a man and is upset about it. Perhaps it is a woman who lost her in game boyfriend to another man. Regardless, all one can do is speculate on the reasons that would motivate ANYONE, man, woman or furry - WHATEVER - to write such an undignified, inappropriate list of sexist slurs based on game content. It's nothing more than dispicable.
It is what it is, what it is not is enjoyable reading, in my personal opinion. It is not genuine game related information, in my opinion. Nor does such a form of sexual/gender misguidance belong on a game related website that focuses on community and development. No matter what way you color it, this article was in the poorest taste possible.
This article, sure it was about women, but does that make it okay? In this thread alone other minorities have taken great offense to it's maligned bit of non-information. Why? Because it's damaging to the community as an entirity. No different than as if it had been written about any singled out culture, or anyone of a specific color, sexual orientation or whatever. This article represents intolerance, period, it breeds divisiveness in the community and fosters an inaccurate ideal of how a Female Avatar is represented in a virtual environment. Simply put, it's worng, and these damaging stereotypes and misleading "tidbits of gender identification" should not be perpetuated on a legitimate site. End of story.
Lol i personally found the article funny. Some of it was actually true and some of it was... ehh..
Bc one there is such a thing as too much pink. I always go for the armor that looks the coolest.
I never ever say *Tee Hee* It just sounds stupid.
Stripper names... Well idk i go for names that sound cool or are original. I would never create an account that is named Sweetstuff888 It's just asking for trouble.
Why I am logging off is none of your damn business.
If i am moody then it is simply because you are probably annoying me
How my day was is really none of your busniess either. Unless you're actually my friend on a game or irl
I don't need your free stuff either. I'd rather get it myself. Period.
How anyone can claim this article was done tongue in cheek is beyond me. Claiming women are always violent, use stupid emotes and dance seductively to assert their femininity and "Pretend" to be females to gain gifts and allowances from male player is the only attack made in this entire thread. No, in fact, the attack that motivated this entire thread to begin with. The author was grossly negligent in her journalism, presenting a manipulated verson of her perspective of Female Avatars and their players, and misrepresenting herself as a source of information with which to tell the difference between the gender portrayed and the character player. Saying all those opposed "skimmed" the article and are making empty arguments are merely endorsing a very damaging mindset in the gaming community. It's not just damaging to women, but anyone who inhabits female avatar. The information provided is divisive to the community, it's extremely inaccurate and yet presented as legitimate on a reputable gaming site. I think gamers should be concerned, absolutely, and question the journalistinc integrity of this "Gaming site." No I don't think those who oppose this article are "Trolls," I think they are valid voices within the community who have a worthwhile perspective that deserves as MUCH (If not entirely more) consideration as the original author of the artical who has no more merit than the average poster here at these forums. To write an article that essentially bashes women, accuses most of them as being Men, hurls every stereotype in the book (We do our nails while playing... we're always violent... Did you people saying we skimmed the article not see this yourselves?) and presents this maligned information to the community via MMORPG shows nothing more than a lack of journalistic responsibility. I can take a joke. As stated, I laugh when hit on in the game. I'm a cartoon character. I have a sense of humor. I get sarcasm. Nothing in this article wrung of sarcasm, but instead of a scornful agenda by a sexist author. This wasn't funny to me. This was offensive to any female, or really any individual who plays a female character with the intention it is intended to serve. The goal of the game. This article serves to pigeonhole female avatars based entirely on gender portrayed, and if the author is indeed a female, she obviously has no self respect to speak of thinking an article like this is remotely funny. I'm an adult. I enjoy recreation gaming. Gender in games I remain oblivious too. It's a non issue and should remain so. Your credibility should be based on your skill as a player, your reputation earned as a player of integrity. This is certainly not even considered in this article. Instead, it comes off like a man who found out his in game lover was a man and is upset about it. Perhaps it is a woman who lost her in game boyfriend to another man. Regardless, all one can do is speculate on the reasons that would motivate ANYONE, man, woman or furry - WHATEVER - to write such an undignified, inappropriate list of sexist slurs based on game content. It's nothing more than dispicable. It is what it is, what it is not is enjoyable reading, in my personal opinion. It is not genuine game related information, in my opinion. Nor does such a form of sexual/gender misguidance belong on a game related website that focuses on community and development. No matter what way you color it, this article was in the poorest taste possible. This article, sure it was about women, but does that make it okay? In this thread alone other minorities have taken great offense to it's maligned bit of non-information. Why? Because it's damaging to the community as an entirity. No different than as if it had been written about any singled out culture, or anyone of a specific color, sexual orientation or whatever. This article represents intolerance, period, it breeds divisiveness in the community and fosters an inaccurate ideal of how a Female Avatar is represented in a virtual environment. Simply put, it's worng, and these damaging stereotypes and misleading "tidbits of gender identification" should not be perpetuated on a legitimate site. End of story.
So are you saying i should feel offended or that i hate myself in some way because i agree with the EDITORIAL? I think some people are just too easily offended which just makes things worse. The article is light hearted in the fact it pokes fun at the way people who pretend to be a gender they are not (for a malicious purpose) often using the most common generalized if not sexist view of female behavior and then pointed out those things using her own general (or personal) view of female behavior. She doesn't once say this is how all women are, or behaviors are locked into this box of types. She simply offers examples in an attempt to enlighten people who have a hard time accepting that alot of female toons are DUDES and then complain about being cheated.
Does it offend me? No because I'm not a damn thing like the general female thats used as an example for the article. Would I be if i was? Probably not because I honestly don't care, hell I've played with female toons for days and didn't even realize till they invited me to a guild they are actual females like me, because it wasn't important to me.
Its online/fantasy/aka NOT REAL if someone wants to claim I'm a guy because I do or don't do these things or act a certain way then let them. I've met female gamers that have acted nothing like this article points out, I've met once that match it, I've met ones that I thought was a guy because of their overly stereotyped feminine behavior but were they trying to be malicious and get something out of me? No. But I know of ones that have done this to male guildmates in the game.
Its an editorial its not supposed to be some super tell all factual based peice of information. Its taken from her perspective and experience while playing WoW or other mmos. I dont believe this article hurts the community, what hurts the community are people pretending to be somethign they're not for a malicious purpose, whiners, elitists, and easily offended rampagers quick to light fires for little reason other than they disagree.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
I had a guild memeber leave after about a year in the guild and it was not till he left we found out 'she' was a 'he'. He was one of the more active members of the guild and really came across as a female. Several of the RL female guildies were also convinced. He pulled the wool over all of our eyes up until one of my buddies, a total flirt and horndog, found out that this player lived nearby and wanted to meet them IRL for coffee. In the end, my genderbending guildy left, i think out of embarassment, which was a shame. I thought the whole situation was hilarious.
How anyone can claim this article was done tongue in cheek is beyond me. Claiming women are always violent, use stupid emotes and dance seductively to assert their femininity and "Pretend" to be females to gain gifts and allowances from male player is the only attack made in this entire thread. No, in fact, the attack that motivated this entire thread to begin with. The author was grossly negligent in her journalism, presenting a manipulated verson of her perspective of Female Avatars and their players, and misrepresenting herself as a source of information with which to tell the difference between the gender portrayed and the character player. Saying all those opposed "skimmed" the article and are making empty arguments are merely endorsing a very damaging mindset in the gaming community. It's not just damaging to women, but anyone who inhabits female avatar. The information provided is divisive to the community, it's extremely inaccurate and yet presented as legitimate on a reputable gaming site. I think gamers should be concerned, absolutely, and question the journalistinc integrity of this "Gaming site." No I don't think those who oppose this article are "Trolls," I think they are valid voices within the community who have a worthwhile perspective that deserves as MUCH (If not entirely more) consideration as the original author of the artical who has no more merit than the average poster here at these forums. To write an article that essentially bashes women, accuses most of them as being Men, hurls every stereotype in the book (We do our nails while playing... we're always violent... Did you people saying we skimmed the article not see this yourselves?) and presents this maligned information to the community via MMORPG shows nothing more than a lack of journalistic responsibility. I can take a joke. As stated, I laugh when hit on in the game. I'm a cartoon character. I have a sense of humor. I get sarcasm. Nothing in this article wrung of sarcasm, but instead of a scornful agenda by a sexist author. This wasn't funny to me. This was offensive to any female, or really any individual who plays a female character with the intention it is intended to serve. The goal of the game. This article serves to pigeonhole female avatars based entirely on gender portrayed, and if the author is indeed a female, she obviously has no self respect to speak of thinking an article like this is remotely funny. I'm an adult. I enjoy recreation gaming. Gender in games I remain oblivious too. It's a non issue and should remain so. Your credibility should be based on your skill as a player, your reputation earned as a player of integrity. This is certainly not even considered in this article. Instead, it comes off like a man who found out his in game lover was a man and is upset about it. Perhaps it is a woman who lost her in game boyfriend to another man. Regardless, all one can do is speculate on the reasons that would motivate ANYONE, man, woman or furry - WHATEVER - to write such an undignified, inappropriate list of sexist slurs based on game content. It's nothing more than dispicable. It is what it is, what it is not is enjoyable reading, in my personal opinion. It is not genuine game related information, in my opinion. Nor does such a form of sexual/gender misguidance belong on a game related website that focuses on community and development. No matter what way you color it, this article was in the poorest taste possible. This article, sure it was about women, but does that make it okay? In this thread alone other minorities have taken great offense to it's maligned bit of non-information. Why? Because it's damaging to the community as an entirity. No different than as if it had been written about any singled out culture, or anyone of a specific color, sexual orientation or whatever. This article represents intolerance, period, it breeds divisiveness in the community and fosters an inaccurate ideal of how a Female Avatar is represented in a virtual environment. Simply put, it's worng, and these damaging stereotypes and misleading "tidbits of gender identification" should not be perpetuated on a legitimate site. End of story.
Oh for crying out loud take a pill. Your little argument here makes no sense at all and shows me all too well that you didn't bother to read the damn thing, you're just here spewing a bunch of ignorant hate acting like a self righteous moron. I'm not even going to read all of this drivel because I can tell that from your first and last comments.
No where in the article does it say women are always violent, the article isn't even about women you brain dead excuse for a life form, it's about guys who pretend to be females to try and sucker other guys. Both your comments in that field show just how freaking ignorant and full of manure you are.
I wont bother responding to any of your other drivel since I'm sure it will be as laden with outright lies and misinformation as you can muster with that empty wanna be a lawyer head of yours. You're just another hater posing as the righteous, Go crawl back under your soap box
EDIT: Oh and just to be clear about why I say YOU'RE being sexist is you choose to attack a woman for writing an open and honest article about guys who gender swap to abuse it (not RP, not out of sexual preference but to abuse it)
In EQ2 someone thought my male character was a female....guess that proves Ahrilil is a feminine name and the high elves in EQ2 are women-looking (lipstick, blushy, etc..)
Wow, Timeviewer, I could probably respond to your post, but when I saw it degrade into a really unnecessary form of personal attack, I can't see discussing or debating the topic with you further. You have shown you level of intengrity through your own actions, no help needed.
I agree with BanthaFodder regarding the EQ2 Elves. I think the males there are really beautiful, and quite easily mistaken for a female much of the time. I think EQ2, along with DAoC is one of the rare games that didnt hypersexualize the female Avatar- I played a little white Ratonga named wendy and really enjoyed it (Prior to one of SOE's famous "combat revamps").
I like to play female toons from time to time. I like to make them as small and cutesy as possible. Then reign down terror upon all the little noob kids who think they are gamers. I chew them up and spit them out. Then stand there casually and say, "This chick just whipped your a$$. Go play Mario bros and leave the real gaming to professionals." I RP very well and most people don't know i'm a dude. Just makes for some good laughs for me and some friends. I like to think that I am doing a service to girl..... women gamers. I know they don't need my help, but it's fun to drop some poor fool with such a petite little 4 1/2 ft tall girl. Gamers can be deceived so easily. They see a little girl and immediately assume they are weak and in-experienced. Little do they know, they are barking up the wrong tree. My wife and I both play girl toons. When they start trying to be prevs to either of us. We tag team an a$$ woopin on them. Pretty funny. Like leading pigs to the slaughter.
Is is just me, or have the articles on this site started to really suck lately? When you write such a stupid article, you should expect a bunch of stupid replies.
Wow, Timeviewer, I could probably respond to your post, but when I saw it degrade into a really unnecessary form of personal attack, I can't see discussing or debating the topic with you further. You have shown you level of intengrity through your own actions, no help needed. I agree with BanthaFodder regarding the EQ2 Elves. I think the males there are really beautiful, and quite easily mistaken for a female much of the time. I think EQ2, along with DAoC is one of the rare games that didnt hypersexualize the female Avatar- I played a little white Ratonga named wendy and really enjoyed it (Prior to one of SOE's famous "combat revamps").
Yeah right, and you're not degrading this whole thing into a personal attack on AJ? pfft get over your self righteousness you're too transparent, You can't respond because you know I was right about what I said, so don't even try to go there, it's pathetic.
I guess I'm a tad po'd at the title of "Gender faker" primarily because being that I am transgendered this generally smacks of a hostile attitude toward folks like myself. ...
I expect that as with so many other things this article simply picked up and used the existing stereotypes without pausing to think at all about whether reinforcing them was a good idea. The title "Gender faker" does inherently include the assumption that by playing a gender different to the player's own they are somehow "faking" (with an implication that doing so is "bad" and should be spotted) when these are role playing games, so the starting point is that an elven female avatar is a female elf, regardless of who is at the keyboard. I wonder if the writer will explore that aspect in a follow-up article.
Rubbish stereotypes abound in MMORPGs, and have for a long time, for example in this response posted somewhere above in the thread:
In any MMO I automatically assume a female character is 'driven' by a male gamer, unless I learn otherwise. And often enough, the girls have some of the toughest chars I've met ingame and I find myself suprised to learn the gamer behind the char is a girl (or woman!) in real life.
So not only "if you play this game you must be male" which you have to disprove, but "if you are good you cannot be female" - which is complete and utter rubbish. The most devastating combo I ever had in SWG space combat was myself and a RL friend (2 women) - we left a lot of pretty spakly Rebel spacedust for a while, and I expect that those we flew against would certainly have said "those guys were lethal". We were - when flying as a team we never lost a fighter in PvP (inherently nimble ships, harvesting, master shipwright, reverse engineering and shopping skills for the win! We had those ships tweaked down to the last few mass units).
And as for transgendered people, the only people I know are a successful artist (F), a top manager (M), a high-level advisor to the military (F), and a senior lawyer (F); they are all overachievers and are not "faking" anything, and they really do not fit the "television stereotypes" that most people have been spoon-fed by shows such as CSI New York or CSI Las Vegas. I doubt many people would argue that there is not a background hostile attitude out there towards folks in the transgendered community still, I am sure that attitude is expressed in MMORPGs as in any other aspect of social life, possibly more so due to the youth-bias in that community.
For my own part the priest dwarven female is a "she", and I want her to heal me when my health bar is fast falling to nil - I don't really care whether it is some 60 year old guy from Michigan sitting a the keyboard or not, although it's usually not that hard to tell after a while. And for me someone who was "MtF" is a she ("F") - she always was, having been set on that path before birth. That there are people out there who might be both (M+F), neither, bit of each or just not sure yet in no way diminishes that they are all people, and if they are playing a priest etc in an MMORPG with me I want them to heal me anyway before my character hits the dust.
Western societies are generally based on Yes/No dicotomy when biologically players are on complex interlinking spectra not a set of single dicotomies, so there are always going to be issues. I can't remember seeing an MMORPG game where even the aliens were not built into a "male/female" dicotomy, despite various sci-fi novels having explored alternate biological models for aliens in admirable depth. Possibly why Dorids are typically never playable - no gender, so it is harder for people to relate to the character.
Hate to go with a stereotype myself, but overall MMORPGs still seem to be very much mostly designed by guys for guys, and it is entirely unsurprising that the end result lends itself to things that are quite biased and promote stereotypes. A couple of simple examples - if a WoW dawarven female "bounced" that much she would probably either promtly kill whoever made her support garments or never run for the pain, and WoW warlocks can only have scantily clad female succubi slapping themselves provocatively: there is no option for a female avatar to have a male succubus instead. The best so far (until they killed it) was in my view SW:G which had such a range of dances and clothing that people could do as they pleased - you could be modest and dance elegantly if you wanted to, which was a refreshing change while it lasted (*mumbles something about NGE being a complete disaster*).
And for all you guys out there who swear by "prove it by Ventrillo" remember that really can be "faked". A RL friend (M) of mine had a female character in one game where he shamelessly "worked it" for every single gold piece he could fleece off his guild mates, strangers, anyone. They had a big guild meeting to "meet up" on Vent, so he just had his fiancee speak for him and forever more "she" was a "she for sure" to the guild. Just goes to show that you should just play the game for what it is; if you get hung up on who is sitting at the keyboard behind the avatar you are hitting on or making possibly invalid assumptions about then your paranoia will get you eventually
"Yes, of course I'm an elf in real life!"
"No you're not, be gone from my presence, Tauren!".
Flute, I think your post was brilliant! Essentially you have precisely summed up what most of the posters here intended to say, some not as eloquently.
But- you play a Dwarf! You realize that to the pedophile age-players out there whose WoW dwarves and Gnomes= kiddiePorno, or to the little people of the world who inhabit the small Avatar, and to those of us who ONLY play with people who are RL short playing a short character, you're a height faker! Oh the injustices. How dare you be a big person playing a shortie McShort shorts on a video game flutie? Faker, faker faker! DECIEVER!
Actually i do find myself asking why the heck do they give me stuff in games sometimes, like do they think i can't get it for myself???!! Heh, heh. Eventually i give up and just mail them back a gift in return. No offense, i like working for my own stuff most of the times. Why else would i be playing?
It also pisses me off when folks make avatars with female derogatory names, its so childish and disrespectful along with them saying crap like, its that time of the month. If you are a woman doing that, I am ashamed that you are actually a female; and if you are a man/boy... well... I think you may need so psychiatric help....
I guess I'm a tad po'd at the title of "Gender faker" primarily because being that I am transgendered this generally smacks of a hostile attitude toward folks like myself. ...
I expect that as with so many other things this article simply picked up and used the existing stereotypes without pausing to think at all about whether reinforcing them was a good idea. The title "Gender faker" does inherently include the assumption that by playing a gender different to the player's own they are somehow "faking" (with an implication that doing so is "bad" and should be spotted) when these are role playing games, so the starting point is that an elven female avatar is a female elf, regardless of who is at the keyboard. I wonder if the writer will explore that aspect in a follow-up article.
Rubbish stereotypes abound in MMORPGs, and have for a long time, for example in this response posted somewhere above in the thread:
In any MMO I automatically assume a female character is 'driven' by a male gamer, unless I learn otherwise. And often enough, the girls have some of the toughest chars I've met ingame and I find myself suprised to learn the gamer behind the char is a girl (or woman!) in real life.
So not only "if you play this game you must be male" which you have to disprove, but "if you are good you cannot be female" - which is complete and utter rubbish. The most devastating combo I ever had in SWG space combat was myself and a RL friend (2 women) - we left a lot of pretty spakly Rebel spacedust for a while, and I expect that those we flew against would certainly have said "those guys were lethal". We were - when flying as a team we never lost a fighter in PvP (inherently nimble ships, harvesting, master shipwright, reverse engineering and shopping skills for the win! We had those ships tweaked down to the last few mass units).
And as for transgendered people, the only people I know are a successful artist (F), a top manager (M), a high-level advisor to the military (F), and a senior lawyer (F); they are all overachievers and are not "faking" anything, and they really do not fit the "television stereotypes" that most people have been spoon-fed by shows such as CSI New York or CSI Las Vegas. I doubt many people would argue that there is not a background hostile attitude out there towards folks in the transgendered community still, I am sure that attitude is expressed in MMORPGs as in any other aspect of social life, possibly more so due to the youth-bias in that community.
For my own part the priest dwarven female is a "she", and I want her to heal me when my health bar is fast falling to nil - I don't really care whether it is some 60 year old guy from Michigan sitting a the keyboard or not, although it's usually not that hard to tell after a while. And for me someone who was "MtF" is a she ("F") - she always was, having been set on that path before birth. That there are people out there who might be both (M+F), neither, bit of each or just not sure yet in no way diminishes that they are all people, and if they are playing a priest etc in an MMORPG with me I want them to heal me anyway before my character hits the dust.
Western societies are generally based on Yes/No dicotomy when biologically players are on complex interlinking spectra not a set of single dicotomies, so there are always going to be issues. I can't remember seeing an MMORPG game where even the aliens were not built into a "male/female" dicotomy, despite various sci-fi novels having explored alternate biological models for aliens in admirable depth. Possibly why Dorids are typically never playable - no gender, so it is harder for people to relate to the character.
Hate to go with a stereotype myself, but overall MMORPGs still seem to be very much mostly designed by guys for guys, and it is entirely unsurprising that the end result lends itself to things that are quite biased and promote stereotypes. A couple of simple examples - if a WoW dawarven female "bounced" that much she would probably either promtly kill whoever made her support garments or never run for the pain, and WoW warlocks can only have scantily clad female succubi slapping themselves provocatively: there is no option for a female avatar to have a male succubus instead. The best so far (until they killed it) was in my view SW:G which had such a range of dances and clothing that people could do as they pleased - you could be modest and dance elegantly if you wanted to, which was a refreshing change while it lasted (*mumbles something about NGE being a complete disaster*).
And for all you guys out there who swear by "prove it by Ventrillo" remember that really can be "faked". A RL friend (M) of mine had a female character in one game where he shamelessly "worked it" for every single gold piece he could fleece off his guild mates, strangers, anyone. They had a big guild meeting to "meet up" on Vent, so he just had his fiancee speak for him and forever more "she" was a "she for sure" to the guild. Just goes to show that you should just play the game for what it is; if you get hung up on who is sitting at the keyboard behind the avatar you are hitting on or making possibly invalid assumptions about then your paranoia will get you eventually
"Yes, of course I'm an elf in real life!"
"No you're not, be gone from my presence, Tauren!".
Flute
Nice post but I think you missed the intent of the article, personally it doesn't matter to me who's behind the toon, but players, especially newer players, get suckered everyday. Usually this just amounts to said mark being relieved of cash and valuables, some kids, and even adults, don't have a clue that someone even would play a character other than their own gender to do this. On the darker, and usually unspoken, side of this is those who use it to meet with younger children.
While most older players already realize all this I'm sure some newbies have read this and walked away with a little more "street smarts" in their dealings with other players. Some may not like them being told at all. The article isn't attacking people just for playing another gender but rather exposing those who use it to abuse it.
You yourself exposed the fact that even the voice can be faked (one of the highest payed "female" phone sex operators was actually a guy, I remember seeing a show about him a number of years back), why should it be wrong for the article to do the same? I don't know if you have kids, or if you do if they're old enough to play, but if you did wouldn't you, as an experienced gamer yourself, tell them? I'm sure you would (at some point). Why then shouldn't there be an article for those who don't have someone there to tell them?
BTW I do agree that many games seem stereotyped towards males, When the 4th Coming was in beta that only had male puppets and no plans to add female, a woman I knew played and use to jokingly complain about having to walk funny because of something hanging between her legs. It wasn't until much much later, when they realized how many females actually played, they added female puppets. Many others either look like the girls guys would like to see in porn movies or (even creepier to me) little girls. Some games even force you into a particular sex depending on what class you want to play, 9 Dragons is a good example of that, there was another, the name escapes me at the moment, where if you wanted to be an elf you had to be female, all others were male.
Part of that is the designers and part of that is the culture where some games come from, female equality isn't exactly the norm on this planet. The only way that's really going to change is if the companies get hit in the pocket book, and that's unlikely since there will always be enough guys who will fork out money for a game just to watch that "bounce".
It would be nice to see a game a little more balanced and realistic with the puppets, but artists always like to show off, ego is part of being an artist. People have wanted a more fluid customization for years but the most we've seen so far is face/hair/height A-E.
I can't say this is a good article on how to spot a gender faker. Everyone is different and have their own ways of expressing themselves. I know many females who do some of the things that were listed in article. It never means that they are a faker in any kind of way. There is a whole lot of girls (in the anime scene) who do say *tee hee* loves to show off, dance, etc. Basically, I'd say either male or female, let them have their fun. If they try to gain somthing for nothing, karma always come's back to get them in the end.
My sister plays MMO's and she acts very jolly in game and such, yet their are always guys and girls out there looking for other people to prove themselves. Yeah I seen actual femals trying to find out if my sister is an actual female. It's crazy. In all truthfulness I don't there there is no real way to tell if someone is who they seem to be. Most of the real ways takes paience and not assumption, becuase what if your wrong? Then you just messed yourself up. In all honestly I don't think you should worry about these kinds of things. If you don't then you wouldn't need to worry about such things.
Instead someone needs to make an articale on equal treatment (to spot people who just want your items/money and who is not trying to use you) rather than how to spot a gender faker. It's a MMORPG for craying out loud. Gotta chill. With people trying to spot gender fakers it makes things less fun. Also female characters play male characters so what about that. Just not valid. Show people how to tell who their friends are and who is just there to use and abuse than rather making somthin like this. I find THAT kind of infomation more vaulable to the MMO community than trying to play the guessing game.
A journalists most important work is to create a debate. AJ certainly did good here.
I went searching for facts on the net and found several market surveys with interesting information.
1. 30% of all players are girls. Take 3 players and one of them will be a girl !
2. Girls are much more likely to play MMO's than other games (the social aspect maybe). This means that the ratio of girls are actually more than the 30% (which was for all games). So it might look like it is closer to being 4 out of 10 are girls.
These numbers are measure every year by ELSPA, which is the UK producers association, and as far as I have the numbers back, this has been so.
It is said games are not a girls world, but MMO's just might become just that.
I have to agree with this article, especially about names. What self-repecting woman would name herself, HonneyBunns, or Little Lover? These are players on TIbia, I like see these guys and I always laugh and say get real dude!
Comments
You know it's funny but reading the complaints people seem to just skim over an article then declare it as sexist, or gay bashing without bothering to really read the damn thing. There is absolutely nothing bashing gays, or sexist about the article. Not one of you whining about it has posted a single quote from it or said exactly what you thought was offensive.
For those of you who are gay, tell me, where in the article does it say anything about guys dressing as girls being gay? The article was about those who use it to sucker other guys out of money or items, not sexual orientation. Later comments BY SOME POSTERS are about child molesters who also abuse this, and if you have a problem with people not liking that form of abuse you can shove it. Some of you just seem bent on being straight bashing hypocrites.
If you want to claim it's sexist because it uses generalizations about the way males and females act then you obviously haven't been exposed to the world very much. We have some areas where we all cross over but even the biggest flamer out there will still, on occasion, act like a typical man, and even the butchest tomboy will act like a typical female, if you want to try and claim otherwise you're a hypocrite and a liar. I have friends on every side of this little coin, straight and gay, male and female and seen enough with my own eyes to know better.
I think the article was amusing and light hearted, if you got bent out of shape over it you came into it already bent.
µV
As a response the the previous:
I never said the article was gay bashing at all, I merely pointed out that some would argue that men playing as women in MMOs stereotype women and that it is degrading. Well, straight guys also stereotype us gay guys, and that's degrading too, so I really don't see why people should use that as a excuse to complain about "gender-fakers." The bigger issue is the fact that the image of women portrayed is all about sex.
But whatever, this article isn't about us queers, I was merely making a comparison.
This is a news site about games, not every individual who lives on this planet we call earth.
List of SOE lies
The comment wasn't about just one person but about a number of the posts in this thread. Personally I don't see her stereotyping women, she says what is common, not that every woman does the same or acts like what she said, instead she points out that the fakers overdo the stereotype. She's also not attacking every gender swapper out there, just giving a tongue in cheek guideline. Some people abuse gender swapping for gain or nefarious use, it's given those that do it for RP or other purposes a bad rap over the years. You should also remember that some people are complete and utter newbs not only to games and the internet but life itself, they need things explained to them before they get themselves in trouble.
You're right that some people will complain about gender swappers, but those same people will complain about anything, they're the same grumps that grow up to be a grumpy old gumby yelling and muttering at everyone they see
. Some just sit here in the forums looking for anything to attack, be it the article, or the swappers, doesn't matter, they'll just grump, the article (IMO) was meant to be lighthearted and something to laugh about, try rereading it in that light.
µV
How anyone can claim this article was done tongue in cheek is beyond me. Claiming women are always violent, use stupid emotes and dance seductively to assert their femininity and "Pretend" to be females to gain gifts and allowances from male player is the only attack made in this entire thread. No, in fact, the attack that motivated this entire thread to begin with. The author was grossly negligent in her journalism, presenting a manipulated verson of her perspective of Female Avatars and their players, and misrepresenting herself as a source of information with which to tell the difference between the gender portrayed and the character player.
Saying all those opposed "skimmed" the article and are making empty arguments are merely endorsing a very damaging mindset in the gaming community. It's not just damaging to women, but anyone who inhabits female avatar. The information provided is divisive to the community, it's extremely inaccurate and yet presented as legitimate on a reputable gaming site. I think gamers should be concerned, absolutely, and question the journalistinc integrity of this "Gaming site." No I don't think those who oppose this article are "Trolls," I think they are valid voices within the community who have a worthwhile perspective that deserves as MUCH (If not entirely more) consideration as the original author of the artical who has no more merit than the average poster here at these forums.
To write an article that essentially bashes women, accuses most of them as being Men, hurls every stereotype in the book (We do our nails while playing... we're always violent... Did you people saying we skimmed the article not see this yourselves?) and presents this maligned information to the community via MMORPG shows nothing more than a lack of journalistic responsibility.
I can take a joke. As stated, I laugh when hit on in the game. I'm a cartoon character. I have a sense of humor. I get sarcasm. Nothing in this article wrung of sarcasm, but instead of a scornful agenda by a sexist author. This wasn't funny to me. This was offensive to any female, or really any individual who plays a female character with the intention it is intended to serve. The goal of the game. This article serves to pigeonhole female avatars based entirely on gender portrayed, and if the author is indeed a female, she obviously has no self respect to speak of thinking an article like this is remotely funny.
I'm an adult. I enjoy recreation gaming. Gender in games I remain oblivious too. It's a non issue and should remain so. Your credibility should be based on your skill as a player, your reputation earned as a player of integrity. This is certainly not even considered in this article. Instead, it comes off like a man who found out his in game lover was a man and is upset about it. Perhaps it is a woman who lost her in game boyfriend to another man. Regardless, all one can do is speculate on the reasons that would motivate ANYONE, man, woman or furry - WHATEVER - to write such an undignified, inappropriate list of sexist slurs based on game content. It's nothing more than dispicable.
It is what it is, what it is not is enjoyable reading, in my personal opinion. It is not genuine game related information, in my opinion. Nor does such a form of sexual/gender misguidance belong on a game related website that focuses on community and development. No matter what way you color it, this article was in the poorest taste possible.
This article, sure it was about women, but does that make it okay? In this thread alone other minorities have taken great offense to it's maligned bit of non-information. Why? Because it's damaging to the community as an entirity. No different than as if it had been written about any singled out culture, or anyone of a specific color, sexual orientation or whatever. This article represents intolerance, period, it breeds divisiveness in the community and fosters an inaccurate ideal of how a Female Avatar is represented in a virtual environment. Simply put, it's worng, and these damaging stereotypes and misleading "tidbits of gender identification" should not be perpetuated on a legitimate site. End of story.
Lol i personally found the article funny. Some of it was actually true and some of it was... ehh..
Bc one there is such a thing as too much pink. I always go for the armor that looks the coolest.
I never ever say *Tee Hee* It just sounds stupid.
Stripper names... Well idk i go for names that sound cool or are original. I would never create an account that is named Sweetstuff888 It's just asking for trouble.
Why I am logging off is none of your damn business.
If i am moody then it is simply because you are probably annoying me
How my day was is really none of your busniess either. Unless you're actually my friend on a game or irl
I don't need your free stuff either. I'd rather get it myself. Period.
-> Star Wars Galaxies
So are you saying i should feel offended or that i hate myself in some way because i agree with the EDITORIAL? I think some people are just too easily offended which just makes things worse. The article is light hearted in the fact it pokes fun at the way people who pretend to be a gender they are not (for a malicious purpose) often using the most common generalized if not sexist view of female behavior and then pointed out those things using her own general (or personal) view of female behavior. She doesn't once say this is how all women are, or behaviors are locked into this box of types. She simply offers examples in an attempt to enlighten people who have a hard time accepting that alot of female toons are DUDES and then complain about being cheated.
Does it offend me? No because I'm not a damn thing like the general female thats used as an example for the article. Would I be if i was? Probably not because I honestly don't care, hell I've played with female toons for days and didn't even realize till they invited me to a guild they are actual females like me, because it wasn't important to me.
Its online/fantasy/aka NOT REAL if someone wants to claim I'm a guy because I do or don't do these things or act a certain way then let them. I've met female gamers that have acted nothing like this article points out, I've met once that match it, I've met ones that I thought was a guy because of their overly stereotyped feminine behavior but were they trying to be malicious and get something out of me? No. But I know of ones that have done this to male guildmates in the game.
Its an editorial its not supposed to be some super tell all factual based peice of information. Its taken from her perspective and experience while playing WoW or other mmos. I dont believe this article hurts the community, what hurts the community are people pretending to be somethign they're not for a malicious purpose, whiners, elitists, and easily offended rampagers quick to light fires for little reason other than they disagree.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
Warhammer fanatic since '85.
Oh for crying out loud take a pill. Your little argument here makes no sense at all and shows me all too well that you didn't bother to read the damn thing, you're just here spewing a bunch of ignorant hate acting like a self righteous moron. I'm not even going to read all of this drivel because I can tell that from your first and last comments.
No where in the article does it say women are always violent, the article isn't even about women you brain dead excuse for a life form, it's about guys who pretend to be females to try and sucker other guys. Both your comments in that field show just how freaking ignorant and full of manure you are.
I wont bother responding to any of your other drivel since I'm sure it will be as laden with outright lies and misinformation as you can muster with that empty wanna be a lawyer head of yours. You're just another hater posing as the righteous, Go crawl back under your soap box
EDIT: Oh and just to be clear about why I say YOU'RE being sexist is you choose to attack a woman for writing an open and honest article about guys who gender swap to abuse it (not RP, not out of sexual preference but to abuse it)
AJ You did a great job, keep it up
µV
Wow, Timeviewer, I could probably respond to your post, but when I saw it degrade into a really unnecessary form of personal attack, I can't see discussing or debating the topic with you further. You have shown you level of intengrity through your own actions, no help needed.
I agree with BanthaFodder regarding the EQ2 Elves. I think the males there are really beautiful, and quite easily mistaken for a female much of the time. I think EQ2, along with DAoC is one of the rare games that didnt hypersexualize the female Avatar- I played a little white Ratonga named wendy and really enjoyed it (Prior to one of SOE's famous "combat revamps").
µV
If the RL sex of the player in your group matters, you didn't understand the purpose of gaming! Which is only to make fun.
At any rate, there will always be someone britghter, someone witht hat extra wit, to let you believe he/she is the other sex.
It matter not, let's get the xp machine started or I will quit your group!
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Rubbish stereotypes abound in MMORPGs, and have for a long time, for example in this response posted somewhere above in the thread:
In any MMO I automatically assume a female character is 'driven' by a male gamer, unless I learn otherwise. And often enough, the girls have some of the toughest chars I've met ingame and I find myself suprised to learn the gamer behind the char is a girl (or woman!) in real life.
So not only "if you play this game you must be male" which you have to disprove, but "if you are good you cannot be female" - which is complete and utter rubbish. The most devastating combo I ever had in SWG space combat was myself and a RL friend (2 women) - we left a lot of pretty spakly Rebel spacedust for a while, and I expect that those we flew against would certainly have said "those guys were lethal". We were - when flying as a team we never lost a fighter in PvP (inherently nimble ships, harvesting, master shipwright, reverse engineering and shopping skills for the win! We had those ships tweaked down to the last few mass units).
And as for transgendered people, the only people I know are a successful artist (F), a top manager (M), a high-level advisor to the military (F), and a senior lawyer (F); they are all overachievers and are not "faking" anything, and they really do not fit the "television stereotypes" that most people have been spoon-fed by shows such as CSI New York or CSI Las Vegas. I doubt many people would argue that there is not a background hostile attitude out there towards folks in the transgendered community still, I am sure that attitude is expressed in MMORPGs as in any other aspect of social life, possibly more so due to the youth-bias in that community.
For my own part the priest dwarven female is a "she", and I want her to heal me when my health bar is fast falling to nil - I don't really care whether it is some 60 year old guy from Michigan sitting a the keyboard or not, although it's usually not that hard to tell after a while. And for me someone who was "MtF" is a she ("F") - she always was, having been set on that path before birth. That there are people out there who might be both (M+F), neither, bit of each or just not sure yet in no way diminishes that they are all people, and if they are playing a priest etc in an MMORPG with me I want them to heal me anyway before my character hits the dust.
Western societies are generally based on Yes/No dicotomy when biologically players are on complex interlinking spectra not a set of single dicotomies, so there are always going to be issues. I can't remember seeing an MMORPG game where even the aliens were not built into a "male/female" dicotomy, despite various sci-fi novels having explored alternate biological models for aliens in admirable depth. Possibly why Dorids are typically never playable - no gender, so it is harder for people to relate to the character.
Hate to go with a stereotype myself, but overall MMORPGs still seem to be very much mostly designed by guys for guys, and it is entirely unsurprising that the end result lends itself to things that are quite biased and promote stereotypes. A couple of simple examples - if a WoW dawarven female "bounced" that much she would probably either promtly kill whoever made her support garments or never run for the pain, and WoW warlocks can only have scantily clad female succubi slapping themselves provocatively: there is no option for a female avatar to have a male succubus instead. The best so far (until they killed it) was in my view SW:G which had such a range of dances and clothing that people could do as they pleased - you could be modest and dance elegantly if you wanted to, which was a refreshing change while it lasted (*mumbles something about NGE being a complete disaster*).
And for all you guys out there who swear by "prove it by Ventrillo" remember that really can be "faked". A RL friend (M) of mine had a female character in one game where he shamelessly "worked it" for every single gold piece he could fleece off his guild mates, strangers, anyone. They had a big guild meeting to "meet up" on Vent, so he just had his fiancee speak for him and forever more "she" was a "she for sure" to the guild. Just goes to show that you should just play the game for what it is; if you get hung up on who is sitting at the keyboard behind the avatar you are hitting on or making possibly invalid assumptions about then your paranoia will get you eventually
"Yes, of course I'm an elf in real life!"
"No you're not, be gone from my presence, Tauren!".
Flute
Flute, I think your post was brilliant! Essentially you have precisely summed up what most of the posters here intended to say, some not as eloquently.
But- you play a Dwarf! You realize that to the pedophile age-players out there whose WoW dwarves and Gnomes= kiddiePorno, or to the little people of the world who inhabit the small Avatar, and to those of us who ONLY play with people who are RL short playing a short character, you're a height faker! Oh the injustices. How dare you be a big person playing a shortie McShort shorts on a video game flutie? Faker, faker faker! DECIEVER!
:P
Phay
Actually i do find myself asking why the heck do they give me stuff in games sometimes, like do they think i can't get it for myself???!! Heh, heh. Eventually i give up and just mail them back a gift in return. No offense, i like working for my own stuff most of the times. Why else would i be playing?
It also pisses me off when folks make avatars with female derogatory names, its so childish and disrespectful along with them saying crap like, its that time of the month. If you are a woman doing that, I am ashamed that you are actually a female; and if you are a man/boy... well... I think you may need so psychiatric help....
Rubbish stereotypes abound in MMORPGs, and have for a long time, for example in this response posted somewhere above in the thread:
In any MMO I automatically assume a female character is 'driven' by a male gamer, unless I learn otherwise. And often enough, the girls have some of the toughest chars I've met ingame and I find myself suprised to learn the gamer behind the char is a girl (or woman!) in real life.
So not only "if you play this game you must be male" which you have to disprove, but "if you are good you cannot be female" - which is complete and utter rubbish. The most devastating combo I ever had in SWG space combat was myself and a RL friend (2 women) - we left a lot of pretty spakly Rebel spacedust for a while, and I expect that those we flew against would certainly have said "those guys were lethal". We were - when flying as a team we never lost a fighter in PvP (inherently nimble ships, harvesting, master shipwright, reverse engineering and shopping skills for the win! We had those ships tweaked down to the last few mass units).
And as for transgendered people, the only people I know are a successful artist (F), a top manager (M), a high-level advisor to the military (F), and a senior lawyer (F); they are all overachievers and are not "faking" anything, and they really do not fit the "television stereotypes" that most people have been spoon-fed by shows such as CSI New York or CSI Las Vegas. I doubt many people would argue that there is not a background hostile attitude out there towards folks in the transgendered community still, I am sure that attitude is expressed in MMORPGs as in any other aspect of social life, possibly more so due to the youth-bias in that community.
For my own part the priest dwarven female is a "she", and I want her to heal me when my health bar is fast falling to nil - I don't really care whether it is some 60 year old guy from Michigan sitting a the keyboard or not, although it's usually not that hard to tell after a while. And for me someone who was "MtF" is a she ("F") - she always was, having been set on that path before birth. That there are people out there who might be both (M+F), neither, bit of each or just not sure yet in no way diminishes that they are all people, and if they are playing a priest etc in an MMORPG with me I want them to heal me anyway before my character hits the dust.
Western societies are generally based on Yes/No dicotomy when biologically players are on complex interlinking spectra not a set of single dicotomies, so there are always going to be issues. I can't remember seeing an MMORPG game where even the aliens were not built into a "male/female" dicotomy, despite various sci-fi novels having explored alternate biological models for aliens in admirable depth. Possibly why Dorids are typically never playable - no gender, so it is harder for people to relate to the character.
Hate to go with a stereotype myself, but overall MMORPGs still seem to be very much mostly designed by guys for guys, and it is entirely unsurprising that the end result lends itself to things that are quite biased and promote stereotypes. A couple of simple examples - if a WoW dawarven female "bounced" that much she would probably either promtly kill whoever made her support garments or never run for the pain, and WoW warlocks can only have scantily clad female succubi slapping themselves provocatively: there is no option for a female avatar to have a male succubus instead. The best so far (until they killed it) was in my view SW:G which had such a range of dances and clothing that people could do as they pleased - you could be modest and dance elegantly if you wanted to, which was a refreshing change while it lasted (*mumbles something about NGE being a complete disaster*).
And for all you guys out there who swear by "prove it by Ventrillo" remember that really can be "faked". A RL friend (M) of mine had a female character in one game where he shamelessly "worked it" for every single gold piece he could fleece off his guild mates, strangers, anyone. They had a big guild meeting to "meet up" on Vent, so he just had his fiancee speak for him and forever more "she" was a "she for sure" to the guild. Just goes to show that you should just play the game for what it is; if you get hung up on who is sitting at the keyboard behind the avatar you are hitting on or making possibly invalid assumptions about then your paranoia will get you eventually
"Yes, of course I'm an elf in real life!"
"No you're not, be gone from my presence, Tauren!".
Flute
Nice post but I think you missed the intent of the article, personally it doesn't matter to me who's behind the toon, but players, especially newer players, get suckered everyday. Usually this just amounts to said mark being relieved of cash and valuables, some kids, and even adults, don't have a clue that someone even would play a character other than their own gender to do this. On the darker, and usually unspoken, side of this is those who use it to meet with younger children.
While most older players already realize all this I'm sure some newbies have read this and walked away with a little more "street smarts" in their dealings with other players. Some may not like them being told at all. The article isn't attacking people just for playing another gender but rather exposing those who use it to abuse it.
You yourself exposed the fact that even the voice can be faked (one of the highest payed "female" phone sex operators was actually a guy, I remember seeing a show about him a number of years back), why should it be wrong for the article to do the same? I don't know if you have kids, or if you do if they're old enough to play, but if you did wouldn't you, as an experienced gamer yourself, tell them? I'm sure you would (at some point). Why then shouldn't there be an article for those who don't have someone there to tell them?
BTW I do agree that many games seem stereotyped towards males, When the 4th Coming was in beta that only had male puppets and no plans to add female, a woman I knew played and use to jokingly complain about having to walk funny because of something hanging between her legs. It wasn't until much much later, when they realized how many females actually played, they added female puppets. Many others either look like the girls guys would like to see in porn movies or (even creepier to me) little girls. Some games even force you into a particular sex depending on what class you want to play, 9 Dragons is a good example of that, there was another, the name escapes me at the moment, where if you wanted to be an elf you had to be female, all others were male.
Part of that is the designers and part of that is the culture where some games come from, female equality isn't exactly the norm on this planet. The only way that's really going to change is if the companies get hit in the pocket book, and that's unlikely since there will always be enough guys who will fork out money for a game just to watch that "bounce".
It would be nice to see a game a little more balanced and realistic with the puppets, but artists always like to show off, ego is part of being an artist. People have wanted a more fluid customization for years but the most we've seen so far is face/hair/height A-E.
µV
My sister plays MMO's and she acts very jolly in game and such, yet their are always guys and girls out there looking for other people to prove themselves. Yeah I seen actual femals trying to find out if my sister is an actual female. It's crazy. In all truthfulness I don't there there is no real way to tell if someone is who they seem to be. Most of the real ways takes paience and not assumption, becuase what if your wrong? Then you just messed yourself up. In all honestly I don't think you should worry about these kinds of things. If you don't then you wouldn't need to worry about such things.
Instead someone needs to make an articale on equal treatment (to spot people who just want your items/money and who is not trying to use you) rather than how to spot a gender faker. It's a MMORPG for craying out loud. Gotta chill. With people trying to spot gender fakers it makes things less fun. Also female characters play male characters so what about that. Just not valid. Show people how to tell who their friends are and who is just there to use and abuse than rather making somthin like this. I find THAT kind of infomation more vaulable to the MMO community than trying to play the guessing game.
-In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08-
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RISING DRAGOON ~AION US ONLINE LEGION for Elyos
A journalists most important work is to create a debate. AJ certainly did good here.
I went searching for facts on the net and found several market surveys with interesting information.
1. 30% of all players are girls. Take 3 players and one of them will be a girl !
2. Girls are much more likely to play MMO's than other games (the social aspect maybe). This means that the ratio of girls are actually more than the 30% (which was for all games). So it might look like it is closer to being 4 out of 10 are girls.
These numbers are measure every year by ELSPA, which is the UK producers association, and as far as I have the numbers back, this has been so.
It is said games are not a girls world, but MMO's just might become just that.
I have to agree with this article, especially about names. What self-repecting woman would name herself, HonneyBunns, or Little Lover? These are players on TIbia, I like see these guys and I always laugh and say get real dude!