Gender in PWI

Lolgasmic - Raging Tide

I don't care about calling someone a he or she, if I'm not sure which is right. I'd rather just get the sentence out, and let things move on instead of trying to say their name.

Euthymius - Heavens Tear

...As I know not what they are beyond the world I see through these eyes,
I call them as they appear to me, unless stated otherwise.

_Skai_ - Raging Tide

Azizsixer - Raging Tide wrote: »

This is partially why i said personality ftw...some ppl like Skai...doesn't matter whether ur a guy or a girl or anything in between...a good personality draws ppl to you and that comes from who you are irl...#Skai fanboy b:surrender

Yup! xD And the misunderstanding thing about that is that people often assume I'm female due to my nice nature most of the time. I've said it around the forums often, but I treat everyone with respect if I don't know them. If I do know that they're disrespectful or if that person is a troll or such, I act accordingly.

Gotta love internet stereotypes.

Shandaar - Dreamweaver

Kerona - Sanctuary wrote: »

In many ways I regret being "openly female" on video games because of the connotations that come along with it. Such things as: the only way a girl can get gear is by selling nudes or flirting with men; the only way girls derive value in games is by how many men think they're hot; girls can't play, but she plays good/bad for a girl; girls must be nice, compliant, and submissive or they are bishes, etc. I'm admittedly not the nicest person in the world, but I often wonder if I'd get the same sort of trash talk if I were a dude. I disagreed with someone on the forum, now I sell nudes for gear? The assumption that girls use their sexuality to get ahead is hilarious, but from observing PWI women I can see where the assumption comes from. b:chuckle

I was faced with that in other games, and in PWI, some of it. No one's accused me of selling nudes for gear yet, but the 'girls can't play' and 'expected to be submissive' bits... yeah, definitely.

Ask the faction and squad boot buttons if I'm submissive. Or my characters' weapons. More than happy to show them.

I've been asked several times if I was hot, and I'm sometimes not taken seriously when I come out as a female gamer right off the bat. It's almost as if even online, people care about what you look and judge you based on it. Even though I'll never meet 95% of these people. Whether I have big **** or not, if I'm hot or not matters suddenly in my gaming habits and capacities.

I work as video game QA tester. It's mostly male and I've never had that type of reaction with my coworkers. Ever. Makes me wonder if all of this would happen IRL, if they'd be as surprised...

witniss

_Skai_ - Raging Tide wrote: »

Yup! xD And the misunderstanding thing about that is that people often assume I'm female due to my nice nature most of the time. I've said it around the forums often, but I treat everyone with respect if I don't know them. If I do know that they're disrespectful or if that person is a troll or such, I act accordingly.

Gotta love internet stereotypes.

I really thought you where female ._.

Quilue - Sanctuary

Kerona - Sanctuary wrote: »

I don't generally reveal whether I'm a boy or a girl until someone asks in games that I play. Eventually most people come to realize I'm a girl without me saying it, but I've had a few instances where that was not the case and I get pulled into "bromance" type friendships with dudes. Does that mean my gender was present in the game or not? It depends on what subject you are talking about, I think. A lot of girls tend to be more wordy than guys in games, also...

Our perception of gender is largely based on the culture we come from. Some cultures think women can only be sexual creatures or bishes and women are defined by the men they associate with. In many ways I regret being "openly female" on video games because of the connotations that come along with it. Such things as: the only way a girl can get gear is by selling nudes or flirting with men; the only way girls derive value in games is by how many men think they're hot; girls can't play, but she plays good/bad for a girl; girls must be nice, compliant, and submissive or they are bishes, etc. I'm admittedly not the nicest person in the world, but I often wonder if I'd get the same sort of trash talk if I were a dude. I disagreed with someone on the forum, now I sell nudes for gear? The assumption that girls use their sexuality to get ahead is hilarious, but from observing PWI women I can see where the assumption comes from. b:chuckle

While it's true that some PWI girls do put out for gear...(you even told me so yourself), I believe people are just going to say anything to **** each other off. Selling nudes is just as ridiculous as joking about a certain someone else selling sperm for gear. Both genders get scorned for cash shopping, regardless of whether they do it or not. Guys get called no lifes, basement dwellers, small ***** etc...You wouldn't get the same sort of trash talk yes...but you would get trash talk nonetheless simply because people like to **** each other off.

The only reason you wouldn't insult a guy by saying he sells nudes for gear...is because our culture norm dictates that a guy is not valued to the point that he needs to preserve himself - **** is free. He can choose to by his own values and beliefs, but he is not expected to by most people. It's girls who are pursued and "won", so for a girl to be promiscuous insinuates that her desirability is low. That's why it's an insult. On the other hands, guys are ****** by default because they have no inherent "value" to begin with. This is why guys selling nudes for gear doesn't even come up, it's because nudes of the average guy would be worthless.

In conclusion, guys are inherently uglier than girls, thus they do not sell nudes.

Reliea - Sanctuary

Quilue - Sanctuary wrote: »

Selling nudes is just as ridiculous as joking about a certain someone else selling sperm for gear.

This is why guys selling nudes for gear doesn't even come up, it's because nudes of the average guy would be worthless.

In conclusion, guys are inherently uglier than girls, thus they do not sell nudes.

Guys are just jealous that sperm goes for cheap while eggs cost big bucks b:chuckle
Also guys give their nudes away practically without any encouragement; anyone got a random dickpic on their cellphone from a wrong number lately? XD Totally tanking the market for naked guypix for gear b:chuckle

Honestly it doesn't matter to me whether someone's a guy or girl, I hardly ever ask. Sometimes I guess, and then I'm only surprised when I'm wrong, but it doesn't matter much either way. I'm much more interested in knowing the native language of the people I associate with so I can make a list of languages to learn b:laugh

Pretty much I believe gender can be erased, though it's likely people will have suspicions one way or the other, and it's up to the individual to either confirm or deny. I think it's easier to be a guy gamer than a girl gamer in an interactive community like this. Mostly because I don't recall a lot of my guy-friends complaining about sexual harassment from, or being made uncomfortable by, fellow female gamers. Not saying it doesn't happen, and maybe they're just not owning up to feeling uncomfortable about it as much... but if guys approached girls IRL as some of them do in games... there'd be a lot more guys going to jail for creeper behaviour let me tell you >.>

I have discovered though, I do make for a very chivalrous man when I put my mind to it b:victory

Lucrecia - Momaganon

Quilue - Sanctuary wrote: »

While it's true that some PWI girls do put out for gear...(you even told me so yourself), I believe people are just going to say anything to **** each other off. Selling nudes is just as ridiculous as joking about a certain someone else selling sperm for gear. Both genders get scorned for cash shopping, regardless of whether they do it or not. Guys get called no lifes, basement dwellers, small ***** etc...You wouldn't get the same sort of trash talk yes...but you would get trash talk nonetheless simply because people like to **** each other off.

Yeah I think so too, although i know some girls who did flirt with strangers ingame to marry them. An "Ex" - friend of mine wasnt a cashshopper because she was just too young, but got a herc + full tt90 gear + fashion all from her husband ingame, someone she never met . Okay its pretty funny that some guys are that rich that they spend like 30 mil+ for a possible ingame wife just to say "Hey look at me ive got a hot wife who IS really a girl".

And as someone said before , most of the real girls I know playing MMOs playing mages, especially healers and most of the guys tanks. What is pretty stupid, i mean female clerics look like they have a broken back and same as wizzies, and female bms look sexy, not pumped like the male ones. I dont really know why many of them want to fit the stereotypical roles, but I always laugh my as.s off when someoone is telling me clerics should be female. I mean, it was common for males being "clerics", women werent even allowed. If thats what PW meant... (Elf priest makes more sense IMO)

Hazumi_chan - Sanctuary

I am a girl irl. I have one male character I currently play and one female. At first I made female chars only, because it felt kinda weird to play a male toon. Now however I mostly make male toons, one of the reasons being skimpy female armor. '__'

On my (male) cleric I just gave up on correcting people, unless I'm starting to befriend them.

XScootaloo - Dreamweaver

i act as and let people think im the gender of the toon im on at the moment. there are a select few who know the real me and even fewer who have heard my voice to confirm it. its a role playing game. im playing it as such.

KawaiiJen - Heavens Tear

Bump to fight spam.

_blood_rain - Sanctuary

Kawaii logic = spam bump posts on GD to fight spam? b:chuckle

KawaiiJen - Heavens Tear

_blood_rain - Sanctuary wrote: »

Kawaii logic = spam bump posts on GD to fight spam? b:chuckle

Well there was like... 10 threads of spam from the Chinese Bots and with Shelly being the only active mod (that I've seen) and maybe a few PWE staff closing the threads it was an attempt to push them off the first page until they were removed. :<

_blood_rain - Sanctuary

I see, you've been mod trolled

Xx_BeLLa_xX - Harshlands

Jen for mod. b:victory

KawaiiJen - Heavens Tear

Xx_BeLLa_xX - Harshlands wrote: »

Jen for mod. b:victory

Be careful what you say they might take you seriously! b:chuckle

Wickedbrew - Raging Tide

Personally I don't care if a player is a male or female behind the pixels. I befriend anyone that doesn't come across as a blathering idiot, and in most MMO games I have played, the majority are good people with a range of backgrounds, interests, and a common desire to have fun in this little virtual world.

There will always be a few of both sexes that can be otherwise incredibly annoying, especially in WC. On RT one in particular that day in and day out keeps searching for a gf. I feel for him, if he is truly that hard up.

In retrospect, back to the original question, gender has no bearing with me when I play the game, as to who I befriend, and have fun in game with, though being a guy, I learned my lesson early in MMOs about making a female character and getting annoyed by prepubescent, drivolous, males that wouldn't know to treat, let alone what to do with a female, other than their fantasies with eyes closed and dumping their male portion in a sock.

Reyi - Heavens Tear

Wickedbrew - Raging Tide wrote: »

I learned my lesson early in MMOs about making a female character and getting annoyed by prepubescent, drivolous, males that wouldn't know to treat, let alone what to do with a female, other than their fantasies with eyes closed and dumping their male portion in a sock.

I... I lol'ed

witniss

Reyi - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I... I lol'ed

Me too, loudly.

Wickedbrew - Raging Tide

Up for viable posts instead of spamoliciousness

VenusArmani - Dreamweaver

VenusArmani - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Bumping because of spam.

Spam bump ception!

LadyGreyLace - Dreamweaver

b:angry Hammer that Spam

Euthymius - Heavens Tear

Going UP!

crystalpink

Anti-spam bump

nysa3

I'm definitely of the opinion that you can't escape indications of gender and gender roles. Even when hidden by the veil of an avatar, it is likely that you are signaling your gender in some way. Depending on the person and scenario, the signals can be blatant or ambiguous, contextually derived, intentionally given, or completely unconscious. Nonetheless, those indicators and hints are ever-present and most people are aware of them on some level. In fact, many have already been mentioned.

There are the obvious hints, such as subject matters commonly associated with gender. For males, some examples have been ****/beer, but I might also offer: discussing technical aspects of the game, highlighting differences in power, calling attention to upgrades, etc. That's not to suggest that females aren't interested in those subjects or similar ones, but rather that males tend to be more vocal about them. For females, gender revealing subjects might include: RL interests pertaining to the self, detailing character design, in-game relationships [friend, foe, love], etc. Some other indicators previously mentioned include females' propensity to choose caster classes vs. males choosing melee, naming schemes, and visual aspects of the character.

Popular subject matter aside, gender can become less questionable via communication patterns. In terms of crass or over-sexualized speech, males tend to be more direct, vulgar, or insulting; while the few(er) participating females will generally use such language for euphemistic or explicit flirtations, queries, or vague/mild insults. This is just a trend, as always, there are exceptions. In addition: the use of certain emoticons, trigger words, and levels of verbosity can be hints. For example, females tend to propagate the illusion of familial bonds and/or affection by using words like: hun/honey/baby/sweetie/etc. Of course, there so many more indicators, but I really should stop... o.o''

...o.o''...

In terms of gender roles, many of the successful social spheres in-game rely on people falling into common archetypes that are firmly associated with their respective genders. I.e. you'll see people like the Alpha Male, Mother-to-all, Flirty Girl/Woman, Macho-Punk, Witty/Sarcastic Guy, Bubbly/Innocent Girl, ad infinitum, all coming together to form a social web that is directly supported by the continuance of their roles. And while you'll see these stereotypes in real life, they can be ridiculously over-expressed in-game. The reason for that, I believe, is precisely because gender is not initially explicit in an MMO. We are so intensely programmed to seek the identification of/to fit into functional social constructs (of which gender roles can play a huge part) that some of us become clich

CadogaN - Raging Tide

Anti-spam bump

zagelz

You're an academic doing research aren't you?

OIdpop - Heavens Tear

i really dont wanna see 2 cleric men together holding each other.

Whoz_Nutz - Raging Tide

I'm partial to sin-a-man rolls with that white sugar based topping. My gender has 8 buttons on it to go from Choppped to Pure E. I don't know the brand or model; but, it's the brown and tan with chrome buttons one.

I'm a 5th year freshman and I'm working on a major in Lap Dancing with a minor in Club. I'm gonna be a vetranarian cause I like kids & don't eat meat (sometimes.)

Power To The People for < $0.05/kWHr !!

ZoracGallant - Raging Tide

purple