How women are treated as gamers - Page 2

Nefthys · June 22, 2007, 04:47 AM

I'm a female also and my guild knows it. The first time I told them they were all like "Really?" but after that I haven't been treated any different than the guys. I wouldn't even want anyone to treat me any different just because I'm a female.

Once I met a male rogue who stared at me for a long time and then whispered: "I have never seen a dwarf female before." (One of my alts is a dwarf priest and all my characters are female.) But that is all.

Kiralyn · June 22, 2007, 07:20 AM

23 and a guy here, and I think girl gamers are a mixed blessing. They seem to carry drama like a passive disease. They show no symptoms, but all the guys around them start going nuts. Of course I think its a larger problem then that...

For me it boils down to the social acceptability of WoW among what I would term 'normal' people, or non-gamers. Sure things are changing. Who hasn't thrown down on a little guitar hero these days? What guy doesn't have a favorite team on NCAA '07? But when you get into 'real' games, or anything on a computer, suddenly you are shunned. I know this first hand, from my own friends. I'm open about it with people I know. All my friends know that I'm tied up on raid nights, but I'll be at happy hour with them on Thursday. Sometimes it feels like a double life.

But where this ties back is that people that accept a gamer are few and far between, and people that do the same and are women are rare. A friend of mine actually dated a girl for a couple weeks before finding out that they both played WoW. It's just a sort of hidden thing. But what guy wouldn't love to date someone that shares the same hobby? I think this leads to guys almost subconsciously being attracted to anything with a female voice on vent.

I've been single for a long time, and I dread the day that I meet someone, hit it off, and then have to explain why I can't go out on Tuesday night. Just judging from the people I know, and people that know me, I'd give good odds that it ends right there. I think that hopeless thought has people looking in-game for company instead of out in the real world. An interesting conundrum to be sure.

VESiEN · June 22, 2007, 07:35 AM

In my guild we have a couple of women. One is a 16 year old girl. She is very nice, always helps the lowbies and just pleasent to quest with ingame. I have found myself to be a little overprotective. Either running in the BG or just some of the idiots in the /gchat

Daergel · June 22, 2007, 07:36 AM

I am male, but I have a few female chars, and yes, I do get treated differently from my male toons.

The good side is people giving you things - we were in Stockades, and one of the group said he had a spare bag, and asked who wanted it. Even though I wasnt first off the mark, I got the bag.

The bad side is that you tend to get ignored in instances by the rest of the group when it comes to tactics, even though the chances are that you could have run it several times before and know what works and what doesn't!

I don't volunteer the info about my gender (oh, by the way I'm a bloke!), but if someone asks me I won't lie about it.

And as for girls being rare in WoW, I was in an all-girl group in Gnomer last night, except for the rest of the group were all girls! Surprised me no end!

Magikhat · June 22, 2007, 07:41 AM

I once made the mistake of rolling a female druid. Peopled would hump me on the boat, put their crotch in my face etc etc. It was really annoying.

Thelmarle · June 22, 2007, 07:46 AM

Hey everyone.

I'm a female gamer, and have been for just over 2 years now. When I started playing WoW, I was fortunate to join an all Female Guilld on my realm called Fox Force (mostly disbanded now). It was great being part of a team made up mostly of women (there were a few admitted guys using girl toons). As a result my guild did get special attention with several other guilds, which we took advantage of because we wern't big enough to have enough people on at all times to do runs to LBRS or UBRS on our own, or larger raids for that matter. I still haven't lost touch with any of the Foxes, we have a dedicated Fox Guild channel we all stay connected through.

Aside from that, and after several of us left Fox Force for raiding guilds, I can't say that i have ever gotten special treatment. Two great guys did give me a Soul bag (24slot), but that was more so because i was the only warlock friend of thiers at the time, and i had just helped them get the pattern for it in Scholo.

Another guild i was in constantly asked me for proof of the fact i was female, which i ignored. They wanted me to buy a Mic and talk in Vent. I'm not very comfortable with that, and due to financial issues buying a mic was never very high priority. I just couldn't see what difference it made or why it was so important to them. I left that guild in favor of the Darnasian knights.

The Knights are great friends, with several female leaders including the GM. She does a great job at maintaining peace in the guild as well as getting everyone that wants to raid a spot in a raid group when ever we form a raid.

Its great, and I love this game. I've never felt out of place just because i'm Female.

-Thel

davidcrickett · June 22, 2007, 07:58 AM

I am a male playing a female char. People tend to play what they are not, and young boys wants to be supermen, but since I am older and have been one ;) I thought it would be funny to play a girl. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I mean, I had this incident... a male char simply wouldn't leave me be, but was verbally (duh) sexually harassing me - and at that moment I felt exactly how it must be like being a girl. Forever the prey and victim of all kind of idiots roaming the area. He got kicked, of course, I sent a complaint to the gamemasters, but I wonder if girls just put up with it, or...?

Snappa · June 22, 2007, 08:05 AM

As a male playing female characters, I've always found that explaining to the creep harassing you that you wear an xl cup, have hair on your chest, spent time in prison, and love little boys that talk dirty is a sure way to get them to leave you alone (whether any of it is true or not). Barring that, /ignore always works.

Fargash · June 22, 2007, 08:25 AM

My toon is a female Blood Elf, and she does not get the same treatment as my male Orc main does. Valentines day was a real PITA...

I actually prefer to play with girls/women since, IMHO, they are less likely to act like idiots (personal experience, not a universal fact).

Furies.. · June 22, 2007, 08:48 AM

I have been playing mmo's for over 6 years now, and I have had many friends come and go, and have played with lots of females.

EQ was a bit different, since it is all text based and the general player base is more mature, but it was there too.

WoW however, is much more mainstream, so the chances of running into a female gamer are greater. I personally really enjoy playing with most females. They tend to not get caught up in the e-peen type stuff, are very appreciative of any help they recieve, and their group etiquette is almost always much better.

I can imagine that leveling up as a female, on a female toon would have its interesting moments, but imo, once you reach 70 and have been on your server for a while, things would generally settle down based on how you handle yourself.

I was in a guild with two female officers. Both were superb players and great raiders, however, one was constantly involved in some kind of drama, while the other was like your cute/sexy girl next door. While the drama queen bounced around and became best friends with whomever would help her or pay her the most attention that week, you would see her the next week flirting with someone else to get some help with something. The girl next door would politely ask for assistance in /gu and have a mini raid on her hands to help her farm for something.

The drama queen no longer plays.. the girl next door logs in from time to time and can't keep up with her tells from everyone wanting to say hi.

It really is about how you handle yourself. If you treat guys as if they may receive something in return for that epic, your gonna have all the sleaze you can handle. If you treat someone with kindness and sincere gratitude for the epic, and offer help from your toon in return, then you will be respected and treated well.

From a male point of view of course, but I think it holds true.

June 22, 2007, 04:47 AM	#11 (permalink)
Nefthys Lurker Character Info Nefthys 70 Blood Elf Warlock Vek'nilash Euro PvP Talent Spec: 43/8/10	Re: How women are treated as gamers I'm a female also and my guild knows it. The first time I told them they were all like "Really?" but after that I haven't been treated any different than the guys. I wouldn't even want anyone to treat me any different just because I'm a female. Once I met a male rogue who stared at me for a long time and then whispered: "I have never seen a dwarf female before." (One of my alts is a dwarf priest and all my characters are female.) But that is all.

June 22, 2007, 07:20 AM	#12 (permalink)
Kiralyn Socialist Warlock Character Info Kiralyn 80 Human Warlock Mal'Ganis US PvP Guild: Self Titled Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: ??.??.??	Re: How women are treated as gamers 23 and a guy here, and I think girl gamers are a mixed blessing. They seem to carry drama like a passive disease. They show no symptoms, but all the guys around them start going nuts. Of course I think its a larger problem then that... For me it boils down to the social acceptability of WoW among what I would term 'normal' people, or non-gamers. Sure things are changing. Who hasn't thrown down on a little guitar hero these days? What guy doesn't have a favorite team on NCAA '07? But when you get into 'real' games, or anything on a computer, suddenly you are shunned. I know this first hand, from my own friends. I'm open about it with people I know. All my friends know that I'm tied up on raid nights, but I'll be at happy hour with them on Thursday. Sometimes it feels like a double life. But where this ties back is that people that accept a gamer are few and far between, and people that do the same and are women are rare. A friend of mine actually dated a girl for a couple weeks before finding out that they both played WoW. It's just a sort of hidden thing. But what guy wouldn't love to date someone that shares the same hobby? I think this leads to guys almost subconsciously being attracted to anything with a female voice on vent. I've been single for a long time, and I dread the day that I meet someone, hit it off, and then have to explain why I can't go out on Tuesday night. Just judging from the people I know, and people that know me, I'd give good odds that it ends right there. I think that hopeless thought has people looking in-game for company instead of out in the real world. An interesting conundrum to be sure.

June 22, 2007, 07:35 AM	#13 (permalink)
VESiEN Member Character Info VESiEN 70 Human Warlock Draenor US PvE Guild: Knights of old Talent Spec: 0/21/40	Re: How women are treated as gamers In my guild we have a couple of women. One is a 16 year old girl. She is very nice, always helps the lowbies and just pleasent to quest with ingame. I have found myself to be a little overprotective. Either running in the BG or just some of the idiots in the /gchat

June 22, 2007, 07:36 AM	#14 (permalink)
Daergel Member Character Info Daergel 70 Gnome Warlock Argent Dawn Euro RP Guild: Heroes of Old Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 6/44/11	Re: How women are treated as gamers I am male, but I have a few female chars, and yes, I do get treated differently from my male toons. The good side is people giving you things - we were in Stockades, and one of the group said he had a spare bag, and asked who wanted it. Even though I wasnt first off the mark, I got the bag. The bad side is that you tend to get ignored in instances by the rest of the group when it comes to tactics, even though the chances are that you could have run it several times before and know what works and what doesn't! I don't volunteer the info about my gender (oh, by the way I'm a bloke!), but if someone asks me I won't lie about it. And as for girls being rare in WoW, I was in an all-girl group in Gnomer last night, except for the rest of the group were all girls! Surprised me no end!

June 22, 2007, 07:41 AM	#15 (permalink)
Magikhat Member	Re: How women are treated as gamers I once made the mistake of rolling a female druid. Peopled would hump me on the boat, put their crotch in my face etc etc. It was really annoying.

June 22, 2007, 07:46 AM	#16 (permalink)
Thelmarle Member Character Info Thelmarle 70 Human Warlock Draka US PvE Guild: Effect Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/41/20	Re: How women are treated as gamers Hey everyone. I'm a female gamer, and have been for just over 2 years now. When I started playing WoW, I was fortunate to join an all Female Guilld on my realm called Fox Force (mostly disbanded now). It was great being part of a team made up mostly of women (there were a few admitted guys using girl toons). As a result my guild did get special attention with several other guilds, which we took advantage of because we wern't big enough to have enough people on at all times to do runs to LBRS or UBRS on our own, or larger raids for that matter. I still haven't lost touch with any of the Foxes, we have a dedicated Fox Guild channel we all stay connected through. Aside from that, and after several of us left Fox Force for raiding guilds, I can't say that i have ever gotten special treatment. Two great guys did give me a Soul bag (24slot), but that was more so because i was the only warlock friend of thiers at the time, and i had just helped them get the pattern for it in Scholo. Another guild i was in constantly asked me for proof of the fact i was female, which i ignored. They wanted me to buy a Mic and talk in Vent. I'm not very comfortable with that, and due to financial issues buying a mic was never very high priority. I just couldn't see what difference it made or why it was so important to them. I left that guild in favor of the Darnasian knights. The Knights are great friends, with several female leaders including the GM. She does a great job at maintaining peace in the guild as well as getting everyone that wants to raid a spot in a raid group when ever we form a raid. Its great, and I love this game. I've never felt out of place just because i'm Female. -Thel Last edited by Thelmarle; June 22, 2007 at 07:48 AM..

June 22, 2007, 07:58 AM	#17 (permalink)
davidcrickett Registered Character Info Wangping 80 Human Warlock Ravenholdt Euro RP PvP Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 54/17/0	Re: How women are treated as gamers I am a male playing a female char. People tend to play what they are not, and young boys wants to be supermen, but since I am older and have been one ;) I thought it would be funny to play a girl. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I mean, I had this incident... a male char simply wouldn't leave me be, but was verbally (duh) sexually harassing me - and at that moment I felt exactly how it must be like being a girl. Forever the prey and victim of all kind of idiots roaming the area. He got kicked, of course, I sent a complaint to the gamemasters, but I wonder if girls just put up with it, or...? Last edited by davidcrickett; June 22, 2007 at 08:01 AM..

June 22, 2007, 08:05 AM	#18 (permalink)
Snappa Registered Character Info Glimpa 70 Gnome Warlock Elune US PvE Guild: The Silver Triads Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/21/40	Re: How women are treated as gamers As a male playing female characters, I've always found that explaining to the creep harassing you that you wear an xl cup, have hair on your chest, spent time in prison, and love little boys that talk dirty is a sure way to get them to leave you alone (whether any of it is true or not). Barring that, /ignore always works.

June 22, 2007, 08:25 AM	#19 (permalink)
Fargash Member Character Info Fargash 70 Orc Warlock Bloodscalp Euro PvP Guild: Abominable Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 9/52/0	Re: How women are treated as gamers My toon is a female Blood Elf, and she does not get the same treatment as my male Orc main does. Valentines day was a real PITA... I actually prefer to play with girls/women since, IMHO, they are less likely to act like idiots (personal experience, not a universal fact).

June 22, 2007, 08:48 AM	#20 (permalink)
Furies.. Member Character Info Furimo 70 Gnome Warlock Chromaggus US PvP	Re: How women are treated as gamers I have been playing mmo's for over 6 years now, and I have had many friends come and go, and have played with lots of females. EQ was a bit different, since it is all text based and the general player base is more mature, but it was there too. WoW however, is much more mainstream, so the chances of running into a female gamer are greater. I personally really enjoy playing with most females. They tend to not get caught up in the e-peen type stuff, are very appreciative of any help they recieve, and their group etiquette is almost always much better. I can imagine that leveling up as a female, on a female toon would have its interesting moments, but imo, once you reach 70 and have been on your server for a while, things would generally settle down based on how you handle yourself. I was in a guild with two female officers. Both were superb players and great raiders, however, one was constantly involved in some kind of drama, while the other was like your cute/sexy girl next door. While the drama queen bounced around and became best friends with whomever would help her or pay her the most attention that week, you would see her the next week flirting with someone else to get some help with something. The girl next door would politely ask for assistance in /gu and have a mini raid on her hands to help her farm for something. The drama queen no longer plays.. the girl next door logs in from time to time and can't keep up with her tells from everyone wanting to say hi. It really is about how you handle yourself. If you treat guys as if they may receive something in return for that epic, your gonna have all the sleaze you can handle. If you treat someone with kindness and sincere gratitude for the epic, and offer help from your toon in return, then you will be respected and treated well. From a male point of view of course, but I think it holds true.