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MMO Bans Men Playing As Women
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Wed Sep 26, 2007 11:16 AM
from the nice-legs-bob dept.
from the nice-legs-bob dept.
jkcity writes "In a bizarre move Aurora Technology the owners of the King of the World MMORPG has taken the unusual step of banning men who play women characters but the ban itself does not stretch to women playing men. If you want to play as a woman now in game you have to prove you are a women via web cam. This is something that people ask for in many mmorpgs I myself have seen people say people who play women in EVE online as being some kind of degenerate but how long can a policy of verification by web cam last since its so easy to get around it doesn't seem to solve much and is an insult to many."
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So that means... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
Who doesn't?!?
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
Hey c'mon, how was I supposed to know that Slutzilla was a man!?
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Insightful)
*You can get free stuff with minimal effort.
*You don't spend 30+ hours a week staring at the cartoon picture of a guy's ass.
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, I'd played female tabletop RPG characters with about equal frequency as male PCs for years, without having to worry about that. If the other players at the table bothered me "in that way," a quick shocking grasp or heat metal to the codpiece set them straight.
But my first female toon in WoW was a bank alt, and I dressed her in her undies and a buccaneer's shirt, cuz she looked good in them. Then I noticed other toons standing around and gawking at her.
And you know, I finally felt what most women must have to learn to deal with when they grow bewbs.
And the second revalation is that it only took me about 60 seconds to get over it, and ignore it. It's their problem, not mine.
So, I say, let cross-gender roleplaying happen. It's educational.
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Informative)
One day, when the game was still new and fun, I grouped with a bunch of guys using my main character, a male blaster. I was the highest level of the bunch, and the group lead, so I handled the tactics, the coordination, the works. It was a blast, mostly because the guys I worked with were attentive, on-the-ball, and focused.
A few weeks later I ran into these guys and formed these guys up for a group again. Big difference, though; I was playing a one of my wife's alts -- "Bealzu-Babe" -- and was, in game, "female". I decided, just for kicks, not to tell them who I was.
As before, I was the highest level of the group, and it was my team. Big difference, though; the guys didn't listen to me. They ignored my calls, did their own thing, and in the end even insulted me. Only when I told them who I was (and that I was leveling my wife's alt) did they start listening again.
When I told my wife this she just smiled and said "Now you know what it's like for me in the game."
The bottom line here is that I actually learned something from playing a female character. It's not something I think I'd do again -- I felt pretty silly, and got tired of being gawked at -- but I still would like to have the option.
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
That shouldn't be hard for about half of them.
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
More proposed rules:
- only black people may have black avatars
- only elves may play elves
- if you want STR over 10 you have to bench press 100lbs on webcam
- if you wish your character to speak another language, you must submit a request in writing, in that language, to the admins
- if your CHA is over 15 you can pretty much do what you want, after you seduce one of our admins
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Insightful)
At any rate, what is to stop me, or anyone with a girlfriend or wife, from a quick substitution for the webcam. My wife would think this rule is ridiculous and do it in a heartbeat.
More to the point though, I have to agree with the Parent here... Its a FREAKING RPG. Let people Role Play in the Game as they see fit.
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:It's.. PAT (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
I'd think that playing female characters in RPGs would be a good enough deterrent.
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Yes, you are deluded. But partially right. (Score:5, Informative)
Though, rest assured, your theory doesn't make me think any less of you. It's perfectly normal for people to imagine all manner of voodoo lurking in the gameplay mechanics of their favorite games. This is due to a combination of magical thinking [wikipedia.org] and the brain's natural response to the sort of variable reward schedules you find in these games. In short, the human brain is exquisitely good at pattern matching, but is particularly prone to false positives, so we occasionally develop intense faith in patterns that just aren't there. Even knowing all this, I find myself doing the same thing, sometimes.
That said, though, your primary point should not be diminished. Demanding that people don't cross-play is every bit as silly as demanding that the players of spellcasters really be able to cast spells. It's a goddamn escapist fantasy world. So, let people escape!
However, even more important than that, the fact that many female avatars are played by men right now is actually protective, in a way. Sexual anonymity curtails a great deal of potential sexual harassment. When the genders are outed, an abusive person's targets are clear. I expect that this change will make the game completely unplayable for their real female players.
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, revealing age scares me even more! I still love video games and mmorpg's in particular, but skew significantly older than the core demographic. What does that mean? It means getting party invites becomes one hell of a lot harder when you're old enough to be the party leader's dad! Online games are a great way to have fun with others who share a common interest, but too many details from real life would just get in the way of that. I have to be an old guy in real life everyday, do I have to do that in online games too? I hope not!
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:So that means... (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless, of course, they want to be
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There's only one solution to this... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:There's only one solution to this... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:There's only one solution to this... (Score:5, Funny)
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Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Interesting excuse ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Interesting excuse ... (Score:5, Funny)
what gamer girls?
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Re:Interesting excuse ... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Interesting excuse ... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Interesting excuse ... (Score:5, Informative)
Intersex conditions (where a persons chromosomes are not XX or XY) will often cause ambiguous genitals, at what point does a very small penis become a very large clitoris? at what point does a shallow vagina become a divided scrotum? If the medical community has problems reaching a consensus on this, what hope does a computer admin?
Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) can cause a genetically healthy male (XY) to develop as a perfectly healthy female. The bodily changes that occur in vitro require the androgens (male hormones) from the mother to find the proper receptors in the fetus' cells... if those receptors are either missing or nonfunctional then the body will continue along its default path (female). Often, those with total AIS do not even find out about it until they discover they are infertile. Partital AIS can result in anything from the appearance of a masculine female to that of a effeminate male with genitals ranging from one to the other.
Add in the huge number of pre-operative or non-operative transgender folk and the number of people that have genitals that match their genetic sex or their mental gender is far less then most people realize.
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Ridiculous (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, no matter how hard you beg the developer, that hot elven chick just won't be that way in real life. And this step doesn't get you closer to that.
Just watch... (Score:5, Insightful)
And that's a conservative guess...I bet most would skew it even more towards male players.
Re:Just watch... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Mom is a woman! Easy fix... (Score:5, Insightful)
Perverted admins (Score:5, Funny)
Webcam rules:
1.) Webcam image quality must be sufficient to see subject clearly.
2.) No objects should be placed so as to obstruct at least the top half of the body.
3.) Subject should be nude.
4.) No fatties.
Re:Perverted admins (Score:5, Funny)
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Oh man, now I can't fake being smart (Score:5, Interesting)
Greater crowds than ever... (Score:5, Insightful)
It does get kind of creepy (Score:5, Funny)
Hey look... (Score:5, Insightful)
Will have to veryify via webcam (Score:5, Funny)
"But you're a guy"
"How dare you sir!"
"But you have a beard"
"And I'm a little sensitive about it. I'd rather you didn't mention it"
"And a deep voice"
"Yes. A lot of people comment on that."
"I'm not convinced you're a woman"
"I'll strip naked for you to prove it if you prefer"
"Yikes! No. That won't be neccesary. Thankyou for verifying you gender. Have a nice day, maam".
TG's (Score:5, Insightful)
No more metroid... (Score:5, Insightful)
What a load of crap. It's fantasy - a game for goodness sake. My guess is really some loser who runs the service just wants to look at pictures of the people playing women characters.
Playing gender roles (Score:5, Interesting)
Out of about 6 or so people interviewed, the most common reasons given for playing as female were:
- Male characters are ugly in many games
- People (males) give you free stuff if you're a female character, especially a newbie
- People are more likely to help you if you're an attractive female character
- Females get better looking clothes
- Men want to look at an attractive avatar, and don't necessarily think of it as being themselves
- Females want to play an attractive character, or like the clothes a female char gets, but don't necessarily think of it as being themselves
Reasons people don't like playing female:
- Guys hit on you constantly
- Occasional stalkers
- Many female avas are overtly sexual or 'slutty'
- Female avas don't look tough or 'butch' even as warrior-types
One female gamer said that when asked her gender while playing her female char, she tells people she's a guy because that gets them to stop bothering her. WHen she plays as a male, she tells them her real gender because that also freaks them out. The people I talked to basically just want to play the game, and don't like having sexual or gendered attitudes imposed on them, so I wonder what they will think of this.
This move by the company really seems like implicitly supporting the idea of using MMOs as a hook-up site, instead of a fantasy realm, so I doubt it will be popular among the people I talked to.
New Business Opportunity (Score:5, Funny)
Degenerates for the win! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Doesn't work... (Score:5, Funny)
~S
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Re:finally (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, that's what females do in real life; use their feminine wiles to their advantage.
But your complaint is absurd. If one is unable to resist the feminine wiles of an online-character, then it's his own fault, not fault of the the person playing the female character.
I've known many that have played characters of the player's opposite sex (both men playing as women and women playing as men), and I see no problem with it. The whole point of playing RPGs (either multi-player or single-player) is to get to assume a role you could never assume in real life. The ability to choose your character's gender, ethnicity, etc, goes along with that.
This business of requiring webcams for anyone playing as a woman is the stupidest thing I've heard of in a long time.
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