MMO Bans Men Playing As Women 616
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."
Study: Half of Female Avatars are Men (Score:4, Informative)
If you're interested, you can read the details of Nick's research [nickyee.com], along with an earlier study of gender switching in Everquest [nickyee.com].
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.
Just wondering. Are ugly people expected to... (Score:3, Informative)
The point is to escape a crappy reality.
Re:So that means... (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Re:So that means... (Score:3, Informative)
6 items in the trade window later I said thanks and he said "see ya, enjoy" and took off.
As I went through each item to see what he had dumped off on me I realized he'd given me 5 pieces of complete vendor trash and a Staff of Jordan, which I couldn't even use yet.
It wasn't the first time people had been overly nice to me, and I normally figured it was just because my character was a gal. I never actually said I was a women in real life, nor did I ever say anything to indicate that I in fact was.
Just the same, five levels later I equipped a pretty sweet staff.
Oblig. (Score:4, Informative)
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.