Summing it Up – Gender-bending pt. 10

The Gender-bending series is based on the result of my own little survey, attempting to map all the motivations of WoW-players playing a character of the opposite gender. Each part deals with a certain aspect of gender-bending in games. This is the summary post, pt. 10.

Prelude

Part 1: Advertizing the survey
Part 2: Throwing myself to the lions….I mean trolls!

Results

Part 3: The Spectacle of Play and Characters
Part 4: Avoiding Clones
Part 5: To Wear or to Not Wear Robes
Part 6: Bring the Player, not the Gender
Part 7: Uniqueness and the Trademark of the Female Dwarf
Part 8: In Game Advantages
Part 9: For the Love of Names

Conclusion

Part 10: Summing it Up

Gender-bending in WoW has to be understood as part of the medium of games. To the outsider (which sometimes includes players than don’t gender-bend) it might look weird and as if someone has issues with their gender identity. I bring you an example of this from someone who posted in my survey-advertizement thread, saying they did not play characters of the opposite  gender because:

“No, im confident of my sexuality :P“

I wrote in part 3, that this is nearly never part of the issue, and gender-benders know this.  As virtual worlds provide a space where players can inhabit separate bodies they create themselves, although under the restriction of character creation modes, they can play and experiment with the character’s appearance. To people who play a character of the opposite gender, the option of male or female is often viewed alongside other choices such as class and race. Playing WoW includes playing with avatars, which gender-bending can be viewed as a product of.

In addition, when we look at WoW as a part of a gaming history, we understand that players come with a heritage as well. Some of them have been using the game medium for years and are used to creating characters in many different genres, including ones which only allows for certain genders to be the main character, or a certain class. Gender-bending in WoW, despite the fact the reason to gender-bend to unlock new mechanics is nigh, is neither unusual nor deviant, but generally a common phenomenon amongst players.

Overall gender-bending works as a tool of either specified gain or avoidance, with the wish to achieve a form of variety, playing the biggest part. The many available modes of play in WoW, the different classes which opens for new mechanics and therefore new ways of playing the game, alleviates being able to make this range of characters look different and apart important to players. Aesthetics were central to the majority of players as well, although specific reasons were far and apart. The wish for smooth and aesthetically pleasing modeling and animations were fundamental, but also cultural understandings of gender in trying to abide by them or avoiding them, were present.

Using WoW as a place to explore gender is less common, but nonetheless favored by female players, who play male characters in order to avoid attention and perhaps to blend in to the male dominated space in WoW. Gaining benefits in the game as a motivation for gender-bending ranged overall low.

Being able to stand out and create a unique character was exhibited, but still in accordance with a high aesthetic value to the players. The name of a character is perhaps the highest form of individuality one can achieve in WoW, and thus a particular name were more befitting of the opposite gender for some players.

I believe gender-bending can tell us a lot about both the ways characters in the game are perceived and utilized by players, but also how cultures and norms of the game and its players, can both co-exist but also challenge each other.

One of the initial reasons this interested me, was the difference in occurence between the genders, female gender-benders were very rare and I wanted to know why. As my survey didn’t include people that didn’t gender-bend, I don’t have the other side of the coin. One of my sources, Ducheneaut, Wen, Yee and Wadley’s (2009) study Body and Mind: A Study of Avatar Personalization in Three Virtual Worlds, could indicate the reason behind this, so this will have to be my best guess: Female players prefer creating idealized versions of themselves more than male players (especially in Second Life) and I believe gender is linked to  projecting a version of identity, whether it’s congruent or wishful, onto a character.

One of the posters said on the general forum when I posted the survey:

“[...] I don’t understand why people take the gender of a virtual character seriously…“

Another poster, and a very insightful one of the kind I’d say, responded saying this:

“Gender studies is an extremely fascinating field. Gender is a very complicated construct. It’s taken for granted by the vast majority of people, after all, because it’s the norm to accept  the one you’re assigned to at birth, and most are comfortable with that. To others, it’s an endless source of confusion and frustration, because it’s a cornerstone of one’s identity and forcing something like that is very unsettling, to say the least.

Of course, as you say, it’s not quite the same for a virtual character. But the way we are adressed and treated is still defined by which gender we are perceived as. To those who struggle with these things, it’s very important and not something you can just shrug off.“ (link)

Think about it, the internet, the virtual worlds where we can choose our own bodies, can challenge how most people look at gender and identity. In WoW or any other virtual world (or chat rooms/forums etc for that matter) you can be whatever you want and some games even include the option to be neuter. The fact  the physical presence and gender of people are dislocated when we meet them in virtual worlds, I think, can change how we understand identity, approach others and construct ourselves. In what circumstances in WoW does it really matter what gender you are?

As our lives are increasingly dependent and influenced by computer technology, games that inhabit this medium become a more stable part of our leisure activities. While the subscription number of WoW continues to rise alongside other similar platforms, so does the spreading of how we utilize virtual bodies – avatars/characters to the mainstream, perhaps rendering this mode of being and play completely normal in the future.

For the Love of Names – Gender-bending pt. 9

The Gender-bending series is based on the result of my own little survey, attempting to map all the motivations of WoW-players playing a character of the opposite gender. Each part deals with a certain aspect of gender-bending in games.

Part 1: Advertizing the survey
Part 2: Throwing myself to the lions….I mean trolls!
Part 3: The Spectacle of Play and Characters
Part 4: Avoiding Clones
Part 5: To Wear or to Not Wear Robes
Part 6: Bring the Player, not the Gender
Part 7: Uniqueness and the Trademark of the Female Dwarf
part 8: In Game Advantages
Part 9: For the Love of Names
Part 10: Summing it Up

This was a motivation I didn’t anticipate. Nor did Kathryn Wright, my primary inspiration, mention this. This was therefore not included as a specific option available to players in my survey. Thanks to the open comments, it became evident that also names can play an important role in the character creation process. Ultimately, I don’t know how common this is, only a few players mentioned this, so probably only marginally. I thought it was worth mentioning anyhow.

Names are unique in WoW and the same name can not be taken by different characters, unless they spell it differently.  This also means that names can be very central to players, especially if they have a connection to a certain one:

“I wanted a male belf mage with a particular name to match a character from a manga that I like.”

The forum of my server has had quite a few people asking whether they could have a specific name they cared greatly about. Via the armory, they can see it belongs to a (sometimes inactive) low level character, and they’re hoping that this player will hand the name over. Don’t ask me how, but sometimes they actually get it.

Great Name or Real Shame

Charlotte Hagström writes in “Playing with Names: Naming and Gaming in World of Warcraft” (2008) that the names players choose in WoW is a main identifier, and more important than the appearance when distinguishing players. The names of characters are evaluated and judged by other players, and especially a lack of creativity and understanding of the cultural coding of WoW is a negative, and can even hinder further contact and friendships between players. Names that are perceived to be effortless and thus bad, are, even despite their cultural similarity, names too closely inspired by f. ex. “The Lord of the Rings”. An example mentioned by Hagström is the name “Lehgolaz”.

…Slimeball, if you are reading this, I’m sorry, but I hate your name. I remember you from Alterac Valley weekends, you’re a dwarf hunter and I’m sure your pet has a stupid name as well, like …”Bear”. You were definately not from my server, perhaps Chrushridge or Burning Legion? …anyways, it doesn’t matter, your name still sucks. I even mentioned your name to others in WoW, and I said I was sure that you were also a bad player, probably had your pet on aggressive in heroics, gemmed for spirit, and had never been able to get into a raid – surely not with that name.

….Superpwner, if you’re also reading this, I dislike you as well. You, contrary to Slimeball, did play on a roleplay server – you played on mine. We never spoke to each other, I just saw you around when I was leveling Ironyca. Your name was so stupid, that I put you on my friendslist, just so I could follow your whereabouts …and see if you got to keep your name. You didn’t, I didn’t report you, but someone did, ’cause one day “Jear” was on my list instead, and that was you. I like Jear much better, my respect for you went up a little, although I’m sure you can really thank the designated gamemaster for that, who probably force-named you. If you had to rename yourself, I’m sure you would have gone with “Belfrouge”, isn’t that true Superpwner?

I’m sorry Slimeball and Superpwner, but I can’t help it, I judge people by their names, and I judge you.

If a player does abides to these cultural naming rules of WoW, it’s adjacent to gender-bend, when the favored name is more befitting of the opposite gender:

“Also, as I like to use appropriate names, i frequently take them from Fantasy Books, and sometimes females names work better, or are available on my realm”

Also as the quote suggests, sometimes the best names are taken, and alternatives are narrowed down.

Both the written and unwritten rules of naming in WoW have to abide by the earlier mentioned facet of being unique, which also works as a specific motivator for players to gender-bend, and naming can be said to be related to this pattern of individuality.

We’re at the end of the series – almost. Part 10 will be a sum up, showing the overall graph and some additional information, but it will not contain any new results. Thanks for reading so far.

In Game Advantages – Gender-bending pt. 8

The Gender-bending series is based on the result of my own little survey, attempting to map all the motivations of WoW-players playing a character of the opposite gender. Each part deals with a certain aspect of gender-bending in games.

Part 1: Advertizing the Survey
Part 2: Throwing myself to the lions….I mean trolls!
Part 3: The Spectacle of Play and Characters
Part 4: Avoiding Clones
Part 5: To Wear or to Not Wear Robes
part 6: Bring the Player, not the Gender
Part 7: Uniqueness and the Trademark of the Female Dwarf
Part 8: In Game Advantage
Part 9: For the Love of Names
Part 10: Summing it Up

Now On to the Category of the In Game Advantages

Depending on the game, advantages can mean various things. In WoW when gender-bending is mentioned, I’m sure a lot of player’s first thought is that of a guy playing girl characters for the sake of harvesting gifts and favours. In other games, it’s a simple matter of mechanics.

The motivation of advantages was the largest and most popular amongst male players of primarily first person shooter games, in Kathryn Wright’s study (2000). She found 60% of her respondents mentioning factors such as smaller and faster female characters and unique spells and abilities (Kathryn Wright consulted for WomenGamers.com and if only they hadn’t shut down, I could’ve linked directly to her results).

However, in WoW the male gender of any race and class combination has the exact same mechanics as the female character, making this option elusive for WoW players to aspire to, although the psychological factors may still prevail.

I also want you to notice that we’re down into the lower percentages with this category, which also means this was mentioned very little in the comments. Most of the material here is based on Kathryn Wright’s study (except of course for the quotes, which are from my survey).

The figure above shows little evidence that players were heavily motivated to gender-bend due to their beliefs of gain in WoW. Comparing my findings with Kathryn Wright’s lends support to the conclusion that mechanics and the abilities of the characters are a primary motivator when available, whereas aesthetic motivations steps in as secondary when this possibility is unavailable as is the case with WoW.

Benefitting from Acts of Generosity

Despite the supporters of wanting to influence players for gifts are few, here’s a WoW-player mentioning the aesthetics first, and then secondarily the benefits:

“Basically just because the female models and animations are better made and looks more natural then the male ones. And because pretending to be a girl to geeks and flirt with them easily gives you things :)”

As the figure shows, this is something only a few male players chose as an option (4%). No female gender-benders agreed to this option, which means they didn’t create a male character with this in mind. It looks like this gifts-giving behaviour (from male players only I assume) is exclusively connected to female characters. Of course this easily makes female players appear manipulative, but Esther MacCallum-Stewart, the author of “Real Boys Carry Girly Epics: Normalising Gender Bending in Online Games” puts emphasis on the fact that this perception is something female players usually argue against, in an attempt to make the dogma and behavior cease.

For a while on my server Argent Dawn, one female human character (I forgot the name) would regularly advertize in trade about her brothel, of course offering erotic roleplay (ERP) for gold. Time goes on and suddenly a post by this character appears on the forum, where “she” reveals she’s actually a guy playing a female character and that he was now rich thanks to all of those, who were fooled to pay for ERP, from what they thought was a girl. I’m not sure how much his customers cared, but despite his attempts to ridicule them, he still did the work to earn the gold. Perhaps he’s not the real winner in the end…

The brothel example is not perfect, because that was after all a transaction, run like a business, and not acts of generosity. But what I found compelling about it, was the conclusion of the brothel owner, that he had indeed tricked these players using the female gender, they had been exploited.

Before I make it sound like giving gifts and favours in WoW is stupid, I’d like to point out that it is afterall just a gesture of gratitude, friendship or courtship. It’s probably parallel to buying the lady a cocktail, although of course, it can easily be a happy dude at the other end drinking it.

Added Insult and Moments of Hesitation

There’s also the mentions of a psychological edge. Based on the accounts of the players Wright spoke to, the male players in her study believed other male players would play less hard or give them the advantage of a moment of hesitation when they were put up against a female character.

The female night elves in the picture below are not just identical, but to me they look like properly twinked level 19 rogues. I wonder if those players were of that conviction.

In Wright’s study, some male players enjoyed what they considered added insult when defeating other male players, whom they thought would be more upset over having been beaten by a woman. One of the things I find interesting here, is the assumption that the opponent is always male. I’m also reckoning it has something to do with the feminine as physically weaker, thus proving the male opponent to be below the standard of masculine strength.

My study found more females supporting the claim of advantage to their game play (as f. ex. PvP), than male players, although in very small amounts (males 4%, females 10%). Perhaps some female gender-benders like the connotation of strength and added body mass of the male charatcers, although very few players bring the advantages up in their comments. In fact only one male player actually did, although this sounds like it could also be for the purely comical value:

“And the idea that a “weaker” gender can hold its own, if not better than the other. (i.e. There’s something funny about a female gnome beating up a tauren male!) :)”

And vice versa, perhaps there’s also something funny about playing a tauren as a female and beating up all the smaller Alliance races?

Okay, we’re almost at the end of the series, but before we get there, one more thing came up in the comments of my survey that I didn’t anticipate. I felt it was worthy of a post in itself, so mystery part 9 is up next.