I don’t know about you but I’ve been seeing a suspiciously high number of female Draenei wandering around lately. They all seem to be in my guild as well. And my guild consists of mostly male players. So what’s with this boys who like being girls thing? I feel like I can make this outrageously sexist comment because I rarely see a female player putting her toon through a sex change operation—and if she does it’s to go from being a male toon to a female toon.

Gender selection is not a new topic in virtual/online games research. I suspect for academics who were curious about “What we do” in games, they found this ability to preselect our gender a very interesting aspect of a virtual game/world/culture that prompted questions. Are we curious about exploring other bodies? Are there desires for other-genderedness that we can only really explore in a virtual environment? Does it let us safely explore what may be forbidden or impossible otherwise?

Now with all due respect to those esteemed researchers who do touch on realities among some gamers out there, my years of gaming, questioning, and observing points to other reasons that we (mostly guys) seem to prefer playing other genders. For Joe Average Gamer, it often comes down to the following issues:

2. Would I rather stare at a male or female ass the entire time?

3. Am I going to get more help if the other person I am interacting with actually allows himself to believe that because my avatar is female that maybe, just maybe, I’m a hot female (with a perfect bosom) in real life too?

4. Will seeing a hot female body beat the hell out of something keep me warm at night?

As I’m a researcher, I must ensure I ground my observations in supported data. Consider the following excerpts (I have changed the names to protect the innocent) relating to why we change genders:

*****

Gamer guy 1 whispers: I have played as a guy for 3 years so needed a change

*****

[speaking with male players]

Monava: So how many of you guys have changed genders on your toons?

Gamer guy 2: <<<<<

Monava: How come you did it? was there a reason?

Gamer guy 3: Erm my shaman used to have man bits

Gamer guy 2: I was sick of looking at a fat male arse

Monava: You snipped your boy-shaman?!

Gamer guy 2: Aye

Gamer guy 3: Yeah

Gamer guy 2: Cut his b*****ks off

Gamer guy 4: Done on my hunter but it was a mistake

Gamer guy 3: Female Draenei have nicer hooves

Gamer guy 5: I have a thing for hooves!

Monava: Gamer guy 4, you did it by accident?

Gamer guy 4: Yes I did

Monava: How did you do it by accident?

Gamer guy 3: This is what happens when you run round Azeroth nekkid

Gamer guy 4: I didn’t scroll down on the site enough was supposed to do a faction change

*****

Monava: How many male players here recently changed their toon genders to female?

Female gamer 1: [My husband] always plays a female..it worries me

Female gamer 1: I want to know why ??

Female gamer 2: [My character] is going female, its just not right playing a male char!

Female gamer 1: Ye its not

Female gamer 2: I cant do it either

Gamer guy 1: ‘Cos some people prefer to look at boobs

Gamer guy 1: Apparently

Female gamer 2: Haha

Female gamer 1: He can look at mine! lol

Gamer guy 2: My explanation of playing only female chars are simple I play that much I dont want to stare into a male char’s ass all the time

Gamer guy 3: That’s my reason as well

Gamer guy 2: That’s the reason i changed

Gamer guy 2: Rather stare at the behind of a female creature lol

Female gamer 3: I have to stare at an asexual tree the whole time…

And maybe that’s what it comes down to at the end–no one wants to stare at a tree all the time and, maybe, just maybe, men are flattering us women by preferring to look at one of our posteriors instead of one of their own.

Related posts:

1. Do These Trousers Make Me Look Phat?
2. Coming soon…! Emerald Dreamers Takes WoW on the Road!
3. Devil’s Advocate – Do I want WoW to stay as the dominant MMO?

Men’s Obsession With Clothes in WoW

Dear Men of WoW,

Yes, they are clothes. You are wearing them on your body. Ok, so they are made from chain mail or steel or leather, but they are clothes nonetheless. You even have rings on and a necklace. It’s a very pretty necklace despite the fact that it’s called the Jagged Neck Splicer of Doom. And that trinket looks like a sparkly little dangly brooch. Something Great Aunt Thelma willed to you.

I can’t say how many times I’ve found myself quietly laughing at the irony when a sudden, passionate gear discussion breaks out among gamers. And because approximately 80% of gamers are male, most of the time these discussions are among guys. And these discussions aren’t just about the merits of one item’s stats over another, they also get fussed over how good or bad they look in the item. Now tell me, ladies, how many times have you prayed that the man in your life would mysteriously lose that frayed and stained t-shirt? Well, can you believe how quickly men go through clothes in WoW?

And then we have the extremes. The guys who change their hair style all the time. And the gender change. Lately, my entire guild appears filled with female draenei. The guys just explain that their gear looks better on a woman.

I can honestly say that I have spent very little time worrying about how my toon looks. And while my research is observational in nature at this point, I’m quite sure most female gamers worry less about their toon’s clothes than their male counterparts.

So the next time you want to make fun of your girlfriends, sisters, or wives for worrying about how they look in their new pair of jeans, just remember that the last time you didn’t like how you looked in your gear you put your poor character through a painful and humiliating sex change operation.

Sincerely,

Monava
On behalf of the Women of WoW

Related posts:

1. Quirks of WoW #2: Boys Who Like Girls…
2. Our Survey Says: Fashion Sense
3. Our Survey Says: Peer Pressure