AP-Gender Bending Popular in Video Gaming

[Raargant]

Gender-bending popular in video games

By MATT SLAGLE, AP Technology Writer Fri Aug 11, 12:32 PM ET

By day, Freeman Williams manages a small dental practice in suburban Houston. But on any given night, he's prowling crime-ridden streets and battling ne'er-do-wells in the video game "City of Heroes" as his virtual alter-ego: a female superhero named Robotrixie.

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"I get in character voice-wise as much as my male voice will allow," explains Williams, 48, who talks with other players through the game's voice chat feature. "This has become my catharsis, my escape from the work world."

While the idea of gender-bending is hardly new, the vast online worlds in video games such as "City of Heroes" and "World of Warcraft" have become the latest ways for people to forget about their real life and transform into someone — or even something — else.

These are role-playing games after all.

For many, half the fun can be in the initial character creation process, where you decide the basic look and functions of your digital persona.

Among the crucial questions that need to be addressed: Do I want to heal or dish out damage? Do I prefer green-skinned orcs or pointy-eared elves? And of course, do I want to be male or female?

For a variety of reasons, Williams isn't the only guy with a preference for female characters, according to Kathryn Wright, a psychologist in Raleigh, N.C., who consults for the Web site WomenGamers.com.

In an informal survey she conducted with 64 males, more than half said choosing a female character gave them a distinct gameplay advantage. And while a quarter said they played women characters because it added to the role-playing experience, Wright said others had a simpler explanation: visual stimulation.

"They'd rather look at a character that looks like Lara Croft than a character that looks like Rambo," she said.

But the ensuing gender-bending can result in some unpredictable online behavior.

Williams admits his female choice has caused a bit of confusion among online fantasy pals — some of whom have developed into real-world acquaintances.

"One of the people that I met online who is a mom in Indiana was really intrigued by the fact that I was actually a guy and at the time I was playing a female character," he said. "I had to break the news to her that I'm actually a big hairy guy."

Erica Poole, a 31-year-old legal secretary in Austin, says she's picked up a few ways to spot a male disguised as a female in online games.

"The fact that they are scantily clad is a huge clue," she said. "And often the bigger the breasts, the more likely it's a guy."

Then there are the conversational cues picked up as players type messages to and fro.

"You can ask leading questions that get them to give it away," Poole said. "Also, most guys don't use a lot of emotions, even when they're trying to be a girl, so this can tip off a 'real' girl."

About 38 percent of gaming consumers in the United States are female, according to the Entertainment Software Association. In an industry where few video games beyond "Tomb Raider" let you be the heroine, never-ending online games give players the power to craft lead characters as they see fit.

That's one of the reasons Poole said she prefers sticking with her gender.

"It's not something I necessarily decided on a conscious level," she said. "One issue is that I don't have the opportunity to play a strong female character in other games. It's a nice change."

For gal gamers, it's all about options and the ability to customize, says Mia Consalvo, an associate professor of telecommunications at Ohio University. Guys, meanwhile, often have more obvious explanations for their digital likenesses, or avatars.

"For the majority of women who play online games, at the very least they want the choice of being able to play female avatars," she said. "The guys want to look at an attractive character, and some of them swear that they get free stuff. Some players just like to experiment with all the different permutations and options in the game."

For some, however, it's more important to stay true to reality.

Mike Janney of Seattle, a software tester for Microsoft Corp., said he always plays a male character: doing otherwise would be disingenuous, he believes.

"I don't tend to role play so much as I tend to just be myself when I'm talking to other players, so I kind of feel like portraying somebody I'm not is not really a good thing," he said. "It's jarring enough to me when I see a male player in a female costume."

Forty-year-old gamer Laurie Stier of Somerset, N.J., says role playing and gender-bending is nothing new — actors and authors have been doing it for centuries, and video games are just the latest way to play a role.

"I mean, how many times has Peter Pan been played as a woman?" she asked. "With role-playing, we are both the writer and the action."

[Raargant]

How long have we mudders known about this? 'News' indeed!

[Cycel]

It worked in the early days of Runescape, it worked in the early days of FL, and it'll work in the early days of MMOs.

The ladies get free stuff. And with most games you can trasnfer this stuff over to another file that isn't so emasculating. And once the beatdown for transfering comes around, it evens out a bit.

[Iusedtobesomebody]

i cannot count the times, while playing a female character, i have been given free stuff solely on the basis of my gender. while the old "damsel-in-distress" motto comes into play for goods, i can only guess at the intensions of the *cough* less-than-reputable evils.

especially when bigger breasts is concerned.

heh.

[Magick]

I'll agree. My female char's have been treated nicer than the vast majority of my male characters. Even while playing hated classes. Go figure.

[the Dude]

If you thought you got treated nicely on a MUD as a female, just try it in a graphical game. It's kinda pathetic

[Ahvandahla]

.....On games like EQ and WoW I always figured that who ever the programers were that did the females were 15 year olds who had just hit puberty and had a copy of JUGS magazine. I still have nightmares from seeing female Ogres and trolls on EQ. BBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.....creepy..:eek:

[Warpnow]

Amazin' Creepy.

[Deykari]

A lot of you seemed to think I was female because of my forum username, apparently.

But I never got any PMs asking for h0t luv or anything.

I feel so left out.

Dey

[Celerity]

yeah, apparently you all seem to think that I'm a girl(or guy??) based on my pics and stuff....

oh..that would make sense..but:

it will forever be a mystery! ha..haaha! now back to our daily lives..

[Lethereal]

Free stuff for chicks in game? You should see the treatment and perks we get out of game. It's so funny - Crypt and I will go to the same place at different times and they will be a jerk to him, but I get all this special treatment. I come home and tell him how nice they were and he's like, "Yeah...wonder why you got special treatment..."

Heh - it's nice to be a chick is all I'm saying.

[Merriwren]

Then again sometimes it's not... this happened to me just this morning as I was walking.

*Honk!*

Me: Oookay. (I cross the street)

Van that honked stops pulls over to the side I'm on and backs up towards me

Creepy old man in van: How far are you going?

Me: Not far enough.

Van man: Can I give you my phone number?

Me: No.

Van man (now driving along side me..freaking creepy): Aww come on, it may be the best thing you've done this morning.

Me: I don't think so, I have a boyfriend.

Van man: That doesn't matter, what if you need it just in case?

Me: LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

Van man:...*Honk*

With the good treatment comes the bad treatment too... but I'd still rather be a girl.

[inscribed]

Then again sometimes it's not... this happened to me just this morning as I was walking.

*Honk!*

Me: Oookay. (I cross the street)

Van that honked stops pulls over to the side I'm on and backs up towards me

Creepy old man in van: How far are you going?

Me: Not far enough.

Van man: Can I give you my phone number?

Me: No.

Van man (now driving along side me..freaking creepy): Aww come on, it may be the best thing you've done this morning.

Me: I don't think so, I have a boyfriend.

Van man: That doesn't matter, what if you need it just in case?

Me: LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

Van man:...*Honk*

With the good treatment comes the bad treatment too... but I'd still rather be a girl.

Hey, I was just trying to be a nice guy.

[MeleeCrazy]

Hey' date=' I was just trying to be a nice guy.[/quote']

Good timing

I've seen it happen, but it goes both ways. Play a handsome charismatic man elf...all the fem characters treat you like they would get treated in reverse circumstances.

[mya]

I would like to say that a charismatic "elf" "male" being treated like that is probably, males disguiced as females trying to seduce you to the dark side.

Translation: Homosexual man posses as females to atract closet male.

And im not refering to you.