Cephilia

I'm a woman who has been playing this game for over 10 years now, and I've been everything from casual to semi-hardcore raider ( iow competing on server firsts, but not regional/world top spots). I'm not sure if you're looking just for men's views, but I can tell you my experiences on the subject. One of the big things is that I am Finnish, and Finland happens to be one of the most equal countries out there. My serious raiding was nearly all with Finnish guilds, and there were rarely issues with gender. Actually, one of my Finnish raid teams was 50+% female, and we cleared all content on that expansion. I've also played in guilds where I am the only woman (at least an active one). Issues with gender have usually come up with less serious international guilds or with younger individual players. I have never hidden my gender in game, because I believe I have the same right to be myself as any guy. That said, I also don't flaunt the fact, and since I don't usually act like a stereotypical gamer girl (no bubbliness, being cutesy, over-using smileys, playing healers only or any such nonsense), people often don't realize I am a woman unless we're on vc or they directly ask me. I play the class or role I want or that is needed by the team, be it dps, tank or healer. * If you would create a healing character, would you rather pick a female instead of a male and why? Most of my characters are female, because the male avatars feel too bulky. I do have male characters of less bulky races, like trolls or UDs. Also a large factor are the animations; nelf males look terrible casting. The role of the character doesn't matter. * Does your behavior or way of talking change when you play a female character? Even if this is just a slight change. Not really a question aimed at me, but I do have a slight change in my behavior depending on the character; I'm more serious and less social on my raid characters than I am on alts that I level for professions slots or just derp around with. * Do you have a certain view on how women in-game behave differently compared to men? How? I have met a lot of stereotypical views on women in-game, and usually tell the holders of these beliefs to fuck off. I've noticed a common attitude that if a guy screws up or is obnoxious, it's because he is bad or an ass. If a woman screws up or is obnoxious, it's because women can't play and are attention whores. However, the more women people have played with, the less stereotypical their views seem to be. * When interacting with a female in game, does your behavior towards that player change in comparison to playing with another male player? Everyone thinks their attitude doesn't change, yet nearly everyone changes their attitude once they find out I'm a woman. In time, when they get to know me as a person instead of a woman, this change usually fades away. The change is usually not big (no, most guys don't go crazy when they hear a woman on Vent), they just tend to be a little bit more polite and cut out the harshest humor - or start showing off their worst as to test me. Usually this ends up with them being shocked by my jokes. I also admit I'm always a bit nervous when meeting new female guildies. How these women act has usually shaped the guild's view on female gamers, and is often a deciding factor if I'll have easy or hard time fitting in. Personally I tend to judge women more harshly in game than men, since their abilities and behavior also reflect on peoples attitudes towards other female players, including me. I can't tell how many times people have come to me with stories of utterly awful female players, and the either proceeded to tell me how all other females must be the same, or how I managed to break that expectation.