NotAddicted.com

Alihja · #1 12-23-2005, 04:55 PM

You finally figured out that it’s not an 8-year-old boy talking on your guild’s Teamspeak channel. Congratulations, a real live girl just joined your guild. Now, you could giggle like the female night elf that you’re playing, and tell her that she sounds like a young Macaulay Culkin, or you can welcome her. Go ahead and tell her she sounds like an eight year old. You know you want to.

Oh Nose! Girls have invaded! How could this have happened?
We come in peace. Sort of. We are women, and we’re here to game. Sure, we’re different from you. We're a little softer, we smell nice, and our voices are a bit higher pitched than yours. This article is to help relieve some of your anxiety, answer some commonly stated misconceptions, but above all, to give some of the geek boys out there some help in “coping” with us.

Myth or Truth? Their boyfriends must have forced them!
It’s a rumor that I see popping up in a lot of communities. There are people who think that we ladies were coerced into this lifestyle. They say things like, “They’re only playing because they have a boyfriend who plays.” This might have some truth, since I have seen girls take up gaming for this reason.

Then again, some of us have always been gamers, and not for any reason other than our own enjoyment.

Why aren’t there more women in gaming?
The majority of the advertising for online games, targets male consumers. With more women breaking into game development, I think we're going to see a change in how games are made, and marketed in the near future. Perhaps less of this.

Now I'd like to address some of the pet peeves that have been relayed to me, by women gamers. I don't want to turn this into a big ol' bitch session, so I'm going to narrow it down to the top two.

“RU a GRL, IRL?”
If you're a man, and you've asked this, I thought you should know that a lot of women get irritated and perhaps a little creeped out by this question. Once this question is asked, there will probably be a long pause, as she is deciding what to tell you. She's weighing in the pros and cons as to what your brain is going to do with that information.

Sylverwynd tells the group, ‘Me? A Girl? My name is Frank, and I have pizza stains down the front of my white T-shirt. Well, it used to be white, and it still is... in some places.’


	Dude, like, dude bro, that is just so like whoah... duude. Dude? Bro?

"Hey Dude" ... "Hey BRO"
This ranked up high on the "pet peeve" list too. I guess there's no easy way for those gents out there to cope. Some women just don't like being called "dude" or "Bro" Personally, I don't mind it, but I thought I'd pass the word along.

Lastly, a lot of the women that I talked to stated that they'd correct a player if they were addressed as a "Dude". Therefore, if you really want to know if your group mate is a girl, you can bypass the "RU a girl?" question, and just keep calling them "Dude" or "Bro", until she goes nuts and flips out on you.

To be fair and honest, I've got to admit that I play a male character in a number of MMORPGs, and will sometimes call people in my pickup groups, "Dude" and "Bro" and nobody is the wiser. I get "bro"d and "Dude"d right back, and have been corrected by other females about it as well.

Well, those are my thoughts on being a girl gamer. Thanks for reading.

Dude.

Eaglie · #2 12-24-2005, 11:17 AM

I did call a girl a "sir" once, from across the Durotar zone. Well, I've probably done it more... I played EQ long enough. But I called her "sir," and she corrected me. Seeing as how I was in "grief mode," I immediately asked "asl?" And continued to ask until she answered.

I was a little rude, but she appeared to be finding it funny. And she said she liked my pet when we ran into each other at Razor Hill. MAYBE WE CAN DATE?!

Just kidding. That's probably another one of those pet peeve questions.

Alihja · #3 12-26-2005, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eaglie

I did call a girl a "sir" once, from across the Durotar zone. Well, I've probably done it more... I played EQ long enough. But I called her "sir," and she corrected me. Seeing as how I was in "grief mode," I immediately asked "asl?" And continued to ask until she answered.

I was a little rude, but she appeared to be finding it funny. And she said she liked my pet when we ran into each other at Razor Hill. MAYBE WE CAN DATE?!

Just kidding. That's probably another one of those pet peeve questions.

<3 Eaglie.

I know a few guys who will call female characters "dude" in hopes that they'll be corrected. Probably more, after reading this.

When people call me dude, I make the decision of whether or not I want to correct them. If I think that they're not going to stalk me for the rest of my character's life, I'll correct them.

Most of the girls that I've talked to don't know that guys are doing this on purpose. That's probably a good thing for guys. I mean, all things considered, it's probably better that we think you're a dork, versus a creepy internet stalker.

... bro.

P.S. - I know I linked The Bard's Tale in my article. I've gotten some flack for that. The link is not to say that I don't like the game. I mean, it's a classic, and I love snarky "un-PC" humor, but I'm mostly referring to the advertisement and the fact that they could have added a female's version to the game. I mean, damn... I'd like to see equal pervertedness in my games, and to be given a choice to play a female in games like F.E.A.R. or Quake 4.

Rawr bert · #4 12-27-2005, 03:29 AM

I'll admit, I was one of those that gave "flack" for the addage of The Bard's Tale. Though, I'll also admit, I fell over one of the intarwebs biggest stumbling blocks... I didn't properly portray the kidding guesture in which I wrote my message to Ali-pooh-kins. I completly agree with your point, and being a guy who appreciates such things, I think it would only be a positive thing if we had equality in the sexes in gaming. And I mean more then just "Barbies Playhouse" sort of equality... which, sadly to say, is what most publishers see as the only viable market for the female side of things in gaming. However, there's been a (slow) upward trend- The fact that we have a news site with an authentic female as a writer, for instance, is a good shuffle of the nerdy feet in the right direction. It'll take more, much more, of course, but luckily this is a medium where I personally believe we can see an increase in equality quicker then, say, the construction or military landscapes. Hell, alot of quality role playing games, such as those designed by the old Black Isle developent team, have given females an equal perspective in thier games. But one company isn't going to make a difference.

Look, I know I'm this fucking close to singing kum-bay-yah, or whatever, but in all seriosness, I like boobies, but we can have a game with boobies and, you know....

Whatever it is chicks like.

And some of them like boobies!

So lets just settle with boobies and be happy.

kkthxla~

P.S. - I'm of the minority that call everyone "dude." Or "man." But I also come from the side of the coast full of dog-smoking hippies, and when is say I call "everyone" dude, I mean it. I call my "boyz" dude, I call females "dude." Hell, my girl friends call their girl friends "dude". Trust me, it's genetic. So all you females out there, when I call you dude, it's a sign of respect. Camaraderie. If you don't care for it, please inform me of such, but don't expect me to never say it again, because -it will slip out,- dude.

#5 01-09-2006, 07:26 PM

MMORPG = Many Meny Online Role Playing Girls

'nuff said!

#6 01-09-2006, 07:35 PM

MMORPG = Many Men Online Role Playing Girls

'nuff said!

Unregistard · #7 01-10-2006, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered Take 2

MMORPG = Mainly Menstual Online Role Playing Girls

:eek:

#8 01-20-2006, 11:27 AM

From another girl gamer, thanks for posting this.

Even though "bro" might actually be a sneaky way of finding out if I'm really a girl, I will most likely still correct them. heh Personally, I call people dude all the time, even if I know they are female IRL.

I did have a couple players in EQ tell me I was lying when I told them I was female a few years ago. That made me laugh.

Itdano · #9 01-20-2006, 07:02 PM

Whatever. We all know you're really a creepy, perverted dude trying to get some eDude eLubbinz from all the other players you come across.

#10 03-21-2006, 05:29 AM

Everyone in wow is a guy. If they say otherwise, they're guys pretending to be girls. The end.

Svanja · #11 03-21-2006, 06:47 PM

Alihja-- this is why its always fun to log into Teamspeak or Ventrilo. I'm still surprised by how many players in Planetside are shocked to hear a woman's voice and how happy ones in EQ2 are to hear a female. heh.
Of course they all ASSume my husband plays... grrrrrr.
Nice article!

LadyAyeka · #12 05-05-2006, 09:45 AM

That's one of the highlights of my online gaming is logging into Teamspeak/Ventrilo and hearing the reactions of the guys when they hear I am a girl *evil grin* They get real polite for some reason! :p :p :p

#13 05-20-2006, 01:30 PM

A friend of mine was like 'hey our guild is doing MC for the first time, can you come help?' only it was a lot more typo'd and not in such an orderly fashion.. I went on their vent and I heard a chick's voice.. I was sneaky about it, I minimized the screen to see who it was. I let the tells fly :O

#14 05-22-2006, 12:31 AM

my girlfriend plays WoW as do i. i know theres more of you out there than i thought. then some guy that plays on our server calls her cell phone.. how he got it who knows but

"hey this is _______ . Umm who? oh Yea ________ , you know from _______ server. Oh really im going out with my BOYFRIEND right now. <at this point im like who the fuck???> ok???! bye.

/ignores and blocks number.
there are some creepy guys out there ladies. be careful (myspace = bad)... but yeah the way guys react to her voice on vent is kinda funny. on the other hand most girls prefer you to treat them as fellow gamers umm i mean people, even if it means informing them there the noobest noob in all of nooberville (or that you should slay there whole inbred bloodline if your that type).

Unregistard · #15 05-22-2006, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

the noobest noob in all of nooberville

hehe u spelt boob rong lol

#16 05-28-2006, 09:43 PM

I'm a girl myself playing WoW, no bf forcing me either. What I've realized is that people refuse to believe you can actually look good if you're a gaming girl. One day I found a thread in my realm forum discussing whether I'm fat IRL or not, and friends kept telling me about discussions concerning my looks in their guild chats, etc, for weeks. After that I keep telling everyone that I'm hungry as soon as I get the opportunity. Keeps lots of slimeballs away

#17 05-30-2006, 07:58 AM

It pretty much comes down to naive young boys IMHO.
My fiance and I both play, and it cracks me up peoples reactions.
We'll be in a party with others and "hey baby, can you sap that mob on the right? and we'll nab this guy over here first" will slip out. The questions from the others in the party start flowing. I'm sure you can imagine the slew.
the ones that don't react I've found to be older (25+) players.

#18 06-11-2006, 03:31 PM

Good article. I myself am a female gamer and I can assure you that my boyfriend did not make me play EQ or WoW. Actually, I kind of forced him into it and now hes almost as addicted as I am.

Personally my biggest pet peeve is men playing women characters. This is probably due to the fact that so many men do this that others assume i'm a guy too. And it really does drive me crazy when everyone calls me "dude" "bro" "man" and the like.

I also think it is funny when people hear from friends that I am a girl and I start getting /tells saying that i'm a liar and i'm probably some 45 year old guy or something.

It is always pretty annoying when I group with new people and I'm in Vent or Teamspeak and the guys start freaking out because "OMG its a real GIRL." Then I start getting /tells saying "asl" and "wow you sound hot!" Come on guys, I didn't get on Vent to flirt with you I got on so we can group/raid so leave me alone and lets get this over with.

#19 06-13-2006, 02:34 AM

in my semi hardcore guild, we have exactly 2 females out of 100 guildmembers

apart from them I know only 1 other player of which i am 100% sure she is a female.

as an experiment I made a female gnome called Doll, created a very feminine guild, with cute guild tabbard and the right outfits. .(fancy black dress and the like) I chat a lot in AH area , acting female without going over the top.

I convince male players that I am a female very easily. I can see it by all kinds of details. for example a whole bunch of them monitor my coming and going very closely. I always get a nice 'Hi how are you,' 10 seconds after I log on. They compliment me on my playing in instances.. or on my new gear.

My 'male' male characters never get this....

At lvl 5 it's already noticable...... I got 5g for free and 4 12 slot bags. At lvl 45 I get free fiery enchants.....

I have been invited to Scotland, to Greece and to Rome to spend time with some guy, after mentioning I would like to go there for holidays.......

Alihja · #20 06-13-2006, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

in my semi hardcore guild, we have exactly 2 females out of 100 guildmembers

apart from them I know only 1 other player of which i am 100% sure she is a female.

as an experiment I made a female gnome called Doll, created a very feminine guild, with cute guild tabbard and the right outfits. .(fancy black dress and the like) I chat a lot in AH area , acting female without going over the top.

I convince male players that I am a female very easily. I can see it by all kinds of details. for example a whole bunch of them monitor my coming and going very closely. I always get a nice 'Hi how are you,' 10 seconds after I log on. They compliment me on my playing in instances.. or on my new gear.

My 'male' male characters never get this....

At lvl 5 it's already noticable...... I got 5g for free and 4 12 slot bags. At lvl 45 I get free fiery enchants.....

I have been invited to Scotland, to Greece and to Rome to spend time with some guy, after mentioning I would like to go there for holidays.......

That is fascinating. I think you're a more convincing woman than I am. Free fiery enchants? Whoah... I don't think any of my weapons are enchanted.

*ahem*

"Hi gusy! I'm a girl!"

/giggle

/hairtwirl

#21 06-19-2006, 02:14 PM

UR a GRL IRL?

Can I see UR bewbs?

Jynxe · #22 06-19-2006, 02:27 PM

I never ask. Ever.
and besides, if you party with them long enough, you can usually figure it out if you've got half a head on your shoulders.

Things that supprise me when I hop on vent? People accents, but not their gender.

Catriona · #23 08-08-2006, 06:48 PM

I only really correct people who call me 'bro'... it just feels wierd to me. I have no real objection to 'dude', I mean, i'm from CA, I call everyone dude too.

Catriona · #24 08-08-2006, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itdano

Whatever. We all know you're really a creepy, perverted dude trying to get some eDude eLubbinz from all the other players you come across.

You know, I had a player tell me that the frst night the Frostmane server opened. My reply was that he wouldn't know a RL girl if one walked up and kicked him in the balls (in Teldrassil general chat too. that was a fun night)

#25 08-09-2006, 06:12 AM

Id guess you were a RL girl considering youve made every attempt to be the center of attention and let everyone else know you are a girl. Most gamer girls act like that.

Catriona · #26 08-09-2006, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Id guess you were a RL girl considering youve made every attempt to be the center of attention and let everyone else know you are a girl. Most gamer girls act like that.

I'm sorry, but 2 posts is not 'every attempt to be the center of attention'. I just happened to forget to say something in the first one. Go take a happy-pill or something, its people like you that make gaming less fun for the rest of us.

Alihja · #27 08-09-2006, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Id guess you were a RL girl considering youve made every attempt to be the center of attention and let everyone else know you are a girl. Most gamer girls act like that.

Easy there... take some deep breaths, and apostrophes.

#28 08-10-2006, 06:34 AM

....They should be the center of attention, I mean c'mon they have boobies!

#29 08-10-2006, 11:49 PM

Myself a female gamer, I appreciate your post in some way... And I realise I am not the only one having problems with some guys on wow sometimes...

Things like

-Hey babe, wanna cyber?!

I got those often

And since I dont have a mic so I can,t speak on ventrilo, I got the irritable remark of : I am sure you are a guy pretending being a girl... I never got items or money because I was a girl, I dont see why some people are pretending being one. I personally find being a girl on wow is an annoyance... I should start pretending being a guy! Holy shit, I am tired to get on and get 2334345 whispers asking me how I am today, what I did today... It's worst than the new looking for group channel!

Catriona · #30 08-11-2006, 01:12 AM

Yea, my biggest peeve is when I'm playing with like, a couple friends, and we're in a group trying to get more people, and one of them says something along the lines of 'hey Cat, tell your boyfriend to get his lazy a$$ on and play, we need a druid'... then I get tells about how i'm a homo and need to kill myself IRL... I cant believe a) how intolerant some people are (gay people are cool too) and b) how hard it is for people to understand that girls play to, and that (oh noez!) a girl just HAPPENS to be playing with them.

And yes, the tells once they realize that RL girls do exist are extremely annoying. I actually got a letter in in-game mail from some guy who wanted to 'meet me in the graveyard at midnight for some cyber'. zomg, some people have no shame.

#31 08-11-2006, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catriona

Yea, my biggest peeve is when I'm playing with like, a couple friends, and we're in a group trying to get more people, and one of them says something along the lines of 'hey Cat, tell your boyfriend to get his lazy a$$ on and play, we need a druid'... then I get tells about how i'm a homo and need to kill myself IRL... I cant believe a) how intolerant some people are (gay people are cool too) and b) how hard it is for people to understand that girls play to, and that (oh noez!) a girl just HAPPENS to be playing with them.

And yes, the tells once they realize that RL girls do exist are extremely annoying. I actually got a letter in in-game mail from some guy who wanted to 'meet me in the graveyard at midnight for some cyber'. zomg, some people have no shame.

Yeah it got so cold that night and you never showed. Thanks for showing me your true colors *sob*

Catriona · #32 08-11-2006, 05:55 PM

#33 08-21-2006, 02:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Myself a female gamer, I appreciate your post in some way... And I realise I am not the only one having problems with some guys on wow sometimes...

Things like

-Hey babe, wanna cyber?!

I got those often

And since I dont have a mic so I can,t speak on ventrilo, I got the irritable remark of : I am sure you are a guy pretending being a girl... I never got items or money because I was a girl, I dont see why some people are pretending being one. I personally find being a girl on wow is an annoyance... I should start pretending being a guy! Holy shit, I am tired to get on and get 2334345 whispers asking me how I am today, what I did today... It's worst than the new looking for group channel!

ive had a girl /w me and say "hey this might sound weird but i need some attention" starting dirty talking

Catriona · #34 08-21-2006, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Myself a female gamer, I appreciate your post in some way... And I realise I am not the only one having problems with some guys on wow sometimes...

Things like

-Hey babe, wanna cyber?!

I got those often

And since I dont have a mic so I can,t speak on ventrilo, I got the irritable remark of : I am sure you are a guy pretending being a girl... I never got items or money because I was a girl, I dont see why some people are pretending being one. I personally find being a girl on wow is an annoyance... I should start pretending being a guy! Holy shit, I am tired to get on and get 2334345 whispers asking me how I am today, what I did today... It's worst than the new looking for group channel!

Lol, I have a friend in-game who does that, it's actually pretty funny. Has her whole guild convinced that she's a man - and a highly unattractive one too.

koleypunch · #35 08-24-2006, 10:54 AM

There are rumours that one of the girls in my WoW guild is really a boy because "he" makes sex jokes and hasn't posted a picture.

Being a girl myself, I TOTALLY get it, cos we can't ever make sex jokes, it's unbecoming!!

Atredune · #36 08-25-2006, 11:46 PM

I just had lunch with a girl who plays WoW. She's a stripper and very open about it both in-game and out. Women don't have to necessarily have the moral qualms about sexuality that you just expressed.

koleypunch · #37 08-29-2006, 11:27 AM

I wasn't expressing them, I was retelling an experience. also, hell of sarcasm.

Catriona · #38 09-07-2006, 06:42 PM

Screw "unbecoming"... screw it in the ass - sideways...

Seriously though, I think I enjoy a good sex joke as well as all the guys do - as long as it is a funny one, and not one of the ones that use their gross-ness to make people laugh, cuz those ones are just pathetic.

#39 09-22-2006, 09:34 AM

I'm one of those ppl who use the word Dude alot, but i never really thought of it as a masculine word, just like saying hello mate or wot not.

tho on a recent expedition to lazaroti i learnt that the word for a camels penis is dude.

Is this knowledge all women are born with ?

bewbs lol

Catriona · #40 09-23-2006, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm one of those ppl who use the word Dude alot, but i never really thought of it as a masculine word, just like saying hello mate or wot not.

tho on a recent expedition to lazaroti i learnt that the word for a camels penis is dude.

Is this knowledge all women are born with ?

bewbs lol

I heard that a dude was an infected hair on a monkey's butt - but that was way back in like, 5th grade, so I have no idea how accurate that is. (googling 'dude', be back with the definition)

~~EDIT~~
Found these:
- "Dude" on Wikipedia
- "Dude" on Google
- "Dude" on Answers.com

Nothing about hairy monkey butts or camel penises, but so far, looks like the word originally meant a stupid guy...