General: MMO Bans Males Playing Female Avatars

Szark

Destructoid is reporting that a Chinese MMORPG titled King of the World now requires players of female avatars to prove that they are indeed female in real life, as they will ban any male players caught using avatars not of their own gender.

Obviously not as sensitive to the needs of transgendered gamers as we in the west, it would seem that Chinese game companies take a dim view of males who want to be females -- in computer games, at least. Chinese MMORPG King of the World won't accept male players masquerading as female characters and is putting a stop to such shenanigans.

Aurora Technology, a subsidiary of Shanda and developer of the game, is freezing the accounts of male gamers with female avatars, and anybody who chooses to play as a female in the game will have to prove they are of permitted gender via webcam.  While nonsensical to us, you have to remember that China does love its reckless regulations, so this could almost seem normal coming from the land where skeletons are outlawed in World of Warcraft. Of course, the rules could just be a scam to get webcam shots of gamer girls for the developers.

Read more here.

Gameloading

You could have posted this 4 days ago if you checked the forum every once in a while.

mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/149168

syllvenwood

And in a week or so we will hear about these players being asked to send more and more risque pics to continue to prove they are still the same female players and before ya know it this company is raking in the dollars from the mmo AND porn market

zagreos

I hear this game is very graphic. I hate it when males play female characters to get better treatment and items. some people play female characters because they like the look, but still the majority play because they try to trick other guys. I think its funny how turned on to some guys get to a female character played by another.

Death1942

prove that you are female via webcam?   i dont think many people would even bother.

cerebrix

bunch of freakin communists

Astralglide

What if your a really mannish-looking chick? Scottish or Russian or something.....

dalevi1

Oi! I have seen some hot Russian women. God bless international students! Scottish, er dunno. Too much British breeding maybe...

I am a complete believer in the "if I have to stare at an ass all day, it will be female's" argument. If you are a male giving up creds or precious items to an avatar just because they have that ass (possibly male) then knock it off. It's a game, usually not a matchmaking service.

redcap036

What happens if your not ether?

Why did they ban skeletons and what did they do to get baned?

Faelan

h, crp - hi hd e luhing o hrd, i lo an enire cup of coffee ll over the keybord. cn nyone recoend new keybord?

LouiseK

Obviously one too many of them have fallen in love and cybered with a man playing a women I think that is their issue anyway, not a man being a women as such, but them feeling vulnerable to be decieved.

I don't really quite understand why a guy would want to play a female avatar, the thought of me being a male avatar just doesn't appeal to me. How can a guy feel comfortable with other guys thinking the avatar that represent him is sexy?

There is only three reasons that spring to mind: they are homosexual, they are transexual or the avatar is the only female they have in their life.

That said my fella always plays a female avatar in mmos, his reason being that if he's going to be spending all his time staring at an avatar he'd rather it'd be female then him having to stare at a hairy man

 

Rajai

I guess maybe the female avatars look cooler? idk lol

Most guys i know that have female avatars are vocal about the fact that they are guys :] That way they don't start any confusion.

Flummoxed

 

Originally posted by cerebrix


bunch of freakin communists

since it's a Corporation doing this it should be "Bunch of Freakin Capitalists"

and what about girls playing as guys huh?  huh?  what about THAT!  DISCRIMINATION!  

thark

The Gender you are playing in a ROLEPLAYING game has NOTHING to do with your GENDER in REAL LIFE...

If someone thinks that everyone playing males and/or females is the respective gender, they are just so incredibly stupid..

An example, Lets say I would want to play an OGRE(I'm not an OGRE..)and since im a MAN i would have to pick another race, HUMAN and after that i would have to choose MALE..

It's a ROLEPLAYING GAME...Simple as that..

/thark

Uproar

It's their game.  It's their choice... although I do wonder if they have fully thought out whether their values would require them to check that male toons are really male.  But that's for them to figure out.

Strangely this practice makes a certain sense, but does seem excessive regardless.  Why not just filter the chat??

tiduskeegan

Sounds more like an Iranian mmorpg.

Nullapax

Why do they ban Skeletons in WoW ?

I'm totally at a loss to see why

Kravos

Originally posted by Astralglide


What if your a really mannish-looking chick? Scottish or Russian or something.....

LMAO!! 

Kravos

Originally posted by LouiseK


Obviously one too many of them have fallen in love and cybered with a man playing a women I think that is their issue anyway, not a man being a women as such, but them feeling vulnerable to be decieved.
I don't really quite understand why a guy would want to play a female avatar, the thought of me being a male avatar just doesn't appeal to me. How can a guy feel comfortable with other guys thinking the avatar that represent him is sexy?
There is only three reasons that spring to mind: they are homosexual, they are transexual or the avatar is the only female they have in their life.
That said my fella always plays a female avatar in mmos, his reason being that if he's going to be spending all his time staring at an avatar he'd rather it'd be female then him having to stare at a hairy man
 

So your BF is either a closet Homosexual, a Transsexual or he finds the female avatar more appealing than the rl female in his life i.e. you? 

Seriously tho, playing a female char will always get you far more help and will be far more tolorated than a male char. It's human nature, so guys playing a female char is probably more to do with tactics(?) rather than sexual/ sexuality (although I do know one gay guy who has a female char and cybers with unsuspecting males)

 

Sovren1

---

Originally posted by Kravos
Originally posted by LouiseK Obviously one too many of them have fallen in love and cybered with a man playing a women I think that is their issue anyway, not a man being a women as such, but them feeling vulnerable to be decieved.
I don't really quite understand why a guy would want to play a female avatar, the thought of me being a male avatar just doesn't appeal to me. How can a guy feel comfortable with other guys thinking the avatar that represent him is sexy?
There is only three reasons that spring to mind: they are homosexual, they are transexual or the avatar is the only female they have in their life.
That said my fella always plays a female avatar in mmos, his reason being that if he's going to be spending all his time staring at an avatar he'd rather it'd be female then him having to stare at a hairy man

So your BF is either a closet Homosexual, a Transsexual or he finds the female avatar more appealing than the rl female in his life i.e. you?
Seriously tho, playing a female char will always get you far more help and will be far more tolorated than a male char. It's human nature, so guys playing a female char is probably more to do with tactics(?) rather than sexual/ sexuality (although I do know one gay guy who has a female char and cybers with unsuspecting males)

---

I'm not disagreeing, but it's probably the exception, not the rule. I have played female characters in many MMO's, action games and platformers...ie: Lara Croft, Princess in Super Mario 2. I think these are just video games.

My personal thoughts are that I don't personally see any gender in the player until they actually confirm it, then and only then do I start interacting with them as though they were a particular. Like for instance I may watch my comments a bit more when interacting with a female.

I haven't seen female avatars getting a lot of special attention when it comes to generosity nor I have I gotten any special treatment when playing one. I do however understand that this type of behavior in game may be initiated by the faker . Can't actually recall even ever being asked if I were male or female when playing a girlie avatar.

I'm not homosexual, not a trannie, and my wife is the best thing to ever happen to me. I not socially defunct, but have been a gamer since birth. MMO's are just a version of mind-state where I treat everyone the same basically until I find fault...and for me is played in terms of having fun.

Just another stereo type attached I believe...trying to explain to those who never play both genders why some do so. Keep telling yourself these in my eyes: Myths (for the most part, reality for the other part as I know it's possible, I just don't recall seeing it too much at all)

Akakori

I only ever play female characters. I'm one of those with the line "I'd rather looked at something nice for hours on end." Certainly if the game is highly graphical, the last thing I wanna do is dress up a man in armour. It's just a bloody preference. It's our game, we bought it for our own reasons, and we're gonna play it as we wish.

Now, I've never gained any preferential treatment because of my female character. I've never acted female, and I never lie to guilds about my gender. And if I have received assistance from strangers, I've never noticed as because of my av, possibly acts that I'd consider any decent MMO player should do to help another (like saving a low-level from that elite they've just accidentally pulled). However, if guys do specifically created female avs just to garner the attention and assistance of others, well that's just pitiful. But, if this really is the reason the company decided to ban males playing females, then I don't see orthers who just wanna play with a nice av on their screen should suffer.

I think it's rather a semi-fascist mindset of the developers. Gender-bending? In My Game? Never!

 

P.S. It's not all one-way round either. In my old WoW guild we had a girl who played a male human paladin. Dunno why? Just her preference. No one had a problem with my female human mage either.

P.P.S: Sexually repressed, maybe, closet transsexual, less likely, but gay? I think some of you guys need to look up the definition of gay. I'd consider staring at an armor-clad male's ass for a few hours gayer than staring at the less-armor-clad ass of a female.

Bama1267

gamer girl : "Ok here I am are you satisfied?

Dev: "Hmmm, Im not convinced ...off with your shirt and pants ....then bend over and touch your toes so I can make sure not tucking it between your legs....."

Orthelian

I would actually be fine with this if it applied to characters of both sexes. It would still be obnoxious, but at least it wouldn't come across as so incredibly insane.

Vortigon

Originally posted by Astralglide


What if your a really mannish-looking chick? Scottish or Russian or something.....

Replace Scottish with american or english......as Scottish women are the sexiest girls you''ll ever see.....and come to think of it so are russian girls....you really need to get out more.

Sovren1

As far as a company telling them what sex to be, well...good luck on getting subscribers.

I think there is a point where gamers, especially the MMO community (who imho aren't your everyday casual gaming type, I would guess some are...but if my circle of friends who play are any indication of what the community may be like...are indeed hardcore gamers) will scrutinize the politics surrounding a game and will take a step away from said game possibly not playing altogether.

If a game has the mechanics of choice, but doesn't allow you to make that choice definitely would not be a great selling point to the MMO world which is mostly about character customization.

A move like this will certainly hinder the numbers of your player base. Majority of games I have played don't even have you prove who you are between player account and the credit card paying for said account. IE: How many kids are paying for subs with their parents credit cards. If their methods for determining what gender you are, are things like a webcam...a photo id and such....someone already said it: "WHY F******* BOTHER"

Sovren1

---

Originally posted by Zerocyde
Originally posted by Akakori "I'd rather looked at something nice for hours on end."

Then paste a picture of a woman to the side of your monitor. Your avatar is the virtual extension of YOU for that gameworld. Playing as a female toon is saying; "Hi, I would like to be a female." I just dont understand, unless your gay or tranny or something, why would you want to be a female if your not?
Anyway, wish more mmo's would do this. E-transvestites need to be put to an end.

---

Dude, grow up. And that is only your interpretation that your avatar is an extension of the person playing....on some lvls that's of course, on other lvls....well, since when are you ever going to be an orc, elf, robot, spaceship, etc etc outside of a game or in make believe. So the same should be applied to genders in game. I mean really...who cares anyways. Players are players, if you are worried about if you are being duped, stop trying to pick up chicks in a video game.