Confessions of a Female WoW Player

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I’m addicted to World of Warcraft.

Like so many other women out there, the allure of anonymous social interaction coupled with smashing small fish like creatures on the head won me over to the dark side of MMORPGs. However, unlike many other women, I was fragging with the best of them long before discovering the joys of 40 man raiding.

So why is it that the genre of MMORPGs (in which WoW is the unrivaled juggernaut) attract so many women who traditionally shun video games?

1. Age

Traditionally, video games have been the realm of children and teenagers. When we were young we drove our parents nuts by playing hours of Diablo, hunched over a computer screen until the wee hours of the morning trying not to type so loudly so they wouldn’t wake up and yell at you for not being in bed. Although this facet of gaming hasn’t changed—as illustrated by the plethora of 13 year old night elf hunters screaming LOL NOOB I PWN U [lol cat?] in Warsong Gulch—we children of the 70s and 80s have grown up and kept our love of video games alive and well. And our love of pwning annoying 13 year olds. Girls who were too timid to play video games with the boys are now women who are willing and excited to try the myriad of games available to us. Plus, now we can afford them.

2. Relationships

Oh, the things we do for our men. I’ve lost count the number of women I’ve met online who started playing WoW in order to spend more time with their boyfriends/husbands/lumps-of-useless. “He does nothing but play on the computer… so I play with him!” is a great way to salvage a relationship circling the drain of gaming addiction—so long as you don’t mind becoming addicted yourself. The possible downside is that you’ll then have to soothe his masculinity when you beat him in a duel 15 times in a row. You’re just a better rogue than he is, and he should understand that, right?

3. Environment

Girls like pretty things. There’s a reason why our motto is “Diamonds are a girls’ best friend”. They are shiny AND pretty! Despite WoW having orcs, demons, and slimes, it also has pointy eared babes, pet bunny rabbits and alluring environment details. I’ll be honest here: I play Horde. My first character was a Tauren and I can’t bring myself to play an elf. But I certainly understand the appeal of wanting to play a beautiful character. With the recent patch addition of being able to change your hair style and over 50 cute non-combat pets, how can you say no to all that variety?

4. Social

People gravitate towards people, which is the cause of great joy and strife. Despite the abundance of jerks and predatory asshats online, MMORPGs allow us to interact in a social environment from the comfort of our own homes. Thjs certainly has an extra appealing quality for stay at home moms whose link to the outside world comes in brief bursts, interspersed with diapers, baby talk, and mess. Your home may look like an infantile warzone, but at least your bank alt is organized. Add on the fact that your bank alt, main character, or myriad of alternate avatars can not only look however you want and be whoever you want, but the addition of RP servers mean that YOU can also be whoever you want. Regardless of the fact that the real you hasn’t showered in 2 days and is still in her PJs.

5. Accessibility

In our everyday, mediocre lives, we are limited by so many things. Our bodies, or minds, or wallets all conspire to keep the grown woman down. In the exciting world of MMOs, however, we are not limited by such meager things as having no money—a quick trip down to the old farmin’ spot, a days worth of Auction Housing, and voila! Or if haggling with an imaginary banker is not your cup of tea, grab a few friends or a few strangers and go bonk some baddies on the head with your weapon of choice…or keep said friends and strangers alive through magic green swirly healing…stuff.

The edge that MMORPGs have over other online games such as FPS (First Person Shooters) or Strategy games is the variety it provides to make it accessible to all types of gamers. If you’re the hardcore gotta-be-on-top type, join a raiding guild and be the first on your server to drop whichever baddy Blizzard drops in the upcoming patches/expansions. Or if spending your evening having 39 other people call you a nub doesn’t appeal to you, go forth and be “along together”; quest alone while being inches away from contact with thousands of other people. The competitive and fast paced nature of other games is daunting for the initiate gamer, especially if she’s got boobs, which do tend to attract a lot of attention in such testosterone laden environments. WoW and it’s brethren provide anonymity, and the chance to learn at your own pace.

So yes, I’m a girl and I’m a World of Warcraft addict. But seriously, can you blame me?

Tagged with: GAMES • Massive Multiplayer Online • Massively multiplayer online game • Massively multiplayer online role-playing game • Roleplaying • Video game • World of Warcraft • WoW

Filed under: COOL