First of all, I haven't written lately due to the holidays, so sorry for that.But down to the matter at hand. WoW Whores. You've seen them around Goldshire; you know what I'm talking about! With guild tags that include the word "courtesan," "serve," "lustful," or "ladies of the evening." Their RSPs label them as streetwalkers, 'for sale,' or even come right out and say they are a prostitute. E-prostitute. Whatever.
/cough
While I don't really care for this unsavory side of Elwynn Forest, I go by the adage "live and let live." The whole ERP thing never really fazes me because most of my characters don't have romantic relationships. Either they had a love they lost in the past, aren't interested in general, or are dating some NPC. Though I know it can be fun, relationship RP is something that just doesn't usually appeal to me.
Anyway, I'm not going to get into the ethics of ERP, because as far as I'm concerned, do what you want! Just keep it private. Easy as pie. However, the other evening someone took it upon themselves to begin harassing me about being a cyber slut and 'probably being a man IRL.'
I was walking across one of the channels on my new alt. She had a dress on. It got me to wondering if all lower level Nelfs in a dress were lumped into the 'Goldshire Dancer' category. Unfortunately, this harassment wasn't over whispers. He was very vocal about his opinions of me. I was able to call him out privately and get him to apologize, but it doesn't change the fact that anyone standing in /yell distance that day got a bad impression of me. xD
This particular character is somewhat of a flirt, it's true. She's shifty and rogue-y. But does that constitute a streetwalker? It's somewhat of a hypocritical notion, really, considering that many nice guys I RP with are somewhat flirty themselves. I've never been offended by it because they know that my character is not interested, but that doesn't stop them from making offers to me (or to other females, actually).
It makes me wonder. The moment I develop an assertive, vocal, and charismatic character who isn't afraid to approach someone and ask them to buy her a drink (or approach someone and tell them to shut the hell up, for that matter), she is labled the same as that draenei death knight dancing naked on the table. It goes to follow, then, that if you want to be a 'respectable' RPer as a girl, you can't mention ANY sort of flirty quality whatsoever in your RSP.
So say a girl wants to have a good looking character. Good luck trying to describe this quality in the RSP. You will be forced to dance around the subject, implying things but never saying them out loud. Though I realize a strong female character should be more than a Barbie doll, is it wrong if some girl wants to portray their character as strong AND decent looking? Strong, beautiful women exist IRL, such as Beyonce over there. Or Princess Diana. Or Queen Hatshepsut. Oh! Here's a good one. Rani Laximbai.
In a fantasy world such as the World of Warcraft, smart, capable, and beautiful women shouldn't be that farfetched. I mean, look at the female heroines in the lore. Tyrande? Alexstrasza? Jaina? Sylvanas?
I'd like to see some idiot go up to Alexstrasza and accuse her of being a whore. Really, I would. I would also like to be there to watch as she catapults them off the top of Wyrmrest Tower.I'd like to wrap up this tirade by stating that it is not only SOME men who further this viewpoint. It is also some women. Rightfully, we don't want our characters to come off as ladies of a dubious nature. If we do, we're very upfront about it, as some of the RSPs in Goldshire evidence. However, we should come together and realize that hey! I'm playing a freaking night elf! I should be able to kill someone seventeen different ways and STILL look good while doing it, all without compromising my moral and ethical standing because some TWIT is too insecure about his/her own sexual nature to realize that no, just because my character winked at you does not mean she will e-sleep with you. Thanks.
Please forgive me, as I am going to present an opposite viewpoint on something you obviously have strong opinions about.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a woman in real life who is flirtatious, "shifty and rogue-y", there will be some who label you by that first impression.
If you make a female character in WoW who is flirtatious, "shifty and rogue-y", those people who would label you will also feel more free to express that opinion to you due to the anonymous nature of the game.
One does not automatically assume that there is depth of character behind the night elf who winks at you, especially if said night elf is low level (as per your example). Many roleplayers see low level as a sign that not much time/thought has been invested to the character's story, and that tends to point to the ones who simply made the character to be a sexual object.
In order to avoid a situation like the misunderstanding, /yelling person you encountered in your example, perhaps level your character and give her a rare dress, thus using your avatar to reflect the effort you no doubt gave your backstory.
None doubt that there are strong, beautiful women both in WoW and in real life. I am sorry you have run into people who make it difficult to roleplay as one such woman in the game and apologize for them.
P.S. I enjoyed that comment about Alextraza. :)
ReplyDeleteI do understand your viewpoint. However, it's a shame that a girl has to have a high level character to have some sort of credibility. This person had no cause to say the things he did, as my character was simply running from one district to another, minding her own business. But I digress. I do realize there are always going to be people out there who think they stand on higher ground, and will always feel it is their duty to push it in your face.
ReplyDeleteI was prepared for the stereotypical reactions I would get for playing a rogue... wolf in sheep's clothing sort of character. I was prepared for the inevitable propositioning that occurs on any RP server. Was not prepared to be publicly called out xD
Oh, I see. In that case he really was in the wrong. You're right, its one thing to criticize someone but making public accusations is something else altogether. >:O
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you had to go through that.
How much level matters is under very heated debate these days, so I should mention that what I said about it is purely from my own experiences. :P
(I hope the roleplaying community comes to a consensus soon in the mature way they have before, though! Perhaps some solution may be found to discern the PG-13 low-level roleplayers from the goldshire group. Until then, I wish you luck and I hope you don't have to deal with any more harassment of this sort.)
Hey there! Hope you don't mind a repeat visit.
ReplyDeleteI've played a lot of characters who will call out other characters for silly things before just because they're irrationally zealous when it comes to that sort of thing. Could this have been a case like that? But when it comes down to female role-players earning respect . . .
I know one such character on our home server (Sisters of Elune). Kaei. Kaei plays the big flirt, the player, the rebel without a cause, feral princess that men want to be with and women want to be. No one calls her a whore and lives to tell about it. Or at least, life isn't worth living afterwards.
I think that you just have to have the presence, because role-players can spot a shaky front very easily. To some the role comes easier than others; thus, it's up to you to come up with a plausible way of illustrating your character's tendencies in a way that other players don't feel is forced or fake. AND you need the confidence to back it up.
All in all, really hard role. Come hang out with Kaei for a night though! I promise you'll love it.
-Rishk
I respect your view on this, Gypsy, and I understand that your problem with the confrontation you had was more about a player griefing you than really about the issue. I also your respect your attitude of live and let live as long as players keep their erp private and out of the faces of other players.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to add that there is a strong sexual element built into the game. It's encouraged by the toon flirts, postures, dances, clothes and comments that npcs make all the time. What are the seductresses of warlocks if not sexy and more than implicitly S&M? Remember the "Night Mistresses" of Karazhan?
One says, "Five seconds! I'm not kidding! So I said, "Yeah, but that'll cost you extra." He asked if the imp could join in. Can you believe it? Actually, it wasn't half bad..."
And also in Karazhan, a "Concubine" says, "They fall asleep after. Me, I fall asleep during..."
The gamemakers are sexually suggestive with good reason, for we all know that sex sells. If players "play along," who is to blame them? Certainly not Blizz. It's a tad hypocritical to smirk with pleasure at the mistresses and concubines in Karazhan then condemn other players for joining in the fun.