Breakfast Topic: Are you a WoW cross-dresser?
by Olivia Grace 
Jan 7th 2012 at 8:00AM
However, I know a lot -- and I mean a lot -- of men who have female characters. In fact, I'd possibly even say that I don't know any male WoW players who don't have at least one female character! I know one man who has a female main, even. Now, whether this says more about my friends than the reality of the average WoW player, I'm not sure!
But why? I personally wouldn't want to roll a male character. I'm a bit of a girly-girl, appearance-wise, and I like being feminine. I don't want to feel masculine in game any more than I do in reality. I also secretly think that other players may have been kinder to me in the past thanks to my in-game femininity, and male friends have reported the same when they've rolled female characters. WoW's female characters are generally more elegant in movement and animation than male ones, so maybe that's part of why men play them too.
So, how about you? Do you stay true to your real gender in game? And why?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
Swifteye Jan 7th 2012 8:06AM
I'm female and the majority of my toons are female, but any blood elves and trolls I make are male.
Belves because there are waaaaaay too many females running around and, I'll admit it, because the males are pretty cute and have sexy voices (Cam Clarke... *wistful sigh*). Trolls... well... for no other reason than I can't *stand* the stilted way the female trolls run. And the fact that they only have one non-hideous face and 98% of the people who play female trolls use it.
Doesn't bother me at all, really... I mean, how many console games have we had over the years where you HAD to play a male protagonist? So it's not like "gender-bending" in games is anything new for female gamers.
Chucks Jan 7th 2012 8:44AM
Yes about that boring female troll face! I purposefully picked the fugliest face when I rolled a girl troll shaman because I was sick of seeing the "normal" one. Plus, male trolls have that testing-the-dirt idling animation that is one of my favorites, as far as I can tell female trolls don't do anything...but run funny!
quasarsglow Jan 7th 2012 11:00AM
I beg to differ! Female trolls are havers of the sexiest dance! *shakey-shake*
Noyou Jan 7th 2012 2:10PM
I vote for Shakira- I mean female troll dance :p
david.a.alt Jan 8th 2012 10:11AM
I've never understood the "pretty face" on the female troll. Trolls aren't supposed to be pretty. They're savage and hideous, half-monster/half-man hybrids. Granted, the "ugly" faces are ugly. Ugly/pretty is not the same as unappealing/appealing. The faces should be designed to reflect the monstrous character in an appealing - not ugly - way. That said, I don't see why players choose "pretty" trolls any more than one would choose to play a "pretty" ogre.
Luotian Jan 7th 2012 8:11AM
All my characters are female, but my sister plays largely males. Mostly for RP purposes, as romantic interests for my own characters. On the flip side, my brothers and their friends all play males exclussively and my father's only character is female. So, really...it is impossible for me to find a pattern. I can tell you my Dad's logic is that he doesn't want to spend all day looking at a male's butt, but as he plays a Boomkin, I find his logic flawed.
yagamimoon Jan 7th 2012 8:59AM
Wait, what?
fudge Jan 7th 2012 9:25AM
Your sister roleplays the romantic interest for your character?
Wrong on so many levels.
Luotian Jan 7th 2012 9:54AM
@Fudge:
We don't know anyone else that role-plays, and to be honest its kind of fun because we can talk about it whenever. Good role-players separate themselves from their characters. Therefor, not wrong. A little unorthodox, but not wrong.
Puntable Jan 7th 2012 10:07AM
Wait, is Luotian a real-life girl or guy? I'm confused.
Saruya Jan 7th 2012 10:37AM
@Puntable
Luo is female.
Personally I tend, as a male, to exclusively play female characters. I tank, heal and dps but I prefer the aesthetics of wow female models.
Luotian Jan 7th 2012 11:52AM
@Puntable:
Ha! I suppose I forgot to mention that, didn't I? I am a real-life female :). And do go by Luo in game, actually, thanks Saruya.
Noyou Jan 7th 2012 2:13PM
I guess RPing with a family member to be your character's love interest could be viewed as the pinnacle of RP as an art. But- yeah, that just seems wrong to me.
tinkereena Jan 7th 2012 10:53PM
Pssh, I've RPed (and even better, LARPed) things with SO many more uncomfortable implications than playing a family member's character's love interest...
Try asking your partner (we're both ladyfolk) if they will cross-play a character who refers to yours as their brother or sister, and then have incredibly uncomfortable levels of blatant romantic interest in each other. And also everybody else in the game.
See how many heads THAT turns.
brain314 Jan 8th 2012 4:13AM
Perhaps your dad's logic isn't flawed, just not seen through to it's logical end...
Carmentia Jan 8th 2012 7:10AM
I am a woman who has played for many years (yeah I raided MC 40!). My main character is a male, and I have a mix of male and female characters. My character creation is generally based on a concept, and not supposed to be an extension of myself. And I agree about the "butt" comment - it sure was nice seeing that male NElf in front of me for so many hours as opposed to a female. I did pay to change his gender somewhere along the way, but it was really strange and I ended up paying again to change him back to male. I think it was so strange for me because I did create the character off of a concept, and the female didn't fit that concept.
Antagony Incorperated Jan 8th 2012 4:36PM
You should stop by Wyrmrest, there are lots of Roleplayers and its always nice to have a larger community in which to game. Look me up ^^
Caylynn Jan 7th 2012 8:13AM
I stay true to my real gender in game. I'm a woman, and I always play female characters when I can. It just feels more natural to me. As a sometimes roleplayer, I find I am more comfortable with characters that match my own gender. Years ago, when I played the single-player RPG Planescape: Torment, it felt a little odd because the main character that you played was male.
I've only known one woman in-game who played male characters. All the other women I've known through guilds or raiding have played female characters.
I've never been treated kindly or gently because I'm a woman or play female characters. Quite the contrary. I left a hard-core raiding guild at one point because the healing lead was quite the misogynist. For the most part, however, my gender has been completely irrelevant.
halvaresh Jan 7th 2012 8:24AM
I'm usually the opposite. I love playing male toons. Especially the kind of guy that I find attractive. It's the same for a lot of guys playing female toons. I've played so many RPGs & other styles in general that primarily feature male characters as the main or only PC, that it doesn't bother me which gender I'm playing anymore.
I find the lack of decent looking PC models disturbing, especially the Night Elves. There's only 1 decent face & even then it needs to be softened quite a bit to make him younger I think. I primarily play male BEs. I love 'em! Also, since Kael the only other good-looking male NPC has been the new humanoid Nozdormu look. I'm quite disappointed that Blizzard's been cramming female looks into the Madonna/Whore ends of the spectrum with seemingly few options in between. If I could play a female toon as awesome looking as the Avatar of Freya (Vrykul race maybe? please oh please!) I would probably remake at least 2 of my toons & create quite a few new ones! /begs Blizzard!
SamLowry Jan 7th 2012 8:41AM
Agreed about the night elves. I'm male, but chose to play a female nelf because the males just look so horribly...um, horrible. Lurch-like, perhaps.