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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: 'Every female WoW player has healed at least once'
by Olivia Grace 
Mar 12th 2012 at 8:00AM
Once I called him on his generalization, there was more back-pedaling than in the Tour De France. Of course he knows that not every female player has played a healer. Female players who have only played for a few weeks and chose a pure DPS class, he allowed, wouldn't have!
But of course, there is a stereotype in WoW that women heal. We've talked about it before, but it makes me wonder two things:
- Do most women have a healing character?
- If there's any truth in the stereotype (which I think there might be), why does healing appeal so much to women?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 7 of 9)
jfrombaugh Mar 12th 2012 11:31AM
My mother plays WoW and she is not into dungeons, let alone being a healer. So no, I can tell you the stereotype is not true.
Dankie Mar 12th 2012 11:42AM
I've always been offended by the implied idea that healers are "less than" dps or tank rolls and "easy" to play. That being said, my guild is 80% female (myself included) and of those currently active only one of them has been a serious healer. We have three dedicated female tanks, one healer and the rest dps. On the other hand, the 20% males have been serious healers (so far as they're even mains) - but also dps, and tanking.
Every role is difficult at some level, and I have to say that my guild has decided I should never -ever- heal. I'm not cut out to be the kind person who heals the world. It is that kindness, that all-or-nothing dedication to the healing arts that makes a serious healer. It's that selfless act of setting your differences aside, healing the noob/jerk/backstabber/lameo to keep the raid going and knowing you did so for the best of the group.
Me? I just let them die, repeatedly. That's why I've been a rogue for five years and haven't looked twice at healing.
Leda Mar 12th 2012 11:46AM
I'm a female gamer and I've been a bear tank since level 10 when I got the form nearly 5 years ago. I've played pure DPS classes (mages, mostly) but never as my main and my only 85 is my druid. I've most certainly never played a healer nor had the drive to.
Frank Mar 12th 2012 11:52AM
Something I forgot to mention in my earlier post.
A nurturing instinct is not exclusive to women. Men have strong nurturing instincts as well. And you don't have to be a gay male to have a strong nurturing instinct as a man. I wonder if most of the men who do have strong nurturing instincts are fathers like myself, however. Yes I do have a strong nurturing instinct, no I'm not gay. No offense meant to anyone who is either.
Ayn Mar 12th 2012 7:40PM
I've been playing WoW since a week before The Burning Crusade released. My first character was a mage, but in the last few months of TBC our guild badly needed a tank. I've been main tanking on my druid ever since. Only a few months ago did I roll a priest with the intention of giving healing a try, and I have to say I can see healing getting tedious. Staring at healthbars is a lot more boring that watching everything and everyone, moving, interrupting, charging here or there. Aside from my druid, my other "main alts" were an afflock and a BM hunter (and later an arms warrior). Stereotypes are just that: stereotypes. I will continue to tank thru Mists while my husband plays his enhancement/resto shaman. To each their own.
Gwynedd Mar 12th 2012 12:13PM
Wasn't there some study done a year or two ago? IIRC, more men tank than women and women prefer ranged DPS vs melee for men. Healing was split right down the middle; men were just as likely as women to prefer healers.
Aevi Mar 12th 2012 12:20PM
My first healer, I leveled to 8 then she became my bank toon. My 2nd (only other) healer is stuck at level 26. I'm not that great at ranged classes, I like to get into the fray and stab at mobs.
Edyion Mar 12th 2012 12:45PM
I can only speak for myself and yes i did heal for a brief time in wrath. I dont like healing all that much and probably won't go back to it. That said i know a few other women that all they have done since I've known them is DPS or tank. Let's take that a step further and point out that I know two women that heal i know 8 men personally that heal the majority of the time.
I will never understand the need to stereotypes.
hipstermoonkin Mar 12th 2012 12:58PM
Yes, I healed for a bit - Starting in ZA in BC and through Naxx in Wrath. Not because I wanted to - because my guild needed a healer and I was the only class who could do it (druid). As soon as we switched to 25-mans I went back to DPS. My current offspec is feral tank, and when I do 5 mans/heroics, I tank. I have a mage, enh shaman, and lock as my alts. No healers in there at all.
My guild currently has 5 core raiders who are female:
DPS lock
DPS moonkin
DPS hunter
DPS feral
Resto shaman
Of the four dps, I don't think any of them even have healing alts. The feral cat heals sometimes, but she doesn't like it either.
You might as well just say "every player has healed at least once."
Quidamtyra Mar 12th 2012 1:00PM
I'm a woman. My very first (and still main) character back in Vanilla was (is) a combat rogue. After that I got a mm hunter, a resto druid, a tank dk, an elemental shaman, a mage. Eventually I want to have one of every class. I like mixing roles up because it adds variety. The style of playing each class is so varied, that it keeps me quite entertained. I was once on my hunter (who is a male character) and was asked if I was female. I asked why and they said that "90% of females play night elf female hunters." I asked if they realized my toon was a male and told them my main was a rogue, their response was "lol ur not in the 90% then" and logged off.
From personal experience, I think there is a pretty solid mix of men and women who heal, tank and dps.
shotiechan Mar 12th 2012 1:05PM
Preface: I am a female healer.
It appealed to me way back in another MMO, because initially I played a DPS class for awhile, but all the healers I encountered were so god-awful at it, one day I basically threw up my hands and said, "It can't be THAT hard! I'll just do it myself!"
I loved the challenge of it, and haven't really looked back since. I enjoy it because it's not competitive in the sense I am trying to get better gear and the like to prove my slot worthiness above other players in a raid scenario/party chat (seeing people rip into someone because, while their DPS is fine, it's "too low" for someone's tastes is disheartening). It's competitive in the sense that I have to keep people alive, and it's me doing my best to do that. That's less stressful than directly dealing with other people telling me my gear sucks, or my DPS is too low when I'm doing fine.
If you're doing fine and you're a healer, people don't usually go, "Dude, your HPS are too low! You suck!" As long as people don't die and you don't stand in the bad, you're a perfectly capable healer.
Scunosi Mar 12th 2012 1:09PM
I started off DPS (who didn't?) but the first thing I tried after that was healing. First with a thrown-together Resto (Druid) spec to save a guildie's HoS run (this was before LFD). Not knowing what I was doing other than throwing LB's (that's how Resto works, right? :P) we just barely made it, clearing the Triumvirate or whatever it was called but all dying in the process.
My next serious attempt was with my Night Elf Priest (for the Star Shards, seriously) whom I loved playing as Disc. At the time I think Holy was more the healing spec for PvE so I prided myself on being pretty decent with a bubble. I eventually made a Shaman and made her alt-spec Resto, but I never cared for it as much as Disc as it had to much pointed healing involved. I could never be bothered to basically "watch" where my chain heals were going and outside of that she didn't have a ton of group-heal utility.
The only healing I haven't tried so far is Paladin, but I do have one. She's around level 65 I think but I made her to try Ret and Prot really, with after the Cata changes are just a blast. I also made my Druid main Balance/Tank and actually enjoy the wire's edge of tanking, plus maybe a bit of the control and getting to show off you skills. :P
I think it's a shame for any player to not try at least all 3 (4?) roles, and if they can, every class. Not only is it a good experience in and of itself, even if you don't end up liking it, it'll help you with whatever you decide to main as later.
sunflowers4488 Mar 12th 2012 1:12PM
I'm a chick. I've been playing for years, so of course I've tried everything the game has to offer. I've tried tanking, dps'ing, and healing. I actually have played every class and every spec in the game. It just happens once you've played for this long.
I could never be a dedicated healer because I am way too bloodthirsty for it. I hate sitting around while people are killing things, it drives me nuts. When I heal on my priest, I do best as disc. When I'm on my druid, I'm tree form wrathing every chance I get. My paladin is in melee knocking things out; my shaman is shocking away. You know, never gotten anyone killed in the process (I actually am a good healer regardless of my dps twitch), but it's just how I am.
I know the stereotype- 'girls are healers'. I don't know why I have always been drawn to dps. Maybe I'm too competitive. I have to top meters when I dps. I'm terrible about heal meters, I will have to top those too.. to the point where I'm trying to heal snipe so bad people laugh and tell me to just go back to dps, its not worth it.
Sometimes I've wished I could be that 'heal chick' that I see in groups. She is always so awesome, and I'm jealous that she can dedicate to something that I can't seem to latch on to. But I'm just not. I like to tear stuff up. Can't change it.
PonTelon Mar 12th 2012 2:07PM
As a male "heal chick", keep being a bloodthirsty DPS! Honestly, DPS rotations/Priorities are boring to me. Kill the thing for me, and I'll gladly heal for you!
Tygerwolfe Mar 12th 2012 1:19PM
Female player here - my main's a Hunter. My secondary is a dual feral druid - one spec for tanking, one for feral DPS. I've never played a healer and I really, really don't want to.
The best healer in our guild is my brother's Shammy, followed closely by my fiancee's Holy Priest. ;)
Shepherd57 Mar 12th 2012 1:27PM
My wife plays only dps. She started out as a warlock because she didn't want the monsters hitting her and she saw my voidwalker. She switched to a hunter when she learned she could tame the spirit beasts. Now she collects pets on her hunter and companions on her warlock. She hates healing and tanking for all the stress. I also have to kill the spiders in game too...Naxx was hard for her.
Tanya Mar 12th 2012 1:38PM
Let's see.... 25 man raiding guild with currently 29 on the active rosters (female/total)
-Tanks: 0/3 (used to be 1/4, but our female tank had to return to school)
-Healers: 3/9 (paladin, shaman, druid)
-Melee dps: 1/10 (my rogue)
-Ranged dps: 4/7 (2 ele shaman, 2 warlocks)
Probably even more amusing is our 4 priests (2 healers, 2 shadow) are all male.
As for myself in order of getting toons to 85:
1. main rogue
2. Blood DK
3. warlock
4. boomkin druid
5. priest
First character I tried to learn to heal on was the priest. She was discipline & only did dungeons from 20 till 70. I had to switch to questing on her because she was my enchanter & I needed the green quest rewards to continue to level enchanting. The first character I tried to heal in a raid on was my boomkin druid. In the middle of Firelands I was trying to read tool tips while healing.
Jennifer Mar 12th 2012 1:42PM
Last time I checked, I was a woman, and have been so for 41 years. And I have never played a healer. I also have never played a tank. I play DPS, and only DPS. My priest is a shadow priest. My druid is a feral cat. My shaman is elemental and my paladin is retribution.
So yeah, so much for idiotic generalizations.
Simandl Mar 12th 2012 1:43PM
I think your theory applies to everyone, not just women. It happened to me! Began my days as dps, then tried healing and raised three healers, one of which was heavily my main for awhile... but then, the journey continues. I have just moved onto tanking :p
Shandeigh Mar 12th 2012 2:07PM
Yeah... I'm female.. I've played every class at least once and my Mage is my first and main toon. Healing and tanking don't appeal to me... I prefer to light things on fire... not make boo-boos better.