MMO News |
- MMORPG Female Character Clichés: A Rebuttal (Part One)
- Fog Rolls In Legend: Legacy of the Dragons
- World Of Warplanes Developers Discuss Superiority
- Tynon Reveals The Goblins
- Dragon Crusade Offficially Launches
| MMORPG Female Character Clichés: A Rebuttal (Part One) Posted: 26 Jun 2012 01:20 PM PDT By, M. Hauschel (This article is a rebuttal to the article entitled MMORPG Female Character Clichés)
I don't want to be misunderstood for blaming the gaming industry for creating all of the unrealistic images of women; instead I'm criticizing them for contributing. The expectations of how women have to look have been pushed onto the gender from television, movies, magazines, etc. Stereotyping women and only portraying them a certain way gives impressionable minds a warped view of how women are to behave and look. I'm not blaming the industry for creating the stereotypes, but they're definitely not fighting them.
There is nothing inherently wrong with having attractive characters in games. There is something wrong with only having attractive characters in games. Imagine if the majority of films only have attractive characters. After a while those films would become stale and easy to predict. That's generally how I feel about the majority of games that feature any female characters. More cases than not, that character will be attractive, fit, have a outfit that reveals the curves of the body, and possibly have exposing areas of the body that are meant to arouse someone. The same could not be said about male characters.
There's a thought process of "because women portray men as brutes and objectify them in romance novels, that it's okay to objectify women". Let me be clear, I'm not going to defend behavior of objectification of either sex; I don't condone sexist stereotypes of men. I'm as much bothered by the phrase, "Man up" as I am bothered by, "Don't be such a girl". Having that said, saying that because one industry makes cliché stereotype of a gender, doesn't gives credence to another industry to make cliché stereotypes.
With women making up 40% of the gaming population (39% of PC game population); they are often overwhelmingly underrepresented in games. 85% of playable characters in videogames are male.1Seeing that marginable 15% often comes with disappointment, because it portrays as a stereotype. That 15% isn't made for females on most cases; it's made solely for the male audience. As the majority of women are repulsed to the idea of over-sexualized characters; you would think the market would create characters that would attract female players instead of repulsing them.2
There's a huge polka dot elephant in the room that would explain why games often don't cater to the female audience. Games are not created for women in most cases, because they're not involved; this is evident when you view how many women work in the gaming industry. (Surprise! The majority of the industry is filled with men; women only make up 20% of the industry. With 3% of game programmers being women.)3 This results in games being created for the male audience. A female perspective is necessary for the growing market and companies that wish to succeed in the industry. Excluding women from the process will become more apparent as women are becoming more educated than the male population and starting to out-earn them as well.4
There will always be the women out there that proclaim that it's okay for females to be portrayed as sexy, because they like playing sexy characters. Those girls are an exception; they don't make up the majority of how women view character design. There's a term for women who proclaim objecting yourself or other women as empowerment, they're called female chauvinist pigs. These are the same women who say posing in Playboy and flashing Girls Gone Wild are empowering. Women should not have to demean themselves and others in order to fit into the gaming society. When we're told to "get back in the kitchen" or "show tits or gtfo", laughing along or using this language as a female pushes the image of women back 50 years. Objecting yourself doesn't demand respect, and it doesn't demand respect for females in the gaming industry. A female using the female bashing language in game doesn't help the image of gamers who happen to be female. How do objectified women in games help women to be respected in the industry? It doesn't. How will this create games that are more inclusive to the female gaming population? It won't.
I don't want sexy outfits taken away. I just don't want sexy outfit to be the rule of the land. The more options we have to customize our characters and create different storylines, the better it would be for players. I wouldn't want to stifle character creation in anyway. I just want to see more diversity of how women are being portrayed. You see men in all shapes and sizes, from very tall to very short; to very buff to very overweight, this variety creates interesting characters. I would love to see the same for women. Instead of only having them as fit, thin, beautiful characters, have some different looking characters for once.
"They're just video games." That's always the fall back excuse. Because I'm disgusted at how women are seen in video games, the common retort is, "Well, don't play them". I like video games, and have, ever since my childhood. There are barriers in place to prevent me from enjoying games, as games are made for the male audience in mind. As much as I enjoy video games, it's difficult for me to support an industry that has such a hostile view on women. I don't really have an option, other than stop playing game entirely. For those of us females who enjoy gaming, we have two options- ignore the blatant sexism, or miss out on playing games. |
| Fog Rolls In Legend: Legacy of the Dragons Posted: 26 Jun 2012 01:10 PM PDT Legend: Legacy of the Dragons has released a new Fog Islands update. The Fog Islands hide hidden secrets and strange creatures. The area features new quests, weapons, equipments, and ornaments to discover. Players will also find that Humans and Magmars can now attack with bows and arrows after completing a special quest series, and new players can challenge themselves against capturing Kirit Fortress to earn exclusive items and buffs. The update also allows players to face off against clans of the same race to determine who has the best strategy, tactics, and strength. These new battles can use new rare resources to deploy a limited number of buffs on the battlefields – where battles may rage for months between clans. Legend: Legacy of the Dragons is published by Mail.RU, which also publishes Juggernaut and RiotZone.  Legend: Legacy of the Dragons Gameplay Screenshot Source:
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| World Of Warplanes Developers Discuss Superiority Posted: 26 Jun 2012 12:18 PM PDT A new video from Wargaming discusses game modes for World of Warplanes. The developers discuss how they came to choose Superiority as the main game mode. This mode features both aerial combativeness and ground targets and objectives, letting teams of fifteen battle high and low in the skies to dominate the map. The team also discusses the Escort mode, where players must escort a team of AI-controlled bombers, and the tutorial mode, which will help pilots adapt to the flying and fighting systems in World of Warplanes. Wargaming also publishes World of Tanks. World of Warplanes: Developer Diaries #3 |
| Posted: 26 Jun 2012 12:04 PM PDT Tynon has revealed its first race (with recruitable characters): Goblins. Known from many fantasy tales, the goblins in Tynon – also referred to as “The Swarm” – are trouble-makers who possess arcane abilities. They will be the first enemies players will encounter to save the thirteen kingdoms, although players must deal with their use of sheer numbers and strong leaders to best them. The goblins will also feature the game’s first boss, Captain Wart, along with his peer Chieftain Bighand, both of whom will be recruitable. Tynon is a new game from game studio uCool and the makers of Evony, and will be a browser-based strategy game with cooperative and PvP elements.  Tynon Gameplay Screenshot Source:
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| Dragon Crusade Offficially Launches Posted: 26 Jun 2012 11:34 AM PDT Aeria Games has launched its newest real-time strategy game, Dragon Crusade. The game features six playable races (each with its own unique set of troops, buildings, and more), fully customizable hero units, pets, mounts, quests, instances, and large-scale PvP warfare. The game also features a strong alliance system and gladiator arena for more cooperation and competition. Aeria Games also publishes Golden Age and Crystal Saga.  Dragon Crusade Gameplay Screenshot Source:
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