How-to-conquer Azeroth: Go fight for it!

So, yesterday I initiated another lengthy post on the gender-topic, which I ended in a an open question: is there anything we can do to increase the speed at which women will become full worthy citizens of Azeroth, holding as interesting and important roles in the game, either they're NPCs or players?

Here's the continuation - my thoughts about what female players can do about it.

I know this post will rub some of you the wrong way - a few will probably consider it hostile and anti-feminist. (Sorry to disappoint you Fulguralis and Hydra, this post is probably a bit too preachy for your taste.) But I'll share it anyway. In the end this is my corner of the world, and it's the privilege of the innkeeper owner to serve whatever thought she has. Take it or leave it.

Time to step up
To summerize it I believe that female players who want to have an impact on the development on WoW should start to take our gameplay and ourselves a bit more seriously. Step up. Kick ass. Be just as good - or preferrably better - than the guys.

I would even go so far as to say that we should start bothering a little bit more about our epeens. It’s not a sin to check out the wws charts and to head for one of the top positions if you’re a dps. To measure yourself towards other and decide not to end up in the tail.

I don't say this because I'm personally rocking the dps charts. I'm definitely not as good as a player as I'd like to be; God knows it's hard to climb the learning curve at this age when you've never touched a game before. Mind you though - this has nothing to do with my gender, it's all about lack of experience. I may not be the worlds' best player, but damned me if I stop trying to be!

While there are physical reasons why female athletes can’t perform quite as good as male ones in many sports, which has resulted in most sports letting them compete separately, there's no reason whatsoever why there shouldn't be as many female top WoW players as there are male. I'd like to see a lot more female main tanks, raid leaders, guild leaders and successful e-sport pvp:ers.

I don't think it's fair to blame the lack of women in the world-top-guilds on prejudices and injustices. The occasional one-gender-only-guilds we hear about every now and then are exceptions, not the norm. I think it's up to us to grab those spots. We have the same chance as anyone else to get it - but we have to work for it. And that's what I'd like to see more female players do. Go for it.

Regardless if you're heading for the bleeding edge or if you're a happy one-night-a-week-raider, you should take pride in your gameplay, become the best you can.

Go home and make your homework! Don’t lock yourself into mediocrity! And don’t give up! It seems to me that guys keep record of their performance all the time, keeping track of the charts, comparing it in their solitude - or boasting about it in the party chat. You can do that as well. Not necessarily the boasting part, but the analysis. We all have it inside us - the potential of awesomeness. Give yourself a chance. You deserve it.

And once you're ready for it, knowing that you're perfectly fit to carry your own weight - and more, since you sadly enough probably have to be even better than the guys to be fully accepted - dare to challenge yourself! There's no reason why you couldn't apply to a more progressed guild. Don't settle with mediocrity, don't let yourself become that "hot chick", "sweet girl" or "understanding gf". Become a team member like anyone else. No less, no more.

Treading in new waters
It's all about attitude. There’s nothing wrong about being humble, but I think many women are bringing this a bit too far. Try being cocky for a change! It won't kill you.

Ophelie wrote:

“There are corners in WoW where women are uncommon: hardcore pvp, high end raiding, auction playing, serious tanking. I have a lot of admiration for those women who dare tread in waters they’re not expected to be seen in.”

And I can only agree. I think that players such as Poptisse, former player in Ensidia, or Xenophics, only female player in the world leading guild Paragon mean a lot for the modernization of the views on women in WoW. Seeing players like them make me smile; their very existence is an exclamation mark. I just wish there were more female players who were willing to explore that territory.

Now - becoming a top player is only the first step. The next one is to get recognition. Going from being "anyone" to "someone". Someone who matters, someone who Blizzard listens to. Become a top player. A strong and respected voice in the WoW community.

Read me right. I don't expect putting on this attitude automatically will change everything. I don't think for a second that the presence of outstanding female players miraculously will make them introduce more powerful female NPC leaders or let us get rid of the impractical bikini outfits.

This isn't a quick fix. But overtime, in a very long perspective, I think it might make a difference. Slowly, without really noticing the game makers will be influenced by it. If the female players are as strong and succesful as the male, it will come natural to let it be reflected in the written characters.

And it hasn't got to stop there. There are other areas to conquer. A certain headquarter in Irvine, California. How many times haven't you heard about the guy who dreams about getting a job at Blizzard. But what about women? Isn't it about time that we break into this business, aiming for the design team rather than the customer support? I know it takes more than being a passionate gamer to get a foot in there. It takes education and a willingness to work crazy hard for almost no money. But don't let this stop you.

I don’t think we’ll see a solid shift in the thinking patterns and a breakdown of the outdated stereotypes until we have several women in positions that today are hold by people like Ghostcrawler or Morheim.

I honestly don't know how we'll get there. But I think that if more women become as passionate, competative and confident as the male players, it will help a bit.

Taking yourself seriously

I wish that more women - in WoW as well as in real life by the way - would start to take themselves a little more seriously. I don't mean that we should hide our sense of humor, that we shouldn't crack jokes or be able to laugh at ourselves. That's fine and I definitely prefer to interact with people who have a sound amount of self distance.

But there need to be some balance in it. Sometimes it saddens me when I see women making themselves smaller than they are as they enter a party, a guild, a blog or a podcast. I'm not pointing fingers as I'm saying this. I include myself, because I do it too, all the time. (Which Gevlon has pointed out for me more than once.)

I don't know if you've thought about it, but I think we tend to giggle. A lot. More than you could expect from the situation. It has bugged me for quite a while now, all those giggles that often comes with a podcast as soon as the host or the guest is a woman. Where does it come from? What's it all about? Is it a nervous tic? Or an effort to please the socials, as Gevlon probably would put it?

I don't say that women should stop laughing and giggling entirely, on the contrary. But I think we could benefit from holding back a little once in a while. You rarely hear guys giggling that way. Think of a respected podcaster such as Totalbiscuit. He's sarcastic, he's angry, he jokes and bitches. he doesn't giggle very much. For a good reason.

If you want to earn the trust and respect of the WoW community, the first step is to start giving it to yourself. Stop hiding in the "I'm-the-innocent-and-charmful-girl"-box. Cut down on the giggles. Don't stick to the girls-only-corner; compete for a spot on the same stage as the boys. Show confidence - even in the moments when you don't feel that you have any. Especially then. Trust me on that. It makes miracles.

I hope the day will come when I can admire, dislike or identify myself with female as well as male characters in a computer game (or a fantasy book or movie for that matter), free from the chains of outdated stereotypes.

It probably won't happen in WoW. Not in the next secret MMO either. But eventually we'll be there.

It's not up to the world of men to make it happen. We could change a lot on our own. But it won't come for free. We have to fight for it.