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Post by theanorak on Mar 9, 2010 9:39:49 GMT -5
This question applies generally in WoW, but I suspect particularly so on a roleplaying server like Argent Dawn: how do you refer to someone's gender in-game? By which I mean, "I was running to help Larisa and she totally one-shotted that warlock". In this instance, I think I'm pretty safe with she -- both Larisa IRL and her character are female. That's not true in every case though -- there are plenty of women playing male characters in-game and vice versa. So what to do, particularly if you know know the player isn't the same gender as their character? And, if you're not roleplaying your character, would you tell people so they used the correct terms when talking about you, or would that just confuse everyone else? |
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Post by pilfkin on Mar 9, 2010 9:47:35 GMT -5
I always blog from the character gender. He/she, (s)he etc is too clunky for me. Ergo if you have a female character I will refer to her as 'she'. If I know the gender of the person behind the character and I am referring to the actual person I will refer to you as the gender. Does that make *any* sense...?
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Post by crankyhealer on Mar 9, 2010 9:49:52 GMT -5
If I hear a manly voice on vent, it's "he" forever and ever. Otherwise it varies  |
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Post by larisa on Mar 9, 2010 9:56:24 GMT -5
Yeah, Larísa IS female, both the character and IRL. Altthough it is a bit hard for you to know unless you hear me on vent. You just have to trust my word.
For some reason I've never come around to play any male character. I think I should try it at some point. If I do I guess it would be natural if people refereed to my char as "he" if it was in some sort of RP sense, but "she" if you're talking about the player controling the avatar.
Wouldn't it come pretty natural?
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Elsen
Ooze
Foul Mouthed Druid
Posts: 17
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Post by Elsen on Mar 9, 2010 10:19:51 GMT -5
I always get referred to as "he" and usually go, "ahem, I'm a she".
I think maybe the fact I have a particularly social nature but I like knowing about my guildies IRL as well, and other bloggers and whatnot.
I just like getting to know people. So I'm usually quite curious about gender, and will try and guess but usually ask as I fail at guessing.
I think also coming from a very social guild means I will usually use peoples real names over their character names in almost all situations, or a nickname I have for them, so that tends to define gender as well.
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Nefernet
Critter
The elf with a twoll inside
Posts: 75
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Post by Nefernet on Mar 9, 2010 10:21:36 GMT -5
In my guild, there is very few female players but a lot of my guildies roll female characters because the like the model more than the male one.
That's why I consider every player to be male unless told otherwise.
It will be fun in SAN because the ratio is more a 50/50.
And I always play female characters, I'm female.
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jen
Critter
Posts: 72
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Post by jen on Mar 9, 2010 10:42:02 GMT -5
I always try to refer to people by they real life gender. I don't care about RP, so I've never thought about that... even if I started roleplaying, it would be with 'Mike who has a female belf' or 'Mary who has a male orc'. People play the game, not their avatars.
For the record, I'm a girl and I always play girls. If I'm talking about my characters, I'll either say "I ran VH today on my paladin" or "my paladin ran VH". It used to be "I did VH" (my warrior was my only character, so she was me), but then I rolled more alts and things got confusing. I even renamed my druid when she became my new main, because I wanted to be called Jen on Vent, not Cynn (my druid's former name). [Jen is not my real name, but it's been my online nick for ages and nowadays most of my friends call me that.]
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Post by Echo on Mar 9, 2010 11:20:10 GMT -5
Well if you're RPing then you wouldn't call a male belf "her" would you? Bad question  I tend to refer to people as their character gender unless I know them. I also tend to treat everybody the same so this provides no problems. It really does annoy me the fawning retards you get in this game as soon as some poor woman opens her mouth. Name wise I'll probably call you by char name until I know you purely because I forget how people's alts link together. On vent I'm better at associating voices with characters so if I get to know anyone it will tend to be your preferred name over your char name. In raids I use char name because I'll be looking at grid and shouting the name as soon as possible if there's something important eg. standing in fire. |
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Post by theanorak on Mar 9, 2010 11:54:03 GMT -5
Interesting.
When I talk about my various characters, I'll happily use the appropriate gender-specific pronoun: "I ran RFC the other day on Anorak -- she's a belf paladin"
On my home server, my main is male (and I'm totally a guy IRL, *blush*) so if I play on a female alt everyone in /g still knows it's me.
What made me ask my slightly clunky question is that, on AD the other night, I was repeatedly referred to as "she" in /g and /p and I wasn't sure whether to pipe up with "actually, I'm a big hairy bloke" or not, and that made me think a little more about whether it might be confusing for anyone not privy to my hairy maleness to see an unknown female character referred to as "he".
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Post by theanorak on Mar 9, 2010 12:05:21 GMT -5
Wouldn't it come pretty natural? I guess so, if you know the person. Perhaps it's because I'm more of a reader than a blogger (and a relatively new one at that) but I don't actually know that many people yet if you have a female character I will refer to her as 'she'. If I know the gender of the person behind the character and I am referring to the actual person I will refer to you as the gender. Does that make *any* sense...? Plenty.  I think also coming from a very social guild means I will usually use peoples real names over their character names in almost all situations, or a nickname I have for them, so that tends to define gender as well. My home guild does that too (amongst some of the longer-serving members) and it still catches me out sometimes when someone says "Invite Kelly" and I eventually have to sheepishly ask "Kelly aka ...". I wonder if there's a good addon where you can hover over names in chat and get a quick popup with a list of alts and personal notes -- say, "aka Kelly" for example. |
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Post by Issy on Mar 9, 2010 12:08:28 GMT -5
It is an interesting question. I am a female, and playing a male toon just feels *wrong* to me, I can't get a handle on it. My husband's characters are mainly female, because *he would rather have something good to look at when he is running*. (How he dares say that with me sat next to him I don't know). It doesn't matter to me personally whether you are a guy or a girl, I will tend to refer to the character's gender, unless I know the person behind the character better than the character. What does matter is deliberate deception - and I think that might be where you are coming from?. In a role playing environment, you will obviously be treated as your characters sex. If you are feeling a bit awkward about being called *she* and having people think you are a girl, don't worry, say something in guild chat or whispers if you want, and we will all get it eventually No one is going to start shouting at you for pretending to be a girl when they discover *the truth* |
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Milovany
Ooze
Quiet! You'll miss the humorous conclusion.
Posts: 16
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Post by Milovany on Mar 9, 2010 12:14:51 GMT -5
My husband's characters are mainly female, because *he would rather have something good to look at when he is running*. (How he dares say that with me sat next to him I don't know). Heh, I've got a friend who made his priest to look a little like his ex, so that when she dies he doesn't mind so much, just smiles a little.  My toons are mostly female. Captain Fantastic once made me a deal that he'd roll a female if I'd make a male. His is 80 now, while poor Amado is forever level 11. |
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Post by kamalia on Mar 9, 2010 13:28:26 GMT -5
I'm female, and all my toons are female because they are, to a certain extent, projections of myself. I rolled a male BE once as a banker, and while he was fun to look at, he eventually got deleted.
My husband has some male toons and some female toons. His main, a feral tank, is female -- he has a particular fondness for female Tauren. But when I talk about him in chat, vent, etc, even if I'm calling his character by name at the beginning of the sentence, later on the pronoun is always "he". As in, "assign (Bear Tank Husband) to that job, he'll be good at it".
If I don't know the player's gender, I'll go by the character's gender. But when I do know the player's gender, I go by that.
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Post by Ravven on Mar 9, 2010 13:59:23 GMT -5
I'm female, and always play female characters - I cannot relate to male ones. I've rolled a few (if that particular game allows me to create very "girly" boys), but never really levelled them very far.
I always refer to people as the gender of their characters. I think in part because my characters always have such distinct personalities of their own for me, and it just seems more respectful.
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Post by hadawako on Mar 9, 2010 14:39:12 GMT -5
For me, it depends on whether you're referring to the player or the character. For example, for a male player with a female character, it's "she" for the character, "he" for the player, just as "she" is a troll in game and "he" is a human IRL.
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