The psychology of gender-bending in MMORPGs

Let’s face it: guys do not always play as male characters in MMORPGs, and girls don’t always play as female characters, either. Why do people do it? Does it mean that players are necessarily abnormal, or are there perfectly valid reasons behind doing so? We hope to explore the answers to those questions and more in the following article as we take a look at the psychology behind gender-bending in MMORPGs.

More on gender-bending in MMOs after the jump!

Perhaps this has happened to you or to someone you know: Two characters, one male and one female, are sitting together and enjoying each other’s company in their favorite MMORPG environment. After a bit of lively conversation, the male avatar decides to ask the all-important question:

Male Avatar: ASL?

Female Avatar: 25 M New York

Pregnant silence ensues.

Gender-bending. It happens all the time. Unless you play in a country like Korea, where game registration ID codes practically guarantee that the sex of the player’s character actually matches the player’s own sex, you’ve probably come across situations such as these. Reactions of players vary anywhere from curiosity to amusement to disgust.

Why do guys have female avatars, and why do gals have male avatars? Why is it even important to consider why? We at QJ hope to explore the answers to these questions in a quick look at the psychology of gender-bending. Because of the sheer depth of the actual topic, we will be focusing on two MMORPGs in particular: Blizzard‘s World of Warcraft and CCR’s Rising Force Online.

The first reason is the most superficial one: aesthetic appeal. It’s normal for both guys and girls to check out an attractive member of the opposite sex, whether it be in real life or otherwise. No real surprise there, since MMO graphics these days tend to make avatars look really, really good.

A male friend of ours made one particularly interesting point. His first character was a Cora male. After playing CCR’s Rising Force Online for a few minutes, it suddenly occurred to him that he would be staring at his male avatar’s rear end for a few hours. That being the case, he decided to reset his character and make a more visually appealing female one instead.

Cora melee armor, in particular, was designed to emphasize the beauty of the female form. To date, there is no other fantasy or sci-fi RPG that we know of that considers armored brassieres, underwear and stiletto heels as melee armor.

Judging from the picture above, it’s easy to see why CCR dubbed the latest Rising Force Online update as “Romance and Fantasy.” And lest we forget the ladies, CCR has included plenty of pretty boy male Corites in Rising Force Online as well.

The second reason has to do with the nature of the game itself. Remember that MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. While not particularly prevalent, some players do role-play, consciously or otherwise.

Psychologist Carl Jung theorized that men have a female side to their personality while women have a male side (called the anima and animus, respectively). It could explain why players like to explore the possibilities of role-playing as a member of the opposite sex and of playing out a role not normally associated with their real life gender.

Male players, for example, may wish to take on more supportive roles, while female players might opt to try out more front line, in-your-face roles. While MMORPGs like Blizzard’s World of Warcraft allow for female warriors and male clerics, not all players take advantage of this option; some people still have trouble coming to terms with men and women taking on non-traditional gender roles.

This is probably where the controversy begins for guys who aren’t comfortable with the idea that the “hot female cleric” that they’re flirting around with in World of Warcraft  is really another guy who may be simply role-playing his part exceedingly well, but without any malice in mind.

We were reminded of an interesting story that took place years ago at one gamers’ eyeball event – an incident that involved real life flowers. A certain male player in Gravity’s Ragnarok Online became so enamored with his priestess companion that he actually bought a bouquet in real life and proceeded to offer it to “her” in person, thinking that “she” was really a she. You can probably guess what happened next.

 

The third and final reason has something to do with the social aspect of the game. Scientists will tell you that the MMORPG experience actually lends itself to greater interactivity among players. Knowing this, some people will play as a character of the opposite sex because there are certain advantages involved in doing so.

For example, a female acquaintance of ours pointed out that she would rather play as a male character because she claims that she doesn’t get picked on as much as when she plays as a female character. Conversely, some guy players we know of would rather play as female characters because other unsuspecting male players tend to treat them nicely and shower them with in-game gifts.

It’s at this point where the lines between role-playing and become blurred. Is the other person merely role-playing, or is he or she actually taking the act a little too far? Unfortunately, the medium makes it difficult to say for sure.

If you want to be sure about the real life gender (and nature) of the person behind the character, then gamers’ eyeballs are the way to go. That’s why they’re there, after all. Meeting someone face-to-face can dispel any and all illusions, and perhaps lead to something good in real life. Then again, it may not. To best illustrate our point, here’s a little video we found on YouTube regarding Blizzard’s World of Warcraft:

For now, at least, suffice it to say that because people are social and creative beings by nature, they will forever be exploring answers to the “what if” question, especially if they’re operating within a virtual world that allows them to let their imaginations run wild.