I decided it would be a good idea to make a listing of things that I have mentioned/will be mentioning as far as the "jargon" of World of Warcraft terms go. I will add to this periodically as I mention more terms and places within the game. Links will also be available, most to the official Blizzard website.
Alphabetical order (A-Z):
Alliance:
The Alliance is one of many factions within World of Warcraft. The races under this alignment are Gnomes, Dwarves, Humans, Night Elves and Draenei. The main two factions that a player chooses to play when they create a character are the Alliance and the Horde. It is important to emphasize these factions are not good and evil, but rather two sides of the same coin. They are constantly warring with the Horde faction.
Azeroth:
Azeroth is the main mythical world (a map is seen in the background of my blog) where the game the World of Warcraft happens. It consists of two main continents (Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor), and within these continents, cities of both sides (the Alliance and the Horde) battle for control with each and against outside forces.
Faction:
The alignment that one chooses within World of Warcraft. Although there are multiple alignments and factions within WoW,
Horde:
Another alignment or faction that can be chosen in World of Warcraft. The races under this faction are Tauren, Blood Elves, Orcs, Undead and Trolls. The main two factions that a player chooses to play when they create a character are the Alliance and the Horde. It is important to emphasize these factions are not good and evil, but rather two sides of the same coin. They are constantly warring with the Alliance faction.
Night Elves (link to Blizzard WoW site about Night Elves):
One of the races in World of Warcraft that is of the Alliance alignment. Also referred to as one of the "sexier" races of the game, night elves are beautiful creatures of the humanoid type, with purple-undertoned skin and what would be deemed "stereotypical" elf features of elongated ears and tall height with slender bodies. They are nocturnal by nature and strong magic users attuned with nature.
Races (link to Blizzard WoW site about the races):
Different types of characters involved in World of Warcraft that have different characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. The full list of races is as follows: Blood Elves, Draenei, Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, Night Elves, Orcs, Taurens, Trolls and Orcs.
Tauren (link to Blizzard WoW site about Tauren):
The Tauren are one of the races in World of Warcraft that are of the Horde alignment. They are in appearance half human and half cow or half bull. They appear similar to the minotaurs of mythology. They are reverent of nature and are generally peaceful unless disturbed. They are strong allies of the orcs. They are also talented at herbalism.
WoW:
An abbreviation/acronym for World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft:
A computer game of the MMORPG genre. This genre is called the Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game. In short, the game is a roleplaying game that includes millions of players from around the world that interact with one another.
Hope that helps! Watch this for further terms to be defined!
See you in Azeroth!
~liz~
Friday, June 22, 2007
What WoW looks like: A Few Pictures
In World of Warcraft, a picture (or screenshot) can speak a thousand words. What I describe to you cannot have the same effect as an actual picture, so here are a few of the World of Warcraft.
First of all, since this is a blog on gender issues, let's look at the sexy race, the night elves...notice anything about her figure? :P (Today in Azerothian Playboy.....Sexy Night Elves Bare ALL)
They even dance in an interesting manner! (Click here to see the actual dance in gif format, blogger doesn't like Gifs being posted for some reason).
But even races that usually aren't sexy are kind of sexy or at least have big breasts.
See, even zombies can be sexy, she's got quite the figure and not much clothing! And look at her gorgeous flowing purple hair and pouty lips!
Even Tauren are chesty, and they are half-cow!
The Tauren on the right is a female of the species. Tauren are man-bulls or in this case man-cows, and they are on the side of the Horde (Azeroth, the World of Warcraft) is based largely on the conflict between the Horde and the Alliance, two sides in a war.
Notice however, that even as part cow, her chest is quite large, her midriff is bare, and she has braids. Compared to the male of her species she also has much smaller horns, and her frame is much more slender. Even as half cow, women have to have the ideal hourglass figure!
Also notice that her hands are quite delicate for what you would suspect of a character her size.
The average Tauren female is much smaller than the average Tauren male character, as are the majority of the males and females of the different races of the game (these differences will be explored in depth later).
The fact that even these half cow/bull humanoid creatures have stereotypical features can really make you think of how pervasive stereotypes and the pressure to conform to a body ideal can be.
Another thing to consider when looking at these pictures is as to who the general target audience is: males. The characters (even the Tauren) are fairly feminine, with slender waists, large breasts and proportionate bodies. To give an example of what the males look like, here is an example of three of the races:
Tauren male (in a word, and using an awful pun, he is beefy):
First of all, since this is a blog on gender issues, let's look at the sexy race, the night elves...notice anything about her figure? :P (Today in Azerothian Playboy.....Sexy Night Elves Bare ALL)
They even dance in an interesting manner! (Click here to see the actual dance in gif format, blogger doesn't like Gifs being posted for some reason).
But even races that usually aren't sexy are kind of sexy or at least have big breasts.
See, even zombies can be sexy, she's got quite the figure and not much clothing! And look at her gorgeous flowing purple hair and pouty lips!
Even Tauren are chesty, and they are half-cow! The Tauren on the right is a female of the species. Tauren are man-bulls or in this case man-cows, and they are on the side of the Horde (Azeroth, the World of Warcraft) is based largely on the conflict between the Horde and the Alliance, two sides in a war.Notice however, that even as part cow, her chest is quite large, her midriff is bare, and she has braids. Compared to the male of her species she also has much smaller horns, and her frame is much more slender. Even as half cow, women have to have the ideal hourglass figure!
Also notice that her hands are quite delicate for what you would suspect of a character her size.
The average Tauren female is much smaller than the average Tauren male character, as are the majority of the males and females of the different races of the game (these differences will be explored in depth later).
The fact that even these half cow/bull humanoid creatures have stereotypical features can really make you think of how pervasive stereotypes and the pressure to conform to a body ideal can be.
Another thing to consider when looking at these pictures is as to who the general target audience is: males. The characters (even the Tauren) are fairly feminine, with slender waists, large breasts and proportionate bodies. To give an example of what the males look like, here is an example of three of the races:
Tauren male (in a word, and using an awful pun, he is beefy):
Human male (again broad shoulders, ripped arms and tapered waist)
And finally, the night elf male, which when viewed in juxtaposition with the night elf female above is quite startling...in fact here is a comparison of the two genders in the race:
The female is on the left, the male to the right. The size proportions are not correct, the male in game is actually quite larger than the female. I just find this race interesting because at first glance, both are beautiful creatures, with high cheekbones and delicate facial features, and pale purple skin. However, the similarity ends there.
Although the male night elf is slender, he still has muscular arms and legs, with broad shoulders and a tapered waist, as do all of the male characters in WoW.
The female night elf is very busty, with an almost impossibly tiny waist, very slender arms and legs, and a much more delicate face than the man.
Even in Azeroth, the "frailty myth" prevails. (see "The Frailty Myth" by Colette Dowling). Play, have fun, but think about it.
See you in Azeroth!
~liz~
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Why I Wrote This Blog: A Little More Detail
This blog has a main topic, however from time to time it may veer off course and into different topics, whether assignments unrelated to gaming, or just something I found funny or worth writing about. Overall, there is a general topic that I would like to post on as much as possible.
I decided to choose a topic that I am familiar with: being a gamer and a female. In order to make the topic matter a bit more focused, I decided to focus mostly on being a gamer in World of Warcraft.I've played World of Warcraft for about a year and a half, and I think it is a lot of fun. However, there are still gender issues concerning females in WoW, whether it be in real life or in Azeroth itself (Azeroth is the realm that you explore in World of Warcraft).
Women are the minority in the world of gaming in general, but it is quite pronounced in World of Warcraft. Although on the surface it may seem like there are many female characters, chances are that the female character is being played by a male gamer behind that screen.
The game in and of itself is on the surface seemingly made for males, as the majority of the females of the races, even the ones that seemingly wouldn’t be sexy (such as the Tauren, a half cow/half human minotaur-esque creature), still has large breasts and a smaller waist, typical of the mainstream idealized female figure. Faces of the female characters are usually tending towards the softer and less aggressive features as well. I will discuss the visual features of the female characters and the female “half” of the races in upcoming entries.
Another reason why I decided to write this is because generally when the gaming world is critiqued as to the portrayal of gender, and gender issues in general, it is usually by someone who is not part of the gaming world, a world which can be hard to understand from the outside looking in. It’s a sub-culture, with many groups within that group itself (e.g. console gamers, Dungeons and Dragons players and fantasy RPGers). All of these smaller groups interact in different ways, and the intricacies of the gaming world can be hard to understand unless you game yourself. I intend to try to correct this oversight and provide a critique of gender in World of Warcraft from the perspective of both a participant and an observer.
See you in Azeroth!
~liz~
I decided to choose a topic that I am familiar with: being a gamer and a female. In order to make the topic matter a bit more focused, I decided to focus mostly on being a gamer in World of Warcraft.I've played World of Warcraft for about a year and a half, and I think it is a lot of fun. However, there are still gender issues concerning females in WoW, whether it be in real life or in Azeroth itself (Azeroth is the realm that you explore in World of Warcraft).
Women are the minority in the world of gaming in general, but it is quite pronounced in World of Warcraft. Although on the surface it may seem like there are many female characters, chances are that the female character is being played by a male gamer behind that screen.
The game in and of itself is on the surface seemingly made for males, as the majority of the females of the races, even the ones that seemingly wouldn’t be sexy (such as the Tauren, a half cow/half human minotaur-esque creature), still has large breasts and a smaller waist, typical of the mainstream idealized female figure. Faces of the female characters are usually tending towards the softer and less aggressive features as well. I will discuss the visual features of the female characters and the female “half” of the races in upcoming entries.
Another reason why I decided to write this is because generally when the gaming world is critiqued as to the portrayal of gender, and gender issues in general, it is usually by someone who is not part of the gaming world, a world which can be hard to understand from the outside looking in. It’s a sub-culture, with many groups within that group itself (e.g. console gamers, Dungeons and Dragons players and fantasy RPGers). All of these smaller groups interact in different ways, and the intricacies of the gaming world can be hard to understand unless you game yourself. I intend to try to correct this oversight and provide a critique of gender in World of Warcraft from the perspective of both a participant and an observer.
See you in Azeroth!
~liz~
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Introduction or Why I Am Writing This Blog
As I am sure most of you have noticed, this blog is about being a female gamer in World of Warcraft, the popular Blizzard MMORPG game.
I am sure the first question you are asking is: Why?
I am a 23 year old graduate student, and I decided to take an undergraduate course over the summer in order to learn the basics of something I hadn't yet scratched the surface of. Thus, I chose Introduction to Women's Studies.
One of our assignments was to create a blog addressing gender issues, whether they be in art, popular culture, discrimination or anything really.
I decided to choose a topic that I am familiar with: being a gamer and a female. In order to make the topic matter a bit more focused, I decided to focus mostly on being a gamer in World of Warcraft. However, the posts about World of Warcraft will be mixed in with my reactions to other things as well.
I've played World of Warcraft for about a year and a half, and I think it is a lot of fun. However, there are still gender issues concerning females in WoW, whether it be in real life or in Azeroth itself (Azeroth is the realm that you explore in World of Warcraft).
My next entry will be a glossary and basic introductory post explaining things that are within World of Warcraft. I will try to explain as much as I can, but a game like WoW is incredibly complex and has many layers, which I am hoping to peel back with this blog!
See you in Azeroth!
~Liz~
I am sure the first question you are asking is: Why?
I am a 23 year old graduate student, and I decided to take an undergraduate course over the summer in order to learn the basics of something I hadn't yet scratched the surface of. Thus, I chose Introduction to Women's Studies.
One of our assignments was to create a blog addressing gender issues, whether they be in art, popular culture, discrimination or anything really.
I decided to choose a topic that I am familiar with: being a gamer and a female. In order to make the topic matter a bit more focused, I decided to focus mostly on being a gamer in World of Warcraft. However, the posts about World of Warcraft will be mixed in with my reactions to other things as well.
I've played World of Warcraft for about a year and a half, and I think it is a lot of fun. However, there are still gender issues concerning females in WoW, whether it be in real life or in Azeroth itself (Azeroth is the realm that you explore in World of Warcraft).
My next entry will be a glossary and basic introductory post explaining things that are within World of Warcraft. I will try to explain as much as I can, but a game like WoW is incredibly complex and has many layers, which I am hoping to peel back with this blog!
See you in Azeroth!
~Liz~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)