Role-Playing as Girls

MMORPG: Many Men Online Role-Playing as Girls.

“Pistol-packin’ mama, won’t you put that pistol down?”

I’ll admit, I’m one of those guys. One of those dorky guys who builds and plays female characters in various video and computer role-playing games. This isn’t to say that all of my characters are ladies, but a good percentage are. Four out of my seven Lord of the Rings Online characters are women. Three of five of my Guild Wars 2 characters are. About half of my Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2 characters are. Admittedly, most of my Neverwinter Nights 2 characters are ladies. (In my defense, do you have any idea how hard it is to make male characters that aren’t stupid looking in NWN2 without them all looking alike? With the exception of the dwarves, it just isn’t worth the effort.) I’d have to look, but I’d guess that my ratios for Dragon Age: Origins, Neverwinter Nights 1, Titan’s Quest, and other games are similar to LotRO or GW2.

“Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade. Many a soldier shed his life’s blood on my blade.”

Guys like me take a lot of shit for our willingness to roll and play fem characters. The fact that so many of these games are willing to pander to the pocket-mining demographic by designing impractically revealing women’s armor and allowing players to strip their characters down to their underwear really only gives these critics more ammunition. (One big shout-out I’ll give to both Neverwinter Nights 2 and Lord of the Rings Online is that neither does this. Unequipped characters wear conservative under-tunics and none of the armor features exposed midriffs or cleavage.) I seriously hate this kind of cheesecakey pandering. Not that I lack interest in cleavage, I just find it kind of insulting that they’d think any reasonably competent warrior woman would want gaps in her armor just above her heart and entrails. (I’ll probably discuss this pet peeve further in a future post.)

“Such a coaxing elf, I’d to pinch myself to make sure I was standing there!”

I guess the most obvious reason I tend to build and play lady characters is aesthetics: I just find women more interesting to look at than men. After all, most of these games are third-person POV, and I’d much rather follow a gal’s backside around than a dude’s. And, honestly, I just like the look of smart, self-sufficient women in commando’s armor or a ranger’s cloak or a rogue’s cowl or a Jedi’s robes. I feel like smart game designers have figured out that women’s armor can be both protective and sexy—that chain and scale mail can be delightfully form fitting and that leather and plate armor can feature appropriately feminine curvature. As far as science-fantasy RPGs go, I’ve been similarly impressed with women’s armor in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series and with the Mass Effect games. In both series, our heroines’ armor manages to look protective and practical, yet feminine at the same time.

“They locked you in the tower and they threw away the key,
But this tower’s no match for a wag like me.”

I think, too, that women hero archetypes are fun both to play upon and play against. In Dragon Age: Origins I had as much fun playing the quintessential skinny, bow-toting elf maiden as I did playing a skinny elf maiden with heavy armor and greatsword. (That, and I found the elf dudes to be a little on the derpy-looking side in that game.) And while my champion from Lord of the Rings Online typically wore a suit of battered dwarf armor, it was amusing a couple times to put her in an elf gown and pick fights with swamp trolls. My favorite party build from NWN2: Storm of Zehir was six bat-shit-crazy Dark Elf maidens. My Drow fighter with the bastard sword took one level of sorceress (for the Dragon Disciple prestige class), and to go against the grain, I gave her a bunny rabbit for her familiar. I just don’t think the sentiment would have been as funny had I instead used some tough-guy Drow soldier instead.

“‘We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow.”

Indeed, one factor that defines the role-playing game genre as a whole is story-telling. From the epic saga to the basic dungeon crawler, every game tells a story. Thus each player becomes the character or characters in the story. The classic figure of the handsome knight in gleaming armor on a quest to save his kingdom has certainly earned it’s right to be a classic, but what of the beautiful knight in gleaming armor on a quest to save her kingdom? I think I’d rather tell her story. I’ve beaten the main story for Dragon Age: Origins on four of my characters, but only one of them was male. The stories of the exiled sorceress, the noblewoman seeking to avenge the murder of her parents, and the elf-maiden on the run after killing the lord who raped her friend: all were more interesting stories to me than were the dwarven thug escaping his former employers or the pretty-boy forest elf trying to remove an evil curse.

“This dragon had a plaguey hide,
fa la lanky down dilly,
That could the sharpest steel abide,
fa la lanky down dilly.”

From a literary standpoint, I think that adventure games in general owe a certain amount of debt to figures like JRR Tolkien and Gary Gygax. First to Tolkien for giving us a character like Eowyn, a skilled shield-maiden not afraid to disobey orders by donning men’s armor and riding into battle to protect her people. And to Gary and the other Dungeons & Dragons writers for creating a world where women adventurers are in every way equal to their male counterparts. Certainly, there have been plenty of women figures throughout history and literature who’ve demonstrated a woman’s ability to fight in battle beside the men, but I feel it was the works of writers like Tolkien and Gygax and Arneson and others of their respective generations that really encouraged contemporary and modern adventure writers to include strong, smart, independent heroines in their stories. Playing women fighters in video and computer role-playing games is my way of creating my own strong, smart, independent heroines.

“Everyday I’m shufflin’.”

All images are screen shots taken directly from game play.
Image 1: Guild Wars 2. Song: “Pistol-Packin’ Mama,” by Bing Crosby
Image 2: Lord of the Rings Online. Song: “The Highwayman,” by The Highwaymen
Image 3: Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir. Song: “Star of the County-Down,” traditional Irish
Image 4: Mass Effect 2. Song: “Scalliwag,” by Gallic Storm
Image 5: Lord of the Rings Online. Song: “Immigrant Song,” by Led Zeppelin
Image 6: Dragon Age: Origins. Song: “Sir Eglamore,” by Kate Rusby
Image 7: Guild Wars 2. Song: “Party Rock Anthem,” by Lmfao
Image 8: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2. Song: “What a Way to Go,” by Ray Kennedy 

“He said, ‘women gonna be the death of me, but what a way to go!'”

I know blogging’s been slow. Blame Guild Wars 2

I’m not actually sure what this place is. It’s visible from one of the harbor towns, but I don’t know what it’s for or how to get there.

My thoughts on Guild Wars 2:
Very much worth the hype. It’s a streamlined, easy-to-learn, beautifully rendered MMORPG that I strongly recommend for anyone who likes computer action role-playing games. The overall look of the game is stunning. I honestly think I’ve become addicted to taking screen captures of the landscape throughout this vast, beautiful, and dangerous world. The game itself feeds this addiction by providing vista points for players to discover, where by selecting the point, players are treated to a camera flyby of a nearby landmark or landscape.

Milady Greensleeves, guardian and noblewoman, out exploring and rock climbing.

One of the key points for me is that it’s one of the more sand-boxy MMOs I’ve seen. There is a decent amount of territory to get lost in if I just feel like exploring for a while. While this might otherwise suggest that it takes a long time to get from place to place, Arena Net thoughtfully added various waypoints players can teleport to for a nominal fee, simply by clicking on them on their maps. The only stipulation is that it must be a waypoint that their character has visited in the past. I also think Arena Net did a great job of taking into account that players want to explore. We enjoy climbing mountains and dancing on rooftops. Other game makers seem to forget this factor. Whereas Blizzard was long known for suspending World of Warcraft players for getting up onto the roofs of buildings or mountain climbing into closed-off areas, Guild Wars 2 has waypoints and scenic vistas that are only accessible through rigorous mountain climbing or jumping from building to building.

Viarra the Thief. Though not in the first-edition Dungeons and Dragons sense.

Character creation, game play, and customization are about as streamlined as I’ve ever seen in an action RPG. In contrast with my Champion from Lord of the Rings Online, who has at least thirty abilities—only six of which I use in a given battle—my Guild Wars 2 Guardian has around twelve abilities equipped at any given time. Technically she has more than that, but I’m free to equip, un-equip, and customize these depending on the situation. What this essentially allows players to do is specialize their character for a given role. My thief, for example, can be set up as a melee fighter with swords or knives, a ranged fighter with short bow or pistols, or even some of both with sword in one hand and pistol in the other. I can swap between any two combinations of weapons with a keystroke and make more extensive changes on the fly between battles. Perhaps a more effective comparison is the Dragon Age series, where many of the attacks and other abilities depend on what weapons the character has equipped at a given time.

I also appreciate Arena Net’s break from the standard elf, dwarf, orc series of cliches in the character build. Instead we get Humans, ordinary people like you and me; Norn, a race of viking-like giants; Charr, an apparent amalgam of the Beast from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and various members of the genus panthera; Asura, a grey-skinned cross between the Brain from Animaniacs and Yoda; and Slivani, a race of plant-people with leaves for hair, petals for undergarments, and flowers growing out their butts.

The Charr: Villains in Guild Wars 1, now a playable race.

But the factor I think makes Guild Wars 2 most revolutionary is the questing system. Say, for example, a player character arrives at a farm beset by marauding centaurs. In a standard MMO, there will be three or four NPC farmers standing about, offering quests to do things like repair fences, retrieve stolen crops, and bring back fifteen centaur brains. The centaurs, meanwhile, are milling about in a field and only attack  if the player gets too close (approx. 15 feet). And apparently only 1 in 3 centaurs even has a brain, as it takes killing 40 to 50 centaurs to get fifteen centaur brains. In Guild Wars 2, the player might arrive at the farm to find the centaurs burning buildings, riding off with loot, or openly butchering NPC farm hands. Instead of having to talk to an NPC to get the appropriate quests, a message pops up in the top corner of the screen, letting the player know what needs to be done. Thus players are able to immediately enter the fracas and start rescuing NPC farmers and recovering stolen crops.

In addition, there are random events that occur throughout the questing areas that players can choose whether or not to participate in—assuming, of course they don’t get caught up in the middle of them when they hit. In the human lands, for example, there are areas being fought over by the humans and the centaurs, with outposts on both sides being contested. Players are invited to join in the attack when the humans make a push against a centaur encampment. If enough players don’t join the assault, the attack fails and the human troops retreat. If enough players do come help, the encampment is taken and the humans gain a new foothold. Similarly, if enough players don’t come to help defend a besieged human fortress, it will be taken by the centaurs and players lose access to all vendors, repairers, teleport waypoints, and other facilities until the fortress is retaken. I love this feature in that it creates a tug-of-war dynamic between factions in contested territory. I have, however, been caught outside a besieged fortress just as the defenders slammed the gates shut against the oncoming horde. Hilarity ensued.

There is also a story-based campaign of quests that players have the option of whether or not to pursue. The quests have been only mildly interesting so far, and some of the voice acting is of the mediocre persuasion. I try to keep up with them, though, because they tend to provide decent on-level gear as quest rewards.

An alpine road guarded by giant statues of the Norn spirits, Raven, Snow Leopard, Wolf, and Bear.

A few things I feel could work differently (not that any of these factors ruin my gaming experience):
Mounts would be helpful. Sure, the waypoints eliminate any need for a flight-path system like in WoW or a stable-point system like in LOTRO, but at the same time there is enough open territory out there that I feel it would come in handy to have a horse to ride around on. I get tired of hearing that centaurs are attacking the southern encampment, but missing out on the battle because I had to run the whole way.

I also think a costuming system like in Lord of the Rings Online could seriously benefit the overall look of the game. Yes, there is a civilian clothing toggle, so you don’t have to run around town in your armor, but I felt like they could have done more with the outfit customization. While I like the selection of dyes and the amount of color customization available for individual pieces of clothing, I keep finding aesthetically pleasing armors that I know I’m likely to miss once I update them to a newer set. My other reason is that I have a profound dislike for some of the cheesecakey armor that shows off a lot of skin. Not that I’m particularly bothered by cleavage or bare midriffs, I just find it mildly offensive that Arena Net’s armor designers think a reasonably competent warrior woman would want massive gaps in her armor just above her heart or entrails. (Though Guild Wars 2 is hardly the worst culprit in this pet peeve of mine.) Thus I’d prefer the option to cosmetically substitute some of the more lingerie-ish armor I’ve seen for the more sensible scale and chain mail armor I’ve used so far.

I especially love how characters’ feet actually adjust to sloping terrain—unlike most 3D games where toes disappear into hillsides and wide stances involve one foot buried up to the knee and the other hovering off the ground.

Screen captures taken directly from game play. The images should be full resolution, so feel free to use them as desktop wallpaper. I often do.