Sunday, October 16, 2011
If Women Ruled WoW (A Video Feature)
I love the Machinima “If Women Ruled WoW” because it takes all of the stereotypes of women and how we’re treated in game into something that the males have to deal with instead. It’s hilarious and very entertaining to watch; the animations are very smooth as well. Watch to see some awesome females on top action, -cough-.
Stuff that goes on:
“TITS OR GTFO” = “BALLS OR GTFO”
“Boyfriend Aggro”
Crafting epics for the “gentlemen” for free
I won’t ruin it for you, just watch ;]. Maybe the men will understand what women go through, haha!
Are you a "Gamer Girl?"
So what makes a girl gamer? Let me break it down for you by this simple checklist:
Are you a girl? (Congratulations, instead of choosing a Y chromosome, you decided to stick with your X.)
Do you enjoy licking your XBOX/PS3/any other console’s controller? (Very sanitary after the fact you’ve just played 5 hours of F.E.A.R 3 on there and possibly sweat a lot, assuming you played at all)
Do you enjoy getting tangled up from the cords of the controllers that is obviously too much for one person to use? (That explains why you’re “stuck” in the first place.)
Can you play games without even touching your gaming console?
Do you make sure you’re in your bra and panties before gaming? (Oh, don’t forget those sexy fishnets!)(Having your hair swishing back while being indoors is always a bonus! Where’s the wind coming from?)
Or do you…
Oh wait, my bad.
If you fit at least 3 of the things I mentioned in the criteria about, congratulations, you’re a gamer girl!
Before I go on I just have to mention that I am not trying to offend anyone, I just thought I’d bring some of my views into the world of sexy female players. I have nothing against these “hot” gamers but I’m going to break down on what is a true female gamer and how to survive in the world of images games paint for females.
Actually there is no such thing as a “gamer girl”, we are merely people who game and we just happen to be female. Are there any “Boy gamers”? No, in a sense that we don’t give them a title for playing games.
However there are differences in being a girl that simply games compared to a “girl gamer”.
The “Girl Gamer”
To put it in simple terms, these “Girl Gamers” do it for attention and play to impress people. Since gaming seems to be predominantly a male thing, it makes women/girls in game more desirable in male population. So in playing video games it gives the girl more attention and the feeling of superiority over other girls that don’t.
Here are a few other symptoms a “Girl Gamer” may have.
-Feeling threatened by a fellow gamer girl and will probably tear them apart to make sure their “place” in the social circle is secure. (Only one queen bee can stay! Who wants to share the attention anyways?)
-Playing to obtain self-esteem from praise/attention/adoration from the men
The fact is, when you’re not looking these girls probably don’t even play the games they said they do, or maybe they’re playing so they don’t look like a complete fool the next time they’re invited to play with the guys.
A female that simply games is well a gamer that just happens to be a girl. We seek to find people with common interests and play with them! We don’t do it for the attention or the love, we do it because gaming is what we enjoy doing. I’ve been playing games for as early as I can remember, even since… I think around when I was 6 or 7? I can’t quite remember. I played Starcraft: Brood Wars, Half-life and Counter Strike ever since I was a kid. And believe me, shooting things with a gun and playing online games was not really something that was cool back then.
Most of my friends rarely hear about my gaming because I don’t feel the need to be vocal about gaming. I’m not ashamed of it, heck I love it, but since I don’t have many friends that game which makes it kind of pointless to talk about. I do it for my enjoyment, I'm not here to put up a show for others.
Many girls get caught in the stereotypes of either being overweight or as super-hot girls. Hell it doesn’t matter if you’re good or not, as long as you have boobs and a vagina you’re good to go.
Admittedly I don’t fit into either of those stereotypes, I’m not morbidly obese or super-hot, so do we have to be one or the other? The ones who truly appreciate gaming are probably too busy actually playing to voice their opinions; hence they are underrepresented, so instead we get people who start portraying girls in the wrong way.
To be honest I think that these girls that are posing for the camera are just girls who are willing to well, pose in front of the camera and pretend to play when they probably don’t even know how to aim a gun properly in a game. However putting that assumption aside, maybe these gamer girls do know what they’re doing, which leads to the next problem.
How many times have we been told to make a “sammich”? (Whether it’s jokingly or not) I’ve certainly heard of it many times. When game girls are putting themselves out there in bras and panties holding a gaming controller or licking them really isn’t helping the overall female gamer population. It adds to the image as women being objects rather than people. Sure men love looking at hot babes and you might get attention for a while, in the long run people will lose respect for you as a person. Not only that, it has that it twisted the images of all girls that simply play games because they truly enjoy it, AKA the underrepresented girls.
I don’t know… there’s something about grabbing your boobs and posing in front of the camera that makes me really wonder if I’m staying for the brains.
Media definitely does not help in portraying a healthy image for female gamers. The girls that endorse the games are usually skimpily dressed and usually extremely gorgeous. Sure it’s great eye candy for the guys and it makes games look cooler (that’s what the companies want, to make games cool so they sell) but what does that say about the women?Games are no longer just for nerds and people who have no life, games are popular, and if we game that make us cool.
I came across sites that are dedicated to hot female gamers and worshipping them, in a sense ( if you call that worshipping). I even read a comment from a girl claiming that if she was hotter she’s be working for a certain site (which I will not mention here). It’s a site where people can pay to play with hot girls for a certain amount of time. They have all sorts of pretty girls posing provocatively waiting to be chosen. Isn’t that a type of prostitution (correct me if I’m wrong)? Have girls really stooped that low?
Female gamers want respect right? However all the pressure from other girls and the media really isn’t helping. It really hurts the girls who are simply just trying to have fun and not trying to turn gaming into an attention grabbing competition.
Know of Assassin’s Creed? Well the female producer got a lot of attention, but not in a good way. Do we really want girls to receive that kind of attention, is that what we want? (In of being seen as a talented game producer, she was looked at as being "hot" or "sexy" rather than looking at her skills. There were even comics that were made that made her in a dumb character and doing... extreme things to get men to buy her game. Excuse me, a little respect please?)
Let me just quote from a great blog post (she puts it way better than I can find in my own words):
I’ve browsed through many blogs that use a “Girl’s” perspective as a selling point. I’ve come across blogs that says along the lines of “Gaming as a girl”, “Tank like a Girl” (World of Warcraft blog, not trying to point fingers, I love the information she has provided me for tanking), or just simple having “Girl” in their blog title. Admittedly I have fallen for it and I have clicked their blogs. I clicked it to see what kinds of things the author has to say about her point of view as a girl on gaming. In all honesty it’s not really different from anyone else’s blog on tanking. They provide quality information, but really not much has changed. Here’s how I look at it.
Everyone is unique so indeed everyone’s blog has their own special pizazz. However I don’t think it is gender that gives it that special touch. We’re all unique individuals and that’s what makes our blogs, writing, art, production, whatever it is, interesting! So if I’m a girl I automatically write 30% better than a man, if I’m a girl my knowledge is better than a guy’s? No! Everyone has their own style in what they do so obviously their teaching method will be different. Some people may learn easily from different people because their tactics match theirs the best, not because someone is male or female.
What is gaming like a girl exactly?
If you’re a female gamer do you get a 10% bonus in attack or do you not have to suffer from durability loss when you die? No, we’re equal, this whole inequality business to just made up by us, the society we live in.
So in my opinion a “Girls’ Point of View” is merely a selling tactic, and heck it works great! Nothing wrong about using it, but these are my views. Personally I won’t be using that way to sell my views because I know I’m giving information as an unique individual, not because I'm a female.
I remember when I was a kid I actually loved playing with rainbow ponies. I forget what they’re called but in my kindergarten class there was always a tub of shiny, pretty ponies. I admit, I like pretty ponies, but that doesn’t mean my gaming life revolves around it.
We enjoy games from all walks of life, maybe sometimes we enjoy cooking games, but we may also like FPS games, RPGS, MMORPG’s as well.
There are times were I like to play “Fashion Designer” (the clothes look awesome ok?!), but I won’t hesitate to grab my controller and blow up some aliens if I had the chance.
Female gamers are dumb, and they suck at it. TITS OR GTFO.
Many may think girls that game are usually pretty bad at it. In fact I am pretty bad at gaming. I was exposed to games at a very young but gaming was always kind of frowned upon since I am a girl, and in fact I’m Asian. Not only is gaming as a girl bad because I’m supposed to be working in the kitchen instead (yes I actually get those comments: Learn how to cook, learn how to sew, if you don’t you husband will divorce you! Great.), I also had to make sure when I showed my parents my grades they were “Asian friendly” (meaning you have to get A’s). I love gaming; however I get little time to play, so I really had no time to practice either.
Sometimes I feel pressured to act a certain way. Not to have to dress sexy and such, but I feel like to prove myself to be separate from the usual stereotypes; I feel like I can’t enjoy “girly games” at times, or I need to be really good to make a place in the gaming world. I always worry that if I don’t play well I’ll be immediately stereotyped and that’ll make other female gamers look bad. I just want to play and have fun, not to have to constantly worry about rules and trying to break stereotypes.
So this must be a post on hating the hot gamers right? Wrong. Heck, I love female gamers, I’d like a get together to know them, but not form some kind of creepy cult that secretly hates each other or just make a social circle to feel powerful in. Personally I want to be able to share my interests with other people. Sadly all my friends do not play video games so I rarely speak about it. Not because I am ashamed of gaming in any way, I just doubt anyone will understand when I tell them I dinged 85 last night on my warrior.
There is nothing wrong about being a pretty female gamer that truly enjoys gaming and knows what they’re talking about! I think there should be more female gamers, let’s face it, we’re so much better than men ;) (It’s no secret, but we can let them pretend.)
Sometimes when I see a female gamer on XBOX insider and such (my brother always points out how hot she looks… sigh.), I do in fact feel proud that there are more girls out there that appreciate games.
And if you enjoy playing in bras and panties and make up, great! Nothing wrong with that… just I think if you’re playing you’d be busy playing rather than taking photos and evidently leading to someone shooting you to death in the process. When I wake up and want to play Borderlands I just make sure I’m clean and comfortable, I don’t bother putting on make-up or curling my hair and such…
Don’t give men an excuse to point and comment on our boobs an ass, if you want to show it, be prepared for the attention you get for your “assets”, rather than how well you play. At the end of the day, what matters that if you’re gaming you’re doing your job; when we’re raiding we don’t want anyone stupid that has decided to stand in the fire. Of course there are many times we’re accepted into raids/matches (or not) because we’re a girl, but we want them to look at our skills, not because we have boobs. I’m sure many of you have heard of “TITS OR GTFO.”
It is good to put ourselves out there in a way to be respected (Like Jade Raymond, but sadly even though she did not dumb herself down, she still got the wrong kind of attention. I admire her for being such an amazing game producer; she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that). If we make our needs clear too, the developers will take us into consideration and make a more diverse franchise in games. I do enjoy games that have an option to be a female, but I suppose it isn’t mandatory. I like hopping around as Arbiter in Halo as well.
Lastly, I’m not trying to draw attention as a girl. I’m putting it out there because in fact I am a girl (proud to be one), that is who I am and I happen to enjoy gaming. I’m a not a gamer girl, but simply a girl that games.
I’m sure one day; female gamers will become normality and not something of surprise.
Has anyone gotten special treatment/been harassed as a girl?
What are you opinions on being a girl that games?
Any special stories of gamer girls?
(Feel free to comment about anything, those are just ideas.)
I love reading comments; it helps me learn more about the issues I talk about. I may have done my research but there is always something new to learn! Enlighten me!
Links for further reading:
I am not a girl gamer
The Difference between ‘Female Gamers’ and ‘Gamer Girls’
Video games: From Boy’s Club to Girls Clique
Best Dressed Game Characters
Big sexy metal clad shoulder pads, chunky boots, velvet chest pieces and to top it off with a long jewelled sword, why wouldn’t I want to dress up as gaming character?
These are a few best dressed gaming characters’ clothes that I want to steal and wear them for myself! (Although many of these are quite impractical, but I'll overlook that for now and focus on the sweet designs of the clothing.)
The Leliana I know from Dragon Age: Origins had not in fact had such nice armour, but I managed to find a (nearly) full body image here. It’s the best one I could find, but it’s enough to show how beautiful her armour is. I especially love her stockings/boots and her arm covered in the metal plating. Although it makes me wonder if this is the best suit for mobility.
The seductress Lilith is here! The Siren in Borderlands has a simple yet chic outfit.
Not much to say about Lightning except the fact that her outfit is awesome! Her long white vest and her swishy cape really make it memorable for me. I’d walk around in that outfit anytime!
It’s a terrible outfit to fight in; with the hood always trying to drape over your eyes and the tight bodice that squeezes the boobs out of you (literally?), splendid to kill zombies with. However I love the red riding hood design, Sheva looks awesome in the costume. I could only find the top half of this outfit sadly.
How can we forget Altaïr in Assassin’s Creed. I’m sure he’s gotten enough attention already but it doesn’t hurt that he gets more. He was designed with the idea of being the “bird of prey”. His hood is slightly pointed to resemble a beak and every time he jumps his robe will fan out and in the shadows he’ll look like a flying eagle. This was said by the producer of the game Jade Raymond.
That is it for now, in the time being I’ll keep my eyes peeled for gaming outfits and wishing I could own some of them myself.
Moving Here from Wicked Wed
I've decided that I rather host my blog via. Blogger instead of Wordpress, so I'll be importing old blog posts from my previous blog, Wicked Wed.
From now on it, Wicked Tier, :], a new Nerd's Haven.
From now on it, Wicked Tier, :], a new Nerd's Haven.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Observations: Honesty
In my (not so) honest Opinion…
Initial Observations: Honesty
I sat nervously, feeling my heart pound as I crossed my fingers for my friend to finish her presentation. There were occasional mistakes but my friend’s presentation went smoothly. I was glad that she had braved through the mind-numbing borderline heart-attack ritual of speaking to the class and clapped as she sat next to me. I told her she did well with a few others agreeing, I was about to turn my attention back to the board when she asks me, “Honest opinion, how did I do?”
Being the straightforward person I was, I told her the truth. “You made a few mistakes, but overall good.” My meaning basically was, everyone makes mistakes, nothing is perfect, and you did really great. You were brave and presented everything in a decent orderly fashion. It’s a compliment indeed, after all I did not even have the guts myself to do the presentation just yet. However instead Nina grumbles,
“I understand what you mean.” The tone of voice was sharp and almost cutting and filled with annoyance (and no I am not being paranoid because she had her grumpy voice on).
Wait what? I suddenly get the feeling, I’m the bad guy. I understand she’s stressed and feeling a bit self-conscious but I still felt kind of hurt. Did I say something wrong, why did she make such a comment? I knew for sure that she doesn’t understand what I meant.
Bad Reactions to Honesty:
So breaking out of narrative here, I actually really dislike it when people ask for “Honest” opinions and not actually meaning it. Here is my analysis when people ask for such opinions:
-Just tell me I did well, I don’t care if it’s a lie! (But if you tell me it’s good I’m tell you you’re lying and I will not believe you anyways.)
-If you give me the honest opinion (which is obviously “bad” opinion), I’ll get mad at you because it’s not what I want to hear.
Right and wrong are determined by people’s point of view and their values. There is never truly a right and wrong, only how we perceive it.
Most of the times when giving advice and opinions, people will hear what they want to hear.
-If the person giving the honest opinion doesn’t sugar coat their words or purposely make it sound “less offensive” (in all actuality it may not be offensive, it’s the person feeling sensitive about the topic that turns the harmless comment into something else), even then they may misunderstand and get pissed off anyways.
I don’t see the point of people ever asking for “honest opinions”, why don’t you just ask them to compliment and lie to you. The person asking for “honesty” is practicing dishonesty themselves. Quite frankly sometimes I find it rather pressuring when people ask me what I think because I already know they have an answer.
It’s like girls asking whether they look fat their dress to their boyfriend; truth is:
-your guy probably doesn’t care
-he’s too afraid to say the truth because you’ll stop having sex with him until you lose weight
-you’re not fat and it’s getting annoying that you’re even asking.
I know we all want reassurance, but when it becomes a routine them it’s something else. I totally get it if you’re worried you look fat in a dress you’re going to wear to a first date, but if you comment on it every day, please no.
Back to analysis of my friend, she was probably just feeling sensitive and perhaps a little insecure. Everyone feels that way at some point in their lives. Hell I’d be insecure if I messed up in front of so many people for a presentation.
However due to her reaction I feel bad for giving my genuine observation and thoughts to her. I felt bad at first but I took a step back and I actually thought, hey maybe this isn’t my fault!
Actually I would’ve probably lied if it was anyone else, but it was my friend so I decided to give a true part of me to her. I feel tired that I have to explain to her that what I did was no harm. Maybe my honest opinion was too harsh, but hey sometimes we need that verdict that can give us that definite trustful answer.
The value of Honesty and losing it
It makes it hard for people to be truly honest with you if you practice the bad habit of saying one thing and meaning the other. Perhaps they’ll be afraid to be truly vocal on things of you. Sometimes it’s good to not let the haters faze you, but the people who truly care for you and are trying to point out the things that help you may back away as well.
It makes it hard for people to be truly honest with you if you practice the bad habit of saying one thing and meaning the other. Perhaps they’ll be afraid to be truly vocal on things of you. Sometimes it’s good to not let the haters faze you, but the people who truly care for you and are trying to point out the things that help you may back away as well.
The only person that is losing out is you.
I just want to say once again, please be careful when asking for honesty. People may be reluctant to truly be open with you if you go against your words of wanting honesty. All I know is that from now on I’ll be careful on what to say around my friend. Is that what we want, a relationship of hide and seek?
Sometimes it takes the true friend to point out your flaws. Not because they want to hurt you, but because they want to help you develop and grow. Don’t scare those people away.
I have not been fortunate enough to find someone I can truly be honest to. Sometimes even when my family say hurtful things to me, they’re being real; it’s a harshness I don’t experience with friends. To me it seems that even close friends we hold back and not say what we truly feel because we’re afraid to hurt them. I mean my brother comes out and says “YOU STINK” without remorse. THANK YOU, now I can go and shower up! Friends may awkward bring it up or just let it pass, thanks for letting me not stink up that cute guy over there!
I actually like being honest, but sadly only a few people actually like honesty. People say “I want my friends/boyfriend to be honest.” And maybe they actually do, but unconsciously their actions may be pushing them away.
(ok I don’t literally stink, but that’s an easy simple example. I do groom myself people! I mean I know I don’t smell the best
after a long workout, but then I shower. Ok now that that is clear, let us move on!)
after a long workout, but then I shower. Ok now that that is clear, let us move on!)
However I do believe there are people who can take honesty and give honesty. I may not have encountered them now, but in the future, yes (hopefully)!
Asking for and Accepting Honesty
Don’t ask for honesty when you don’t mean it, because then you don’t deserve it.
For the people who want to experience true honesty, I have a few guidelines (FYI, this isn’t the way to do it. Everyone has their own style, and here’s mine.)
-Honesty is a valuable thing. Don’t spend it on the things that don’t matter.
If you throw around the word “honest” too often without true meaning behind it, the word will lose meaning. Only ask for honest opinions if you truly wish get one. If you do so, people will respect and listen when you ask for it.
-People may not always say what you want
That’s life, and the reason why you’re asking for it is because you need a true answer, and the answer you seek may not be the answer you want.
-Sometime Honesty will hurt you (so be careful of who you trust!)
Just make sure to not let it bring you down. It’s supposed to help you not make you sad! And of course there will be people who make fake accusations or mean comment to bring you down; don’t mind those people.
Also opening up to being who are open-minded and kind are a better choice than just anyone you see in the hallways.
Remember keeping yourself open minded and willing to hear other people’s opinions will let you gain more knowledge and people will truly want to open up to you.
Constructive feedback
Really I’m not the kind of person who purposely tries to hurt someone. Even when giving honest opinions I will try to tone it down, because people get insecure too. I like to balance things out as well. As opposed to saying “Wow your art sucks”, I’ll say “The shading is done nicely but the colours really don’t complement each other well.”
There is a difference between “It sucks” and giving constructive feedback. Saying simply “It sucks” means you haven’t truly looked into someone to find the good and bad. I am a firm believer that there is always good in the bad and bad in good.
-Honesty is important!
Honesty=trust, to those who can take the truth. Lying could lead to worse things that just a short fight, it could lead to broken relationship if it is serious enough.
-Consider their feelings
Everyone is different and everyone will take comments differently. If the person is shy or sensitive, be sure to tone things down a bit. Everyone has their insecurities and their own personality, so find the right way to tell someone the truth.
-Environment
Perhaps it isn’t such a good idea to yell out an embarrassing opinion in front of the class. Maybe tell them to wait a bit, find time one on one or somewhere no one can hear.
-Being Honest will be tough!
Not everyone will agree with your point of view and it may result in someone disliking you. It’s worth the risk on certain things! (Some people may not believe you even! Move on, your duty is done for them, in the end they are the ones who make the final decision.)
Overall, don’t be rude!
Tip: If you constantly have to deal with people who ask for honesty but don’t mean it, just ask them next time if they truly want honesty, if now tell them not to waste your time. That is that.
If you spend time thinking of their situation and truly putting your thoughts into it (Honesty is meant to be genuine, not a weapon) then people will value the things you say. And the truth is not everyone will agree with what you say but they will respect you for truly putting in a well-thought opinion. However the people who don’t take it seriously, just leave them be, their loss!
Dealing with bad criticism
There will be people who try to bring you down, and you need to differentiate between someone being plain mean or someone who’s simply trying to help.
We know ourselves the best and we may not know it. Deep down we know the answer but we just want it confirmed. The next time someone makes a mean comment, stop and think, is it true?
Don’t let other people’s words faze you! People will judge you no matter what you do, so who give a flying crap about what they think?
Don’t let other people’s words faze you! People will judge you no matter what you do, so who give a flying crap about what they think?
I feel that there is no need to ask for reassurance (on certain things). What I mean by that is who cares what people think of your outfit? If you like it, wear it! Of course sometimes it’s good to listen to people’s thoughts. It’s really up to you on how to differentiate what important to tune into and what to just send to the trash file.
Also when we rely too much on people’s comments we start losing our sense of self. Do we need to have someone else approval?
I’m insecure too
Instead of pointing fingers at just other people, heck I need to do some self-reflection! Perhaps I should learn how to phrase my comments better so it won’t be taken the wrong way. Tedious work yea, but hey, it is better than losing a friend!
I mean I’m insecure about my “fat thighs”. It crazy though I see girls just gather up and talk about how fat they are or how ugly they are (honestly all of them really aren’t ugly IMO). But we see so many flaws in ourselves! Why? I mean I feel insecure but I honestly I don’t see the need to discuss it with people. Not because I’m scared to talk about it but I just find that there is no need. Will complaining change anything? These whine fests are just a way to make us not feel so alone, that we’re not the only imperfect ones and hell that girl has a worse haircut than me. It isn’t about putting down others to feel better, it’s not able comparing, and it’s about knowing no one is perfect. Talking about it on the other hand does help. To actively encourage one another and to actively go out and make a change! Complaining about your weight won’t change it; however talking about it with someone who may be in the situation (or someone supportive) can push you into a plan that makes change! I mean know of Spark life is where girls come together and join groups to lose weight together. There is strength in numbers! They’re encouraging one another and best of all they’re no alone!
Whining no, talking and making change, yes!
Sometimes I wish I could be those people who just say what’s on their mind. To be honest I’ve heard pretty sensitive topics being poked by these people. I have had my share of things being poked by them. However I do not mind, because their words are real, and they’re true. When I want honesty I mean it. But the important thing is don’t be rude and be honest to yourself and others!
I think in conclusion it all comes down to the fact that deep down inside, even despite the strong exterior we put up; we just want reassurance and love. However there are certain ways to go about it and not indulge in self-hate.
Monday, June 6, 2011
What does your Birthday mean?
Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations. You're very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you. Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans. You are quite original. When people don't "get" you, it bothers you a lot. Your strength: Your ability to gain respect Your weakness: Caring too much what others think Your power color: Orange-red Your power symbol: Letter X Your power month: October Click here to check what your birthday means! |
Sunday, May 22, 2011
First Post
Hello there world, to those sitting in front of the computer screens gnawing away at your cookie and sipping your morning coffee; hello to those who are at work and are searching for some sort of entertainment behind these glowing boxes!
This is my first post of this blog and I'm glad I've taken this first step. I have no idea where this is going to go, but we'll see in the near future.
This is my first post of this blog and I'm glad I've taken this first step. I have no idea where this is going to go, but we'll see in the near future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)







