Psychological issues of gender in Eternal Lands

[Lachesis]

Hail my el mates,

 

inspired by a short chat of the category "R u guy or gal?0", I started to wonder if it would be possible to proof -- or at least provide some evidence -- what gender you are in EL. This is a true psychological issue, and probably kind of interesting

I already have some rough ideas so far:

• If you ask a player if s/he is male or female, you are probably male (and less than 18 years of age)
  
• If you hate wearing a conjurer cape (blue) on your green clothes and rather put some leather armor on as well, you are probably female (thanks to Ithilgalen for that idea)
  

Please tell me your thoughts

... and I DON'T want ANY crude comments on this. Please be fair.

 

With regards,

Lachesis

[Platyna]

I am asking if someone is male or female to make sure. Since clicking a different gender

while creating a character is very easy. I am a female, and I hate wearing excavator cape.

I wouldn't mind if someone "by mistake" would swap textures with the red cape next client

update like I did. :-)

 

Regards.

[Leeloo]

If you ask a player if s/he is male or female, you are probably male (and less than 18 years of age)

The first person to ask me that question was Roja...

 

Entropy, is there something you didn't tell us?

[scarr]

Females always wear fur boots...

[Aepox]

Females always wear fur boots...

Iq fiskmås....

[Lachesis]

I am asking if someone is male or female to make sure. Since clicking a different gender while creating a character is very easy.

Well, just as easy as it is to leave out or add an f and an e in front of "male" in an answer to that question What I would be interested in is how to provide evidence (imagine the case someone doesn't believe you). This is rather meant to be a theoretical discussion <_<

 

If you ask a player if s/he is male or female, you are probably male (and less than 18 years of age)

The first person to ask me that question was Roja...

Entropy, is there something you didn't tell us?

He he, I rather meant something like

category "R u guy or gal?0"

I was asked that about ten times in the same converstion with the same person, though I gave a concrete answer at once <_<

 

EDIT: quoting corrected

Edited February 8, 2005 by Lachesis

[Roja]

Well there was only one guy that had me fooled 100% that he was a female irl...he was a female in the game

 

I often ask people if I get to know them as friends if they are guys. I have yet to meet a girl irl who is a male in the game. From what I've noticed, so far any female iin-game who talks technical programmer stuff is a guy

I've been mistaken for a guy too many times to count. And I don't talk technical stuff..I guess it's just because I do artwork?? beats me.

[Leeloo]

From what I've noticed, so far any female in-game who talks technical programmer stuff is a guy

So, only guys are interested in game development? Because I know at least five female programmers (well, one of them used to be a programmer), and they are at least as good as their male colleagues.

[Chryzopraz]

Does it matter?

Sometimes you can figure out what gender is someone from what he/she is saying (especially in Polish, or some other languages where genders have different grammatical forms).

But does it matter in game?

 

Regards

 

Chryzopraz

[Roja]

From what I've noticed, so far any female in-game who talks technical programmer stuff is a guy

So, only guys are interested in game development? Because I know at least five female programmers (well, one of them used to be a programmer), and they are at least as good as their male colleagues.

Of course not Leeloo. I'm a girl and I'm very interested in game development

 

It's just that, from what I've noticed in the game so far there's been at least 5 game-dev or programmer "girls" who were really guys. I just noticed it as a pattern.

[Lyanna]

I don't know... I think any half-decent roleplayer should be able to stay in character if he/she was playing a person of the opposite gender. The thing is, of course, that EL doesn't have many hardcore roleplayers, so gender giveaways are quite easy to spot. The real level of difficulty in trying to determine whether a person is of a different gender than their character comes from all the little OOC touches and subconscious attitudes that they project - if that person is good at masking even those small details, I believe it's possible to completely fool another person.

 

I have noticed that real-life females tend to use better spelling and grammar and avoid l33t more than their male counterparts, though. Although it's not conclusive proof, it could be a clue. But then again, some guys are just that way with English, especially people who are in a profession involving it, like teaching.

 

The fashion clues may be useful, or may be not. Some guys have a good sense of colour coordination, some girls just plain choose badly, or like being strikingly ugly. Technical issues, as Leeloo pointed out, is a matter of training, not gender.

 

Although it's supposedly said that girls are supposed to be more "soft" than guys, I don't think it applies here, or in any online communities. People are just people, and personalities can shine through, especially with an asexual character name, like chatterbug89 (for example). Those sort of names provide no clue as to gender, and hence any person trying to determine the player's gender will have to rely on external clues. But because of the anonymity of the Internet, people let their true personalities show, rather than any gender-derived traits and attitudes (of course, this can be debated to some extent).

 

But even personality-wise, it's hard to tell. For example,

 

"Girls care more about their friends than guys do."

- Ember cares a lot about her friends, and gets into arguments defending them.

- Daxon cares a lot about his friends, and gets into arguments defending them.

- It is highly-likely that they are female and male, respectively. This provides no clue.

 

"Guys are more analytical and objective than girls are."

- JezeBelle and Aislinn are both very analytical and objective when they have to be, as well as Platyna (when she isn't angry).

- (I would provide the counter-point, but I don't want to insult any guys...)

 

"Girls like using smileys more than guys"

- Obviously proven wrong on these Forums.

 

 

Umm... I can't think of any more at the moment.

 

-Lyn-

 

EDIT:

 

It's just that, from what I've noticed in the game so far there's been at least 5 game-dev or programmer "girls" who were really guys. I just noticed it as a pattern.

 

5?! I know 2, I can probably take a guess at one more... but who are the rest? *starts counting*

Edited February 4, 2005 by Lyanna

[scarr]

WHAT ROJA YOU A WOMAN!?!

[Dorplein]

You didn't know that?

[scarr]

just joking

[Adyna]

I have a female char and I am female in RL but ther was one person that wouldn't believe I am female, and there was nothing I could say to make him change his mind. So I gave up trying to convince him in the end!

[Anastasia]

I have yet to meet a girl irl who is a male in the game.

I have a male character... Demeticus.

[TheNewestNewbie]

Adyna, that's like me trying to convince ggm that I am not Ana (Though we finally did!).

 

About girls using grammar, my brother does too. Though he's gay...

[Acelon]

Adyna, that's like me trying to convince ggm that I am not Ana (Though we finally did!).

 

About girls using grammar, my brother does too. Though he's gay...

That's not saying much

[goatsgomoo]

Adyna, that's like me trying to convince ggm that I am not Ana (Though we finally did!).

 

About girls using grammar, my brother does too. Though he's gay...

That's not saying much

Woah! Deja vu!

Anyway... It wasn't all that hard to convince me that you're not Ana. It only took you, Ana, a smegload of other people to tell me that you're not Ana, and LV and Hazor to tell me you have different IP's. But yeah, I haven't met many people that purposely are the other sex in-game than in real life. But, yeah, a few people made characters the wrong gender. *Laughs at JjK.*

[Daxon]

- It is highly-likely that they are female and male, respectively. This provides no clue.

Yeah, I am a male. (Hope there was no doubt with anyone. ) I don't like having female characters. Does psychological damage to me.

[Hazor]

But, yeah, a few people made characters the wrong gender. *Laughs at JjK.*

Haha! Hurcules.

 

A lot of people used to think I was Female.. But, not so much, anymore.

[TheNewestNewbie]

- It is highly-likely that they are female and male, respectively. This provides no clue.

Yeah, I am a male. (Hope there was no doubt with anyone. ) I don't like having female characters. Does psychological damage to me.

Oh my God I was worried I was a lesbian.

 

Now I can "obsess" without shame.

Edited February 5, 2005 by TheNewestNewbie

[Daxon]

- It is highly-likely that they are female and male, respectively. This provides no clue.

Yeah, I am a male. (Hope there was no doubt with anyone. ) I don't like having female characters. Does psychological damage to me.

Oh my God I was worried I was a lesbian.

 

Now I can "obsess" without shame.

.. Uhm.. more power to you..

[Lachesis]

Thank you thank you thank you for your lots of ideas, this is certainly going to be a very interesting thread Now again some of my thoughts:

 

I think we all agree that it is sometimes hard (and sometimes not) to determine the true gender of some person if s/he is pretending it. Probably you will also agree that for every clue there is a counter-example and finally that the hardest task of all might be to expatiate clues.

 

However, expatiating clues is all that qualitative research can do, and probably the most interesting part of this problem. As such, my intention was to focuse on it. So before we run into either argueing which are good clues and which are not, or even the desperate conclusion that there might be no good ones at all, let's spend some words on what a good clue might be:

 

1) it is concrete and objectively verifyable

2) it either

2a) applies to "nearly" all cases or

2b) applies to "nearly" all cases of a cleanly specified subgroup of cases

 

whereas the closeness of "nearly all" to "all" defines a graduation of the clue's quality, but also the degree of concreteness of its formulation and exactness the subgroup specification do.

 

Well this sounds a little scientific but it wasn't really meant to be , and it is also just a proposal, of course. Please consider this to be a little fingerpost on where we *might* lead this discussion. I am looking forward to your additional ideas

 

And for joy, after all that has been said, guess (unless you know it!) my cute analytical mind's gender ... and please excuse my possibly awful grammar

 

With regards,

Lachesis

[Korgan]

I know someone with a male toon and everyone still think's she... erm... he is female.

 

Yes, I'm talking about a very talkative insect with a number in her... his... name. :lol: