[Raya]

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[Lark]

I happened to run across Raya's series of articles, and while I have not read them all, I did read Article 6. In it she asked, "What unique talents and abilities have you, as a female MMORPG player, brought to your game?" and while understanding that the article is already written, I still felt the need to mention that something was left out of it.

First I will make the question more general. What unique talents and abilities do females bring to their game? Or maybe it should be even more general still. As alluded to in the article, do females bring unique talents and abilities to their game?

Well of course they do!

For instance, image a child about ten years old who fought a lion, and survived. Most females--and I say most because there is an exception to every rule--would watch the battle with fear, and note afterwards that the kid was covered head to toe in blood. However, she would not think of how awesome it was to see a ten-year-old fight a wildcat and live to tell the tale; yet it is much more likely for a male to do that. Why?

Because it is as Driin said: Everything that people go through in life is influenced by gender. However, she also pointed out that, "It is hard for me to say, 'Because I am female…' and then apply a long list of attributes of anything other than physical/biological traits." There is an explanation for this as well. Consciously no female thinks, "I'm going to wear a dress because I am female," or (better yet), "I'm PMSing because I am female!" But of course the girl knows that it is socially acceptable for her to wear a dress, and PMS, well, can you imagine the day some guy wakes up with morning sickness and a craving for pickles and ice cream?

So, do females bring unique talents and abilities to their game? Females and males are destined to have different experiences; based on their natural differences, each has developed unique talents and abilities to adapt to life. Therefore each individual who plays a MMORPG brings to it those characteristics, as they would be brought into anything the person did. Now what unique talents and abilities are brought is completely dependent on each individual's past experiences.

To Raya, I enjoyed reading your article and it inspired my thoughts.

[Raya]

Okay, I confess - Lark sent me an email along these lines and I thought her point of view was very interesting and certainly in keeping with some of the replies from the participants. I asked her to post here, and she did. Thanks, Lark

[Therian]

Originally Posted by Lark

For instance, image a child about ten years old who fought a lion, and survived. Most females--and I say most because there is an exception to every rule--would watch the battle with fear, and note afterwards that the kid was covered head to toe in blood. However, she would not think of how awesome it was to see a ten-year-old fight a wildcat and live to tell the tale; yet it is much more likely for a male to do that. Why?

That's an interesting point. And yet, at the same time, there is a common belief that there's nothing more dangerous than a mother defending her cubs. How many women would stand there and watch while a child was attacked? Some might. So might some men. Many would not.

People bring their own selves to the game (or they bring a person they're pretending to be, which is a somewhat different thing). Their contribution is linked to the person, not to the gender.

[Lark]

Originally Posted by Therian

How many women would stand there and watch while a child was attacked? Some might. So might some men. Many would not.

People bring their own selves to the game (or they bring a person they're pretending to be, which is a somewhat different thing). Their contribution is linked to the person, not to the gender.

I would hope that anyone would defend a child that was being attacked, but for the sake of the example, perhaps they were being prevented by some unmentioned force and and wasn't able to. Also, I agree that contribution is linked to the person, but meant that gender is highly influential to each and every person.

[Monsoon Rhayne]

"Because of women as a whole, I think that trade skills are more important. Can you imagine, if only men played, how ugly their armor would be? There would certainly be no prismatic dye hehehe."

Well I for one like a nice appearance, but I think that is due to my long term in the military, I therefore like a crisp, clean uniform/military appearance. I was upset that I needed (think I needed) a different expansion pack (still don't have it) to dye my armor...I still have 11 unused vials of prismatic dye