Rhonda and I made another short episode talking about what it’s like to kill female NPCs or to kill your own teammates (and friends!) in-game. Take a listen and tell us what you think!
Mindbender Ghur’sha – Thone of Tides – World of Warcraft
Have you ever hesitated before you attacked an NPC?
What were the circumstances?
What kind of character or game mechanic made you hesitate? And why?
Regina is a gamer, writer, teacher, and podcaster living in the Pacific Northwest. She completed her Ph.D. in 2011 from Washington State University in Vancouver and continues to teach there part time. Regina’s research interests focus on women and technology, and her dissertation discusses female gamers and identity in digital role playing games. A lifelong geek and technology enthusiast, Regina recently started a Girls Who Code club in support of their mission to close the gender gap in technology.
To continue the conversations about gender and gaming that Regina started during her research, she started a podcast called Game on Girl. Called the “NPR of game podcasts” by Chris Brown of The Married Gamers, the podcast features women involved in the game industry, and tackles some of the complicated issues in the gaming community. Season 2 began in the spring of 2018 and will premiere new episodes monthly.
View all posts by Regina McMenomy
4 thoughts on “GoG Short #2 – Killing Female NPCs?”
Looking back over my gaming experience, I would have to say that I've never really hesitated at killing a female character, as long as they were "the enemy". Certainly female demons, dragons or wraiths or other unworldly combatants would not cause me to bat an eyelash; I wasn't even that hesitant (in WoW) to attack a human female or female night elf if they were Horde, since I tend to play Alliance. If I had to chose between two opponents and one was male and one was female, I'd still go for the one that was closest, or weaker or more aggressive, depending on my objective.
However, I did have one very interesting reaction to killing an NPC, which was not really gender specific, but cultural. It was in WoW, when I tried to make a serious attempt at playing a successful Horde character. The first time I encountered a group of Night Elf NPCs who were the target of my mission, my hand literally froze over the mouse after targeting that first unsuspecting "enemy". I had played Night Elves for so long on the Alliance side, that my brain had a hard time accepting that they now were just inconsequential kills! That is one of the few times that my "self" overtook my RP experience. But just for a few minutes. Before long, I had pwned them all.
Thanks for your comment, Sharon. Interesting perspective. I wonder if part of what is going on here is some sort of recognition – that the familiar, in whatever form it might take, makes a more complicated target. For me, it was thinking about attacking my friends, for Rhonda it was a female NPC that had a distinct female voice, and for you it was an in-game race that you were usually on friendly terms with. That recognition, that familiarity, perhaps, makes us take a moment before responding in just a just game or just attack mode. This definitely needs further exploration, especially since your experience adds to this idea. 🙂
Looking back over my gaming experience, I would have to say that I've never really hesitated at killing a female character, as long as they were "the enemy". Certainly female demons, dragons or wraiths or other unworldly combatants would not cause me to bat an eyelash; I wasn't even that hesitant (in WoW) to attack a human female or female night elf if they were Horde, since I tend to play Alliance. If I had to chose between two opponents and one was male and one was female, I'd still go for the one that was closest, or weaker or more aggressive, depending on my objective.
However, I did have one very interesting reaction to killing an NPC, which was not really gender specific, but cultural. It was in WoW, when I tried to make a serious attempt at playing a successful Horde character. The first time I encountered a group of Night Elf NPCs who were the target of my mission, my hand literally froze over the mouse after targeting that first unsuspecting "enemy". I had played Night Elves for so long on the Alliance side, that my brain had a hard time accepting that they now were just inconsequential kills! That is one of the few times that my "self" overtook my RP experience. But just for a few minutes. Before long, I had pwned them all.
Thanks for your comment, Sharon. Interesting perspective. I wonder if part of what is going on here is some sort of recognition – that the familiar, in whatever form it might take, makes a more complicated target. For me, it was thinking about attacking my friends, for Rhonda it was a female NPC that had a distinct female voice, and for you it was an in-game race that you were usually on friendly terms with. That recognition, that familiarity, perhaps, makes us take a moment before responding in just a just game or just attack mode. This definitely needs further exploration, especially since your experience adds to this idea. 🙂
Race, gender, nor species factors into attacking an NPC for me. If they are the enemy, they gotta go.
You've never had a moment of pause? Even when you had to attack someone you know LIKE ME? 🙂