Batting of lashes: On girls & WoW

This is a guest post from Honeytrap, Orc Huntress, Dàrksun – Bloodfeather EU.

Exhausted subject. Can’t believe I find myself writing about it. Oh well. Here goes.

Before I start I will admit to the following, very female features not all of which I am proud:

• I get lost frequently, even in instances I have been 100 times before
• I cannot bring myself to disenchant my Red Ruby Slippers; they are still in my bank
• I do have in my possession every item that is sold by Haris Pilton (although shades & turban was given to me as a gift)
• My bags are always a mess also in real life. Pity add-ons like baggins does not exist irl.
• It annoys me when the colour-combination of my clothes goes all off-piste.
• I really do not think men should wear pink. And that paladin-shield from TBC … well… honestly.
• I collect pets (but always forget to use them)
• I have to turn of the sound to kill the Orcas (very sad crying sound when dying), and the Mammoth calves (whimpering). Other than that I am a tough ruthless killing machine.

The sex thing: Over my years in wow I can see why some female players get a bad reputation. Drama in wow mostly evolves around, play style, loot etc. Bring a female in and you add a whole new set of drama. I could insert a number of stories here ofc – but I will make it simple: Lets face it – some females have a special talent for brainf*cking that most males aren’t even close to matching. I have seen best friends turn enemies and massive /gquits over girls, that can’t be matched by any other drama I have experienced in WoW. Do remember however: it takes two to tango. I mean – how hard can it be to figure out that you are being strung along? Honestly?

I also have had girls complaining to me about being stalked, abusive whispers etc etc. Watching the way they act, my usual response is an advice to adjust behaviour and use Ignore or Report if things get to bad. Advice they seldom listen to. This leads me to draw my own conclusions. I will leave you to draw yours.

The drama-queens & the whiners: I’m not getting into this one. Drama-queens and whiners come in both sexes. EOD.

The bad raiding: Since I haven’t played with a huge amount of girls, I have no conclusive answer to this. I can’t really tell if females are better or worse at raiding then males. I have known some truly great female raiders, but also a few that I sincerely wished would have stayed with achievements & collecting companions. But then – I also saw an extremely huge amount of bad male riders.

Minority and statistics: I think I read somewhere that 90% of the female chars are played by 10% of the guys. Be that as it may: WoW is mostly inhabited by boys, and luckily also some men. Females are a minority. Minorities get noticed, especially those with negative behavior.

But think of it this way: How many male players have you known that are drama queens compared to the number of female players you have seen that are drama queens? How many bad male raiders do you know compared to number of bad female raiders?

My point being: There are not many female players in wow, so their way of playing and attitudes are more noticeable then for male players. It’s a thing that every minority have to face, so just live with it and try not to f*ck up to much.

Friends: So… do I miss female companionship? NO. To be honest I don’t really care a rats arsle if the people I play with are male or female – as long as they are decent, easygoing, know what they are doing, and fun to play with.

Me: So… do I myself let my sex work to my advantage? Do I expect different treatment because I am a girl? NO. I would consider that an insult – in WoW as in RL. I do accept help of course, and if males tend to be more helpful towards females than other males – well I guess I would have a slight advantage. In raiding on the other hand I have to prove my own worth, no amount of batting my eyelashes will help me out there.

Is there a point? Yes. I hope this doesn’t come as a shock to you: Females come in all variations, like males – One size does not fit all.

Disclaimer: This is a slightly rewritten copy of a blogpost i made on Manaflask.com a few years ago.

Making the Transition: Casual to Progression

Or vice versa!

I’ve been around.  I’ve done stuff.  I’ve seen… things.  I’ve raided everything from Karazhan to Firelands.  I’ve raided casually when I felt like it, to hardcore “berated if you don’t show up” heroic raiding.

My experiences are likely unique based on the people I’ve raided with, but the lessons learned are pretty universal.  First, let’s talk about moving from a casual environment to more progression oriented.

Casual to Progression

The biggest difference to expect between a casual raid to that of a progression raid is you can expect that your performance (whether it be healing, dps, threat production as a tank, cool-down use, consumables use, etc.) to be under the microscope.  Mediocre playing likely won’t fly.  You can also expect to be talked to regarding ways you can improve your performance — and not everyone is able to deliver feedback in a constructive way.  It’s important that you have a thick skin if you really want to get into progression raiding.

Here’s some good habits to get into for progression raiding:

• Optimize your spec, glyphs, gems and reforging.  Everyone typically can use some help in this regard.  Hunters are fortunate and get Female Dwarf‘s optimizer.  Use it. Love it.
• Read and watch lots of strategies. I prepare myself by watching Tankspot and Learn2Raid‘s videos. Know the fights before walking into them.
• Spend time with a target dummy.  If you’re DPS, time yourself to 10-million damage on the Raider’s Target dummy.  Most fights in Firelands won’t require more than 6-7 million damage per player, so make sure you’re getting there as quickly as possible.
• Learn how to read raid logs.  It’s an art, and can be super confusing. World of Logs is my choice.
• Know your class, and your roles inside a raid.  If you’re a hunter, there’s tons of resources out there to make you a better player. You can find most all of them linked somewhere off of WoW Hunter’s Hall.
• Always carry your own food.  Feasts might not always be available.
• Always carry your own flasks.  Cauldrons might be on short supply, or you might miss it.  Best to be prepared.
• Carry potions.  Lots of them. If you’re DPS, pre-pot before fights it would make sense. (which is an entirely different discussion for a later time)
• When in doubt, ask questions.  It’s better to ask and prevent a mistake than make one and get reprimanded later.

Progression to Casual

So you’ve figured out that progression raiding is no longer for you.  That may be because you’re not into raiding several nights a week, or if real life has caught up and is demanding more of your time.  Whatever the reason, you’re likely in for a culture shock.  Making the transition to casual from progression is easier from a preparation standpoint, but from my experience, difficult for the mindset shift.  You already have the good habits I’ve mentioned above, but you have to prepare yourself to wipe several times on something easy, expect to hear the fights explained several times, and if you’re recently from a progression standpoint, feel like you’re carrying the raid on your shoulders. (Not really, but sometimes it can feel that way)  Gear will be slower to get, but hopefully you have more fun getting there — after all, the pressure’s off.  Enjoy it.

Ideally everyone finds a raiding team that fits their play style – there’s lots of options out there. It could even be found in some hardcore progression guild’s alt-run on the weekends.  I ended up doing that for awhile, and enjoyed it.  There’s a raid team out there for everyone, it’s just a matter of taking the time to find the right one.