Others also report their negative experiences, such as meggles_, who writes:
I am a woman and used to play at the top of the raid rankings with my guild (Top 10 in the world) and unfortunately, it is like this: The higher you go, the worse it gets. Of course not all men are like this, but in my experience, guilds at the higher end tend to have more of these problem cases than casual guilds, and they are less likely to kick such players because skilled players are hard to replace.
The best advice I can give you is not to let them win – defend yourself verbally if you feel able to. Don’t let yourself be put down. Don’t be afraid to leave if the people are terrible – there are always better guilds out there. The ranking isn’t worth being treated like dirt. I wish someone had told me that back then.
Many upvotes also go to the comment from Curious_Insider0719, who gives her fellow player some tips on how to deal with such behavior and how to ensure that she has found the “right” guild:
1. Your age is irrelevant to gameplay. It has virtually no impact on anything, but if necessary, just lie. Add a few years.
2. It’s tough to endure, but if someone asks you personal information or sends you messages in the game or tries to talk to you about other things than the game in game: Shut it down. Don’t engage. It’s easy in the game; you can just ignore it, but on voice it’s harder, but set the boundaries clearly. “I won’t answer that or that is irrelevant to what we are doing,” will eventually get through.
It’s not easy to develop a thick skin and use it. Guys wouldn’t have a problem responding exactly like that, so do it just like they do. Stand up to create that barrier.3. When you’re out with new people for the first time, don’t speak for a few times. I’ve raided with many who just muted themselves. People who just don’t want to talk. Until you’re somewhat established, just say that you’re muting for some reason. Unless you’re the raid leader, you don’t need to talk. Yes, I know that is part of socializing in the game, but as long as you listen, that should be enough.
4. Less is more. Don’t give them all the “I am a woman and this age” information. It just escalates. I used to want to tell people that I am a woman, but now it’s none of their business because many people can’t handle it and are just creeps.
Most of the posts are worth a closer look, as many women report their experiences and strategies on how they can deal with such behavior in World of Warcraft (and other MMORPGs).
That such behavioral strategies are necessary to play an MMORPG in peace is above all: damn sad.
Even after over 20 years of World of Warcraft, women still experience many bad situations in Azeroth. The problem will likely only be curbed if each and every individual ensures that such incidents are not tolerated – and some stop seeing WoW as a singles platform. Because most just want this: to play an MMORPG.
Much more pleasant problems exist in WoW Classic with the streamer guild “OnlyFangs”, which only has to deal with internal power plays.
Many upvotes also go to the comment from Curious_Insider0719, who gives her fellow player some tips on how to deal with such behavior and how to ensure that she has found the “right” guild:
1. Your age is irrelevant to gameplay. It has virtually no impact on anything, but if necessary, just lie. Add a few years.
2. It’s tough to endure, but if someone asks you personal information or sends you messages in the game or tries to talk to you about other things than the game in game: Shut it down. Don’t engage. It’s easy in the game; you can just ignore it, but on voice it’s harder, but set the boundaries clearly. “I won’t answer that or that is irrelevant to what we are doing,” will eventually get through.
It’s not easy to develop a thick skin and use it. Guys wouldn’t have a problem responding exactly like that, so do it just like they do. Stand up to create that barrier.3. When you’re out with new people for the first time, don’t speak for a few times. I’ve raided with many who just muted themselves. People who just don’t want to talk. Until you’re somewhat established, just say that you’re muting for some reason. Unless you’re the raid leader, you don’t need to talk. Yes, I know that is part of socializing in the game, but as long as you listen, that should be enough.
4. Less is more. Don’t give them all the “I am a woman and this age” information. It just escalates. I used to want to tell people that I am a woman, but now it’s none of their business because many people can’t handle it and are just creeps.
Most of the posts are worth a closer look, as many women report their experiences and strategies on how they can deal with such behavior in World of Warcraft (and other MMORPGs).
That such behavioral strategies are necessary to play an MMORPG in peace is above all: damn sad.
Even after over 20 years of World of Warcraft, women still experience many bad situations in Azeroth. The problem will likely only be curbed if each and every individual ensures that such incidents are not tolerated – and some stop seeing WoW as a singles platform. Because most just want this: to play an MMORPG.
Much more pleasant problems exist in WoW Classic with the streamer guild “OnlyFangs”, which only has to deal with internal power plays.
Others also report their negative experiences, such as meggles_, who writes:
I am a woman and used to play at the top of the raid rankings with my guild (Top 10 in the world) and unfortunately, it is like this: The higher you go, the worse it gets. Of course not all men are like this, but in my experience, guilds at the higher end tend to have more of these problem cases than casual guilds, and they are less likely to kick such players because skilled players are hard to replace.
The best advice I can give you is not to let them win – defend yourself verbally if you feel able to. Don’t let yourself be put down. Don’t be afraid to leave if the people are terrible – there are always better guilds out there. The ranking isn’t worth being treated like dirt. I wish someone had told me that back then.
Many upvotes also go to the comment from Curious_Insider0719, who gives her fellow player some tips on how to deal with such behavior and how to ensure that she has found the “right” guild:
1. Your age is irrelevant to gameplay. It has virtually no impact on anything, but if necessary, just lie. Add a few years.
2. It’s tough to endure, but if someone asks you personal information or sends you messages in the game or tries to talk to you about other things than the game in game: Shut it down. Don’t engage. It’s easy in the game; you can just ignore it, but on voice it’s harder, but set the boundaries clearly. “I won’t answer that or that is irrelevant to what we are doing,” will eventually get through.
It’s not easy to develop a thick skin and use it. Guys wouldn’t have a problem responding exactly like that, so do it just like they do. Stand up to create that barrier.3. When you’re out with new people for the first time, don’t speak for a few times. I’ve raided with many who just muted themselves. People who just don’t want to talk. Until you’re somewhat established, just say that you’re muting for some reason. Unless you’re the raid leader, you don’t need to talk. Yes, I know that is part of socializing in the game, but as long as you listen, that should be enough.
4. Less is more. Don’t give them all the “I am a woman and this age” information. It just escalates. I used to want to tell people that I am a woman, but now it’s none of their business because many people can’t handle it and are just creeps.
Most of the posts are worth a closer look, as many women report their experiences and strategies on how they can deal with such behavior in World of Warcraft (and other MMORPGs).
That such behavioral strategies are necessary to play an MMORPG in peace is above all: damn sad.
Even after over 20 years of World of Warcraft, women still experience many bad situations in Azeroth. The problem will likely only be curbed if each and every individual ensures that such incidents are not tolerated – and some stop seeing WoW as a singles platform. Because most just want this: to play an MMORPG.
Much more pleasant problems exist in WoW Classic with the streamer guild “OnlyFangs”, which only has to deal with internal power plays.
World of Warcraft is still difficult to play as a woman at a high level. Many report that it only gets worse in the higher ranks.
That women often feel uncomfortable in World of Warcraft is not just an “old hat”, but unfortunately a persistent issue. Again and again, there are stories of women who are either harassed or insulted because of their gender or feel uncomfortable – even though they just want to enjoy a game.
One of these stories has now been discussed in detail. Many fellow players give tips on how to defend oneself against such misconduct.
What type of post is this? The 20-year-old player LuciCuti describes in her Reddit post that she has been playing WoW for over 4 years and is trying to break into the higher levels of play – that is, Mythic+, the Gladiator title in PvP, and mythic raiding. However, she has repeatedly faced problems with male players who behave inappropriately towards her. From unwanted flirting attempts to insults and accusations, it’s all there. Here are a few excerpts from the post:
I had people asking me in the middle of a raid if I was single, where I was, and all that. I sent a screenshot to the guild leader, and he wanted to have “a serious word” with the person, but that never did anything except make the person message me even more aggressively.
In PvP, her experience was different. There, she was immediately dismissed as bad – simply because she is a woman:
In PvP, I know you don’t necessarily need Discord to become a Gladiator, but almost all groups ask if you can join voice chat, and saying “no” seems to ruin the mood. But I’ve also been insulted because I supposedly get carried – just because I’m a woman and that happens immediately as soon as I join the conversation, even though they’ve never seen me play. They insulted me and kicked me out, so I’m done with PUGs in PvP.
In other guilds, she has experienced that others help her, precisely because she is a woman – she is treated specially and even if she contributes almost nothing, the men seem to be fine with that. She doesn’t feel taken seriously as a player:
I also don’t want to be taken along just because people want to get closer to me. At the beginning of the expansion, I was pretty busy, so I hardly accomplished anything in the game. I found a guild that I could play with, and they knew I was busy; it was a simple heroic raid guild. They told me to just ask, and then they would take me through dungeons with four people, and I thought that was just a nice thing they did in the guild.
After two weeks, I realized that I was the only woman in the guild and the only person they were doing that for. It took almost a week of me deliberately going afk at every single pull in the dungeon before they finally said something.
In summary, her criticisms are:
- Many men don’t play with her because they value her performance as a group member, but because she is a woman and hope for something from it.
- Intrusive behavior in many guilds is “normal” and is often tolerated by the leadership.
- In many groups, she is insulted as soon as it becomes clear she is a woman.
Shortly after, she edits her post again and adds:
To all the people sending me private messages [on Reddit] and inviting me to their guild while your whole profile is full of porn, I hope you’re doing this as a joke because that’s the dumbest shit ever if you’re serious about it.
This is how the community reacts: While there are certainly some inappropriate comments, which have many downvotes, the community also has some good tips on how to deal with the problem – because LuciCuti seems to be far from the only one with such experiences.
SharkRaptor recommends the “Visage Program” from Raider.io. Guilds that mark themselves with this label claim to be particularly inclusive towards women and other marginalized groups.
Many upvotes also go to the comment from Curious_Insider0719, who gives her fellow player some tips on how to deal with such behavior and how to ensure that she has found the “right” guild:
1. Your age is irrelevant to gameplay. It has virtually no impact on anything, but if necessary, just lie. Add a few years.
2. It’s tough to endure, but if someone asks you personal information or sends you messages in the game or tries to talk to you about other things than the game in game: Shut it down. Don’t engage. It’s easy in the game; you can just ignore it, but on voice it’s harder, but set the boundaries clearly. “I won’t answer that or that is irrelevant to what we are doing,” will eventually get through.
It’s not easy to develop a thick skin and use it. Guys wouldn’t have a problem responding exactly like that, so do it just like they do. Stand up to create that barrier.3. When you’re out with new people for the first time, don’t speak for a few times. I’ve raided with many who just muted themselves. People who just don’t want to talk. Until you’re somewhat established, just say that you’re muting for some reason. Unless you’re the raid leader, you don’t need to talk. Yes, I know that is part of socializing in the game, but as long as you listen, that should be enough.
4. Less is more. Don’t give them all the “I am a woman and this age” information. It just escalates. I used to want to tell people that I am a woman, but now it’s none of their business because many people can’t handle it and are just creeps.
Most of the posts are worth a closer look, as many women report their experiences and strategies on how they can deal with such behavior in World of Warcraft (and other MMORPGs).
That such behavioral strategies are necessary to play an MMORPG in peace is above all: damn sad.
Even after over 20 years of World of Warcraft, women still experience many bad situations in Azeroth. The problem will likely only be curbed if each and every individual ensures that such incidents are not tolerated – and some stop seeing WoW as a singles platform. Because most just want this: to play an MMORPG.
Much more pleasant problems exist in WoW Classic with the streamer guild “OnlyFangs”, which only has to deal with internal power plays.
Many upvotes also go to the comment from Curious_Insider0719, who gives her fellow player some tips on how to deal with such behavior and how to ensure that she has found the “right” guild:
1. Your age is irrelevant to gameplay. It has virtually no impact on anything, but if necessary, just lie. Add a few years.
2. It’s tough to endure, but if someone asks you personal information or sends you messages in the game or tries to talk to you about other things than the game in game: Shut it down. Don’t engage. It’s easy in the game; you can just ignore it, but on voice it’s harder, but set the boundaries clearly. “I won’t answer that or that is irrelevant to what we are doing,” will eventually get through.
It’s not easy to develop a thick skin and use it. Guys wouldn’t have a problem responding exactly like that, so do it just like they do. Stand up to create that barrier.3. When you’re out with new people for the first time, don’t speak for a few times. I’ve raided with many who just muted themselves. People who just don’t want to talk. Until you’re somewhat established, just say that you’re muting for some reason. Unless you’re the raid leader, you don’t need to talk. Yes, I know that is part of socializing in the game, but as long as you listen, that should be enough.
4. Less is more. Don’t give them all the “I am a woman and this age” information. It just escalates. I used to want to tell people that I am a woman, but now it’s none of their business because many people can’t handle it and are just creeps.
Most of the posts are worth a closer look, as many women report their experiences and strategies on how they can deal with such behavior in World of Warcraft (and other MMORPGs).
That such behavioral strategies are necessary to play an MMORPG in peace is above all: damn sad.
Even after over 20 years of World of Warcraft, women still experience many bad situations in Azeroth. The problem will likely only be curbed if each and every individual ensures that such incidents are not tolerated – and some stop seeing WoW as a singles platform. Because most just want this: to play an MMORPG.
Much more pleasant problems exist in WoW Classic with the streamer guild “OnlyFangs”, which only has to deal with internal power plays.
Others also report their negative experiences, such as meggles_, who writes:
I am a woman and used to play at the top of the raid rankings with my guild (Top 10 in the world) and unfortunately, it is like this: The higher you go, the worse it gets. Of course not all men are like this, but in my experience, guilds at the higher end tend to have more of these problem cases than casual guilds, and they are less likely to kick such players because skilled players are hard to replace.
The best advice I can give you is not to let them win – defend yourself verbally if you feel able to. Don’t let yourself be put down. Don’t be afraid to leave if the people are terrible – there are always better guilds out there. The ranking isn’t worth being treated like dirt. I wish someone had told me that back then.
Many upvotes also go to the comment from Curious_Insider0719, who gives her fellow player some tips on how to deal with such behavior and how to ensure that she has found the “right” guild:
1. Your age is irrelevant to gameplay. It has virtually no impact on anything, but if necessary, just lie. Add a few years.
2. It’s tough to endure, but if someone asks you personal information or sends you messages in the game or tries to talk to you about other things than the game in game: Shut it down. Don’t engage. It’s easy in the game; you can just ignore it, but on voice it’s harder, but set the boundaries clearly. “I won’t answer that or that is irrelevant to what we are doing,” will eventually get through.
It’s not easy to develop a thick skin and use it. Guys wouldn’t have a problem responding exactly like that, so do it just like they do. Stand up to create that barrier.3. When you’re out with new people for the first time, don’t speak for a few times. I’ve raided with many who just muted themselves. People who just don’t want to talk. Until you’re somewhat established, just say that you’re muting for some reason. Unless you’re the raid leader, you don’t need to talk. Yes, I know that is part of socializing in the game, but as long as you listen, that should be enough.
4. Less is more. Don’t give them all the “I am a woman and this age” information. It just escalates. I used to want to tell people that I am a woman, but now it’s none of their business because many people can’t handle it and are just creeps.
Most of the posts are worth a closer look, as many women report their experiences and strategies on how they can deal with such behavior in World of Warcraft (and other MMORPGs).
That such behavioral strategies are necessary to play an MMORPG in peace is above all: damn sad.
Even after over 20 years of World of Warcraft, women still experience many bad situations in Azeroth. The problem will likely only be curbed if each and every individual ensures that such incidents are not tolerated – and some stop seeing WoW as a singles platform. Because most just want this: to play an MMORPG.
Much more pleasant problems exist in WoW Classic with the streamer guild “OnlyFangs”, which only has to deal with internal power plays.
