Once again back with another "Lost in Azeroth" blog entry, looking at the issue of being a female gamer in World of Warcraft, and how just the idea of being a real female player (sometimes by the sheer fact you're using a female avatar) can often lead to free presents and gold for just being a woman.

From the article:

I'll admit, being a female gamer can have it's advantages sometimes. However, the majority of the time, these advantages leave me feeling disgusting and somehow taken advantage of, not a fun way to feel while trying to play a game for fun. The advantages I refer to are the attention, but more importantly, the presents and gold you can receive by being a female gamer in World of Warcraft. But these advantages (of receiving gold from male gamers) soon turn into feeling yucky in general and sometimes worse.

However, this aspect of being a female gamer, while it can initially be fun, can degenerate into being stalked across servers (to be covered in another installment), and just generally feeling bad that you, just because of your gender, received gold and other help in a game that, while a lot of times fosters teamwork, is usually reliant on individual achievement. Whether that achievement is grinding levels out by killing kodos in the Barrens till you hit level 20, or collecting mats for the few items you can sell for massive gold on the auction house, the rush you feel from hitting a new level, or finishing a goal, is a big part of the game.

Read the full article over at Lost in Azeroth