"She's a Diva"
By
Tiny Dancer
By
Tiny Dancer
If you have played Ultima Online for any length of time you will remember there used to be a scarsity of real women who played the game. Quite a few years later things have changed dramatically. There are a lot of women players. What at one time was primarily a "man's game" has since morphed into what we know today... Both men and woman enjoying UO and everything it has to offer, to and including PvP.Not only have women have thrown away their deco tools and cute little dresses for something a little more exciting and shall we say bloodthirsty, but they have also taken to leadership like ducks take to water. If you recall, a huge number of successful guilds over the last few years have been run by women.
Now, we all know the boys like to run around and kill enemies... or innocents, but what about the girls? What it is about PvP that interests them? As a woman and a PvPer I was interested in getting the input of other women who like to do the same thing I do, PvP. I interviewed women on the Atlantic shard to get some answers on what draws them to play reds, faction fight, and kill with the best of the "boys".
What do you like about PvPing?
Lorelei Rage, GM of HHS!(SL): "First I would like to start with there are NOT enough WOMEN that PVP, there is so much testerone in this game it is not funny. What I like about PvP is the excitment of it, are you going to get the kill, are you going to live. Can you keep your guildmates going even if it means you go down so they can get the kill. It gets your heart pumping."
Tabitha, of TWT: "Well I'll start out saying I have pvp'd off and on throughout my sosarian adventure. I am hardly the leetest player.. but I do enjoy the fun it brings to the game. My favorite part would be the adrenaline rush when you engage in the fight. It reminds me of a chess match, especially when dueling, trying to outsmart the other with an interrupt or figuring out their next move and how to counter. The field fight has always been my thorn in the side, I could be called a bit of a spaz, *chuckles* and have been a time or two. Even though I am not the best at it or even good at it, I still do enjoy the thrill of the chase and after getting mowed down, you will hear me giggling in vent. One of my favorite things to do Pre AOS was hanging out in Bucs Den, it's so sad to go there now and the ghost town its become."
Lauren, of TDT(CoM): "The rush. Ever since my good friend the legendary FiendX took me dungeon crawling I was hooked."
Lil Darlin, GM of HOT/HEAT(MIN): "The excitement. When Hot/Heat goes out to PVP it is us against the shard. Other factions and guilds join forces against us. For instance, many a Despise Island fight has resulted in TB pushing from the East Bridge, and Com pushing from the West Bridge. This has led to some amazing fights. Thanks Atlantic. Hot/Heat appreciate it."
Sopheria,of TDT(CoM): "What I like about PvP is just killin people!
"What is your favorite template to play?
Lorelei Rage, GM of HHS!(SL) "Tamer, only one I have pvped. Although I am working on some other temps."
Elvira, of HEAT(MIN): "Most of the time I play a stealther archer, but I like to PvP with my Mystic/Mage from time to time."
Tabitha, of TWT:"My most favorite template is the Mage. Out of the 18 characters I have, 13 of them are mages.For Pvp, I'd have to say its a draw for me between the Parry Mage and the Necro Mage.Tabitha is my favorite and second character created, so we've been through many an evolution together in Ultima Online. She is started out as a Bard and the one I first attempted pvp with.At that point, I quickly worked her template to a 7gm Inscribe Wrestle mage before Power Scrolls came into play. I thoroughly enjoyed playing her which was about 95 percent of my game time play from 2002 to AOS. After AOS I took a break from PVP.. and emerged back into it a couple years ago. At that point I could see it was learning how to do things all over again and a different way. I adjusted her skills then to the Parry Mage she is now. The Parry Mage is great as a defensive player and makes her great for Team PVP, as it takes alot to kill her but killing the opponent can be tricky. So along came Morticia & Omnikai the Evil, ready to try their hand at it. The Necro Mage was a very challenging template to learn: a lot more spells, knowing when to cast spells that colaborate. watching that pesky Blood Oath if used that you don't commit suicide! In fact, I am still in the learning process."
Lauren,of TDT(CoM): "My stealth ninja archer. I know, I know.."
Lil Darlin, GM of HOT/HEAT(MIN): "My favorite template is a necro mage. I have always preferred to play a support character like a necro mage who can field and be an asset to the guild. My guildmates count on me being there to provide fields for them to fight in. It is critical to putting up a good defense."
Sopheria, of TDT(CoM):"My favorite template to play at the moment is Aadealya Ashton, my Archer Tamer. Perhaps soon to be my Disarm Archer."
Do you prefer to play red or blue characters?
Lorelei Rage, GM of HHS!(SL): "Definately Blue.There is enough oranges to fight, and you can always heal a red so blues will flag you so you can fight them as well,or you can always take counts."
Elvira, of HEAT(MIN): "I prefer to play red chars, they give you more of a challenge considering that all opposite faction will fight you and lot of blue chars also."
Tabitha, of TWT: "Well since my character that I pvp with are Red and usually if I use a blue it goes red,, I'd have to say red .. which I call Dark Pink! I am so impatient. I just can't wait for ppl to flag on me and go grey.. so I try not to pvp on blues. There are different advantages in playing either though."
Lauren,TDT(COM): "Definately a red. What is a "count?"
Lil Darlin, GM of HOT/HEAT(MIN): "I love playing my red. I love to defend. When I go into stat I’ll bring out a blue with the same necro mage template, but the first character I log on is always my red."
Sopheria, of TDT(COM):"Red Faction characters. Sometymes, blue. Depends on what we're goin to do, if we're spawnin, then I'll bring a blue character to help kill the spawn and/or protect if needed. Reds to raid other peoples' spawn or just go on a killin spree! Wo0t!"
What do you like most about factions?
Lorelei Rage, GM of HHS!(SL): "Big fights... especially in the base. Although lately seems not so many people have been on. Both in our guild and as a whole."
I have noticed that too, what do you think UO needs to do to bring people back? What faction changes do you think would encourage more people to join?
"I think UO would benefit from some advertisement (example I go to the store and see WOW and other games but not UO cds on the shelves). This is an awesome game with so much to do and I feel it is lacking in the advertisement department to get the game out to more people."
Lil Darlin, GM of HOT/HEAT(MIN): "We get to fight players we may not normally see crashing spawns. Also it takes you away from the champion spawn locations, and to new locations for fighting such as the faction bases. The faction gear makes it much easier to build suits for pvping."
Elvira, of HEAT(MIN): "Factions are "free PvP". You don't have to care about town guards. But UO should give the right for a blue guildie factionner to heal a red guildie factionner in guard zones."
Sopheria, of TDT(COM): "Hmmm That's a toughie. What I like about factions are the horsies! They are so purdy! But realli, what I like is puttin peoples in stat!"
As a woman and the GM of an active Fel based guild, how do you handle the pressure? Do you feel "the boys" give you more or less respect because of your gender?
Lil Darlin, GM Of HOT/HEAT(MIN): "Being a good GM doesn’t mean you have to be male. I’ve had great GM’s that were both male and female (Rafman and Sakkarah). Gender didn’t affect how they lead. As far as pressure, our council consists of members who help to deal with the day to day pressure of a guild the size of Hot. Hot has been around a long time. We are more like a family. Don’t get me wrong, we have disagreements, but most of our members who log in do so to visit with their long time friends and guildmates.I feel Respect is earned. I lead by example by being the best person I can. “The boys” have taught me a lot about PVP. Those that don’t respect me now, probably never will, but that does not bother me"
Lorelei Rage, GM of HHS!(SL): "I really dont have pressure as a guild leader, I have a good group, and absolutely they respect me. We only have three females that PVP in our group. As we guild more people we weed out the bad ones. I can honestly say that we all respect each other."
As a woman and a Pvper, how do you handle the pressure? Do you feel "the boys" give you more or less respect because of your gender?
Tabitha, of TWT: "Well that's a loaded question there.... *thinks before she starts typing* It's really hard to put a gender as I have met some great friends on the field who have treated me with respect and generosity and then there are those that.. well I am sure you don't need to have it spelled out,just get on general chat for an hour a day and you can see the discourse in the pvp world. I think for the most part when people find out you are really a "female" out on the pvp field there is a bit of respect that goes with it, especially in the earlier years most female characters were thought to be men playing them. In today's UO its hard to say if its a gender issue or just plain PvPness, as I have seen players, men and women alike verbally bashed."
Lauren, of TDT(COM): "I don't really notice any difference. In a guild, if you pvp, you still have to get right in there and not be afraid. Boys like that
"Elvira, Of HEAT(MIN):"Boys" will always jump on me first and they will often pay for their act and after I have killed them they are really mad and like to talk sh*t to me."
Sopheria, Of TDT(COM): "Well, from what I've been hearing inside our ventrilo, I think that the guys gives us females a lot of respect [except Tiny, of course, I kid! you can edit this part Tiny]. I mean we try our best to do what they say when the caller says to do this. It means a lot when the caller is specifcally calling for you to "disarm" or "put that guy on foot", then you're rewarded with a "great job" or "nicely done" compliment. So, yes there is some pressure into that as well.
Do you think more women should PvP and what do you think would be good encouragement for them to do so?
Lorelei Rage, GM of HHS!(SL): "Absolutely more women should PvP. I think that they need to try it, that is what gets you hooked. You need to not be afraid to die. I gets your heart pumping it is exhilarating. I mean plenty of women PvM and die and really it is not much different but definately so much more exciting."
Tabitha, Of TWT: "Oh I do think everyone should give it a try .. I am so glad I did. Now I do admit I have not done a lot of it lately and hope to be out there in the field more so in the future. But it really is a great way to spice up your gameplay. You will want to get involved with a good group of people who are skilled at it .. do not attempt on your own.. and always be sure to have your stuff insured when entering the Fel gates. It can be very frustrating at first.. even in the middle .. You will die..But if you are having a period of boredom in game, just don't want to do the same ole same ole, you might want to start researching some good pvp templates, Imbuing has made Pvp suits so much cheaper to acquire now and check some of the guilds who do both pvp and pvm.. Warning
it can become addictive... *Adrenline Rush*"
Elvira, Of HEAT(MIN): "Well, I know a lot of women who PvP and I must say they are very good, also I have noticed that Woman who do PvP are much more mature than those the little Boy cry babies."
Lauren, of TDT(COM): "Yes. I think everyone should at least give it a try. My first kill I felt really bad.. then I got hungry >: The encouragement might be to try it because you never know, you might be really good at it."
Lil Darlin, GM of HOT/HEAT(MIN): "Yes I think more women should PVP. When I started playing UO 12 years ago I had to wear male armor because UO never really focused on female armor. While shopping, armor on vendors was male. Faction armor is mostly male armor as well. Then UO came out with these robes that are shapeless. You wear them because you need the extra mods to compete. I say give women something that looks good on their character for pvping. Allow the robes to show a female figure when worn by a female, and leave it shapeless when worn by a male."
Sopheria, Of TDT(COM): "I do think that more women should PvP. I don't mean guys who play female characters but real life females Lol! Hey my encouragement is, if you wanna have fun and laugh, PvP is the way to go. Sure, you'll die every once in awhile, but it's a game! Games are suppose to be fun, not frustrating!"
Do you think there is more or less pressure to compete with "the boys" because you are a woman?
Lorelei Rage, GM of HHS!(SL): "Well you know I put my pants on the same way they do. It is about having fun. And any one of those "boys" that say they never die is lying cause we all die."
Elvira, of HEAT(MIN): "I don't think there is more pressure for being a woman cause women are better than "boys", that's a fact."
Sopheria, of TDT(COM): "Honestly, I play to have fun, I fit in with everyone I play with so there is no competing with anyone for me."
Lil Darlin, GM of HOT/HEAT(MIN): "I know it makes me work harder to be the best I can. I also know you can’t always win, so I strive to do the best I can in every situation. If I make a mistake, I try to learn from it. I get rezzed up and go back and try again. The lesson learned is to never give up."
Lauren, of TDT(COM): "I don't think there is any pressure as far as gender goes. Not for me anyway."
Is there anything you would like to add?
Lorelei Rage, GM of HHS!(SL): "I think that anyone who is on the edge of joining a faction cause they are not sure if they would like to PvP should try it. Dont get discouraged if you go out there and die right away the first few times cause that is most likely going to happen. But when you get your first good kill you most likely will get hooked. So get out there and try PvP it is worth it."
Elvira, Of HEAT(MIN): "To all women, don't be afraid to come to battle fields and join faction and go teach a lesson to these little "Boys" by kicking their azz... GIRL POWER."
Sopheria, Of TDT(COM): "I LOVE TDT!
"Tabitha, of TWT: "my favorite pvp suit was before aos... an apron and sandals!!! and a box of regs!!! and a bandana!"
Lauren, of TDT(COM): "You see Lauren attacking you!"
Lil Darlin, GM of HOT/HEAT(MIN): "I’d like to thank my guildmates for making every night I log in one to remember. Also, I’d like to thank my council members for giving of their playing time to help with guild issues. Furthermore, I’d like to thank the members who unselfishly teach, train, give items, and give advise to their guildmates. And finally, I’d like to thank Rafman for the trust instilled in me for taking over the guild. You guys are what make Hot the best guild in all of UO and I am proud to be part of it."
To sum it all up ladies and gentlemen, PvP is fun, enticing and I might add, very addicting to members of both sexes. As a woman, a PvPer, and a GM of a fel guild, I would encourage anyone, male or female to give PvP a try. If you want to get your feet wet in some Player versus Player there are lots of good guilds who love to help new people get on their feet. As you have seen from the conversations I had with these ladies, it adds a whole new level of excitement and a ton of possibilities when you ask yourself "What should I do on Ultima Online today?"
