I’ve been meaning to post about this but something was always coming up that demanded a write-up right away — new achieves, new archaeology finds, new gear, etc – that this topic just kept getting shelved. Well it’s a slow night tonight in my side of the world and Woody has been gently hinting at wanting to read a new post (yes, shocker, there are people who actually visit my website) so now is a good opportunity to discuss what my former co-worker “A” (let’s just keep him anonymous, okay?) said about Blood Elves and the players — specifically male players — who choose to play that race.
I recall it was a warm day last year and we were cooling off with Starbucks Frappuccinos during our coffee break. “A” and the other guys were talking about WoW in between sips while I busied myself exchanging text messages with my best friend, half-listening to their convo on which spec was best for DPS warriors and why Blood Elves can’t play warriors.
“A” then said “Blood Elves can’t play warriors ’cause warrior moves will ruin their fingernails and Silvermoon City manicures are too f*cking expensive.”
(Right…..wonder how he feels now that Blood Elves can play warriors. )
He added: “Studies show that guys who are attractive in real life choose to play Orcs, Trolls, Undead and Tauren as their main toons. They’re secure enough that they don’t feel the need to validate their good looks in the game by playing some sissy Ken doll wannabe who looks like he spends more time grooming himself than fighting.”
I stopped texting and swiveled to face him. “Can you show me the source of those so-called studies?”
All the guys laughed. “A” grinned. He knew I was a Blood Elf fan and didn’t think twice about picking on me by picking on them. “You’ve made plenty of guy friends in WoW, right?”
I nodded.
“Comfortable enough with them to ‘friend’ them on Facebook, right?”
“Erm, right.” I replied.
“I don’t know them but if I look at their pics, I bet I can point out who plays a Belf and who plays the rest of the Horde races.”
“Those studies are wrong.” I shot back.
“Why do you say that?”
“You play a Troll, right?”I asked him.
“Yeah.”
“Well, you’re not exactly….” I let my voice trail off.
“What?” he demanded.
“Nothing.” I grinned and went back to my desk, controlling the urge to tell “A” that in his case, the studies were absolutely dead f*cking wrong. “A” had long greasy hair, a bad Guido tan and fingernails bitten to the quick. If he were the last man on earth, I’d rather slit my own throat than copulate with him.
However, his comment bugged me and I spent a good hour Googling for articles on the WoW player demographics with additional statistics on physical looks. To no avail. Guess “A” was sh*tting me all along.
BUT! BS or not, what he said also had a kernel of truth to it.
I’ve met many guys in this game and have seen several of their Facebook pages. Back on Borean Tundra, I would also see people linking their Facebook pages on party/raid chat, so I got a glimpse of the players behind the toons.
As much as I hate to admit it, there were more good-looking guys amongst the Trolls, Orcs, Undead and Tauren than Blood Elves.
I know a certain Belf paladin on that server who loves to flirt and act macho and all, but when his then-fiance (now wife) showed me his Facebook pic, I cringed. Instead of a handsome, blonde, buffed dude, I saw 275 pounds of lard and lechery.
So if one was pressed to present image examples showing the glaring disparity between the two, these would be it:
TROLL, ORC, UNDEAD AND TAUREN PLAYERS:
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BLOOD ELF PLAYERS:
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I really don’t want to generalize or believe so-called studies or surveys. But after taking a critical look at the real-life faces I’ve seen so far versus the races they play, I guess some guys – some, not all, okay? - feel the need to uplift themselves by playing pretty boys in the game.
But hey, haters will hate, and at the end of the day, no one can deny that the very violent and barbaric world of Azeroth is tempered by the presence of those pretty boys.
And that suits me just fine.
