Analysis of postings about the design of the male body and the design of male equipment in the MMORPG Age of Conan. A full recording of my 30-minute presentation (Oct. 2016) can be found here: https://lifesize.msstate.edu/videos/video/40/?access_token=shr00000000407625973593822908073558369013072

1. “Hot avatars” in “gay gear”:
The Virtual Male Body as
Discussed by Players of
Age of Conan: Hyborian
Adventures
James B. Kelley
Mississippi State University–Meridian
10/28/2016
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2. Representing gender
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3. Representing gender, cont.
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4. Representing gender, cont.
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5. Representing gender, cont.
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6. London Science Museum
“London Science Museum slammed over gender
test.” The Guardian. Sept. 2016.
Gina Rippon, Prof. of Cognitive Neuroimaging at
the University of Aston: “There are, of course,
differences between the brains of men and the
brains of women related to reproductive
processes. But with respect to the structures and
functions of the brain which are related to
cognitive processes there really are none.”
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7. The costs of simplicity
“It is time to consider the costs of
overinflated claims of gender differences.
Arguably, they cause harm in numerous
realms, including women’s opportunities in
the workplace, couple conflict and
communication, and analyses of self-
esteem problems among adolescents.” --
Janet Shibley Hyde. “The Gender
Similarities Hypothesis.” American
Psychologist 60.6 (Sept. 2005): 581–592.
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8. 2013 Math ACT Scores
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9. Height of Adults
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10. Variations within genders
“variations within genders are greater
than variations between genders.”
– Janet Shibley Hyde, in Alina Tugend.
“Engendering Sons.” California (Winter
2014): 50.
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11. Various, simultaneous reading positions
“a variety of simultaneous ‘reading
positions’ are open (or closed) to
different players. As yet these offers
and the manner in which they might
mesh with different aspects of player
subjectivity (in particular contexts)
remain underinvestigated” – Diane
Carr, “Games and Gender” (2006, p.
165).
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12. Character creation
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13. Character creation, cont.
The three extreme body types, side by side
thin big muscular
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14. Loading screen (female character)
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15. Loading screen (male character)
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16. Comments in online forums
Two online forums for MMORPGs:
• The GayGamer.net Forums
• Age of Conan Forums
Look for recurring ideas, disagreements, etc.
Also look for treatments of Age of Conan in
popular culture, such as in Big Bang
Theory’s “The Barbarian Sublimation”
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17. Method
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18. Method, cont.
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19. Method, cont.
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20. Method, cont.
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21. Method, cont.
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22. “Creating your own Character.” Age of
Conan community portal (2006)
When tweaking the body, you can choose to
have an abstract slider going from thin to
obese and muscular, and you’re able to
select anything in between. You can also go
into an advanced mode, scaling different
body parts like the chest/breasts, the thighs,
the legs, the arms, the stomach and even
your “arse”. …
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23. “Creating your own Character.” Age of
Conan community portal (2006)
… You’ll be able to add body hair, different
kinds of tattoos, scars and many other
elements that will make your character
unique. And remember: Making someone
look picture-perfect is not always the goal. In
Age of Conan you can create a character that
wouldn’t necessarily win a beauty contest!
Ultimately, you decide what sort of character
you want to role-play.
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24. “Creating your own Character.” Age of
Conan community portal (2006)
When tweaking the body, you can choose to
have an abstract slider going from thin to
obese and muscular, and you’re able to
select anything in between. You can also go
into an advanced mode, scaling different
body parts like the chest/breasts, the thighs,
the legs, the arms, the stomach and even
your “arse”. You’ll be able to add body hair,
different kinds of tattoos, scars …
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25. “Creating your own Character.” Age of
Conan community portal (2006)
When tweaking the body, you can choose to
have an abstract slider going from thin to
obese and muscular, and you’re able to
select anything in between. You can also go
into an advanced mode, scaling different
body parts like the chest/breasts, the
thighs, the legs, the arms, the stomach and
even your “arse”. You’ll be able to add body
hair, different kinds of tattoos, scars …
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26. “Creating your own Character.” Age of
Conan community portal (2006), cont.
Appearance: “the chest/breasts, the
thighs, the legs, … body hair, … tattoos,
scars…”
Customization and individualization:
“Ultimately, you decide…”
Identification and ownership: “your
own character,” heavy use of the
pronouns “you” and “your,” etc.
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27. At the GayGamer.net forums
Theme 1: The male avatars are “hot”
“Men in loincloth, visceral combat, snakes /
what more do people want???”
“AoC is a very gay-friendly game. A well-
made male AoC alt is a thing of beauty.”
(Age of Conan – Just FYI – GLBT guild resurrected, 2009)
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28. At the GayGamer.net forums
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Butchmor:
“I love the
avatars. I
suppose it’s
one of the
attractions to
me…” (2009)

29. At the GayGamer.net forums
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Butchmor: “one of the
reasons I switched over
[from World of Warcraft]
to AoC as my primary
game is because it is
more based on skill than
gear (well, that and the
hot avatars, the luscious
graphics, and the more
adult atmosphere.”
(2009)

30. At the GayGamer.net forums
Theme 2: The armor on the male avatars
unfortunately conceals their hotness
“Maybe if the game came with the option
to have the avatar wear the armor but give
the player the choice not to show it
(thereby keeping the armor buff)… The
armor really detracted from the game.”
(Age of Conan – Just FYI – GLBT guild
resurrected, 2009)
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31. At the GayGamer.net forums
Theme 3: Gay visibility in the game may be
good
Across a number of discussion threads, the
posters weigh their options for naming LGBT
guilds: e.g. Hyborian Rights Campaign (a play
on the Human Rights Campaign)
Visibility vs. protective concealment
(See James Kelley. “Gay Naming in Online Gaming.” Names: A
Journal of Onomastics 60.4 (December 2012): 193-200.)
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32. At the GayGamer.net forums
Theme 4: Little antagonism / respectful
disagreement
Even when disagreeing, the posters
maintain a friendly, supportive, and often
playful tone. The posts feature frequent
comments about the diverse LGBT
community and the need to respect
differences.
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33. At the Age of Conan forums
Theme 1: Male avatars need customization: hair
on chest, legs, armpits; bulges; etc.
“I would like to add hair to my legs and armpits.
My male toon looks gay all smooth shaved.”
(Veterans Rewards…, 2009)
“If you’re going to make me wear a kilt/skirt, I
want some hair on my legs dammit” (*PETITION*
Full Body Armor, June 19, 2008)
“Guys should definitely have a bulge. It's funny
how men in video games are flatter in the groin
than a Ken doll.” (Male Nudity, 2008)
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34. At the Age of Conan forums
Theme 2: The male equipment (the “gear”) often
looks “gay”
“Why you guys got a skirt for t1 and 2 was
already a mystery.” [t1 = tier 1 = a gear level]
“I like it tbh.” [tbh = to be honest]
“Really? I gotten question your masculinity in
this case. I have nothing against yellow as a color,
but not for a sword wielding male barbarian. It
just looks plain gay. As gay as the current T1
armor.” (Barbarian T2 PvP Set..., 2010)
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35. At the Age of Conan forums
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“Empyreal looks straight
gay on males. You should
see the chestpiece.”
“Ive seen full Empyreal
on a female Tempest.
Looked pretty hot.”
“The ToS gear looks
really cool on female
toons”
(Level 80 Tempest Screen shots, 2008)

36. At the Age of Conan forums
Theme 3: The game needs less gay visibility
The popular but short-lived thread “Quests
with Homosexual Content” received 241
posts within a one-week period (July 22-28,
2008) before selected posts were deleted
and the thread was closed by forum
moderators.
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37. At the Age of Conan forums
In “Quests with Homosexual Content”:
“I want more pedophile quests. Maybe
some other paraphilias too”
“Why does sexuality have to come up
in video games too. Do I go around
heterosexual questing and posting
about it? No.”
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38. At the Age of Conan forums
In “Quests …,” cont.:
“That **** belongs in the bedroom, or in a
location people have to choose to visit.
Down mainstreet where I do my shopping is
not the venue for such things.”
“Don’t bring your gay antics to this game,
you won’t like the results”
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39. At the Age of Conan forums
Theme 4: Antagonism, little respectful disagreement
“Delete This Thread!!! Mod[erator]s, Please get rid of
this thread or move it to the off topic area. This
thread has nothing do with the game. I didn’t come
to the forums to debate on the nuances of
homosexuality. We get enough of this crap shoved
down our throats as it is, and I’m sure as hell not
paying a monthly fee to hear it.” (July 26, 2008)
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40. Variations within groups
Not a simple division into two groups:
• gay male players vs. straight male players
• GayGamer.net vs. Age of Conan Forums
Regardless of where they post and what
they say, they still play the same game,
participate in discussion boards, and talk
about many of the same things: appearance
of the male avatars, appearance of the gear
for those avatars, and range of sexualities
visible in the game.
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41. Work Cited
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