Last week, Chinese massively-multiplayer online (MMO) provider Aurora Inc. froze user accounts for the Asian game, King of the World, in an effort to keep male players from playing as female characters. Approximately 17,173 customers were locked out of cross-gender play, while real-life female players were required to send in web camera pictures as proof of gender. China is known for some strict decency regulations, prompting some companies to take extraordinary measures to ensure that they meet them. This incident could relate to cultural taboos against homosexual themes, even though there's no correlation in this situation. Although many writers like to infer the possibility of more widespread actions by Aurora's gigantic parent company, Shanda Interactive Entertainment, (which distributes high-profile games like Ragnarok Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online and numerous other popular MMO's across China) the incident appears completely localized to King of the World.

Aurora overreacted, even by non-U.S. reasoning, and their actions could potentially cripple its business. It's a well-known fact that the majority of female characters have men at the keyboards. I've met plenty of guys who scoffed or raised a brow to my long list of female MMO characters, as though it suggests something about me. Blizzard jokingly referred to this phenomenon when it announced that its latest patch for World of Warcraft would enable in-game voice communications. The patch only went live a few days ago, but so far, there doesn't appear to be any significant impact from all those Night Elf ladies revealed as dudes. Rationale behind virtual transvestitism varies, with the most common being "Well, if I have to stare at a butt for hours on end, it might as well be a chick's..." The reasoning usually gets tossed aside for being shallow and overused, but few have stopped to consider that maybe the reason it gets overused is because it's so true.

There are probably dozens of would-be psychologists out there right now delving into why so many men choose female counterparts. But in many cases, there might not be a great truth hidden in an idea of self-image projected onto an avatar. The answer can be as straightforward and shallow as people expect. Some players use it as strategy, hoping to use their feminine looks and charm to snag gifts from players who don't know any better. This isn't any better than ogling a virtual behind, but at least it indicates some business sense. I'm among those who openly admit, as shallow as it might sound, that I prefer to play female characters because I like looking at their bodies. Why shouldn't I? There are no benefits, other than fooling naive players, in playing one gender over another. Unlike fighting games, where female characters tend to be slightly faster and more agile, MMO gender differences are literally skin deep. If any readers out there mock the Best Butts of Gaming gallery that GameDaily ran a few months ago, I call you all out as hypocrites. Unsurprisingly, no one complained that no male glutes made the list.