Chinese MMO “King of the World” has instituted a new gender identification system utilizing webcam technology to check for revealing female or male features and identify you as such. Aurora Technologies, the creators of the software, said that they feel that they cut out the middleman in the equation to prevent gender-bending cheaters, and that they believed that restoring a player’s real gender can make female players feel more respected.
Nevermind the fact that this is a game and not something that actually has any kind of basis in reality. Nevermind the fact that these are digital avatars meant to represent who we want to project into a digital world, not who we really are. Most importantly, forget the very idea that you have the freedom to choose. They do not want boys playing as girls, and have taken a very hard line against it. Are you a boy and wish to play as a girl? The Banhammer awaits. This amazing and overzealous act of sexism displays not only ignorance but also a blatant disregard for your player base and their wishes. I’m not sure this has anything to do with respecting the fairer sex so much as maybe a CEO in the company found out the hard way that some dainty little sprite within the game named “Luvlee” was actually a 400 pound man from Brooklyn named Bob.
Respecting you customer base within their worlds, meeting them exactly where they want to be, if possible, and actually find out what respect means to them, not what you assume; those are the things that will foster customer loyalty. Not this.
/facepalm
