Mists of Confusion

I was granted access to the Mists of Pandaria Beta yesterday. Once my kiddo was tucked away I'd managed to download 80% of the client and decided to go ahead and start poking around. I spent a decent amount of time looking at the female Pandaren character creation screen. I already knew she was going to be a red panda (because I wanted a tail) and I wanted to check out the new monk action, so then it was just playing with different choices for her face, hair, and coloration. (I found it strange that it had a field for choosing ears or hair color, when there was only one choice. Maybe that is something that will be changed in the future.) There are lots of fun options here.

Before I complain about anything let me just say that the Wandering Isle is incredibly beautiful and a pleasure to run through. I felt guilty about killing some of the wood sprites that were so cute, but I've been assured that as plants they will resprout and not to feel bad. I've really been taking my time as I work through quests, so I'm only level 6. I'm reading, wandering around, looking at things and just trying to savor it. I need to go turn up my music a bit next time I play, because it's really great too. Whether in Beta or once the game is live I hope that you will roll a Pandaren and go to the Wandering Isle yourself.

Still, I do have a complaint. There is one bit of questing that is still stuck in my craw. I've been working since last night to try and pin down my feelings. Early in your questing experience you meet Aysa Cloudsinger and then Ji Firepaw. Aysa is the sort of monk that I envision my own monk striving to be. She is graceful and poised, and a seems like a great role model. When I went to seek out Ji Firepaw I knew from my quest text that I was being sent to someone with a different temperament. I didn't expect that when I met him my first impression would be that he is a lecherous skeezeball. When I went to bed last night I had already decided that my panda would have to join the alliance, because I wanted no more to do with Ji Firepaw.

This morning when I woke up I thought that maybe I was overreacting. I hadn't heard anyone else talking about Ji in this way, though I haven't read too much about MoP since I wanted to experience it for myself. I started a new female monk and ran through those first few quests again. I was less completely horrified, but it still sat ill with me. I was having a hard time sorting out why though. So I took the next logical step and rolled a male. This time when I got to Ji Firepaw the quest text didn't bother me at all. When I took a look at the dialogue side by side, it became obvious to me why I found his talk with my female so disconcerting.

Can you read those messages? To the female he says, "You're some kind of gorgeous, aren't you?! I bet you can't keep the men off of you!" To the male he says, "You've got a strong look to you. I bet you're all the rage with the ladies!" At first blush these may not seem like they are very different, but there is an important distinction.

The male monk is told that because of his prowess he must be able to get all the attention he wants. The female monk is told that because of her looks she is probably being touched more than she wants. The man gets what he wants, the woman can't avoid what she doesn't want.

I am not capable of looking at this from another view point. I am a woman. I have been referred to as "little lady". I have been demeaned by men who did not view me as an equal, and this quest text rubs me all the wrong way. When I'm sent to work with him I'm told "Trust in his wisdom.", and I felt like he was leering at me. I did not feel greeted by an equal or by someone who would mentor me. I felt like I was greeted by someone who would take advantage of me if given the chance. I know that not every character in the game has to be likable, but this still seems incredibly wrong to me. I don't think it's the monk way to go about groping females that aren't interested in your roving hands, but that's exactly what was implied to my little level 3 monk. Am I wrong?

Anyway, that's two tiny sentences in one quest on a huge island that I've only started to explore. I hope that by the time I hit level 10-12 my character will have completely forgotten this. Maybe Ji will redeem himself? I don't know. I do know that it even if it meant never siding with the Houjin (or Horde), it certainly won't stop me from enjoying the rest of the Wandering Isle. I look forward to having time to log in again. There is so much of the island that I haven't had a chance to see yet.