It's a growing pain that some classes just seem to be laid out for a single gender, but they still remain that way anyhow. Blizzard's World of Warcraft may be a newcomer to the MMORPG scene - and a successful one at that - but it isn't immune to the MMO issues regarding sexism, no matter how light it may be ("over-generalization" if you would like to put it softly) be.

 

Irelance of Moonrunner may consider himself/herself as a sexist for assuming healers to be female gamers and warriors to be male gamers, but then so do millions of other people in numerous other MMOs in the world to date. Is it so impossible to accept that maybe women can handle well as a brawny melee fighter and some men feel more helpful as a supporter of a great party of players?

Some games such as Wizet's MapleStory and Aeonsoft's Flyff (Fly for Fun) managed to effectively blur that line, with many male gamers coming out as clerics or supportive classes - and effective ones at that. So skillful the female gamers became in melee and tanking, that rogues and the favorite warrior classes appear equally populated with women.

Yes, some games may be more openly sexist than they should be, though they don't attempt to be purposely. Games such as Gravity's ROSE Online Evolution may be a tough one to crack, especially if you've had nightmares after watching a man clad in the controversial Mana Steam gear pass you by.

 

It may not seem right that a male, or even a male character for the most part, can't become part of a particular class without passing off as a woman at their highest level, but it goes for ROSE and it may not stop there. Should healers be generalized as a female class and warriors accepted as a male-only class? That dear readers is left for you to discuss.

 

Xfire has got a whole lot of other interesting statistics for the month of March this year, and it looks like plenty will be head-turners for the PC gamers and avid MMO gamers alike. During Xstatic's official launch, it was made aware that the Xfire community, numbering some 6 million gamers around the world, would be statistically tracked for every game they play.

And for the month of March, it seems that the top 20 games played be Xfire community members are topped yet again by Blizzard Entertainment's cash machine World of Warcraft. Also noticeable in the top 20 games list is the appearance of Electronic Arts' recently released Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for the PC, which sits at one spot away from the Top 10.

Top on the MMO list is (tada?) World of Warcraft with NCSoft's Guild Wars tailing behind. Free-to-play MMO giants JoyMax Co.'s SilkRoad Online and Nexon's (and Wizet's) MapleStory pick up the lower two of three spots on the top five list. Scandalous Eve Online enjoys a comfortable seat at the fifth spot.

Top of the FPS list is Counter-Strike: Source, Valve Software's next-generation anti-terrorism shooter. Activision's Call of Duty 2 in multiplayer mode fills the second spot, and Electronic Arts' Battlefield 2 takes on third. Valve manages to slip another CS title with Counter-Strike 1.6 at the fourth spot, leaving id Software's Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory to bar Battlefield 2142 from entering the top five.

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne peaks off the top 10 strategy games, with Electronic Arts' Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars stealing second spot. Big news: contending RTS titan Supreme Commander is tailing behind C&C3 with a staggering 20,000 player gap, although February saw THQ and Gas Powered Games' Supreme Commander securely at second.