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Gendered avatars: representation of gender differences between cartoons and
simulated online role playing games in Taiwan.

Introduction

Recently, the population of online role-playing gamers has
increased tremendously. To expand the market, many game developers in
Taiwan are striving to attract more female players who were previously
considered to have little to do with the masculine domain. One of their
strategies is to adopt an animation style that can evoke young
females' interests. Shojo Manga, a popular comic genre for young
female readers, has now been adopted by game designers to create a new
addition of Massively Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs).
However, it will be intriguing to observe if the new "pink"
wave will instill innovative elements into the conventionally masculine
arena and cause changes, or if it will be merely another
"variant" replicating stereotypes in the game field.

MMORPGs and Avatars

MMORPGs is an abbreviation for Massively Multiplayer Online
Role-Playing Games, which "provide a naturalistic setting where
millions of users voluntarily immerse themselves in a graphical virtual
environment and interact with each other through avatars (visual
representations of users in a digital environment) on a daily
basis. " (Yee, 2004). Singhal and Zyda (1999) propose five features
to define those virtual worlds:

1. A shared sense of space

2. A shared sense of presence

3. A shared sense of time, making real-time interaction possible

4. A way to communicate (various interaction methods)

5. A way to share (dynamic environment that can be interacted with)

In sum, MMORPGs provide a graphic environment that resembles the
real world in functionality and appearance. It is a parallel space of
social interactions that allow players to control their online personae
(avatars).

With the population of online role-playing gamers increasing
recently, and expands the market, many game developers are targeting
potential female players. Kawaii style, a popular comic genre for young
female readers, is now adopted by game designers to create a new
addition of MMORPGs. However, it will be intriguing to see if the new
"pink" wave will instill innovative elements into the
conventionally masculine arena and cause changes, or if it will merely
be another variant-replicating stereotype in the game field.

MICs1 in Taiwan conducted a national survey (2008) focusing on the
demography and motivations of MMORPGs players; this survey was conducted
from August to September in 2008 with 6, 871 valid samples. The report
found that two-thirds (66. 3 percent) of female players prefer to play
Kawaii (Shojo, cartoon-like) games (e. g., Maple Story, Mabinogi), and
more than half of the males (51 percent) like to play simulation games
(e. g., World of War Craft, Lineage II), with only 14 percent on Kawaii
games, and the rest in other genres. Their definition of those two
genres is similar to that of the current study; the only difference is
that it divided each genre into two subgroups: Western Kawaii
(simulated) style and Eastern Kawaii (simulated) style. Therefore, we
can conclude that in Taiwan, Kawaii online role-playing games (KORPGs)
are played mostly by females, whereas simulation online role-playing
games (SORPGs) tend to attract more male players.

Literature Review

Gender Portrayal in Video Games

Video games have long been considered a male domain, and female
characters are often marginalized as victims or objects for male gazing.
According to Provenzo (1991), only eight percent of video games
contained female characters, and most were commonly in the role of the
"damsel in distress. " Provenzo also noted that the most
popular games at the time typically depicted stereotypical views of
gender-appropriate behavior, where men were often depicted as ruthless
aggressors and women as victims of violence (Beasley, 2002).

Another study was conducted by Dietz (1998), who employed content
analysis to examine how, in 1995, women are portrayed in 33 popular
Nintendo and Sega Genesis video games. Dietz found that 41 percent of
the games were without female characters. In addition, of the games that
included female characters, 28 percent depicted women as sex objects.
Dietz found that only 15 percent of the video games featured female
heroes, and 30 percent did not contain any female characters. The
"damsel in distress" characterization of female characters
occurred in 21 percent of the games. The vast majority of female
characters, regardless of their centrality to the action, were shown in
revealing clothing and with sexually enhanced physical features.

Beasley and Standley (2002) investigated the portrayal of women in
47 randomly selected games from Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation console
gaming systems. The study indicated that there was a significant sex
bias in the number of male versus female characters, and out of the 597
characters coded, only 82 (13. 74 percent) were women.

Scharrer (2004) conducted a quantitative content analysis of 1, 054
advertisements for video games appearing in large-circulation video game
magazines and found that males outnumbered females by more than three to
one. Scharrer also examined stereotypes of male characters in the video
game advertisements and found that male characters were often presented
as very muscular.

In addition to different depictions of males and females, there are
also sex differences in gameplay. Hartmann and Klimmt (2006) conducted a
survey and found that females prefer nonviolent and rich social
interaction games. Their survey results also show that the relative
importance of social interaction was much higher than the relevance of
gender role stereotyping and violence in the game. In addition, the
assumption that competitive structure of most digital games could
contribute to females' indifference toward them (Vorderer,
Hartmann, & Klimmt, 2006) got support in their study.

Moreover, Miller and Summers's (2007) study on gender
differences in video game magazines with a focus on the appearance and
attire of characters depicted the same scenarios that the prior work
concluded: male characters were more likely to be main characters and
heroes, use more weapons, and be more masculine,

whereas female characters tended to be supplemental characters,
more sexy, and tended to wear more revealing clothing.

Overall, the research on gender issues in video games tells the
same story: compared to female characters, male characters appear much
more frequently, mostly as leading characters, and they are depicted as
heroes. In contrast, female characters appear much less frequently and
when they do appear in the game, they are presented partially nude or
wearing revealing clothing, and behaving provocatively.

Taylor (2003) asserts that women's motivation to use computers
is often framed around how they enjoy communicating with others.
"Chatting, connecting with other people, forming relationships and
maintaining them are all aspects of the interpersonal pleasure of
MMROPGs afford and multiuser games have benefited by drawing in this
component of online life" (Taylor, 2003). Furthermore, Purple Moon, a
game company, examined play patterns of boys and girls and concluded
that girls like complex social interaction (Gorriz & Medina, 2000).

Manga and Simulated Online Role-Playing Games

Manga is a Japanese word (meaning playful images) for comic books
and print cartoons. It was inspired by the exaggerated features of
American cartoon characters such as Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse.
Therefore, manga has some cartoon-like features, namely, characters with
large heads, bodies, and eyes, small noses and mouths, and flat faces. A
large portion of the market is shojo (meaning an unmarried teenage
girl), which are comic books designed to appeal to girls (Frey and
Fisher, 2004).

Images in girls' manga (Shojo Kai, meaning girl's world)
are drawings of physically mature women with Kawaii or cuteness- large
eyes and pupils; long lashes; slim torso, limbs, and hips; and petite
noses, mouths, and breasts. Such elements persist today, although
breasts are often grossly exaggerated (Eliane Rubinstein-Avila, 2006).
For the convenience of discussion, the study determined to call the
manga and cartoon-like genre Kawaii Online Role-Playing Games (KORPGs).

Simulation, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary,
means "made to look genuine. " Hence, simulated online
role-playing games (SORPGs) are games in which avatars are simulated as
real persons with 3D graphics (e. g., Lineage II). There are two reasons
SORPGs are apparently for male players. Practically, online role-playing
games are a variant of video games, which are dominated by male players.
Theoretically, simulation in these SORPGs connotes technology, and
implies masculinity. Based on the assumption that computers are a medium
for thought, which seem more familiar and friendly to men than women,
Edwards (1990) asserts "the feature of computer simulations-
internally consistent but externally incomplete- is the significance of
the term 'microworld'. Computer microworlds have a special
attraction in their depth, degree of complexity, and implacable demands
for precision" (Edwards, 1990).

Method

This study utilizes content analysis to examine gender differences

between KORPGs and SORPGs; the former primarily played by females and
the latter by males. Due to limited numbers of Massively Multiple Online
Role-playing games (MMORPGs) in Taiwan, this study analyzed all
accessible online role-playing games' official websites in Taiwan.
The main reason for choosing MMORPGs in Taiwan is that there are roughly
an equal numbers of KORPGs (19/35) and SORPGs (16/35) released. These
can represent both femaletargeted and male-targeted online games for
comparison.

The sample selection is based on a complete list of the most
popular and comprehensive website, Bahamut, 2 for MMORPGs players in
Taiwan. The unit of analysis is the entire MMORPGs official website,
beginning with the home page. With regard to the coding process, two
coders carried out the content analysis; the overall agreement was 83
percent, and discrepancies were resolved after discussion.

As mentioned previously, this study aims to investigate gender
differences between different online role-playing games targeting male
(SORPGs) and female (KORPGs) players, respectively. Here are the
hypotheses:

Hypothesis: There are gender differences between

KORPGs' and SORPGs' official websites.

H1: SORPGs have more masculine themes than KORPGs.

H2: SORPGs have more male characters appearing in the main pictures
than KORPGs.

Results

I. Theme of titles

The theme of the title is measured by words appearing in the
titles. In the category, this study measures four values, including:

1. Masculinity: Words in the titles contain masculine adjectives3,
nouns such as war, fight, sword, dragon. 4 Title use of male names such
as "Nobol" (a Japanese General's name) also fall into
this value.

2. Femininity: Words in the titles contain feminine nouns such as
romance, pure, love, angel. 5 For example, a game named Angel S Romance
falls into this category.

3. Unidentifiable: Titles contain a mixture of masculinity and
femininity, having vague or no hints to recognize.

4. Other: Titles do not belong to any value above. According to
Table 1-1, the theme of this title is dominated by masculinity for 13
out of 16, which equals 81 percent of SORPGs (for male players). None of
them has a feminine theme. In KORPGs, though the percentage of
masculinity (26 percent) is greater than "Femininity" (16%),
the discrepancy is as large. Forty-two percent of KORPGs fall into the
category "Unidentifiable", indicating that the themes of the
titles of SORPGs are more flexible than KORPGs.

II. Background Color

This category measures the entire visual treatment of the
background color. It contains three values. The first two values are
sharp contrasts:

1. Dimly Light/Dark: The color primarily contains dark elements
such as dark red or black.

2. Bright/Light: Bright colors such as sky blue, green, or yellow.

3. Other: Color that is neither Dimly Light/Dark nor Bright/Light.

Table 2-1 indicates that KORPGs have more than half the games
falling into the Bright/Light value. However, in SORPGs, 80 percent are
Dimly Light and Dark and no game falls into the Bright/Light value.
Hence, there is a difference between KORPGs and SORPGs in background
colors. The former is more bright and light, whereas the latter is dimly
light and dark.

III. Background Themes

The category mainly measures the themes of the background, which is
always a combined value of a scene of characters and activities. It
contains three values with the former two in opposition.

1. Menacing: If the image is about war and fighting, the facial
expressions of main characters are aggressive or threatening, or there
are appearances of weapons or blood.

2. Light-Hearted: If characters in the background are smiling or
look excited, the color of the background is bright and light.

3. Unidentifiable: If the theme is difficult to recognize.

4. Other: Themes that are not included in the values mentioned
above.

According to Table 3-1, 81 percent of KORPGs have light-hearted

background themes, whereas 75 percent of SORPGs have menacing themes.

IV. Theme of Main Pictures

The category measures the overall visual treatment of the main
picture. It is a combination of three elements: 1) apparent atmosphere,
2) activities, and 3) the appearance of main character(s). This
measurement partially refers to the categories created by Ford J. B.,
Vooli P. K., Honeycutt, E. D. Jr, and Casey S. L. (1998) by analyzing
gender portrayal in Japanese magazines (see Appendix). Ford et al.
identified numerous traits and classified them into two categories,
feminine and masculine.

1. Masculinity: Images include war, fighting, the appearance of
weapons (e. g., guns or swords) or menacing facial expressions of male
characters.

2. Femininity: Images in which characters are

smiling or friendly; images that indicate romance or friendship;
main characters that are animals (usually pet-like animals, such as
rabbits or dogs).

3. Unidentifiable: Mixture of masculinity and femininity, and is
difficult to identify. For example, in the game "Hope", there
are two pet-like animals smiling, but are fighting with toy swords.

4. Other: Themes that do not fit into any of the above values.

Masculinity is as high as 93 percent as a predominant theme in the
main pictures in SORPGs. Fifteen out of 16 games have a masculinity
theme. Though KORPGs are not as extreme as SORPGs, almost half (47
percent) of their main picture themes feature femininity.

V. Gender of the Main Characters in the Main Pictures

The main picture refers to the largest picture, which is always in
the upper part of the front page and excludes the background of the
entire Webpage. According to

Table 5-1, in SORPGs, 11 out of 16 (i. e., almost 70 percent) have a
single male character who appears in the main pictures. That is, single
males are predominantly the main characters in SORPGs. By contrast,
there is no dominant value in KORPGs as in SORPGs; there are equal
percentages (21 percent) in both male only and female only values.
However, the most frequent value in

KORPGs is "Both Male and Female", having 37 percent,
whereas in SORPGs only 7 percent.

VI. Total Number of Males and Females in the Main Picture

The category counts and compares the relative number of male and
female characters appearing in the main pictures in KORPGs and SORPGs.
According to Table 6-1, though, in KORPGs, females have more frequency
and a higher percentage (55 percent), but the discrepancy of male
characters (45 percent) is not so big. In addition, SORPGs have a
similar result: Male characters have a higher percentage (58 percent) of
appearance in the main pictures than female characters (42 percent), but
the percentages are close.

VII. Facial Expressions of Male and Female Characters

(1) Facial Expression of Males7 in the main pictures

The categories have three values:

1. Amicable: The characters are smiling in a friendly way.

2. Harsh: The facial expressions of the characters are strongly
aggressive and stern.

3. Other: Facial expressions not included in the above values, such
as curiosity, excitement, sadness, or pouting, are not easy to identify.

Almost all the male characters in SORPGs are harsh, no character is
amicable. This contrasts with the male characters in KORPGs in which
half of the male characters are amicable.

(2) Facial Expressions of Female Characters in Main Pictures

The categories have three values:

1. Amicable: Characters are smiling in friendly ways.

2. Harsh: The facial expressions of the characters are strongly
aggressive and stern.

3. Other: Facial expressions not included in the above values, such
as curiosity, excitement, sadness, or pouting, are not easy to identify.

Almost all the female characters in SORPGs are harsh. In KORPGs, 65
percent of the females are amicable.

Discussion and Conclusion

H1: SORPGs have more masculine themes than KORPGs.

H1 is supported in that SORPGs have more masculine themes than
KORPGs, in four categories:

Themes of Titles, Background Colors, Background Themes, and Themes
of the Main Pictures. In Table 8-1, roughly 80 percent of SORPGs have
masculine titles, dark background colors, menacing background themes,
and the themes of the main pictures are masculine.

H2: SORPGs have more male characters appearing in the main pictures
than in KORPGs

The results of the H2 statement accords with the hypothesis that
SORPGs have more male characters appearing in the main pictures than
KORPGs do, with SORPGs having 58 percent male characters and KORPGs 45
percent, but the discrepancy is only 13% and is weakly supported.
Overall, KORPGs have more female characters (55 percent) than male
characters (45 percent), which is contrary to Beasley and
Standles's study in which the number of female characters in
Nintendo was 64, and in the Sony PlayStation console gaming systems
finding, there was a significant sex bias in the number of male versus
female characters: of the 597 characters coded, only 82 (13. 74 percent)
were women (Beasley and Standley, 2002). Putting aside how female
characters are portrayed in these KORPGs, the finding that females
outnumber males can serve as further evidence that female players are
getting more attention than before.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In addition to the hypotheses, there are several significant
findings. First, at least 37 percent of the main pictures have two or
more characters in KORPGs, and in SORPGs almost 70 percent have a single

male, and most are holding a weapon or fighting with another male. The
value, both female and male, has the highest percentage in KORPGs.
Looking further, one can see that some are couples and some are friends.
The "other" value is significant, because numerous main
pictures have several characters appearing at the same time. This
phenomenon accords with the observation of Hartmann and Klimmt (2006)
and Talyor (2003) that females prefer rich social interactions games.
Along with some pictures in KORPGs, in which several characters are
gathering happily and excitedly, it also indicates that females are more
eager to build private relationships and community.


By contrast, game worlds for males (SORPGs) tend to create a
violent scenario and dichotomize the world into good and evil, which
illustrates that, "Male gender identity is based on (emotional)
isolation, from demands for competitive achievement to the organized
violence at the center of male role" (Edwards, 1990). As shown in
the two pictures below, the one male character in the left picture is
holding a sword aggressively; though the right picture has two
characters, they do not seem to be comrades, but are likely enemies.



Furthermore, even though there are two SORPGs (Combat Among
Emperors and Guild War) that have one female appearing as a main
character, it does not mean that they are heroines; reversely, they are
displayed, conventionally, as a sex object or a reward. As shown below
(Picture 8-3), both are sexy and without any weapons in their hands.



Appendix I
Previously identified Japanese Gender Traits
(adopted from Ford et al., 1998)

Masculine Feminine

Ito (1978) Active Calm
A leader Charming
Ambitious Cute
Bold Delicate
Confident Devoted
Dependable Elegant
Quick in decision Self-attentive
Self-assertive Sexy
Strong Speaks politely
Strong will Submissive
Williams and Best
(1990) Ambitious Attractive
Assertive Charming
Autocratic Curious
Blustery Demanding
Bossy Fearful
Capable Feminine
Coarse Flirtatious
Courageous Fussy
Dependable Gentle
Determined Modest
Dignified Obliging
Dominant Prudish
Efficient Rattle-brained
Energetic Reserved
Enterprising Sentimental
Forceful Sexy
Forgiving Suggestible
Generous Sulky
Handsome Superstitious
Hard-headed Talkative
Independent Thorough
Ingenious Worrying

Initiative
Insightful
Masculine
Original
Reliable
Responsible
Robust
Severe
Steady
Strong
Tough

Appendix II

Samples selected from "BAHAMUT", the most popular website that
almost all online gamers will visit.
Website: http://wiki. gamer. com. tw/.

Cartoonish Online Role Playing Games (KORPGs)

Name of Game English Name /
(Cartoonish Games) Phonetic Translation
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Maple Story
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] A Journey to Kabala Island
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Mabinogi
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Ragnarok
RF Online RF
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Shin-jiue-dai-sliuang-j ieu
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Re-shie-jiang-hu
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] CrossGate
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Dream of Mirror Online
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Mystina
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online Newseal
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online The Pirate
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Stoneage
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Wonderland Online
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Getamped
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online X-Legend
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online Mo Siang Online
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online Flame Dragon
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online Angel Love

SORPGs (Simulated Online Role Playing Games)

Name of Game English Name /
(Simulated Games) Phonetic Translation
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] World of WarCraft
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Lineage
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Lineage II
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online Joy Park
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Guild Wars
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] II Online Spirituals of Chevaliers
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Noble Online
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online The legend of Three
Empires
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] II EverQuest II
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Ultimate Online
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Heat Project
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online Soul of the Ultimate
Nation (SUN)
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online Combat Among Dragons
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Sengoku Musou
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online Silk Route
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] II King of Kings

Name of Game Homepage Address
(Cartoonish Games)
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://tw. maplestory.
gamania. com/
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://cabala.
chinesegamer. net
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://tw. mabinogi.
gamania. com
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://ro. gameflier. com/
RF Online http://rf. gameflier. com/
Main. asp
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://tth. gameflier. com
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://www. wayi. com. tw/
hot/
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://cg. joypark. com. tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://domo. joypark. com.
tw/hot

[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://mo. lager. com. tw/
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://www. newseal. com.
tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://www. kopo. com. tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://www. wayi. com. tw
/stoneage/
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://wl. chinesegamer. net
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://tw. getamped.
gamania. com
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://hbo. xlegend. com. tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://ms. runup. com. tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://fdo. gameflier. com
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://al. gameflier. com/

SORPGs (Simulated Online Role Playing Games)

Name of Game Homepage Address
(Simulated Games)
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://www. wowtaiwan. com.
tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://tw. lineage.
gamania. com
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://lineage2. plaync.
com. tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://gvo. joypark. com. tw/
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://guildwars.
nctaiwan. com
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] II Online http://jx. gameflier. com/
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://nobol. gameflier. com
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://so. gameflier. com/
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] II http://tw. everquest.
gamania. com/
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://www. ultimaonline.
com. tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://tw. heatproject.
gamania. com
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online www. soulultimatenation.
com. tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://www. 9ds. com. tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] http://www. musouonline.
com. tw

[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] Online http://www. sro. com. tw
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII. ] II http://www. lager.
com. tw/gkk/

Correspondence to:

Chia-I Hou

Department of Bio-Industry,

National Taiwan University, Taiwan

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(1) MIC stands for Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute
(http://www. iii. org. tw/), which is an authoritative research
organization on information and digital media under the government
administration.

(2) There is no credible or professional Website that specifically
focuses on online games. Bahamut is the most popular Website that almost
all online gamers will visit. Now the Website is trying to employ the
concept of Wikipedia to collaborate a complete list of all the online
games. Their new Website is http://wiki. gamer. com. tw/. However, several
games no longer exist, so this study selected samples that are still
operating.

(3) In general, few titles contain adjectives.

(4) A dragon in East Asia is a symbol used for emperor, which is
masculine.

(5) Angels in Western culture are androgynous or gender neutral.
But in Taiwan, angels in movies or on TV are always played by females,
and, therefore, always have an association with females.

(6) The total percentage of KORPGs is not 100 percent, because the
percentage is roughly displayed without any decimals.

(7) The total number of characters' facial expressions may not
equal the entire number (i. e., 16), because some main pictures might
include more than one character.

Chia-I Hou

National Taiwan University

Table 1-1: Theme of Titles

KORPGs SORPGs

Masculinity 5 (26%) 13 (81%)
Femininity 3 (16%) 0 (0%)
Other 3 (16%) 1 (6%)
Unidentifiable 8 (42%) 2 (13%)
# of total 19 16

Table 2-1: Background Colors

KORPGs SORPGs

Dimly Light/Dark 6 (32%) 13 (81%)
Bright/Light 11 (58%) 0
Other 2 (10%) 3 (19%)
# of total 19 16

Table 3-1: Background Themes

KORPGs SORPGs

Menacing 2 (11%) 12 (75%)
Light-Hearted 13 (81%) 1 (5%)

Other 1 (11%) 0
Total 19 16

Table 4-1: Themes of the Main Pictures 6

KORPGs SORPGs

Masculinity 4 (21%) 15 (93%)
Femininity 9 (47%) 0
Other 1 (5%) 0
Total 19 16

Table 5-1: Gender of Main Character in Main Pictures

KORPGs SORPGs

Male only 4 (21%) 11 (69%)
Female only 4 (21%) 2 (13%)
Both M and F 7 (37%) 1 (7%)
Other 4 (21%) 2 (13%)
Total 19 16

Table 6-1: Total Number of Males and Females in the Main Picture

KORPGs SORPGs

Male 14 (45%) 18 (58%)
Female 17 (55%) 13 (42%)
Total 31 31

Table 7-1: Facial Expressions of Male Characters in the Main Pictures

KORPGs SORPGs

Amicable 7 (50%) 0
Harsh 3 (21%) 17 (94%)
Other 4 (29%) 1 (6%)
Total 14 18

Table 7-2: Facial Expressions of Female Characters in Main Pictures

KORPGs SORPGs

Amicable 11 (65%) 1
Harsh 2 9 (69%)
Other 4 (24%) 3 (23%)
Total 17 13

Table 8-1: Comparison between SORPGs and KORPGs

Category (Value) Comparison of percentage

Themes of titles (Masculine) SORPGs: 81%
KORPGs 26%
Background Colors (Dark) SORPGs: 81%
KORPGs: 0%
Background Themes (Menacing) SORPGs: 75%
KORPGs: 5%
Themes of Main Pictures (Masculine) SORPGs: 93%
KORPGs: 21 %

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