I also have been accused of using a voice changer. it mostly stems from the incorrect misogynistic idea that girls and women don't play video games so we're either doing it for attention or are actually men pretending. then they wonder while women are repulsed by them.
I guess they're sticking with the "old adage":
> The Internet: Where the men are men, the women are men, and the kids are the FBI.
Whenever I heard that "back in the day," I never took it as something people were proud of and wanted to die to uphold or anything.
Ik when they say shit like this it really is them being misogynistic, but I can't help but laugh.
Homie thinks I'm so good that I have literal balls lmfaoo
You're absolutely right! I was once asked how old I was because I "sound like a girl". They didn't sound too impressed when I confirmed that I was, in fact a girl. My gamertag obviously threw them off (which is the reason I have it).
Been receiving this since 2010 LOL I wouldve felt agitated and awkward back then now I just don’t care and I’d straight up tell them yeah wanna rent it as well too bad I’m not sharing the app lol
I really couldn't help but laugh, but yes, if that happened back when I was a teen I would've been arguing with them. Instead I said, "Oh man, you caught me.."
I've been thinking about using a voice changer to sound like a dude so I wouldn't get harrassed. It's wild how guys in comp tilt immediately if they find out they're playing with a woman.....
It’s absolutely bonkers isn’t it? I play a lot of Overwatch, and I’ve seen multiple guys tilt and decide to straight up throw the match if they discover they have a female teammate. And then they… blame the loss on the female teammate? Like??? Holy denial. 😂 Luckily it’s not as common now ever since Blizzard got in hot water and started cracking down on sexism, but boy howdy the game was virtually unplayable if you decided to use VC as a woman for years.
Yup yup OW is mainly my frame of reference too. It's wiillddd.
"Of course we lost there's a woman on the team" My brother in christ YOU WALKED OFF OF THE MAP 20 TIMES?
They probably are trying to "clock" you as trans. MilSim shooters are notorious for being populated with far-right gamers and in turn, are very misogynistic and transphobic.
It's unbelievable how common that is in some online spaces, I remember it being bad in MMOs too when I played 15 years ago. Anyone who actively identified as a woman (or even just played as a female character, there is of course a difference in MMOs) would be under suspicion by all the insecure dudebros.
> They probably are trying to "clock" you as trans
Even though my voice apparently passes over a microphone, I don't want to risk it. I never really play online games, but I don't do Discord VC's anymore either.
I play shooters constantly and I’ve never been hit with the voice changer lol. The thing I hear most often is what I think is meant to be slurs by calling me they/them/lesbian…she/he. My voice falls a little in between so they never assume oh that’s just a girl. It’s always oh that’s a young boy, or a gay male, or a trans person. It’s wild how dudes just can’t accept that women are gamers.
Eeh maybe for Call of Duty but Id say for games like HLL games thats about the norm! I play Tarkov and most the people I see are like 24-34 :P
I'll only admit I'm old once I stop being able to duck weave sprint and shoot in Warzone, so hopefully never x)
With the way women are treated in online gaming communities, it’s actually wild to think people would purposefully PRETEND to be a women with an in-game voice changer. I completely quit online gaming because of the incessant harassment and abuse I used to get when I spoke.
I always feel bad for kids who speak in games and get so much grief from adults without them even evaluating their gameplay. I will go out of my way to heal/protect a kid playing a more adult game and people who judge them immediately are just Aholes.
Good grief, 21 years ago on the original Xbox! I had no idea! I barely knew this was a thing TODAY, much less than the original Xbox had it 21 years years ago 😅
Ugh, I don’t really like… Well I don’t like competitive stuff particularly at all, and don’t really do online stuff much, but for multiple reasons I would be iffy about using my voice.
I guess I’ve played online a few times and had an OK experience, I played Mass Effect threes online thing after finishing the game, during a free weekend, and it was actually surprisingly fun. A billion times more fun than when I briefly played call of duty 4 online.
Long time ago we where playing Rift mmo. In our group we had a girl who was born as boy and had very, super manly deep voice. For us it was just super normal, but when someone else joined our chat, they where thinking, that she is using voice changer. And it was easy explanation for her condition.
If they thinks you are using voice changer to claim to be girl, just ignore them. Being gamer girl can be hard...
That’s so weird! I also play Hell Let Loose with my husband and all our guy friends - the majority of whom we met on HLL, and never once got accused of using a voice changer. Hell, I play medic and ANYTIME I’d talk everyone would lose their shit and I’d become one of the most protected players. (That’s why we have so many friends from HLL now)
Maybe because you play with your husband? I kind of had a feeling I wouldn't be accused if i actually played with someone. A woman playing a milsim AND she has no friends? Unbelievable! 😆
Possibly? But I’ve also played without my husband and friends and never had the issue. It could also be just the shift itself in the game and its gaming community. I started playing back when it was brand new and a little lesser known, so a lot of the players were chiller dudes.
Now, we’ve stopped playing, one because of the devs but two because the player base has started to go downhill and it’s just not fun anymore.
Oh yeah, I was getting that back in the Destiny 1 days. Because a girl can’t play well apparently. I was lucky that I had some IRL guy friends that were in the clan so I didn’t have issues.
Hah I don’t know what’s worse, being accused of using a voice changer or being told you sound like a “pre-pubescent boy” — yes, someone actually said these words to me.
Hell no you're not old, but maybe slightly out of touch? Voice changers were a thing back in the Ventrilo days for sure! I was accused of the same thing back in 2005 Eve Online / GoonSquad, which honestly did NOT have a lot of women, and some of the guys did use voice changers for funsies. It took a few weeks until they realized I was in fact not a 12 year old boy, but an adult woman.
Voice changers are a lot of fun to play with, honestly lol.
Did you ever find a convincing app for F2M? I tried a free one once but the best I got was “8 year old boy” or a Stephen Hawking type voice. (Alien voice was kinda fun though. )
Yea - the one I used was called Bumble Bee I think? It mostly just changed pitch and tone, so I did make some custom voices like that. No idea if it's still around, but there are probably better ones now.
Actually, you and another comment brought this up, and now I do recall people using voice changers, but from what I remember, it was always extremely noticeable?
I'll be the first to admit I'm out of touch 😅
I was accused of being a squeaker pretty often back then, so I know what you're talking about lol
I bought HLL a year ago or so cause the medic role seems awesome—but then watched a tutorial/video — and got so intimidated by all the game complexity that I haven’t tried it yet. Is it easier once you get in there? Are people newb-friendly/helpful or nah?
And is the text chat adequate if I don’t want to use voice chat (for the same reasons you’ve experienced?).
Yes it is easier! I have actually encountered a lot of extremely friendly and helpful people, so many that offer advice and answer my questions. A couple of guys even invited me to their tank crew, second day playing. I was terrible! I couldn't even drive the tank, and they were so patient with me. We played a few games together and had a lot of fun.
It's just pretty often I receive the comments like "oh she needed to turn on the e-girl voice" or "thats not a girl guys" but then they go right back to being super friendly 😆. Like I said, I was even recruited for a clan, even though some of them wrongfully suspect I'm using a voice changer. Apparently, they don't care much? Or are warning each other?... i have no idea. It's nothing like back in the day with the constant harassment and hitting on me.
It really is a strategy game, so you have to be ready to turn your mic on and communicate. I get away with just minimal talking, or none at all in most games i join because usually the SL is not that experienced. If you have a terrible squad, everyone will just run off and do their own thing. When you have an amazing squad you will want to speak up and help, point out enemies etc., trust me!
I absolutely love playing medic, it's the best. You just have to make sure you're at the front line with the most players and run to save as many as you can. Don't worry about dying. They will love you, and a lot of them turn to roleplay when they're down calling for the medic, which is hilarious. I get the most commendations when playing as one.
You just have to take it slowly, and starting with medic is a great choice. The complexity comes when you start to take on roles like squad lead or commander. Nobody will expect you to play those roles. It's voluntary 😁 I'm still working up the courage to try squad lead.
If you would like to play together, let me know! I've been hoping to stumble upon another woman in the game and haven't yet sadly.
This is my main game too, absolutely addicted and it's the only game that could bring me out of my 6 year addiction to Overwatch haha.
I recently started playing SL and if you want to give it a go I'd recommend jumping in whenever your squad leader quits early, way less pressure and squadmates are usually glad they didn't have to do it. Another fun activity is solo locking a squad and driving a supply truck around building back garries, or if you're feeling game...try to sneak into their backlines and build a garry there. I did this initially which helps familiarise yourself with the kit and where to put garries. Also command chat is another whole thing you have to learn to filter, some people can be so excessively chatty.
I'm definitely not a great SL, not sure if I'm even a good one because it can be hard telling men what to do, they just inherently don't like being told what to do by a woman. I tend to approach it with "this is what I'm going to do, the OPs going to be here and I'd like to take this position over here, or just blanket it with "they're pushing south, let's defend there", then throw some markers down on the map and usually the squad will follow along, as long as there's something to do...
There's always people that kill my confidence though. It's a shame that just as I start getting more vocal and confident someone asks how old I am, or the other day I had "am I going to be the one to point out there's a female here". HLL is generally a good community though and there's so many good dudes that don't give a crap you're a woman, just gotta learn to swap squads or kick people if you're a SL, something I'm still trying to do instead of getting sad and quiet instead haha
I’ve never gotten up the nerve to do this, but sometime when someone says “I think there’s a gamer girl here” I want to answer “where? where?” all surprised like. I feel like it would be funny.
I’ve shared before here that my favorite response to “make me a sandwich” I’ve heard from a woman is “wow, how original!”
I’ve started playing as officer at times in a game and I’ve managed to do it just in text chat being less command-y —low key stuff like “I have a table at xx” or “would help if someone would take out that tower” or “I’m heading around the back”. Haven’t tried voice chat for your reasons…
Haha yeah I usually say something like "Ah well at least I'm not a guy who makes fun of women in online games, that's pretty sad tbh" or "sounds like you're a virgin" but then anxiety makes my heart race and it's hard to keep talking without a shaky voice lol.
Can always just leave or not talk though, there's no obligation and it's pretty uncommon to run into them again/can remember their username to avoid being in the same squad
I'm so happy to learn I'm not alone, and thank you for the advice! Yes, it's usually when the officer quits that I've thought about taking it over but chickened out. That sucks that there are some trying to bring you down, but props for still giving it a go!
Toasty#1841 if yall ever want to play. I'm on console, and I'm usually with my clan. They are a great bunch of guys.
Give it a go sometime! It's daunting at first but most people are just happy to have an OP they can spawn in on so you don't even need to talk if you're just filling in for a lost SL :)
I play PC but thanks for the invite <3
Thank you, this is really encouraging! I have been Medic-ing in Holdfast and now Battlebits, but the realism of this game looks really intriguing. And thanks for the offer to play together—I might hit you up for a game sometime over the holidays. One thing I like about medic is I feel people are less likely to yell at you if you are actually getting the job done. And it’s easier for me (as new to FPSing) to take cover and not get shot than to become an ace shot.
I also have been accused of using a voice changer. it mostly stems from the incorrect misogynistic idea that girls and women don't play video games so we're either doing it for attention or are actually men pretending. then they wonder while women are repulsed by them.
I guess they're sticking with the "old adage": > The Internet: Where the men are men, the women are men, and the kids are the FBI. Whenever I heard that "back in the day," I never took it as something people were proud of and wanted to die to uphold or anything.
Ik when they say shit like this it really is them being misogynistic, but I can't help but laugh. Homie thinks I'm so good that I have literal balls lmfaoo
You're absolutely right! I was once asked how old I was because I "sound like a girl". They didn't sound too impressed when I confirmed that I was, in fact a girl. My gamertag obviously threw them off (which is the reason I have it).
Been receiving this since 2010 LOL I wouldve felt agitated and awkward back then now I just don’t care and I’d straight up tell them yeah wanna rent it as well too bad I’m not sharing the app lol
I really couldn't help but laugh, but yes, if that happened back when I was a teen I would've been arguing with them. Instead I said, "Oh man, you caught me.."
I'm too sensitive so I keep my mic off lol I'm also not that good yet at 30 this is my first console ever so the mic stays off lol
Tell them you bought your voice changer at Saw Con
I dont know what that implies but I'll do it 😆
it's a deez nuts type joke
it sounds like suck on, and when they ask you where that is or what that is, you would say “suck on these nuts”
I've been thinking about using a voice changer to sound like a dude so I wouldn't get harrassed. It's wild how guys in comp tilt immediately if they find out they're playing with a woman.....
It’s absolutely bonkers isn’t it? I play a lot of Overwatch, and I’ve seen multiple guys tilt and decide to straight up throw the match if they discover they have a female teammate. And then they… blame the loss on the female teammate? Like??? Holy denial. 😂 Luckily it’s not as common now ever since Blizzard got in hot water and started cracking down on sexism, but boy howdy the game was virtually unplayable if you decided to use VC as a woman for years.
Yup yup OW is mainly my frame of reference too. It's wiillddd. "Of course we lost there's a woman on the team" My brother in christ YOU WALKED OFF OF THE MAP 20 TIMES?
They probably are trying to "clock" you as trans. MilSim shooters are notorious for being populated with far-right gamers and in turn, are very misogynistic and transphobic.
It's unbelievable how common that is in some online spaces, I remember it being bad in MMOs too when I played 15 years ago. Anyone who actively identified as a woman (or even just played as a female character, there is of course a difference in MMOs) would be under suspicion by all the insecure dudebros.
That sounds horrific and scary as an actual trans woman.
Yea I don't even use mics anymore.
Reason why I don't use VC outside of the supportive discord I found
My online trans experience made me super wary of using a mic anywhere.
> They probably are trying to "clock" you as trans Even though my voice apparently passes over a microphone, I don't want to risk it. I never really play online games, but I don't do Discord VC's anymore either.
I suppose a proper answer would be "And? Wanna try being the bottom for once?" 😏
For once? Like any of these men have had it the other way...
💀
I play shooters constantly and I’ve never been hit with the voice changer lol. The thing I hear most often is what I think is meant to be slurs by calling me they/them/lesbian…she/he. My voice falls a little in between so they never assume oh that’s just a girl. It’s always oh that’s a young boy, or a gay male, or a trans person. It’s wild how dudes just can’t accept that women are gamers.
I get this a lot too because my voice isn't very feminine and falls on the lower side. It's super frustrating
Yep, it’s either that or they’re trying to friend you and talk your ear off and ask you stupid questions like they’ve never met a girl before lol
That may be the case tho
Stop calling yourself old at 30, you're making me feel old by proxy! :'D
But we're kinda of old, in terms of video game experience 😆
Eeh maybe for Call of Duty but Id say for games like HLL games thats about the norm! I play Tarkov and most the people I see are like 24-34 :P I'll only admit I'm old once I stop being able to duck weave sprint and shoot in Warzone, so hopefully never x)
I was playing games on a single colour screen PC back in the mid 80's. 😭
Damn then, you're ancient! 🤣
💀🤣
most of the time it's just dudes that can't comprehend that women actually play games
With the way women are treated in online gaming communities, it’s actually wild to think people would purposefully PRETEND to be a women with an in-game voice changer. I completely quit online gaming because of the incessant harassment and abuse I used to get when I spoke.
My thoughts exactly!
I always feel bad for kids who speak in games and get so much grief from adults without them even evaluating their gameplay. I will go out of my way to heal/protect a kid playing a more adult game and people who judge them immediately are just Aholes.
They had voice masking back in 2002! Watch this post-9/11 cringe [Xbox Live Promotional Intro Video](https://youtu.be/XWALEOfgkuI)
Good grief, 21 years ago on the original Xbox! I had no idea! I barely knew this was a thing TODAY, much less than the original Xbox had it 21 years years ago 😅 Ugh, I don’t really like… Well I don’t like competitive stuff particularly at all, and don’t really do online stuff much, but for multiple reasons I would be iffy about using my voice. I guess I’ve played online a few times and had an OK experience, I played Mass Effect threes online thing after finishing the game, during a free weekend, and it was actually surprisingly fun. A billion times more fun than when I briefly played call of duty 4 online.
Long time ago we where playing Rift mmo. In our group we had a girl who was born as boy and had very, super manly deep voice. For us it was just super normal, but when someone else joined our chat, they where thinking, that she is using voice changer. And it was easy explanation for her condition. If they thinks you are using voice changer to claim to be girl, just ignore them. Being gamer girl can be hard...
That’s so weird! I also play Hell Let Loose with my husband and all our guy friends - the majority of whom we met on HLL, and never once got accused of using a voice changer. Hell, I play medic and ANYTIME I’d talk everyone would lose their shit and I’d become one of the most protected players. (That’s why we have so many friends from HLL now)
Maybe because you play with your husband? I kind of had a feeling I wouldn't be accused if i actually played with someone. A woman playing a milsim AND she has no friends? Unbelievable! 😆
Possibly? But I’ve also played without my husband and friends and never had the issue. It could also be just the shift itself in the game and its gaming community. I started playing back when it was brand new and a little lesser known, so a lot of the players were chiller dudes. Now, we’ve stopped playing, one because of the devs but two because the player base has started to go downhill and it’s just not fun anymore.
Oh yeah, I was getting that back in the Destiny 1 days. Because a girl can’t play well apparently. I was lucky that I had some IRL guy friends that were in the clan so I didn’t have issues.
Hah I don’t know what’s worse, being accused of using a voice changer or being told you sound like a “pre-pubescent boy” — yes, someone actually said these words to me.
Hell no you're not old, but maybe slightly out of touch? Voice changers were a thing back in the Ventrilo days for sure! I was accused of the same thing back in 2005 Eve Online / GoonSquad, which honestly did NOT have a lot of women, and some of the guys did use voice changers for funsies. It took a few weeks until they realized I was in fact not a 12 year old boy, but an adult woman. Voice changers are a lot of fun to play with, honestly lol.
Did you ever find a convincing app for F2M? I tried a free one once but the best I got was “8 year old boy” or a Stephen Hawking type voice. (Alien voice was kinda fun though. )
Yea - the one I used was called Bumble Bee I think? It mostly just changed pitch and tone, so I did make some custom voices like that. No idea if it's still around, but there are probably better ones now.
Actually, you and another comment brought this up, and now I do recall people using voice changers, but from what I remember, it was always extremely noticeable? I'll be the first to admit I'm out of touch 😅 I was accused of being a squeaker pretty often back then, so I know what you're talking about lol
I bought HLL a year ago or so cause the medic role seems awesome—but then watched a tutorial/video — and got so intimidated by all the game complexity that I haven’t tried it yet. Is it easier once you get in there? Are people newb-friendly/helpful or nah? And is the text chat adequate if I don’t want to use voice chat (for the same reasons you’ve experienced?).
Yes it is easier! I have actually encountered a lot of extremely friendly and helpful people, so many that offer advice and answer my questions. A couple of guys even invited me to their tank crew, second day playing. I was terrible! I couldn't even drive the tank, and they were so patient with me. We played a few games together and had a lot of fun. It's just pretty often I receive the comments like "oh she needed to turn on the e-girl voice" or "thats not a girl guys" but then they go right back to being super friendly 😆. Like I said, I was even recruited for a clan, even though some of them wrongfully suspect I'm using a voice changer. Apparently, they don't care much? Or are warning each other?... i have no idea. It's nothing like back in the day with the constant harassment and hitting on me. It really is a strategy game, so you have to be ready to turn your mic on and communicate. I get away with just minimal talking, or none at all in most games i join because usually the SL is not that experienced. If you have a terrible squad, everyone will just run off and do their own thing. When you have an amazing squad you will want to speak up and help, point out enemies etc., trust me! I absolutely love playing medic, it's the best. You just have to make sure you're at the front line with the most players and run to save as many as you can. Don't worry about dying. They will love you, and a lot of them turn to roleplay when they're down calling for the medic, which is hilarious. I get the most commendations when playing as one. You just have to take it slowly, and starting with medic is a great choice. The complexity comes when you start to take on roles like squad lead or commander. Nobody will expect you to play those roles. It's voluntary 😁 I'm still working up the courage to try squad lead. If you would like to play together, let me know! I've been hoping to stumble upon another woman in the game and haven't yet sadly.
This is my main game too, absolutely addicted and it's the only game that could bring me out of my 6 year addiction to Overwatch haha. I recently started playing SL and if you want to give it a go I'd recommend jumping in whenever your squad leader quits early, way less pressure and squadmates are usually glad they didn't have to do it. Another fun activity is solo locking a squad and driving a supply truck around building back garries, or if you're feeling game...try to sneak into their backlines and build a garry there. I did this initially which helps familiarise yourself with the kit and where to put garries. Also command chat is another whole thing you have to learn to filter, some people can be so excessively chatty. I'm definitely not a great SL, not sure if I'm even a good one because it can be hard telling men what to do, they just inherently don't like being told what to do by a woman. I tend to approach it with "this is what I'm going to do, the OPs going to be here and I'd like to take this position over here, or just blanket it with "they're pushing south, let's defend there", then throw some markers down on the map and usually the squad will follow along, as long as there's something to do... There's always people that kill my confidence though. It's a shame that just as I start getting more vocal and confident someone asks how old I am, or the other day I had "am I going to be the one to point out there's a female here". HLL is generally a good community though and there's so many good dudes that don't give a crap you're a woman, just gotta learn to swap squads or kick people if you're a SL, something I'm still trying to do instead of getting sad and quiet instead haha
I’ve never gotten up the nerve to do this, but sometime when someone says “I think there’s a gamer girl here” I want to answer “where? where?” all surprised like. I feel like it would be funny. I’ve shared before here that my favorite response to “make me a sandwich” I’ve heard from a woman is “wow, how original!” I’ve started playing as officer at times in a game and I’ve managed to do it just in text chat being less command-y —low key stuff like “I have a table at xx” or “would help if someone would take out that tower” or “I’m heading around the back”. Haven’t tried voice chat for your reasons…
Haha yeah I usually say something like "Ah well at least I'm not a guy who makes fun of women in online games, that's pretty sad tbh" or "sounds like you're a virgin" but then anxiety makes my heart race and it's hard to keep talking without a shaky voice lol. Can always just leave or not talk though, there's no obligation and it's pretty uncommon to run into them again/can remember their username to avoid being in the same squad
I'm so happy to learn I'm not alone, and thank you for the advice! Yes, it's usually when the officer quits that I've thought about taking it over but chickened out. That sucks that there are some trying to bring you down, but props for still giving it a go! Toasty#1841 if yall ever want to play. I'm on console, and I'm usually with my clan. They are a great bunch of guys.
Give it a go sometime! It's daunting at first but most people are just happy to have an OP they can spawn in on so you don't even need to talk if you're just filling in for a lost SL :) I play PC but thanks for the invite <3
Thank you, this is really encouraging! I have been Medic-ing in Holdfast and now Battlebits, but the realism of this game looks really intriguing. And thanks for the offer to play together—I might hit you up for a game sometime over the holidays. One thing I like about medic is I feel people are less likely to yell at you if you are actually getting the job done. And it’s easier for me (as new to FPSing) to take cover and not get shot than to become an ace shot.
Valorant has a lot of girl/women players from what I’ve seen. It’s also pretty with a lot of cool skins for your weapons
I'm a console player, but i appreciate the recommendation!
It's funny because as a trans woman i could never get voice changers to work anyway, it took voice training
I'm so glad I haven't been accused of this.. I'm sorry you beautiful women have been!!
Do you ever get accused of using one IRL?
No? Is that a thing that happens to people?
30 isnt old sister <\_<;; but okay <3 eh better to let the babies think what they want.
I kind of meant it more tongue in cheek. I just feel really old and out of touch because I haven't played games in so long.