What's With "The Girl Test"?

[Blue-Alloy]

Maybe this is just me being a little cranky, and maybe some of the other vocalists can chime in with their experiences, but today I went through another one of those streaks online that I now think of as "The Girl Test."

I have this theory that when playing with people online, as soon as they see a female character on vocals, there's this immediate suspicion about whether or not the person behind the avatar really has XX chromosomes, and so, just to make SURE it's really a girl, they immediately jump to "I'm So Sick" by Flyleaf to see whether or not the singer will pass.

Fine. Okay, I pass it. I do all right on that song, but then as soon as the group breaks up and/or I move on to another, what happens? They see a girl, they conduct the test, and it's hello "I'm So Sick" again. On a bad night, I can sing this song as much as 5 times in the course of an hour or two. I don't know if the other female vocalists out there have had a similar experience, but this has been a semi-regular occurrence for me. Maybe that's not the intention, and maybe it's just people thinking "Well since she's a girl, we'll be nice and let her sing this song," but by the time I get to the third or fourth repeat, I'm already wishing I could just say "YES. I am a GIRL. I've already passed this test, I can make babies, can we move on, please?"

I'd also like to point out that if you check the leaderboards on either console, you'll find that some of the top scores for this song are by MEN. There are plenty of guys that can sing the song just fine. Heck, my husband can sing the song pretty well when I can convince him to try. So conducting "The Girl Test" with "I'm So Sick" is hardly proof that the person behind the avatar is indeed female.

Also, on another, unrelated note. I'm a little confused as to why I find myself getting kicked from groups before the set has even started. A few times now, when looking for a group, it seems like the second the vocalist slot has been filled by me, I get the "You have been kicked!" message. Do people not like playing with singers? These are complete strangers I've never played with before that give me the boot on sight, so I'm kind of baffled as to why they'd run me off the moment they lay eyes on me.

Sorry for the cranky post. It's been one of those nights.

[HollywoodBound]

I don't know about you but frankly first off I havn't encountered too many girls on the game but we've never had anyone take "the girl test" you speak of.

[Lopez21]

lol i like that song, i can pass it and i'm a guy... on easy :p

[Lady Siara]

Actually, I have a hell of a time singing this song. I must sing in a weird octave or something, cause I can NEVER hit the notes in this song.

[Kylekillgannon]

that's why I just play with my friends

[synthetic_darkness]

I have yet to have this problem... but I know how some guys can be about playing games with girls. =\

[HMXJohnlok]

Hah! Maybe it's just a coincidence?

And as far as dudes singing songs with female singers, nothing beats my renditions of Song With a Mission, or Cherry Bomb. That's right. ::flex::

[HeXcoda]

The easiest way to deal with this is to hold down the trigger and say "Please, not Flyleaf again, I've done it five times today." A courteous band will switch. AND that'll be vocal proof you're a girly girly girl girl grrl thing, if that's honestly what they're looking for.

If you're a PS3er who can't communicate with the band, then, well... sorry, dunno.

[Talli]

Actually, I have a hell of a time singing this song. I must sing in a weird octave or something, cause I can NEVER hit the notes in this song.

Don't feel bad, I sang second soprano in choir when I was younger and I have a tough time with that song... you just have to go for it. worst thing that can happen is you hit a wrong note. ;)

I played online last night for the first time, and the first group I got in said "Hey, pick a chick song... I Think I'm Paranoid" to which i said HELL NO... i hate singing that song. I don't know what it is, but i am way off on the main vocal riff, all the time. boo.

[HMXWhitestar19]

Hah! Maybe it's just a coincidence?

And as far as dudes singing songs with female singers, nothing beats my renditions of Song With a Mission, or Cherry Bomb. That's right. ::flex::

*sighs* Ohh how I miss those days.... brought tears to my eyes.... You gotta sing for me again Johnlok!!

[Blue-Alloy]

If you're a PS3er who can't communicate with the band, then, well... sorry, dunno.

Uh... yeah. That's the boat I'm in.

[Senkoy]

That's why i gave up on playing online. I only played a little first week and havent since and might never do so again. It takes forever to find anyone, then they will kick you out for no reason, take a million years to chose a song, stop playing in the middle, so on and so forth. Online is horrible.

Btw, i'm a dood and i use a female avatar. Making female avatars is funner...

[keith921]

Whenever I play online and I feel like singing, i'll use my girlfriends avatar cause i'm too lazy to make my own for singer. And i've never gotten the "girl test" lol. But I do like I'm So Sick. Gotten 100% on it on hard i think.

[TheRocker]

Hahha , I play with you :) (Mir) , Blue-Alloy is a female for all of you out there and yes shes the #1 Vocalist on Ps3 not to mention has a great guitarist.

[Lady Siara]

Don't feel bad, I sang second soprano in choir when I was younger and I have a tough time with that song... you just have to go for it. worst thing that can happen is you hit a wrong note. ;)

I played online last night for the first time, and the first group I got in said "Hey, pick a chick song... I Think I'm Paranoid" to which i said HELL NO... i hate singing that song. I don't know what it is, but i am way off on the main vocal riff, all the time. boo.
Wow, I have problems with that song too, along with Celebrity Skin and So Sick on medium. Yet I can play Run To The Hills, Foreplay/Long Time, Tom Sawyer, Enter Sandman, etc. on hard with little problems. -_-

[CowShark]

Maybe people just like the song? Or maybe it's not "a test" and they just don't understand the octave jumping part of the vocal scoring, so they think they will be helping you out by picking a "girl song."

Just hit that right trigger and shout them down, like- "I want to play Reptilia!"

Or whatever.

I seem to bump into an inordinate amount of I'm So Sick, When You Were Young, and Enter Sandman in random band quickplay. Even though I can't pronounce "Belisha Beacon" (YET), I'm always rooting for My Iron Lung.

Edit: Now I read the rest of the thread and see that you can't communicate with your band. Sucks. Maybe you should just make a dude avatar for online play?

[Blue-Alloy]

Hahha , I play with you :) (Mir) , Blue-Alloy is a female for all of you out there and yes shes the #1 Vocalist on Ps3 not to mention has a great guitarist.

Heyo... yeah I am female, although my husband also sings. When we play online together I do the singing, and he plays Bass (or Guitar when he gets a chance).

As for the #1... well, let's just say I don't expect that to last very long. There are lots of good singers coming up really fast and I don't think it'll take much time for them to overtake top spot.

[TheRocker]

Heyo... yeah I am female, although my husband also sings. When we play online together I do the singing, and he plays Bass (or Guitar when he gets a chance).

As for the #1... well, let's just say I don't expect that to last very long. There are lots of good singers coming up really fast and I don't think it'll take much time for them to overtake top spot.

You mean like me hahahah.. Im finally getting my guitar thanks to an EA employee (Thank you)

[Blue-Alloy]

Maybe people just like the song? Or maybe it's not "a test" and they just don't understand the octave jumping part of the vocal scoring, so they think they will be helping you out by picking a "girl song."

Just hit that right trigger and shout them down, like- "I want to play Reptilia!"

Or whatever.

I seem to bump into an inordinate amount of I'm So Sick, When You Were Young, and Enter Sandman in random band quickplay. Even though I can't pronounce "Belisha Beacon" (YET), I'm always rooting for My Iron Lung.



Well usually how it goes is that they pick 'I'm So Sick', then afterwards they'll pick 'I Think I'm Paranoid', 'Maps' and 'Celebrity Skin'. I could assume they were just being nice and picking girl songs if they also picked Outside, Brainpower or Seven (or Brass in Pocket), but these never come up. 'Course it could all be coincidence, since there's no way to communicate on the PS while in online quickplay.

On a side note, I really have no idea what a Belisha Beacon is (runs off to Wikipedia). And thankfully few people seem to want to play 'Heroes'...

[IPrevengeI]

I can sing that song on hard pretty easily, and I'm male. :P Luckily after you transpose it down an octave or two it's right in my vocal range, I could probably 100% it on expert. I like it.
As for the test thing: Haven't seen what you're speaking of, ever. So. Yeah.

[JIrish780]

And thankfully few people seem to want to play 'Heroes'...

Okay, so it doesn't exactly hold up to the original, I get that, I even agree. It's hard to follow David Bowie and Robert Frip. But the continued hate for this song I keep seeing breaks my heart. Oh, well.

Back on topic, having never played the game on-line, can't say I know much about any sort of test, girl or otherwise.

[Gryffindor]

I don't think it's so much of a girl test as it is a "Let's see if we can KILL the singer" test. Please, for the sake of all that is good in the world, when on-line with a vocalist, do not pick high register songs back to back to back to back.

Alloy: I get I'm So Sick just about everytime we're not leader. As for the getting kicked, I think it's happened once or twice. Since it's me, (female), and my daughter playing guitar, some guys apparently don't want to play with women/girls - just my thinking anyways.

[CowShark]

I can sing that song on hard pretty easily, and I'm male. :P Luckily after you transpose it down an octave or two it's right in my vocal range, I could probably 100% it on expert. I like it.
As for the test thing: Haven't seen what you're speaking of, ever. So. Yeah.

I'm not saying this to be a dink, but just to vent at the song really. I don't think anybody can 100% that song reliably (I've done it about 4 times, and I've played it a lot), solely based on how damnably picky the talky part is.

You think you know how to pronounce the word "Break," but oftentimes, Rock Band will explain to you in its objective, points based system, that you do not.

[Gryffindor]

I know of only one person who has said they have gold starred I'm So Sick. The game as a whole hates me on most talky parts. It all has to do with timing. That's what makes Timmy so darned hard!

[CowShark]

Again, not to be a dink, but TatteredUniform has his score posted on ScoreHero (115k) as a 5 star, and not a gold star score. And that's the highest I've seen.

If anybody has gold starred that song, I'd like to see a picture (and know their overdrive path, zomg lol).

[cuddie]

Maybe it's because I'm So Sick is the best female fronted song?
Others are:
I Think I'm Paranoid
Celebrity Skin
Outside

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[Gryffindor]

There's only 7 female vocalist songs in the entire game :-(

[WiseOldUnicorn]

Doesn't really make sense to me to pick female-fronted songs just because you've got a girl singer. I mean, vocal ranges vary (I suck at Celebrity Skin, but I'm awesome at Foreplay/Long Time, all because of my range), and if all else fails you can always go up an octave.

But yeah, I haven't played online enough to run into this. Good damn thing, too. I love I'm So Sick, but I can't sing it worth a hill of beans. (Then again, as a friend of mine pointed out, the singer from Flyleaf can't even sing Flyleaf songs. :p)

[CowShark]

(Then again, as a friend of mine pointed out, the singer from Flyleaf can't even sing Flyleaf songs. )

Wait, what? I mean, her voice is gorgeous on the recorded track.

Is she like the singer for Everclear, who can't hit his own damn notes live?

[WiseOldUnicorn]

Wait, what? I mean, her voice is gorgeous on the recorded track.

Is she like the singer for Everclear, who can't hit his own damn notes live?

Well, said friend isn't a huge fan of her voice, and was being a smartass. I don't usually like her voice much either (too Avril-ish for me), but there's a few songs of theirs I enjoy anyway.

[Blue-Alloy]

Is she like the singer for Everclear, who can't hit his own damn notes live?

He can't? Aww... then again I don't think I'd see Everclear to really watch them sing. Vent maybe. Never got the later albums so perhaps they're not as angry now.

[cjkuhlenbeck]

Thats really odd :| I mean like, i know some of the nerds get really weird with girls on video games (think they get the idea they have more of a chance). I shouldnt say nerds, but more of the "never kissed a girl" type. lol. But anyways, i don't know about the rest of you, but i have a male and a female char. I dont sing but i play guitar, and im on xbox. I dod play one game where i was asked, but i didnt have the mic plugged in to call em a virgin. oh well. moral of the story is we need to over take the stereotypes of video games. BTW im male ;)

[REICHLEIN]

I used to know Art Alexakis about 13 years ago. Everytime I heard him sing live, he was on key. Of course vocal intonation was never a big deal with Everclear.

[CowShark]

I used to know Art Alexakis about 13 years ago. Everytime I heard him sing live, he was on key. Of course vocal intonation was never a big deal with Everclear.

On key is one thing, making it to your high note is another. I never saw Everclear live, but they used to play some live recordings from them on the local alt-rock radio station where he sounded like really rough. Maybe he was actually good live (which would be heartening, because I loved their radio songs). Why the band would let a crap live recording get released to radio stations though, is a mystery (but not an impossibility).



Well, said friend isn't a huge fan of her voice, and was being a smartass. I don't usually like her voice much either (too Avril-ish for me), but there's a few songs of theirs I enjoy anyway.

Well that's a different thing. It's cool to not be a fan. But I hate it when artists are better "canned."

Live shows should be where the audience is impressed and maybe surprised, but never let down.


Woo! Tangent!


So, Blue-Alloy, have you tried playing the dudeliest looking dude character online to see if people would quit choosing all girl songs? Your other option is to be the band leader (although I don't know if there's really a way to choose to be band leader). I was leader for the first time tonight in random band pandemonium, and just hit "random song" again and again whenever folks didn't have a request, so that I could demonstrate my impartiality (and indifference- although the band shot me down when I suggested Reptillia- *sob sob*).

[Blue-Alloy]

So, Blue-Alloy, have you tried playing the dudeliest looking dude character online to see if people would quit choosing all girl songs? Your other option is to be the band leader (although I don't know if there's really a way to choose to be band leader). I was leader for the first time tonight in random band pandemonium, and just hit "random song" again and again whenever folks didn't have a request, so that I could demonstrate my impartiality (and indifference- although the band shot me down when I suggested Reptillia- *sob sob*).

You can't choose to be band leader online, the system seems to roll the dice for that. As for Mr. Macho, I'll try cooking up one later. I suppose it wouldn't be a good idea to name him 'Pink Floyd'...

Although on a pure aesthetics note, I will miss being able to wear the nicer skirts and shirts that are available for the female characters.

[WingsOfSteel]

I don't think it's so much of a girl test as it is a "Let's see if we can KILL the singer" test.

I've had this test.

[cuddie]

Thats really odd :| I mean like, i know some of the nerds get really weird with girls on video games (think they get the idea they have more of a chance). I shouldnt say nerds, but more of the "never kissed a girl" type. lol. But anyways, i don't know about the rest of you, but i have a male and a female char. I dont sing but i play guitar, and im on xbox. I dod play one game where i was asked, but i didnt have the mic plugged in to call em a virgin. oh well. moral of the story is we need to over take the stereotypes of video games. BTW im male ;)
Properly read it should say "I've never touched a girl, let alone kissed one"

You also contradicted yourself. At the end you write

"moral of the story is we need to over take the stereotypes of video games"

but yet in the middle of your post you write

"the nerds get really weird with girls on video games (think they get the idea they have more of a chance)"

You don't seem to be very bright, and you may be a little full of yourself.

[DesiredFX]

This is kinda sorta related in a way.

For the first time, today, I actually managed to be part of a band that was fully invitation-only.

It was bliss.

Everyone in the group played Hard or better, with two playing exclusively Expert (not me). The vocalist was a woman and our peerless leader simply used the randomizer (except in a few instances where he found that we had common DLC), and we never ended up playing I'm So Sick (which is fine by me, since I'd played it two or three times in earlier random online gigs).

This is something I've been working toward since I got the game a month ago, adding RB-related friends all over the place and trying to work out enough communication to actually get a full band together.

I still haven't figured out how to pull something like this together on a regular basis, but the fact that we managed it at all gives me real hope for playing online.

My problem with playing random gigs has more to do with the leaders picking only a handful of songs--today, in separate groups, I played Dani California five times, Say It Ain't So and Wanted Dead or Alive four times each, and Epic and Enter Sandman three times. As I've been working my way through the songs in the solo tour, I'm finding that I have a lot of favorite songs as a guitarist/bassist that no one seems to want to touch--Gimme Shelter and Electric Version, to name two.

So, to close out my rambling, I'm hoping today's "all invite" experience turns into the rule rather than the exception.

The next thing I'm hoping for is enough communication to put together a planned set list of a dozen songs. Voice chat sure would make that easier...

[Asgautr]

My girlfriend gets this constantly. One guy even picked something like 6 female songs in a row. She always has to hold down the trigger and request a song to get any male songs going. Of course, they always listen to her request and pick it immediately.

[cjkuhlenbeck]

Properly read it should say "I've never touched a girl, let alone kissed one"

You also contradicted yourself. At the end you write

"moral of the story is we need to over take the stereotypes of video games"

but yet in the middle of your post you write

"the nerds get really weird with girls on video games (think they get the idea they have more of a chance)"

You don't seem to be very bright, and you may be a little full of yourself.

Hmm, thats odd, because i've never kissed a girl, but im married. Wonder how that happend, maybe you can tell me since your intelligent. And as far as the stereotype comment, its was more of meaning less nerds on the video games, so gamers wont be called nerd type of thing, but hey, at least you have reading skills of a third grader.

[Asgautr]

Properly read it should say "I've never touched a girl, let alone kissed one"

You also contradicted yourself. At the end you write

"moral of the story is we need to over take the stereotypes of video games"

but yet in the middle of your post you write

"the nerds get really weird with girls on video games (think they get the idea they have more of a chance)"

You don't seem to be very bright, and you may be a little full of yourself.

That was pretty uncalled for.

[KDLynch]

You can't choose to be band leader online, the system seems to roll the dice for that.

Okay, now I'm confused. I've never been in a randomly selected group online. :/ I've looked for a setting for it, with no luck... but now I guess that explains why.

However, I think I might know why now... I always first invite an online friend into the group, and once he's in, I choose the 'find players' option... this fills the other two slots, but I'm always left as leader (whether or not I want to be).

You mentioned your hubby plays, so get him in, .then. do the find players option... does that leave you as leader of the band, and therefore able to avoid so many repeats of Flyleaf?

Oh, and we've only done that particular song once now. I like the drum rhythm in it, and was being snarky, knowing the vocals would be a challenge for him... we did make it through it though. :)

As for why you are getting kicked... that makes no real sense, unless they were wanting someone specific for that part. Seems to me the QuickPlay mode is just purely to have fun, so as long as all are having fun, regardless of their playing level, why would anyone bother kicking anyone? rhetorical question, I know.

And lastly, please Harmonix... give us poor ps3 players some chat? pretty please with cherries??

[cuddie]

That was pretty uncalled for.
Quite called for.

[cuddie]

but hey, at least you have reading skills of a third grader.
But you have the writing skills of a first grader, which would make me well qualified to read your posts.


Hmm, thats odd, because i've never kissed a girl, but im married. Wonder how that happend, maybe you can tell me since your intelligent.
As long as we're on the subject of intelligence, it should be "you're". Who knows if you're married? I could say that I'm Tom Morello and for all you know I could be telling the truth. Ah yes, the marvel of the internet.


And as far as the stereotype comment, its was more of meaning less nerds on the video games, so gamers wont be called nerd type of thing

Oh ok, so it'd be better to call them a "never kissed a girl" type, in your words? That's still a stereotype isn't it? Perhaps you may need to look "stereotype" up.

Here is your original post in all it's "glory", if you can call it that. I bolded some parts to make it easier for you to understand what I'm trying to point out.

Thats really odd :| I mean like, i know some of the nerds get really weird with girls on video games (think they get the idea they have more of a chance). I shouldnt say nerds, but more of the "never kissed a girl" type. lol. But anyways, i don't know about the rest of you, but i have a male and a female char. I dont sing but i play guitar, and im on xbox. I dod play one game where i was asked, but i didnt have the mic plugged in to call em a virgin. oh well. moral of the story is we need to over take the stereotypes of video games. BTW im male ;)

[m00p]

Thats why u do score duel or play with ur friends. In score duel u often tend to play the same kind of ppl more then once so it improves the chances that u will end up with a bitter rival or a friend who has good sportmanship n all. Since the CPU picks the song, nobody cant rly discriminate on ur gender.

[teh_roc]

Haha, I'm a guy yet I have a wierd fascination with singing I'm So Sick, it just seems so absurd. The songs not all that hard except for those two screechy parts, "hear it..." and "scream it..."

[NoD]

Maybe this is just me being a little cranky, and maybe some of the other vocalists can chime in with their experiences, but today I went through another one of those streaks online that I now think of as "The Girl Test."

I have this theory that when playing with people online, as soon as they see a female character on vocals, there's this immediate suspicion about whether or not the person behind the avatar really has XX chromosomes, and so, just to make SURE it's really a girl, they immediately jump to "I'm So Sick" by Flyleaf to see whether or not the singer will pass.

Fine. Okay, I pass it. I do all right on that song, but then as soon as the group breaks up and/or I move on to another, what happens? They see a girl, they conduct the test, and it's hello "I'm So Sick" again. On a bad night, I can sing this song as much as 5 times in the course of an hour or two. I don't know if the other female vocalists out there have had a similar experience, but this has been a semi-regular occurrence for me. Maybe that's not the intention, and maybe it's just people thinking "Well since she's a girl, we'll be nice and let her sing this song," but by the time I get to the third or fourth repeat, I'm already wishing I could just say "YES. I am a GIRL. I've already passed this test, I can make babies, can we move on, please?"

I'd also like to point out that if you check the leaderboards on either console, you'll find that some of the top scores for this song are by MEN. There are plenty of guys that can sing the song just fine. Heck, my husband can sing the song pretty well when I can convince him to try. So conducting "The Girl Test" with "I'm So Sick" is hardly proof that the person behind the avatar is indeed female.

Also, on another, unrelated note. I'm a little confused as to why I find myself getting kicked from groups before the set has even started. A few times now, when looking for a group, it seems like the second the vocalist slot has been filled by me, I get the "You have been kicked!" message. Do people not like playing with singers? These are complete strangers I've never played with before that give me the boot on sight, so I'm kind of baffled as to why they'd run me off the moment they lay eyes on me.

Sorry for the cranky post. It's been one of those nights.

That may have been me and my daughter last night, "I'm So Sick" by Flylist is her favorite song and she selected it every time a new group was formed. No test involved she just think other girls would like to sing that song because she like it so much.

I'm type that if I see Girl Vox, then I try to pick songs they would like to sing (female vox). Vox are hard to find online so if I'm leader you gotta keep them happy.

[Angelex21]

Well if i would see a girl vocalist come into it i would probably pick that too. But, not as a test or a guy girl thing. Just.. Flyleaf is an awesome band and has a kick *** singer that can acually scream. And any girl that can scream i give props too. I'm not saying like "only guys can scream and when girls do it its like a 1 and a million thing." I hope you get what i'm saying.

[Talli]

Wow, I have problems with that song too, along with Celebrity Skin and So Sick on medium. Yet I can play Run To The Hills, Foreplay/Long Time, Tom Sawyer, Enter Sandman, etc. on hard with little problems. -_-

Celebrity Skin... it's so sad. I want to be good at that song, but my voice just doesn't "get" it. It's not that I can't hit the notes, they just don't sound good when I sing them. But yeah, I'm totally with you on all the other songs-- words cannot describe my love for Foreplay/Long Time. Except for the noodley part at the end, but that's just because I don't know the song very well yet.

[ShadowOfEden]

That's why you need to start getting used to the guitar. :P My gf only plays the guitar, lol.

[Talli]

That's why you need to start getting used to the guitar. :P My gf only plays the guitar, lol.

I play hard/expert for guitar/bass. Vocals are more challenging for me right now, so that's why I do them. :)

[Electric_Zen]

There are lots of female vocalists (and female avatars) online, so I doubt anybody is freaking out just becaue they see a girl on the screen.

Blue-Alloy, if you are ranked #1 on the leaderboards, people may be very impressed, and selecting "I'm So Sick" to see how good you are.

Kind of like kids walking up to Michael Jordan and asking him to dunk.

[Mimglow]

Thats why u do score duel or play with ur friends. In score duel u often tend to play the same kind of ppl more then once so it improves the chances that u will end up with a bitter rival or a friend who has good sportmanship n all. Since the CPU picks the song, nobody cant rly discriminate on ur gender.

Sorry to go off topic, M00p, but I couldn't help but notice Izzy and Slash in the same pic in your avatar. Is there something you know that I should know? Reunion?

[shoombabi]

On the rare occasions that I'm band leader and I get a vocalist AND they happen to be female, I have been guilty of doing this.

"Why," you might ask, "Shoom, do you do this?"

The answer is simple. Flyleaf rocks. I love their stuff. And I love playing with a full band. The inherent problem is that the majority of male vocalists either don't know the song, don't understand octaves, don't like to sing it, or one of a million other reasons, and they ultimately wind up leaving the band before the song starts.

I think that like myself, some other bands may just get excited at the prospect of finally being able to play the song. Frankly, I don't care if you're a guy, a chick, tranny, hermie, what-have-you. You could be a damn turtle-kangaroo-blob. I don't care about that, just that you can sing.

edit: Scratch turtle-kangaroo-blob, it sounds disturbing.

[Gryffindor]

Personally, I find the idea that guys are using female avatars a bit creepy. I'm one of those that actually created my avatar to look like me. Same thing goes for both of my daughters and their friends. Perhaps we lack imagination but if it's me playing I want to be represented by, well, ME.:D

[RavagerX]

You know what? This VERY thing happened to me on Christmas.

For starters, I am a dude. I have several female characters in game, why? Because I rather watch a girl than watch a guy...but I do have a guitarist and a vocalist that I created with my likeness.

Anyway, back to point. I decide to do some vocals(rare) online, and pick a random female singer.

The FIRST group I get with, apparently see this and quickly pick that damned flyleaf song. I don't like it in the first place, but I attempt to sing it anyway. I fail out twice I think and manage to scrape by.

I guess they weren't satisfied with the test, so they then pick that Vagiant song, which I like and can actually sing.

I really don't mind singing female songs(I really like "I think I'm Paranoid")

[HMXDave]

I admit, I did this to my friend Steph when she came over to play Rock Band.

She failed a couple times, ha ha.

[espher]

Quite called for.

No, I'd say it's pretty uncalled for. You seem to be taking it quite personally and going a little overboard with your rage.

[Impyshaz]

Well usually how it goes is that they pick 'I'm So Sick', then afterwards they'll pick 'I Think I'm Paranoid', 'Maps' and 'Celebrity Skin'. I could assume they were just being nice and picking girl songs if they also picked Outside, Brainpower or Seven (or Brass in Pocket), but these never come up. 'Course it could all be coincidence, since there's no way to communicate on the PS while in online quickplay.

On a side note, I really have no idea what a Belisha Beacon is (runs off to Wikipedia). And thankfully few people seem to want to play 'Heroes'...

That's funny. I already looked it up. There's a wikipedia article about it :)

I have actually had the exact opposite problem online. I have a female character (as well as a few males) and I always get metallica and a bunch of very low dude songs. I can sing them ok but sometimes I want to play chick songs. So we made two extreme girl characters named Bambi and Freckles and gave them bikinis to wear and the first song out of the box was Maps.

Go figure.

It's probably a good thing I don't get the girl test. I'm a girl and I can't sing I'm So Sick if I'm getting paid. I got the unconsious score on easy >.<

[switchdoc]

I know in my case I've done this but it's not a "Girl Test". I just assume if you have a female avatar you are female, and what to sing songs by female artists. Since there aren't a ton in the game and I really like the flyleaf song, thats the one I always think of first...

[3Z3VH]

I just find it odd watching a female avatar singing "Mississippi Queen" for example.

I do, however love playing Maps on every instrument. (I even sing it like a girl, but don't tell anybody)

[X23]

If I were female, I'd use a male avatar because all the female songs in this game are ear rape. Celebrity Skin is the best female song in the game, which is quite sad. I feel sorry for the topic creator having to play Flyleaf. I can barely play it one time because it is so intolerably bad.


thankfully few people seem to want to play 'Heroes'...

What is wrong with heroes? It's not my favorite Bowie song, but it's nice. It's hard to sing for me for some reason.

[Impyshaz]

If I were female, I'd use a male avatar because all the female songs in this game are ear rape. Celebrity Skin is the best female song in the game, which is quite sad. I feel sorry for the topic creator having to play Flyleaf. I can barely play it one time because it is so intolerably bad.



What is wrong with heroes? It's not my favorite Bowie song, but it's nice. It's hard to sing for me for some reason.

I have a ton of trouble with this song. I don't know why. I feel like I'm singing on key with the song but the score bar seems to feel otherwise. What's disturbing is how far I seem to be from the right note. I think Bowie is just a hard voice to match. Like Marge Simpson.

[X23]

I have a ton of trouble with this song. I don't know why. I feel like I'm singing on key with the song but the score bar seems to feel otherwise. What's disturbing is how far I seem to be from the right note. I think Bowie is just a hard voice to match. Like Marge Simpson.That's the same thing with me. What's weird is that Moonage Daydream is much easier, even though it should be harder than Heroes.

[Impyshaz]

I had the same thing happen. I thought it was weird but I'm not a very good singer so I thought it was just me. I feel better knowing I'm not the only one ^.^

[DesiredFX]

I dunno if it's the case with "Heroes," because I haven't sung it yet, but when some friends and I tried Can't Stand Losing You by the Police, it was killing us because the line we were singing that we thought was melody was not the melody that was charted. The part we thought of as harmony was the melody we were supposed to be singing.

Similarly, despite being a huge REM fan, Orange Crush ate me alive with the phrases Michael Stipe sings while the rest of the vocals are going "Ohhhh ohhh ohhhhhhhh..." I mean, the phrases are there, but they're so deeply buried that it took me about three times to realize what I was supposed to be singing.

[3Z3VH]

If I were female, I'd use a male avatar because all the female songs in this game are ear rape. Celebrity Skin is the best female song in the game, which is quite sad. I feel sorry for the topic creator having to play Flyleaf. I can barely play it one time because it is so intolerably bad.
...

Weird, I think Maps is one of my favourite songs in the entire game, male or female.

When I play, the standing rule has been, and remains, singer's choice. Singing is arguably the hardest thing to do in this game (if you actually sing the correct words, at the correct pitch/octave, not just hum) so I feel they should be allowed to choose the songs they know. Nothing is worse in Rock Band than being forced to sing a song you have never even heard before. With Guitars and Drums you can get by, but with singing, you simply can't.

[Impyshaz]

Weird, I think Maps is one of my favourite songs in the entire game, male or female.

When I play, the standing rule has been, and remains, singer's choice. Singing is arguably the hardest thing to do in this game (if you actually sing the correct words, at the correct pitch/octave, not just hum) so I feel they should be allowed to choose the songs they know. Nothing is worse in Rock Band than being forced to sing a song you have never even heard before. With Guitars and Drums you can get by, but with singing, you simply can't.

I can usually sing a song I've never heard as long as I'm on easy. It can actually be kind of fun since vocals on easy is almost a different game than any other level. I am usually fine as long as the leader pauses on the song long enough that I can preview it before trying it. It's almost impossible to sing a song you've never heard without even getting to preview it in order to pick your level >.<

[Renegade1007]

I'm a guy and I can pass I'm so sick....lol

[Parodygm]

Hahah, I know exactly how this works. I have male and female avatars for all instruments. I've run into the "I'm So Sick Syndrome" a bunch of times. :D

Funny thing is I'm male, but I have a decent vocal range. I can hit that in falsetto (when I'm not sick with a sore throat :( ) but it's also trivial to pass it singing an octave below. I just like to do it on Hard or better and keep them guessing. It usually leads to a encore performance of "Celebrity Skin" or "Maps" which I can do just fine. :p

[Renegade1007]

Hahah, I know exactly how this works. I have male and female avatars for all instruments. I've run into the "I'm So Sick Syndrome" a bunch of times. :D

Funny thing is I'm male, but I have a decent vocal range. I can hit that in falsetto (when I'm not sick with a sore throat :( ) but it's also trivial to pass it singing an octave below. I just like to do it on Hard or better and keep them guessing. It usually leads to a encore performance of "Celebrity Skin" or "Maps" which I can do just fine. :p

lol...Yea, Singing I'm so sick in the Falsetto is not bad at all....I'm gonna try this later....see if I get I'm so sick...I'll do it on hard too...lol

[Project_Mercy]

"I'm so sick" isn't really any more difficult for a man than a woman, you just have to start out two octaves lower. Of course, singing things like Sisters of Mercy songs for the past 15 years probably helps that a lot. In either case, the vocal range on the song is wide, which I think is more the problem, not the pitch.

I'll agree on the fact that it's wierd to watch a vocalist avatar singing something from a gender opposite them. We were doing a band quickplay last night and the vocalist got the little goth girl. Watching her sing ..And Justice For All was pretty creepy.

[Parodygm]

The flipside, with the bearded metalhead singing "I'm So Sick" never fails to crack me up during the intro. :p

[teh_roc]

What is wrong with heroes? It's not my favorite Bowie song, but it's nice. It's hard to sing for me for some reason.

The god awful cover vocals.

[Renegade1007]

The flipside, with the bearded metalhead singing "I'm So Sick" never fails to crack me up during the intro. :p
How about an Emo looking guy singing "Don't get Fooled Again." I always find that funny

[JMcSquared]

Looks like I had the girl test thrown at me the last few times too. But both my charactor and I are dudes. I'm not that familiar with the song (except it is in the new Die Hard movie) so while I nailed most of the high stuff I scored like 3 stars.

Since I mainly play online as a singer, and because singers online are in shorter supply than everything else, I hardly get to be the leader. I'm a pretty nice leader going for the more common songs first to see the skill of my new bandmates first before throwing them into the more challenging songs..just wish it would get recipicated more often.

[Impyshaz]

How about an Emo looking guy singing "Don't get Fooled Again." I always find that funny

We made Metalocalypse characters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalocalypse
and it's really great seeing Nathan Explosion singing Coheed and Cambria...or anything nonmetal

[Blue-Alloy]

There are lots of female vocalists (and female avatars) online, so I doubt anybody is freaking out just becaue they see a girl on the screen.

Blue-Alloy, if you are ranked #1 on the leaderboards, people may be very impressed, and selecting "I'm So Sick" to see how good you are.

Kind of like kids walking up to Michael Jordan and asking him to dunk.

I wonder whether this is true or not. My assumption has been that aside from a few people here and there, no one actually follows the leaderboards, so I thought that regardless of the group, I was basically just another anonymous singer. I have to admit, if I hadn't been told who they were, I wouldn't know who the top drummer or guitarist was if I randomly ran into them online. So I just assumed that the rank on the leaderboards doesn't factor in when playing online. As I'd like it to be, and as it should be.

I'd like to think that when I pop up online other people just think "Oh good, we've got a singer," as opposed to "Wow, it's HER!" I'm just playing for fun like everyone else, the rank doesn't matter.

So maybe Cowshark is onto something with his "create a Dudeliest dude avatar" advice...

[Talli]

But chica the point is you shouldn't HAVE to. Create a dude if you want to, play him if you want to, but you should have to play a man to avoid sexist behavior.

Too bad you're on PS3, I'd love to invite you to play with me and the rest of my awesome friends. (We can even talk, too! ;) )

[Impyshaz]

I have a bunch of characters: Nathan Explosion (for my metal friends), Stuntman Mike (we have a band consisting of various Kurt Russell characters. It's called "It's all in the reflexes" and also contains Captain Ron and Jack Burton), Queen Liz (she's the pirate in our band Pirates Vs Ninjas or NvP for short) and Freckles.

I am probably not paying enough attention but I can never tell the difference between randomly assigned characters and the less obvious custom characters. I notcied a lot of people just let a random character come up. Does anyone know an easy way to differentiate?

[SoKGiX]

that song makes me wanna make babies

[Blue-Alloy]

So, Blue-Alloy, have you tried playing the dudeliest looking dude character online to see if people would quit choosing all girl songs?

Okay, so I decided that this was The Most Sensible Thing To Do, and went in and created a couple of characters. My Lunkhead isn't quite ready yet, but here's my personal definition of a dudely dude, though your mileage may vary. Here's my normal avatar:

http://www.charlenechua.com/rb/althoe.jpg

And here's my dudely dude:

http://www.charlenechua.com/rb/gaylord.jpg

Apparently it kind of worked, except I keep getting thrown into "Timmy & The Lords of the Underworld" now. ALWAYS with the catch-22, grrrr...

[Parodygm]

Personally, I find the idea that guys are using female avatars a bit creepy. I'm one of those that actually created my avatar to look like me. Same thing goes for both of my daughters and their friends. Perhaps we lack imagination but if it's me playing I want to be represented by, well, ME.:D

Weird, I have the complete opposite viewpoint. I think people identifying strongly with an ingame avatar is extremely creepy. I tend to just play with concepts for character creation without regard to my own identity/physique.

Then again, I come from a long background of playing pen and paper RPGs where this kind of thing is actively encouraged, rather than online gaming which (in general) is a little dumbed down on the imagination department.

[CowShark]

Apparently it kind of worked, except I keep getting thrown into "Timmy & The Lords of the Underworld" now. ALWAYS with the catch-22, grrrr...

Ha ha. I get that one a lot too, so I feel your pain there.

Here's another option - Hook up with some other PS3ers off the message boards and start an online sort of band. Then you can maybe play what you want to play (you might check ScoreHero, I think some PS3ers may be looking for singers over there).

p.s. - I see eye-shadow on your dude. Dude make-up is not conducive to being the most dudeliest. Dudely dudes have tatoos, dude.

p.p.s. - Dude.

[espher]

Yeah, that's not really what I'd consider dudeliest dude.

[SlitN33_B33rZ]

Does it matter? Really?

When it came to creating a character the only thing I could think of was bald Britney. That's what I created. A bald chick with Courtney Love make-up. Sometime I put on a hoodie, other times I rock out fishnet stockings and a lime green wifebeater.

Does it REALLY matter if you're a girl or not?

It's a game. If you enjoy playing it, play it. When its not fun anymore don't!

[CowShark]

SlitN33_B33rZ: Well, that's all true, but we're trying to come up with ways to coax (trick?) onliners that Blue-Alloy (and others) can't communicate with into picking songs she'd rather sing.

Other hilarious options -

Change your character name to "I Want to Play {Song Name}" or just "{Song Name}" if the first is too long. See if that goes over.

Play your girl character, but before going online, change her name to "Hates Girl Songs" or some-such. It'll be your Native American name for choosing other stuff in Rock Band.

[shaybo]

I'm a guy, you and Manda are girls and ahead of me, but I have the 3rd highest PS3 score on "I'm So Sick". You can sing it low, although I like to falsetto it.

[janai]

I'm a guy, you and Manda are girls and ahead of me, but I have the 3rd highest PS3 score on "I'm So Sick". You can sing it low, although I like to falsetto it.

If I could get the ever-cursed talky bits to work in Expert mode, I'd have that song down cold. I got an Awesome on the "breaaaaaaaaaaak"s once. Once. (And then flubbed the last phrase in the song for no good reason, thereby messing up my score.) In the fifty or sixty times I've tried since -- this is not an exaggeration -- I've never been able to replicate the feat. Argh. Whatever this machine wants is a mystery to me.

Still, I've yet to be asked to do "I'm So Sick" on multiplayer, and now I WANT to. ;)

[cuddie]

Change your character name to "I Want to Play {Song Name}" or just "{Song Name}" if the first is too long. See if that goes over.

Best idea ever. When I play drums, I keep a pair of 5.1 headphones on my head. That coupled with the increasing onslaught of children=no mic, unless i encounter a group that seems friendly and talkative. But when the host scanning the song list with no clue as to what song he/she wants to do I've always wished for a way to give him/her a hint without turning on my mic or going through the increasingly slow xbox guide to send a message. Now, I think I'll just change my drummers name to AJFA.

Now comes the problem of convincing everyone to buy it...

lol

[Temeriti]

Along the whole chick-themed-rants, I'd like to add my two cents to the mix.

There's a LOT of female-fronted rock out there. Evanescence, Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Sirenia, Visions of Atlantis just to name a few...and yet NONE of these bands are in Rock Band or available to download. I -almost- understand on the last five bands, as they're primarily European bands and it's in our nature as Americans to ignore music outside our own popular crap (like, omg, why is there no Britney in Rock Band?!), but Evanescence has had considerable success in the U.S...so what gives?

Don't get me wrong. I can sing Nirvana and Metallica, I can sing Radiohead, I can even warble my way through the Rolling Stones, though inwardly I'm cringing at what they call music. It has nothing to do with difficulty. I'm just a little affronted that they couldn't be bothered to add some female metal to the mix.

Edit: Oh, and I sing the chick stuff well too. 100s on Celebrity Skin and Maps, so it's not a comfort zone thing either. :p

[adamr316]

The singer for Everclear does in fact sing horribly live. I saw him at Power Plant Live in Baltimore and it sounded like a kareoke singer. Instrumentally they were all right but it's possible they weren't just "feeling it" that night.

[WiseOldUnicorn]

Along the whole chick-themed-rants, I'd like to add my two cents to the mix.

There's a LOT of female-fronted rock out there. Evanescence, Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Sirenia, Visions of Atlantis just to name a few...and yet NONE of these bands are in Rock Band or available to download. I -almost- understand on the last five bands, as they're primarily European bands and it's in our nature as Americans to ignore music outside our own popular crap (like, omg, why is there no Britney in Rock Band?!), but Evanescence has had considerable success in the U.S...so what gives?

I have to agree with that. I don't mind singing guy songs, I do just fine at it (especially since I can go up an octave if needed), but there's still way fewer songs in RB with female vocals than there should be. I mean, I understand them not having some of the slightly more obscure European bands like Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, Epica, etc., but it's not like there's not American bands that would be great as well. Evanescence, the Donnas, some Pat Benatar...c'mon, HMX, get with it. :p

[Parodygm]

Nobody ever plays Outside online. I bought the album when it came out back in the early 90's. I love to play that guitar line... I think the trouble is people struggle with the drums.

[Fatal1ty_Reaper]

I have never seen such a test... All my characters except my singer are girls. And I'm a guy. However "I'm So Sick" was the first song I ever 5 starred on expert, and that was before I could sing ANY other song on expert. I know it's sad, I am ashamed... lol :P

[stonicus]

I have never seen such a test... All my characters except my singer are girls. And I'm a guy. However "I'm So Sick" was the first song I ever 5 starred on expert, and that was before I could sing ANY other song on expert. I know it's sad, I am ashamed... lol :P

I'm not sure if it's a problem regarding girls. I guess peolpe really like those songs. My character is mighty manly and I always have to sing "I'm so sick" , "outside" y "Celebrity skin". And, to be honest, the're not exactly my cup of tea.

[DesiredFX]

There's a LOT of female-fronted rock out there. Evanescence, Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Sirenia, Visions of Atlantis just to name a few...and yet NONE of these bands are in Rock Band or available to download.

Here's the problem: while there are a lot of female-fronted bands, how many are there relative to male-fronted bands? The volume of material with a male singer is much larger than material with a female singer, especially if--as this game has done--you discount pop music.

So the question that arises is: do the 11 songs that have female vocalists represent a reasonably accurate percentage? With the Christmas downloads, we're up to 90 songs. Is 11 songs--just about one-eighth--a reasonable representation in terms of female vocalists?

It seems fair, by the numbers.

And if an attempt is made to "correct" this "imbalance," I want the quality of the songs to come first--I really don't want material which was chosen primarily to fill a quota.

On the other hand, Harmonix has to listen to their audience, and if there's a large enough percentage of women doing vocals, the song choices should reflect that.

But if women playing the game--singing the songs--are also about one-eighth of the singers, then, again, the balance seems fair.

[Alpha2]

I do vocals. I have a Male avatar and a Female avatar, When using the female I originally assumed that whom ever I play with would pick mostly the female or atleast higher pitched songs, but they just seem to pick what ever they're going to pick. In fact in all the long play sessions I've done with the female avatar I've YET to do I'm So Sick, and I really like that song!

One thing I've always wondered is if it's possible for HMX to adjust the octave level of the vocal track to make a male vocal sound more feminine and vice versa when an avatar of a particular sex is selected. So that males dont feel as weird doing the female songs and having this high pitched voice come out of their character and so females dont feel like their avatar suddenly shot up a bucket full of testosterone backstage.

[JB4GDI]

Nobody ever plays Outside online. I bought the album when it came out back in the early 90's. I love to play that guitar line... I think the trouble is people struggle with the drums.

I think the bigger problem with songs like that is that the drums can't handle the songs. The precision seems to go down when you've got long, quick-repetitious runs.

-Jaime

[stunner1210]

I tend to start on easier songs and then build up when I have to choose songs. I personally don't pick songs depending on what gender the other players are (unless they request) and either pick songs that I have an itch to play or just Randomize it. I start with easier songs because it takes me a few songs to warm up and get into the flow, then I'll move on to the harder songs. I have seen this, though it could be coincidence. I've been thrown into parties where a girl avatar filled up the vocal spot and we did all the songs with female singers before moving on to anything else.

[Blue-Alloy]

I finished doing up my super-ultra-guy-guy-dudely-dude dude. Here he is in all his glory:

http://www.charlenechua.com/rb/trogdorrr.jpg

If it's not clear, the tattoo on his chest says "Duh."

My husband claims, and I quote, "His mere gaze ensures pregnant women give birth to boys."

And though it's hardly scientific proof, I did take him out for a spin and got nothing but guy songs the entire time.

[CowShark]

Dude looks like a lumberjack of rock.

'Gratz.

[BIGFISH]

Just from a recent personal experience i know i was the band leader and i was playing bass and noticed we had a girl singer avatar and intentionally chose female songs for the first 3. I was just being polite because i've seen a lot of complaints on forums about not having enough female songs in the game in general. I'm not sure if i chose Flyleaf first or not, but it wouldn't surprise me if i did. Not because it was a test but only because i was playing bass and i love crushing that opening bass line. If others are choosing Flyleaf i can only imagine they are being polite and it just so happens that I'm so sick is one of the best female vocal songs in the game. By the way, feel free to add and invite me if you ever see me on, I'm pretty easygoing about what instrument/songs i play as long as i'm having fun and others aren't being d-bags. I'm pretty decent on bass/guitar and have several top 10 leaderboard scores. can play med/hard drums. PS3 name bigfish.

[BIGFISH]

HAHAHAHA your new singer is friggin hysterical!

[espher]

I finished doing up my super-ultra-guy-guy-dudely-dude dude. Here he is in all his glory:

Legendary.

[Lady Siara]

He looks cross-eyed...XD

[Toby]

Maybe this is just me being a little cranky, and maybe some of the other vocalists can chime in with their experiences, but today I went through another one of those streaks online that I now think of as "The Girl Test."

I have this theory that when playing with people online, as soon as they see a female character on vocals, there's this immediate suspicion about whether or not the person behind the avatar really has XX chromosomes, and so, just to make SURE it's really a girl, they immediately jump to "I'm So Sick" by Flyleaf to see whether or not the singer will pass.

I can pass that song and I'm a guy

Whoever came up with that idea for a test is stupid

[janai]

I finished doing up my super-ultra-guy-guy-dudely-dude dude. Here he is in all his glory:

http://www.charlenechua.com/rb/trogdorrr.jpg

If it's not clear, the tattoo on his chest says "Duh."

My husband claims, and I quote, "His mere gaze ensures pregnant women give birth to boys."

And though it's hardly scientific proof, I did take him out for a spin and got nothing but guy songs the entire time.


haha.

The caption particularly makes it, I think.....

[Electric_Zen]

http://www.charlenechua.com/rb/trogdorrr.jpg


You're almost there, Blue-Alloy.

Next step is to replace "DUH" with the words, "Party Starts Here", and an arrow pointing down to his package.

Then please come back and let us know what songs everyone selected. Thanks!

[Blue-Alloy]

Oh my GOD.

GENIUS.

Thanks for the tip, that is brilliance in a box!

[espher]

Yeah, I gotta say, I laughed pretty hard at that suggestion.

I may have to steal that. ;)