hah a girl after my own heart :)

Also a female gamer here. I started out putting quarters in machines too. Pacman and Tron mostly, graduated to Miss Pacman when it came out, even got baby Junior 2 days before I had my first child.  My first real pc game was an old one no one has heard of no doubt, called Below the Root which I played on an IBM. Then Pirates on a commodore 64 and on to all the King's Quest games, and every RPG I could get my hands on. Of course in those days you had to play a guy and in Pirates when I got married I had my pick of wives  I don't do FPS games, they give me a headache though I do love pvp, more so perhaps then some of the male friends I play MMO's with. We often argue over which server to start on, I'm always voting for the pvp one ;)

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Originally posted by Guler

Am I the only one who gets a little annoyed that "a girl gamer" is even classified as differently then a normal guy gamer. Having been a gamer for the past 15 years of my life (I got hooked with pencil and paper D&D) I can honestly say I don’t think of myself as any different then a normal guy gamer.

Sure I am not as rude or vulgar as most guys, but on the other hand I have met guys that are more upper class and polite then I am in games. Another thing this article might be written from the perspective of a United States gamer, as in some countries in Europe and Asia women make up 40-50% of the gaming population. This editorial is pretty much beating a dead horse and only furthers the stereotype that female gamers should be looked at differently or as a rare event.

 

Yeah it does get a bit old over time, but then you have to think of the mentality of the one disbelieving......I think average age is probably 14.   And what the heck do they know about girls/women anyway. ;)  But anyway, yes I am a girl (woman!) gamer, started with mmo's in 2000 with AC.  But really started back on p&p D&D!, atari 2600 and my beloved commodore 64 (man I loved q-bert!).  Yes we are real, yes we play *real* games (sims holds my attention for about 30 mins at most :p).  I am presently playing DDO (and several beta's that can't be mentioned ;)), Titan Quest, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Prey (which is probably the most fun of them all!). 

 

 

And yes I have no life. :p

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Originally posted by Netherbeast
Girl gamers exist, sure, but are they they exception to rule?

An article about if Girl gamers exist or even if over 50 aged gamers exist should have some statistics or facts about it. How many girls play MMO's compared to guys? Is it split 50/50? Is it 20/80? I certainly don't know, but would like to know more about that.

You could also write an article: Are there games for the Macinosh? The author could say "Hell yeah! I've been playing games on the mac since it was an apple 2c. Of course there are games on the mac. What a stupid question. Duh." Now that question and response prove there are games for the mac. But how many? Can you walk into Comp USA or Best Buy and find 'the shelf'? Can you find any? Even the Apple store only has a handful of them. Most of us who play MMOs have PC's right? So doesn't that mean there are more gamers who own PC's than Mac's? Should MMO developers care about devloping for the Mac?

My analogy is not to say that there are no girl gamers, but that we don't know how many. Even an editorial should back up a few made up facts besides looking in their own pants.

80% of all statistics are made up ;)

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I have to comment to this too.  I believe there was a recent survey that proved there were actually MORE women playing online games then men.  Unfortunately they are mostly playing stuff like bejewelled.  Probably because the online game developers are not getting it and developing to the same old standards (hello!  WoW dared to do things abit different and look how it's going....when we started our  WOW guild we had 6 woman out of about 15 and it went up from there.).  The devs need to get it through their head (and no not all of us woman focus on crafting....I craft a bit but get tired of it fast and want to go kill something. :D) or better yet hire more woman devs.  And on that note, I think what I like most are the quests that have a puzzle to them, make me use my brain besides my brawn.  ;)

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Originally posted by Lissette

man I loved q-bert!

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Ok off topic, but I HATED Q-bert. Stupid little guy never jumped the way my joystick told him to!!

The one thing I've liked about mmorpg.com is they never let this subject die, thankfully, because it really needs to sink in.

Well... that and they've yet to ban me for my Gamer-Girl Tyrades, errr, thanks for that by the way .

Anyways, great article CK, wish I could write so well.

Of course they are real.  Or should I say, we are real.  Let's see, my first game I ever got into by myself was Zelda on the SNES.  I beat it, rebeat it, and played it so much my little brother can still call me to this day to ask where something is and I can tell him from memory.  I started off playing games with my dad.  The original Link.  I was never very good at that one though.  (I was a daddy's girl.  I even had a compound bow identical to my dad's -except smaller- with a hand-made handle.)  In my high school years, that's when I really got into it.  Legends of Dragoon was the first.  I tried the demo and fell in love.  So, now I like all RPGs.  FF, Star Ocean, Lunar, LoD, and of course, my favorite Suikoden  (2 is my ultimate favorite.  I had it once and needed money so I sold it.  I haven't been able to bring myself to pay $100 for it though.)  Regarding MMORPGs, I play Guild Wars and EQ2 and WoW and StarWars Galaxies(I haven't gotten very far into them, Guild Wars is probably the one I play the most and StarWars I just strted playing).  I absolutely adore Final Fantasy and everyone I know is amazed that I actually like 9 better than 7 (I love Queena, I loved chacing those little frogs.)  I got 12 the day it came out and the employees of the EB and GameStop that I frequent all recognize me (I don't think they know my name, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did since I'm always reserving something.) 

So, now you know.  There are a few of us, as elusive as we are, that do play.  Maybe you can't find us because, at least for me, it took a lot of proving my ability to my guy friends to gain the coveted place in the group as "One of the Guys".  I remember many times that I had to fight for the controller just so they woulld see that I knew what I was doing.  So, with having to put so much time and effort to gain that place, I'm going to stick around for a while. 

(Oh, some proof, even though its not all that reliable,  that I'm not some creepy, skeezy old man or something, I'm on myspace and Youtube.  Send me a message and I'll give you my screen names in case you want to say hello!)

Bye!  <3 <3 <3

"Girl Gamers" = 35% of MMORPG gamers (plus or minus a little)

Breakdown of "Girl Gamers":

• 30% Actual female players
• 25% Males wanting to play a female character for gaming or roleplaying purposes
• 40% Gay Males trying to mask their identity and entice true male gamers into discreet conversations, with the latter thinking they are talking with a real female.
• 5% Juvenile straight males having some fun pretending and joking, making fools out of themselves and others

I think that about sums it up.

awesome how many ppl even care that there are girl gamers as well as those who don't care that females are even gaming...however I am not only female but am married to a gamer and our livingroom consists of computers and not a couch in sight cuz we come home from a long day at work and log in to our favorite game and play the night away kicking ass and having fun...oh and we are also grandparents and have a couple of teens still at home...both who hate that we have top lvl toons and play WoW, GW, & EQ and we just didn't start but have been gaming for a long time...lol...I was popping quarters in pacman machines before I started having babies...I might be an oldie but in a virtual world I am one sexy babe and will always be...hate to say it but can the ppl who make these games give me bigger boobs and more cleavage and not so wide hips...lol

Maybe people don't believe that women play games because 99% of the female avatars you encounter in a MMORPG are actually run by males, who for whatever reason get a kick out of Virtual Cross-Dressing.  Yay transvestites!  Lol =)

Hmmm ... According to Fugnudz's math, however, 40% of all female avatars are run by gay men prowling for cyber sex.  Interesting that he'd go there, I can't say I've ever encountered that in any game.  He must attract some unusual types with his "style of play".  

Of course, if that statistic were true, that would mean that demographically speaking gay men would make up an unusually large percentage of online gamers relative to their assumed real world population.

I guess gaming really IS gay!  

 

Reason why girl gamers seem to be such a "myth" as it were is that many guys gender-bender, meaning they play female toons.  Usually, most women do not do the same they play female toons as well.  So if you have 2000 on a server, 1000 male & Female, there is a good chance that of the 1k female toons more than half are actually guys. 

With that thought I leave you with the mental pic of the NE chick in WoW soliciting coin for dance emotes. 

I see nothing wrong with guys playing female toons nor females who play male toons afterall it is all about roll playing and why wouldn't we all want to be beautiful long legged sexy female nightelfs...even females want to be beautiful...unlike in real life where we are how we act...and appearance is truly only skin deep...in games we are what we see...even with vent & ts the voice is a match with a toon...if you really get into your toon then your guildmates are voices that match with a toon that you tie in with to play against a boss...the fun is there and who cares if behind the voice sitting at the computer is a gorgeous blonde or a not so hot blonde...your happy when you win and not so happy when you do not win...its the fun of a game...its the sense of accomplishment...its the master of a skill...its the ass you pick up and go back for that next group that is the true addiction...a true gamer plays with heart and never gives it up...a true gamer could care less if that healer is a female male or monkey as long as they toss that heal and you survive one more fight...its the true path...the path of a gamer who can't get enuff

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Originally posted by Baudolino

Hmmm ... According to Fugnudz's math, however, 40% of all female avatars are run by gay men prowling for cyber sex.  Interesting that he'd go there, I can't say I've ever encountered that in any game.  He must attract some unusual types with his "style of play".  

Of course, if that statistic were true, that would mean that demographically speaking gay men would make up an unusually large percentage of online gamers relative to their assumed real world population.

 

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My math or yours?  I showed an estimated breakdown of female avatars, not of total players.  If female avatars were 25% of toons, then my breakdown would be a further division of that 25%, not of the total.

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Originally posted by Baudolino


I guess gaming really IS gay!  

 

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Well, you never hear of Chuck Norris playing these games.

As a relative newcomer to MMORPGs (I play CoX), I have seen a number of female gamers active online, in chat, and on the CoX message boards. I think it's great, and long-overdue. While I can't say that the article broke new ground or anything, I'm still always a little stunned when I find out that the female character is actually run by a female player. This is mainly from gaming in the 80's, when women-gamers were scarcer than hen's teeth. So, from an "old dude" point of view, it's surprising in a cool way that there are exponentially more women-gamers out there.

Mark Finn

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Originally posted by defafnyr

This is getting to be a very tired subject for editorials.  Yeah, yeah, holy grail...*yawn*.  Female gamer here and mother of four adult daughter gamers.  Not holy grails, but the five of us can kick arse with the best of you.   Been playing online for seven years....Next!

By the way, you want statistics, check out the Daedelus project at: http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/

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I hate to mention this, but that will give you the statistics of the gamers who have participated in his surveys, not the statistics of gamers in general.  To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to get acurate statistics on the demographics of MMO players.  Any method of collecting the information requires too much on self-selection, which would skew the statistics.  It isn't as though the games ask for your demographics when you get your account.

It was a nice thought, though.

 

   My question is "Do real men play these games?"

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Originally posted by ammie

 

   My question is "Do real men play these games?"

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My wife says no.

 

 Ha Ha!! Best post on the subject!

Mortal male should be so lucky to have a girl gamer for a girlfriend/wife......

That being said (stop me if I'm wrong)...I HEARTILY suspect that of all the (fewer) girl gamers out there, most if not all of them hide behind facades of "guy" so that they CAN game-- without being converged on by all the over-hormoned male gamers.....

My 2 cents.

*sigh* another one of those Editorials. Its been beaten to death already. On close to every website even slightly related to gaming, there is at least ONE editorial that has a post made by a female gamers that writes how girl gamers are real and that its not only guys and that they have bad experience in online games and blablabla.


OK! WE GET THE POINT, There are girl gamers, You don't have to repeat yourselves!

Sure there will always be people who won't believe your a girl, get over it already. the vast majority of mmorpg gamers DO realise that there are plenty of girl gamers around. give it a rest already. These editorials don't help at all, as it gives people the impression that there are only a few girl gamers around that constantly get harassed. which is far from the truth.

The title of this editorial quite sad.

A needless attempt to spur conversation and interest in the topic.