Girl Gamers: Are They Real?
Writer Carolyn Koh is a real-life walking, talking living girl gamer, and she's here to to tell you all about it in her newest editorial, Girl Gamers: Are They Real?
Editorial By Carolyn Koh on December 06, 2006
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Girl Gamers: Are They Real?
Editorial by Carolyn Koh
MMORPG.com Senior Editor Dana Massey tossed this topic out in the Staff Forums. My first reaction was to look down, then look back up at my screen and type my response: "Last time I looked..." /em looks down. "Yup. Still there." Girl Gamers: Are they real? If you have to ask that, I'll have ask you... what underground bomb shelter have you been living in for the past ten years? So... like... you know? Women can vote and drive cars and operate PCs. If we can vote, we can be politicians. If we can drive cars, we can race. If we can operate PCs, we can game. We don't just play Barbie Make-up World or My Pretty Pink Ponies either. Those titles didn't even exist when I was growing up. I played Centipede, Pacman, and Joust (although I stank at Joust) but I didn't play those on a PC. I had to put a quarter into a machine. Time went by and I graduated to PC games such as Eric the Unready, Camelot, created a pilot with nickname of Pinky in Gunship 2000, solved puzzles as Guy Threepwood and played Castle Wolfenstein on the office LAN after hours with the guys in engineering. I don't play PvP games unless it's team against team / realm against realm. Just my preference... but although I do not play PvP regularly, I've always like shooters. I preferred picking up a rifle and plinking ducks, sinking battleships with torpedoes and killing aliens... and learning to lose to my dates. Or else not beating them too, too badly. In an arcade world, there was little doubt that a girl gamer was "real." She's the one over there with the pony-tails and yeah... boobs. You soon got to know the regulars and which girls were gamers and which were just there to hang with their guys. But in MMOGs where skills and levels count, any girls playing have to be there to be gamers. Yet, they are still greeted with disbelief and demands for "Proof" by means of photographs. Okay... since you don't believe that's my voice on chat... why don't I download a picture of some model and send it to you? My favorite ploy was to send or post a picture of an overweight babe in a bikini on the guild forums. The more chins, the merrier. Wanna see? I even "photoshopped" a guild logo as a tattoo on her butt once. Why is it still so hard to believe that girl gamers are real? The Sims drew them out from hiding into the scrutiny of the public eye in the 1990s. The 50% of the population that were discovered to be teenaged girls have grown up in the past 10 years and are probably the ones getting grief in voice chat because "girls don't game." Yes, that was when developers began to take notice of a possible "female" market in electronic games. There's been a "Queen of Quake" crowned in an All Female Tourney since 1997 and I don't mean Drag Queens either. Fer cryin' out loud... there are more "girl gamer" sites then you can shake a stick at these days... and we are still greeted with disbelief when we join voice chat for a raid? Are we so rare that we have attained "myth" status? Like the guy with the beauty queen girlfriend where seeing is believing; is the guy with the gamer girlfriend only believable when she "pwns" you in a deathmatch? Like Stevie "Killcreek" Case defeating John Romero? Well, maybe you'll meet one in the flesh one day. They are starting younger these days... or maybe it's the corrupting effect of having an Aunt that raided 5 nights a week during her heyday in EverQuest. My four-year old niece doesn't ask for sweets or TV. She asks if she can play on my computer because "It has the good games!" She knows which icon logs her in and even though she can't read yet, she knows which book mark takes her to NickJr's Playtime where all the "fun games" are. PBSkids and Disney Playhouse on Mommy's computer just aren't quite as fun. Of course Lego Star Wars on the big screen when she and her brother can talk Daddy into it is heaps better. So... yeah. Girl Gamers exist. We may play different games... or not. We may play them differently... or not. But we do exist. We are definitely in the minority so maybe some of you disbelievers out there will get really lucky one day and find one of your own... and maybe she won't even have to trounce you first to prove it. |
Of coarse women play games, what the hell kind of question is that? My gf used to play WoW with me all the time, it's engaging for both sexes and each year will bring in more and more women into the gaming field. Technology is soon to make computers the only thing we ever need, even for a job, I see a lot more work at home jobs being designed and soon that may be the only thing we as people will ever need to get through life.
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.
WE ALL KNOW girls play games
Why do we need to hear this over and over again?
I'm a girl... I already know I play games...
and I'm especially NOT interested in what kind of games some random chick likes to play.
Is that supposed to prove anything??
If there's gonna be a girl gamer article, tell me something new. Tell me something special that a girl gamer is doing, running a successful guild maybe, or ranking high warlord. SOMETHING OTHER THAN "LOOK AT ME I PLAY GAMES OMG!!"
Thanks.
I couldn't agree more, its a huge stereotype that will soon fade away but it will take time. Don't think twice, women are people too and can game just like the rest of us.
I care as little for your gender as the colour of your skin.
As an avid City of Heroes/Villains player, I've found some other guidelines that help, not that it ever actually matters.
- If her chest has been scaled up from the already-generous default proportions, odds are, you're talking to a guy
- If her outfit is a horrible mis-match of fishnets, high heels and a thong bikini bottom, odds are, you're talking to a guy
- If her avatar name is "BeegBewBeez" or "5LUTL1PP5", odds are, you're talking to a guy
In general, I find I can identify real girl gamers over the course of running a few missions based on the way they talk/type (generally more coherent and a bit more open to general chatty topics instead of straight strategy), and their general play strategies (females tend to be a little more cooperative in approach). All opinion, of course, because A) none of these traits are exclusive to one gender or the other and B) I've never found it important enough to outright ask someone their gender, so I have no actual proof of these theories.
That said, to the guys out there (and maybe some girls too), DON'T LET THE AVATAR FOOL YOU!
And if you happen to play CoH and see a pretty Peacebringer named Prism Angel, there's something abut her you should know.
I set her battlecry text to "Dude, I'm a dude." for the sake of conveneience.
Not really, seems the whole topic is about just that
but in respects towards "girl gamers" i really don't care what or who someone is, aslong he/she is mature, fun to play with and loves challenges then i don't care if its male or female, but somehow people will always cast some people into stereotype's, they just narrowminded in games and probebly the same in rl, some of my friends wife's/girlfriends play games from COD to WOW but they also play more sim like games as The Sims and since a short while Deserate Housewifes (wich my girlfriend is playing atm ;) these are just my experainces with the woman around me in rl so this does not mean i state that most woman are atracted by sim games (just to make that clear:)
But a gamer should always be a gamer regardless if its a guy/man or girl/woman
One of my all-time favorite adages goes something like: "On the Internet, all men are women, all women are men, and all children are FBI agents."
But yeah, girl (*ahem* WOMAN, sorry) gamers do exist. I play CoH/CoV and am pretty good friends with 5 of 'em (4 of which also play CoH/CoV...alas, one remains in SWG :( ). My wife is one; while she prefers tabletop RPGs to online ones, she's still far closer to the level cap than I could ever dream. They tend to be far more level-headed than the male gamers out there, more driven, and generally more effective. (Perhaps because they've been relegated to mythological status, they feel they have more to prove?) This is balanced, however, by the occasional "I don't really know what I'm doing" or "I'm sorry, I'm an idiot, please bear with me". Either it's the poor self-esteem that so many women in the US seem to suffer from...or they're just trying to help make my pathetic ass feel better. ;)
Female gamers are out there. And occasionally, they ARE the ones in the uber-skimpy outfits. My advice? Take the avatar at face value & enjoy the gameplay--at least until your teammate has a homophobic outburst.
Here is a link featuring Cindy, who is at least three girl gamers all by herself.
http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/players/news_archive.vm?id=67096&month=current
Anyway, we all know there aren't any girl gamers, so stop pretending to be one. Female avatars or 'mangina' are just male players trying to cash in on free stuff and treatment given to them by the fat lonely mom's basement gamer class. I don't care how realistic your ventrilo distort sounds, or how much you protest that you really are 17 blonde and perky irl, I don't buy it.
"I don't play PvP games unless it's team against team / realm against realm." The battlecry of the perennial pvp loser. On the surface this might seem to be something a real girl might say, but sadly on deeper inspection it is just more carebear drivel coming from a chestless choir boy. Myself I don't pvp unless I'm outnumbered.
No doubt as to my sex irl eh?
Nice comment Hellrose
The Part about being asked for a picture is funny because i have seen that happen like 50 times while, I'm playing with some Girls i know from work but it always seems to happen.
Nothing to worry about though the Stereo-Type of less "Woman" playing online games will change soon as more and more games are made to impress more female gamers then of there male counter-part, Overall Great Editorial and i just have one thing to say to the creator of this editorial. My daughter loves to play online games and you would be surprised but she actually kicks my but at a lot of them.
obviously women play games. It has just not catered enough to the "average" girl. Unlike with men, where gaming is basically a rule instead of exception :)
The reason it needs to be asked again, is because developers dont seem to develop with the "girl gamer" in mind, everything in a game is contructed for the guy gamer, the girl gamer shares the male content, but with a female character.
There is one thing put in a game for your average female gamer, and thats female characters. The thing is, girls are a lot more diverese than boys. My grirlfriend could spend 2/3 hours deciding on a name for her character on WoW, designing the way it looked, and so forth. A lot of her "will to play" was based on the characters looks, which resulted in countless abandoned characters. It wasn't all "it has to be a perfect female" but more of a "I want it to look this way". Other females playing games might enjoy the blood, and pillaging and so on, and thats great, it doesnt count against them at all, but the thing is, they have the male built playstyle avilable to them, which they enjoy.
However we all know that women have a much more diverse intest in things than us men do. I would say a good 99% of the male population is happy to slaughter the living hell out of anything, and things like crafting, character creation and other things are just nice sidetracks to take once in a while to advance your character.
My girlfriend loves to make things, she hasn't been into games as long as me, and she copes with hack and slash, but only because she wants to get to crafting things, she wants her things to look a certain way. If she could take a pattern and use different materials to make differnt coloured items she would be happy. She is absolutely obsessed with Vanguard. The reason? She can build a house on there and decorate it, Her reply to "what if the game is absolutely terrible" was "I dont care, its got something I REALLY want in it.
So yes, females play MMORPG's, but MMORPG's arent giving some females what they want, I know some of this sounds like a cliché, sexist portayal of a woman, and many gaming ladies will object to my veiw, but there are women out there who do want to make clothes, and decorate houses, and things like that. MMORPG's are a great outlet for this because she can decorate a house, and a online world of thousands of people can appreciate it. A game like the sims is limited to some friends or myself.
Developers take note. Women want more character creation, more options other than fighting and bloodshed, and even if its a minority set of women, I dont care, anything that makes these games more enjoyable is a good thing.
Good Point Meon
Take Fable for example
When they first released the idea of Fable it was said that you could be either a Boy or a Girl while playing the game, but as the leader designer said in an interview, "Girl characters require much more effort to create and would add a lot more work load on the team's" (Now what i got from this is, he is claiming that girls would be much harder to implement into games because they have Brests and there bodys change much faster then male's). Just look at the average male character in a game it's not that hard to create now add Boob's and other female attributes and that would take a lot more effort to create then a simple male character
I Know for a fact there are a couple games that are directed more towards females then males take Blade Mistress as an example. it said it was 100% designed for girls to meet up talk and play around.
Also i think that there is also another reason to why there are more male gamers then female gamers one of the reasons being girls seem to be more Realistic then males they seem to be much more advance then most males at the age of 14 - 25 (Which most mmorpg's directed age group is). I also think females are more relaxed and easy going while males are in it for the thrill or the adreniline rush.
I Know my daughter loves playing "The Sims" and she has told me time and time again that she doesn't like the games her brother plays because everyone is too Aggressive and mean.
:P Don't take my word for it try to introduce an online game to your wife,girlfriend,co-worker,friends and see what there responce's are.
-3L1TE
--EDIT--
Woman also seem to have more self-esteem then Men which doesn't require them to go on a game like world of warcraft and build up these super ego's
also Atomicide you posted before me so some of our points might be the same (i was typing this while you were clicking submit)
Seriously why does it matter who is controlling the character?
They could be male, female, jewish, islamic, christian, not religous, black, white, yellow, red, pink, purplish, they could have gils, they could live under water, they could be from mars, as long as I enjoy playing with them who gives a crap what they look like or what they are in real life.
I mean, please, folks. I was wargaming pre-D&D in the 70's. There were a larger proportion of gamers who were women then, I suspect, because gamers were just not a big slice of the population.
But funny thing, guys *tend* to like to blow things up and are more willing to spend money to do it. Women *tend* to enjoy RPG environments more, and MMOs suck at maintaining both market share and RP. So MMOs are likely to have more guys.
Me, I'll happily RP either (or additional if available) genders of avs. Why not? As a girl, I got used to roleplaying a guy because all the heroes were guys, all the villains were guys, and all the victims were girls. No fun. So I got practice RPing boys at an early age.
Not *every* guy who RPs a female AV is after favors (sexual or otherwise). Some are playing with identity and social norms in very different ways, with no implication of sexuality (gay or whatever).
So people need to get a life about the guys who RP women too.
Yrs,
Shava
My first MMORPG was DAoC and I played it for a couple years before venturing to other MMORPG's, like SWG. But my first friend was a female and I never once thought that she wasn't. Maybe I was naive, but if I seen a girl avatar, I assumed it was a female controlling it. Most of the people I knew (adults) were of the same belief. So maybe the problem exists with teenage boys and not all of us males. In that case, who the hell cares what a bunch of kids think anyways.
Girl gamers exist, are no different than men, and can pwn your face off, so get over it.
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 ;)
And what about cat-gamers?
An Ex GF of mine (Joanne) still plays EQ2 (well she did when I spoke to her about a month ago). She had a 44 Fighter type (I forget which but it is a freeport char) and a 19 Monk/brawler at that time. She hates mage/cleric type chars. Archers get on her nerves too.
She got into MMORPG's by making use of my UO account years ago. She got my fisherman up to Grandmaster level for me and she decorated my house near Trinsic (bless). For some reason she hated DAOC. She also tried a trial for COH but didn't subscribe.
She also plays FPS shooters HL2 & CS. Often uses the Name ZebaDee and has a knack for the shotgun.
We used to do paintballing together years ago too. She is a pretty good shot with a paintball gun and a crossbow. Oh! and she has a great pair of legs
.
So they do exist. There is at least one in the UK South West.
I have to admit tho that Jo is the ONLY female MMORPGer that I know of.
[edit]
This was my 100th post 
1
I'm definitely going to have to chime in on this and say that yes they are real.
My wife and I play a variety of games, from City of Heroes / Villians, Guild Wars, WoW and Final Fantasy. She is very active in her SG's and plays a pretty mean game as well :)
So yes, Girl Gamers DO exist, I have the proof!!
-Launchpad
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/
Thanks for the demographic site link. I found what I was looking for in a few areas.
"We know that 85% of MMORPG players are male..."
Therefore 15 gamers in 100 are girls.
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/gateway_genderbend.html
http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/demographics.html#1
1. most of mmorpgs pose no challenege or any sence of adventure. the hardcore style games are gone, with them, the awesomness of pure hardcore male group gave way to casual players and female player market.
2. alot of casual player guys are playing, and they have to brind their wifes in to play, so they dont get wife agro.
3. North America: The number of overweight people are growing astronomcally, where they to go? Gaming, this includes fugly girls too
that explains your 15 females in every 100 gamers.
Much to my sadness, I have never run into a female video gamer in real life. I've run into one or two who play traditional pen-and-paper RPGs, and quite a few who enjoy LARPing, but never one that enoyed the electronic medium as well.
In terms of those I have met online, I met a decent number during my time in SWG (perhaps one in twenty of the people I knew in game was female IRL). However, that is a direct contrast to EVE Online, which could mildly be described as a "sausage-fest". I've run into, perhaps, five or six female gamers in the entire time I've played, compared to the hundreds of guys I've been in corps and alliances with.
There have been a lot of theories thrown about as to why this is, from "women don't enjoy true sci-fi games" to "they don't like it because there's no avatar and they can't dress up pretty" to "women don't like games where players kill other players". Some of the theories are clearly bullshit, but others may hold some grain of truth.
Any females care to comment on why we don't see more of the fairer sex playing EVE?
Two of my four daughters have been asked to sign at modeling agencies. I'd say that makes them hot female gamers, and not just a mother's prejudice. They all have cute female gamer friends too. They have boyfriends and husbands that are tall dark and handsome young men too. Girl gamers AND guy gamers come in all varieties. We don't all look like toons from South Park.
Matter of fact let me cancel these notices and the newsletter, there all better now. This sites on a downward spiral. Wtf happened to good old fashion game reporting. This gossip hour crap is disgusting. I mean seriously look at the title here and the last several email notifications we've been getting... You folks need to get out more.
I don't find this editorial sad. I find it sad that it's still needed among many people. Oh, obviously not this crowd here- seems most everyone here knows better. So I guess this editorial, while meant with the best intentions, was just aimed at the wrong crowd. But, in gaming, I do have to defend my gender far more often than not. Am I just unlucky? I'm more of a gamer than my husband, have been since before we got together, yet when we meet people online they give him the thumbs up for 'getting his woman into the game'. Sigh. It's usually the other way around.
I can only answer this for myself: I don't play EVE because I found it to be the most boring thing I'd ever tried to play. Due to friends who got me into it I gave it my best and played for nearly 3 months before I couldn't take it anymore. I honestly found no fun in it whatsoever. Just not my thing, I guess. I was very sad to find that it wasn't... SciFi is my favorite genre (I like Fantasy too, sure, but I'm getting so sick of it!), and I really did want to like it. I just couldn't manage to.
/Z/
And I'm quite sure that other gals game. I have a harem to prove it!
Heck, I even met my sweety through Everquest, and we've been gaming together ever since.
For those that are a little taken back by this article, it's great that you don't care if it's a girl or not behind the avatar, but there are hundreds of post daily (kid you not) that either directly or indirectly accuse actual female gamers of being male, because "all girls in game are actually 12 year old boys". It's great that there are folks out there that have gotten past the fact that it even matters - but like any other kind of gender/racial stereotypes, the truth is a lot of folks out there are still thinking "ten years ago".
My daughter games, and she holds her own quite well. There will be a time when these types of thoughts won't resurface, but it will likely be another ten years before it happens. The environment is changing, but like every adaptation, the process is slow. It takes a long time for things like this to actually become a non-issue.
You said boobs.
/snort
Female here and sci-fi is my favorite genre too. But I beta tested Eve and hated the game. I spent all this time in character creation to create this face for a toon that never got out of her spaceship. I like RP with my mmorpg's. I'm highly amped about the Stargate game in production. Highly Amped.
And I was the one that got the hubby hooked onto WoW, met him in EQ, we both went hand in hand to EQ2, and he got me into Guild Wars. We take turns getting each other into games and every one of our family get togethers, like this last Thanksgiving....almost entirely made up of gaming talk. My husband just stands there beaming proudly at all his step-daughters yakking about the gaming, their men getting a word in edgewise occasionally.
And by the way...my ex hated my gaming. He wanted me to spend more "quality" time with him on the couch watching him flip channels all night or stare like a zombie all weekend on Dukes of Hazzard marathons. He even threatened to cut off my acrylic nails because of the noise they make while I'm slapping keys and killing mobs.
My present and forever hubby....says that the sound of my acrylic french-nails pounding on my keyboard are sounds of a happy gamer. I love that man. Best husband evah!!!
Well, here's another female gamer, and I can speak to the eve conundrum. I started playing wow because all the guys at the place I worked played. I worked in tech support, where mmorpgs are very popular. I played wow for a year, and I enjoyed it, but there were several things missing. I too, am awaiting vanguard with bated breath, since the crafting is supposed to be uber.
My favorite genre is sci-fi, and when I heard eve was out there I was pumped. Several things delayed me trying it. Mostly, eveyone I talked to about it said it was boring and I would never catch up. Also, I was put off by the lack of body and walking around interacting with people. FInally I tried it a month ago, and I have to say, I like it so far. The space feel is very real, and getting into a player corp makes it easy to focus on what you need to do to get where you want to be. But the truth is, we females *do* like to make things. We like to color things. We like to buy shoes, for crying out loud. It's obvious with too many games, they are really overlooking the people who are not about fighting all the time. I like to incinerate people just as much as the next person, but there's more to me than that.
Wow was smart to put fishing in there. Sometimes you just want to stand and listen to the birds and the water lapping at the shore and get you some fish.
Miner Ed (Eve)
Snowflurry (Wow)
Okay I'm sorry, If someone cares what gender you are when you game, especially to the point of having make you prove it, they need to realize a couple things.
1) They're here to game, not date you
2) Chances are she wouldn't date you anyways.
I should add, by the way, that while EVE is most famous for PVP, there is a great deal of roleplaying to be had on the basis of politics and diplomacy within the game.
I think the frequent denial that any women are present, that any player who claims to be a woman has to prove it, is a tactic by sexist men to intimidate women into silence and chase them out of the game. For some reason, some men find the presence of women to be threatening. It usually goes along with a very narrow vision of what gaming means, and heavily stereotyped ideas of gender roles and gaming styles.
I think things have moved on a bit now, girl gamers are much more common than ever before. When I first started I got all the usual 'girls don't game' nonsense, but what I found mostly was the horrified comments bacause I was not only female, but horror of horrors, a mature female. I play MMO's with my hubby and kids and even now find that some players, most especially the younger ones, find this very hard to come to terms with. I often get told 'your too old to play games' and yet my hubby never gets told that. My kids however think it is very cool, and many older guys comment that they wish their wife/girlfriend would show an interest
I believe a lot of the problem with the female issue is the males who make females char and then pretend to be girls in order to get items, powerleveling etc. We had a discussion about this on guild chat just the other day, one of my guildies said "I know you and (my daughter who is 18) are real girls cos you don't flirt with everyone and ask for stuff. I like to think I can spot a fake from a mile away, but some of them are pretty good at it
Yes girl gamers are real, and I think the question should have been are girl chars real
~Huff
For me , i just dont care if is a girl or boy for me is a PLAYER he can say " oh im a girl ! " or " im a boy "
For me is a PLAYER i dont care if have 18 years or 10 years or if is a girl or boy
i just care about have another player it me playng in same team or enemy team .
I never ask for age i never ask if is a boy or girl
i just dont care all who enter in a game are PLAYERS
ps: sorry bad english
Have fun
Guys in games always assume that they talk to other guys until there is proof to the contrary -.-
GirlGamer here -.- and really succesful at it =)
I'm sorry, but I use 'he' most of the time if I have to use a pronoun like that because there is no singular, third person, gender neutral pronoun in the English language!
Women in RPGs runs in the family and friends of the family. My father dated several girls back in the days around when 2ed D&D came out who played in his tabletop RPG group. Also, my mom and dad meet though a theatre fraternity group and he introduced her to D&D there, since many of them played it. I have also introduced several of my female friends to D&D.
I know many lady gamers, though all the ones I know personally aren't into online games. For example, one girl I went to school with plays snowboarding games and the like hardcore. However, until we both graduated from high school, she juggled all that with cheerleading, school, softball, a VERY healthy social life, and working full time in her parent's miniature golf place. Oh, and did I mention that she was drop-dead gorgeous? Others include my sister, mother and grandmother.
Yes, I know that there are women out there who share my interests and I salute them for standing against the social norms.
That's the whole thing though, woman gaming is not against social norms, it is so common now that a woman gaming is just as normal as a guy gaming. We may outnumber them but I am sure woman gaming is by no means a surprise thing anymore
I'm amazed that this is even a topic in todays society.
I know that female players do exist since my wife is one :)
The thing is that as someone told earlier in this thread the real queston is why males make female toons?
And there are a few reason for that...
What I think is that most of the times you can spot easily in any game a female or a male player unless there is one hardcore roleplayer playing the character.
I don't care about the gerne of the player although I get a bit frustrated seen female characters named Lord Valdemor or Superdooperkiller :)
The industry knows there are females playing mmorpg's and they are trying to make there games appea;ling to them.
anyway that's my 2 cents on the matter :)
Without wanting to be controversial but I would kind of say mmorpgs are kind of a feminine genre. What I mean by this is that there are some games girls are more likely to play than others, for example, the Sims. A feature of the Sims is you aren't being competitive asuch, the same goes for mmorpgs. Mmorpgs are more perhaps social inclined than many of the other genres. A game like a fps less girls will play, sure there are girls that will play them but they are a much more distinct minority than they are in either the Sims or mmorpgs with the reason fps' can be a lot more aggressive, antisocial and more competitive.
Hopefully I haven't offended anyone by saying this but pointing out an obvious correlation I don't think is out of line. Its kind of like saying builders is quite a masculine dominated job, yes there are female builders, but the majority are male. Yes, there probably could be more female builders as part of the reason there aren't so many female builders is because of tradition but even with that aside the jobs would be dominated by males as a perhaps physical leaning.
Good god
Of course they are real, if they aint then my wife must be my imagination, we been playing WoW now since day of release(just to let you know she existed before then too) ......
My girflriend plays Unreal Torunament :)) Also likes adventure games.
She'd probably get completely addicted to a MMOG, so she rather does not try them at all... I don't mind as we only have 1 capable PC to play :)
DB
Amen! Completely Agreed!
I used to be in this BF2 Tournament for 3 years and it was a sorta Role play tounament, and whenever there would be a girl that would join the tournament from time to time....there would be certain younger players who would just freak out or just go completely quiet....its ask if this new chick was an extraterrestrial....
As MLecl0001 said....who cares who's behind that screen....gaming is where you get to have fun/compete/learn things.......If you do get into a Guild/Clan/Tournament Division then you can start to socialise and figure out the people behind these computers and you should respect who they are and what they live for....
Norms can be influenced by international or national trends, but regional norms in large countries, such a the US, are normally resistive to change from these outside areas. In essance, it may not be gainst your societal division's norms, but it could be and is against my societal division's norms. Also, there is a great deal of preasure in my VERY conservitive, rual part of Ohio against girls gaming. I was not originally from the area, so I knew better, but many of my guy friends growing up thought that girls didn't or even COULDN'T game! (still don't know what wackjob suggested that concept)
When I'm gaming, I really could care less what is between you legs. A mature gamer doesn't think with that, they use that nice little thing called grey matter.
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 ;)
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
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Anyways, great article CK, wish I could write so well.
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":
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
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
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.
Originally posted by Baudolino
I guess gaming really IS gay!
Well, you never hear of Chuck Norris playing these games.
Mark Finn
My question is "Do real men play these games?"
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.
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.
I found out today that one of my former staff members plays second life and has done so for about 2 months. It is her first MMORPG.
She is in her mid 20's, from Hong Kong and is extremely cute.
Oddly enough while we were one the phone she brought the subject up by asking if I played second life (which I don't). Apparently there is a group of British born Chinese girls (all RL friends) that play it.
Female gamers shouldnt stress out if i ask if they are actually female because im only trying to determine wether or not the person giving out cyber kisses is male, i dont care if they arent acting girly and such because then i dont feel like im having the piss taken out of me by some fudge packer.
No disrespect but making a comment on page 8 seems to me that the topic made sence since there are many people intrested in the topic cause everyone that even types 1 word as a reply towards this topic sure must be intrested in it even if that response is positive or negative towards the topic.
The topic would be indeed be needles if your post was the only one that had responded to the topic ;)
Last time i checked we all had free wills to read and react to whatever we liked, nobody is forcing us to react on subjects we do not like, that also would be very foolish to show others we have no opinion.
I do wonder what the purpose is for some people to actualy say nothing ( to gain better membership stats?)
p.s already gave my opinion about the subject :P
Remember this for optimal fun: When someone asks you if you're 'really' a girl, shake your boobies and do a wiggle and ask, "What do you think?", and then giggle or something. As if that's an answer, but you know, it's usually enough, lol.
It all depends on who's asking you, too. Depends on whether or not you feel like messing with somebody's head or not, and if you're a writer, it lets you explore female things/ideas you might not normally run through in your imagination, but anyways. . .
Too bad there's not many 'real' roleplayers out there in MMORPG's, cause then non of it really matters and you talk about stuff going on in the game, and not asking, "Where are you from," and crap like that. Don't get me wrong, I answer such questions, but I alway do so with a sigh. I mean, who cares? I don't. I'm there to play, not talk about r/l. I do enough that in r/l already.
Right on the spot