A question for the female escapists....

[piinyouri]

I played and enjoyed Modern Warfare 1's campaign and greatly enjoyed it.

Also played and enjoyed the Medal of Honor(not CoD but they're both pretty much the same thing) game where you start out on Omaha Beach.

That's pretty much the extent of my forays into modern military shooters though.

 

[TehCookie]

I don't like it it, but I don't like any war books/movies/other games/pretty much everything war drama related. Realism is also a minus, I play games to escape reality so I prefer fantasy games.

 

[Something Amyss]

But for one you have to respect the ones that continue to serve the military regardless.

I'm not sure "putting up with rape" is a particularly admirable trait, myself.

 

[Something Amyss]

I don't like it it, but I don't like any war books/movies/other games/pretty much everything war drama related. Realism is also a minus, I play games to escape reality so I prefer fantasy games.

Wait, there's realism in Call of Duty?

I'm yet to see any. I mean, it's set on Earth, and there are humans involved, but that's as far as I've gotten.

 

[Serenegoose]

Nah, I lost interest in the call of duty franchise at MW1. Never bought MW2 or any of them after that. They started heading down the multiplayer focus and short SP campaigns and just lost me.

 

[TehCookie]

I don't like it it, but I don't like any war books/movies/other games/pretty much everything war drama related. Realism is also a minus, I play games to escape reality so I prefer fantasy games.

Wait, there's realism in Call of Duty?

I'm yet to see any. I mean, it's set on Earth, and there are humans involved, but that's as far as I've gotten.

I never said they did a good job portraying reality, but they tried. Rather than having magic and aliens and ninja flipping moves. Though rapid regeneration is a superpower I guess.

 

[CriticalMiss]

I like Call of Duty 2 and the first Modern Warfare was alright, but the series just doesn't appeal to me any more. Between the community of people playing it (or the stereotype thereof), the uninteresting gameplay and generally dull presentation I'm not remotely interested any more. But the same goes for other grey-brown, 'realistic', modern military shooters not just CoD.

I'd rather play TF2 because it has character and hats and characters in hats. It's also looking pretty good despite being released years ago, still has a decent player base and is free. Plus it runs on my netbook (on the lowest settings, but still).

 

[Miyenne]

I don't play.

I prefer something with story, along with fun mechanics.

 

[jehk]

Whenever I see those comics, I can only think of them talking in low monotone voices as they look so damned bored. Which makes it boring to read, although interesting in this case if this comic has truth to it.

I know. Its the way he draws the eyes. Everyone looks high or like Ben Stein.

 

[Windcaler]

I dont know of many women that get into FPS in the first place. I play battlefield 3 with a few when i can be bothered to log in. Theres another that I play Blacklight:retribution whenever Im on. My cousin loves payday 2. Overall I just tend to find more guys in the FPS genre. Although my other love, RPGs, is far more populated toward female players then male ones in my experiences

Now to get on my soapbox

I don't find playing a modern soldier interesting at all. The following comics illustrate why.

Maybe you'll understand why the fantasy of being a woman solider isn't really appealing to many.

Unfortunately that comic doesnt tell the truth at all. Having served for six years and seen sexual assault cases come up I can say with certanty that women who report sexual assault do not loose out on career opportunities. There was a case when we were in the field and a female squad member was conducting personal hygene, our squad leader (an E5 or sergent) came in and asked me and my other squadmate where she was, we told him and he went back and took a look before leaving. We were in the field so the MPs were not immediately available, instead we went up the chain of command to our platoon sergent (and E6 or staff sergent) and he launched an investigation, got sworn statements form the three of us, and the ultimate result was he was busted down to (E4 or specialist) and got a permanent reprimand on his record. In another case that I did not personally witness we werent in the field and the woman contacted the MPs on post. What proceeded was an investigation much like any other police agency would conduct and it ended in a dishonorable discharge and prison time for the individual.

Perhaps that comic was made long before I was a soldier. Perhaps it deals with a different branch of military service (I was army) but I can say that in my experiences sexual assault/harrassment crimes were taken extremely seriously and proven purpetrators received harsh penalties. In fact I believe the military is the only justice system where a rape conviction can get you the death penealty but then Im not familiar with all 50 states laws regarding punishments for convicted rapists.

 

[jehk]

I dont know of many women that get into FPS in the first place. I play battlefield 3 with a few when i can be bothered to log in. Theres another that I play Blacklight:retribution whenever Im on. My cousin loves payday 2. Overall I just tend to find more guys in the FPS genre. Although my other love, RPGs, is far more populated toward female players then male ones in my experiences

Now to get on my soapbox

I don't find playing a modern soldier interesting at all. The following comics illustrate why.

Maybe you'll understand why the fantasy of being a woman solider isn't really appealing to many.

Unfortunately that comic doesnt tell the truth at all. Having served for six years and seen sexual assault cases come up I can say with certanty that women who report sexual assault do not loose out on career opportunities. There was a case when we were in the field and a female squad member was conducting personal hygene, our squad leader (an E5 or sergent) came in and asked me and my other squadmate where she was, we told him and he went back and took a look before leaving. We were in the field so the MPs were not immediately available, instead we went up the chain of command to our platoon sergent (and E6 or staff sergent) and he launched an investigation, got sworn statements form the three of us, and the ultimate result was he was busted down to (E4 or specialist) and got a permanent reprimand on his record. In another case that I did not personally witness we werent in the field and the woman contacted the MPs on post. What proceeded was an investigation much like any other police agency would conduct and it ended in a dishonorable discharge and prison time for the individual.

Perhaps that comic was made long before I was a soldier. Perhaps it deals with a different branch of military service (I was army) but I can say that in my experiences sexual assault/harrassment crimes were taken extremely seriously and proven purpetrators received harsh penalties. In fact I believe the military is the only justice system where a rape conviction can get you the death penealty but then Im not familiar with all 50 states laws regarding punishments for convicted rapists.

Just because you didn't have those experiences that doesn't mean others didn't. I'm glad you never had to go through anything like that. Plenty of women have.

 

[Windcaler]

Just because you didn't have those experiences that doesn't mean others didn't. I'm glad you never had to go through anything like that. Plenty of women have.

You missed my point. I never said that events of sexual assault/harrassment dont happen in the military, in fact I acknowleged they do happen. My point was the comic is factually wrong with the reporting procedures of said crimes in at least one branch of military service which presumably is the one theyre trying to represent (although it could be marines instead since the uniforms are so similar).

 

[jehk]

Just because you didn't have those experiences that doesn't mean others didn't. I'm glad you never had to go through anything like that. Plenty of women have.

You missed my point. I never said that events of sexual assault/harrassment dont happen in the military, in fact I acknowleged they do happen. My point was the comic is factually wrong with the reporting procedures of said crimes in at least one branch of military service which presumably is the one theyre trying to represent (although it could be marines instead since the uniforms are so similar).

So the two incidents you described represent the entirely of the military branch you served in? I think you missed my point. Your experiences are not representative of everyone. Even within your own branch.

Did you read the report that came out in May?

 

[SoranMBane]

The only Call of Duty game I actually liked was Call of Duty 4, and even then, I never had any interest in playing the multiplayer. As much as I think having the option to play a female character in multiplayer is a small step in the right direction, it's too little too late, and doesn't provide any indication that they've fixed any of the other problems I have with the series unrelated to the lack of female characters. For now, I think I'd prefer to stick with shooters that aren't boring, brown, poorly written, and overly-scripted, regardless of the gender of the character I'm playing.

 

[rbstewart7263]

though the chart above shows otherwise i know alot of girls who like it. asked a friend once who loves it if she encountered alot of bs from people cause shes a chick to which she replied:Nah maybe once or twice but then I stomp them and its all good:

I suppose 8 for a all male multi game is pretty good.

But you know what will really get the ladies running? titanfall! lol at least one hopes lol.

 

[jehk]

But you know what will really get the ladies running? titanfall! lol at least one hopes lol.

I dunno. Could be. I loved stomping on Zin in Saints Row 4 with my robot.. I mean power armor.

 

[Plasticaprinae]

No. Call of Duty doesnt interest me in the slightest. I rarely play online. When i do play online, I choose games that have less of a big audience like indie games. Indie games tend to attract a.. more accepting audience I suppose. Or maybe the assholes are just really loud on AAA titles. Guns of icarus and Monaco are some of my favourites. Most people don't use voice chat anyways and I only use it when I feel comfortable with the people i am on board with. I also tend to take a friend.

So basically I approach online gaming how I approach a slightly-seedy bar. With caution. Call of Duty is a bar that is full of guys that I don't know, screaming out crap I don't want to bother myself with.

 

[Stasisesque]

I feel like my reasons for not enjoying CoD are quite shallow compared to the political conversation thus far, but no I'm not a big fan of CoD simply because I don't like the controls.

Also I've never really been a fan of online multiplayer. Co-op, yes, MMOs, yes but online multiplayer just puts me off. I know a bunch of women who do enjoy CoD though. They are much better gamers than me.

 

[Bellvedere]

Yeah COD has never really appealed to me. I've played it a few times with friends (split screen on a console), but it's not something that I'd get into on my own. I'm really not that interested in modern military anything so a game about being in the military isn't all that appealing.

It's always seemed to me that the escapist wasn't the most COD friendly website going around though so I don't know how indicative this thread will be about women's feelings about COD vs. general escapist feelings about COD.

While it's definitely cool that they're letting folk play as a lady, it's not really a "big step towards gender equality". It's a fairly minor inclusion and while I'm sure that womenfolk that do play COD will like playing as their own gender, it's not really breaking down the barriers between genders in any meaningful way. To be honest I'm not sure how COD multiplayer would go about making a "big step towards gender equality" just in terms of pure game mechanics. Real life identity is fairly trivial in multiplayer matches except to trolls.