Girls in Gaming

[ward.]

Women in games continue to struggle to be taken seriously.

That'd be sig worthy anywhere else.

As far as I'm concerned womens rights (and all political leanings) should be kept out of games if they don't do anything to improve the games themselves. I don't pay $100 to sit in front of a feminists mission statement for 13 hours just because somebody let their insecurities blind them.
On the opposite end, removing the crutch of "she's got a massive bust but no personality" from games would probably be a good thing.

Woman can kick ass too. Elfen Lied's Lucy is a good example, girls like her should make it into games (One of my favourite anime characters btw).

You do realise lucy is merely haxed up to the eyeballs and is completely emotionally dependent on the male lead don't you?

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

And your post was pretty informed, so don't sell yourself short either, dude.

Hey, it's a good day for me when I can get out of bed, put my pants on the proper way and the stuff that spews out of my noise-tube actually makes coherent sense. So, thank you.

 

[omega 616]

snip

I noticed that the vast majority of girls really don't care and are more annoyed by the fact guys feel the need to be the white night.

If girls were really bothered don't you think more girls would make threads like these? Making this thread makes me think you have some kind of hidden agenda.

Like those "players" that claim to be virgins and oh so polite and charming when all they want to do is score a home run.

I find it a little obscene that all females in games seem to have some sort of clothing shortage or second skin kind of clothing.

I expect them to start wearing big baggy tops or baggy jeans to cover up 'cos that never going to happen.

 

[TheBritish]

I remember some webcomic or similar making a joke about the fact that guys play as girls in MMOs because people are nice to them and give them free things... girls play as guys for pretty much the same reason

Considering in my family there are three women who became gamers (albeit through me) and my girlfriend likes games I've seen a wide range of female gamers. Mostly they do like Cooking Mama... but so what? So do I It's not that it's a girl thing... It's that it's kind of a fun toy to pass the time.

I think we'd get more girls playing hardcore games if they were reached more. When an advert for Metal Gear Solid 3 shows Eva walking seductively at the screen, a gruff talking soldier with a cigar and lots of people going "Arrr!" it's not going to attract the female fans.

I'm not disgusted by the existence of DOAaradise. I just won't buy it. I think it was MovieBob (you'll have to excuse me if it wasn't) who made a point about how Twilight:New Moon is mostly lots of staring at men running around shirtless. If people want to stare at something pretty, fine. I do fine it a little insulting that there are so few female characters in games that aren't human.

And why the hell do women in fantasy things always wear armour bikinis? It makes no sense! If I wear Heavy Plate, I do not only want to protect my breasts!

snip

I noticed that the vast majority of girls really don't care and are more annoyed by the fact guys feel the need to be the white night.

If girls were really bothered don't you think more girls would make threads like these? Making this thread makes me think you have some kind of hidden agenda.

Like those "players" that claim to be virgins and oh so polite and charming when all they want to do is score a home run.

I find it a little obscene that all females in games seem to have some sort of clothing shortage or second skin kind of clothing.

I expect them to start wearing big baggy tops or baggy jeans to cover up 'cos that never going to happen.

In this age of political correctness, it is a universal fact that the people who are insulted most aren't those who the "fixes" are aimed at. It's... kinda funny to think he has a hidden agenda... like a wife who made him post. We're all game analysts and critics of a sort and this is undeniably an issue worthy of discussion, whether you agree or not

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

Just like movies, as a medium, there are games (true, in their few at this point in time) that give a positive image of females. There are those games that use the women in games as T&A and punchlines; alot of these games have a maturity level of American Pie, and because of that, I'm in no way suprised how they treat women.

 

[Scribjerky]

And your post was pretty informed, so don't sell yourself short either, dude.

Hey, it's a good day for me when I can get out of bed, put my pants on the proper way and the stuff that spews out of my noise-tube actually makes coherent sense. So, thank you.

Always an achievement, I say. xD

snip

I noticed that the vast majority of girls really don't care and are more annoyed by the fact guys feel the need to be the white night.

If girls were really bothered don't you think more girls would make threads like these? Making this thread makes me think you have some kind of hidden agenda.

Like those "players" that claim to be virgins and oh so polite and charming when all they want to do is score a home run.

I find it a little obscene that all females in games seem to have some sort of clothing shortage or second skin kind of clothing.

I expect them to start wearing big baggy tops or baggy jeans to cover up 'cos that never going to happen.

Typically, I am annoyed when I run across that stuff in games, however, if a woman makes threads like this she's a vicious feminazi and is discounted. So, to say that I don't make the thread myself obviously means that I'm not bothered by the topic at hand is kind of an ignorant assumption. I'm just not going to bother giving my opinion if I think it's not going to be valued. Having someone else open the floor so I can say 'oh hey, I agree' is generally more acceptable for some reason. You work it out.

 

[StarofAzura]

snip

I noticed that the vast majority of girls really don't care and are more annoyed by the fact guys feel the need to be the white night.

If girls were really bothered don't you think more girls would make threads like these? Making this thread makes me think you have some kind of hidden agenda.

Like those "players" that claim to be virgins and oh so polite and charming when all they want to do is score a home run.

I find it a little obscene that all females in games seem to have some sort of clothing shortage or second skin kind of clothing.

I expect them to start wearing big baggy tops or baggy jeans to cover up 'cos that never going to happen.

Well, I don't know about "the vast majority of women" (as I haven't talked to all of them and I doubt you have, either), I know that I'm not annoyed. It's always awesome when a guy actually takes a stance like this instead of turning into the kind of online gamer who can only slobber out "how big are your tits" before keeling over and dying from the fact that there's a girl in his boy's only club.

You know, the one thing I'd like to see in games that is most likely never to happen? I'd like to see an RPG, where you choose gender/appearance/personality at the startup, that doesn't outline the canon as male. Most of them I've run into, do, from Male Revan all the way to Commander Shepard.

I've always thought the storylines in games like KotOR and Morrowind would be more interesting if Revan and the Nerevarine were female, anyway.

 

[Mr_Paisley]

Uhhhh I'll have to disagree. I think a lot of entertainment media stereotypes women, but for the most part I think the gaming industry is pretty clean of this. Sure they don't have the "natural/normal" looking women, but I'd hardly argue they have "natural/normal" looking dudes in videogames much either.

Women are often hot, sexy, ect. Men are often badass, gruff, or suave. It's just a cliche but hardly meant to denigrate either gender. My best advice is really just to accept that it's something overly done pretty often in any form of media.

PS: The only real Game Developer that oh so often DOES denigrate women, are the people behind the Extreme Beach Volleyball series.

 

[tetron]

But really, how you can take the female fighters from Dead or Alive, stick them in a game that has them frolicking around on a beach in skimpy swimwear and not call it objectification?

The exact same way you can take a bunch of manly men, stick them in tights, and have them wrestle around gladiator style and not call it objectification. You can't, it is objectification and it's a big part of why bad games are bad games.

Also as I'm seeing this, stop bashing on cooking mama ! That game is awesome, and it's certainly not what I would call unexciting.

 

[mxfox408]

Sadly, the only thing that will cause positive change is more females in the gaming industry. The reason there aren't as many is in some ways caused by discrimination, but mostly because there aren't as many girl gamers. Why? Because a lot of them feel objectified by it.

Vicious circle.

However, I await the day when women in games can be as fairly represented as men are. Things like Lara Croft are just annoying, I don't mind tongue in cheek, but I think that the people making Lara Croft are genuinely serious, and are basically 35 year old guys stuck with the mind of a 13 year old hormone addled boy, and this needs to stop.

Anyway, I agree with you, and I'm always happy to see a gamer girl who's managed to persevere through all this shit to get to the games they love.

Ever play mass effect? Plain and simple you dont like it dont buy the men in final fantasy look like girls anyhow so yeah i hear ya on that but its not enough to offend me especially since i learn to just say fuck it its a game and i just enjoy it.

 

[gellert1984]

I inevitably prefer women with at least a realistic personality in a game. Its one of the resons I love bioware games, fine the characters tend to be idealized but at least they have a personality.

Incidentally anyone who has problems with with lowlifes on MMORPGs should send them to EvE to look for the Hellcats, a women only corp of incredibly skilled pirates.

Are they a clan or NPC controlled?

They're the equivalant of clan or guild. In eve such things are called corporations or corps, usually a player run corporation will be referred to as a player corp, a collection of corps is an alliance and both corps or corporations can set standings with other corps or alliances. I'm not sure who the Hellcats are affiliated with but I know they used to run with a corp called the bastards.

There are NPC corps, but there are major benefits to joining a decent player run corp, for example the ability to build your own stations through which you can build stuff research, mine moons and refine ore.

 

[Divine Miss Bee]

AND ANOTHER THING:
The other type of males that try to protect us from the pervs and assholes, I get the vibe that they are doing it just because I am a girl.
"White Knights" piss me off too....not as much as the other types but still.

YES!!!! guys, pay attention: "white knights" are just as creepy, twice as annoying, and at least four times as chauvinistic as the obvious low-life weirdos, if not worse. chivalry is DEAD, and we want it that way, because all is does is keep us in a box. when i'm accosted by a "white knight" online, i do the sensible thing and hit him, because that's how i'd treat a rapist in real life, and there is NO difference. "no difference? that's beyond harsh, and not even true! you stupid lesbian feminazi! go die in a hole!"

but it is. both "white knights" and rapists use political ideas about a man's natural superiority to keep women from becoming strong enough to stand on their own. rapists do it in person, "white knights" do it online, but the mindset is the same-"women are less powerful than me." it makes me sick.

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

chivalry is DEAD, and we want it that way, because all is does is keep us in a box.

Right. So next time I see a woman hurt, or weeping, or looking absolutely miserable, I should just ignore her completely, because she clearly doesn't want or need any help whatsoever. Got it.

 

[MrPop]

The thing is, even when the character isn't an exaggeration of sexuality, they are still always depicted as attractive, even characters like Alyx Vance (one of my favorite characters of all time). However, this may be unrelated to sexuality, and more to do with aesthetics (people, regardless of gender, like looking at attractive people).

But on the other hand, what about the opposite? The male characters are almost always "manly" men, with rugged good looks and gigantic muscles. (In Gears of War, ALL the male characters, even the old general, have huge and impossibly large muscles.)

Female players face prejudice in gaming because of one reason: They're ountnumbered. For every guy gamer, there's 1,000 to 10,000 girl gamers. Not to mention that whether or not you have a girlfriend, most guys will feel an attraction to a female who shares their interests, especially when it's so rare, as is the case here. This causes the flirting, the put downs, the sexual innuendo that girl gamers always hear.

Another example of the 'perfect' representation of the sexes is in Resident Evil 5. Shiva is shamelessly portrayed as a pair of breasts. As soon as you see the starting cut-scene where it scans over her bum then her breasts you realise this. And also Chris with his mega-thick arms is hilarious.

Also there is no consequence for using bad innuendo on girl gamers so I don't think people will stop.

 

[Divine Miss Bee]

chivalry is DEAD, and we want it that way, because all is does is keep us in a box.

Right. So next time I see a woman hurt, or weeping, or looking absolutely miserable, I should just ignore her completely, because she clearly doesn't want or need any help whatsoever. Got it.

"chivalry" doesn't mean HELP. it means "selfishness" and "moral high ground with nothing to show for it." you're being chivalrous if you hand a crying girl a hankie, ask her what's wrong, then feel all good about yourself for asking while you're not listening. if you walk away without doing anything for HER, you're being chivalrous. you're being a friend if you try to help her. honestly, it shouldn't matter if a girl or a guy is crying. if you'd only stop because it's a girl, then yes, keep walking

edit: if ANYONE is physically hurt, contact the proper medical authorities. that's got nothing to do with chivalry.

 

[gellert1984]

What about when said white knight, white knights for everyone?

When in a chat channel I'll 'white knight' for anyone I think is being accosted for any reason I consider unfair whther male, female, black, white, furry, LGBT, newbie whatever. I just wanna play and have fun and somebody screaming 'burn in hell personwhomIconsiderab/subnormalandthereforeworthyofabuse' don't exactly lend themselves to my gaming pleasure.

 

[CheckD3]

Girls in gaming, that's just a dangerous topic. Because while we want to acknowledge them as gamers, are we not single them out as we worry about the players gender themselves? No matter what the entire subject is touchy and dangerous

I can agree that there is a lot of bad female characters out there, but there are also male characters that you just can't stand, the perfection of male that makes them perfect and super whatever, the difference is that guys don't really give a fuck about the way they look compared to that, and it's never enough to get the male population to start a revolution because the "bad" gaming male is just perfect

With girls, it seems to me that game companies who make the bad ones try to market the game towards males, and that's where the entire problem starts. When a game tries to target a gender, you get even the slighest woman character who's sexulaized for the males so they'll buy it, because no matter what you want to say, the biggest target of games is boys between their early teens and mid 20s, the point that guys are horny enough to fuck anything that moves, and will latch on to the most sexual object they can find, and if the game contains a woman who's super fine with breasts the size of beach balls, they'll end up being devoted to the game series and make the company money

It's really the game companies trying to market the game to the target audience, and to me, a gamer isn't measured by their gender, guy or girl can kick ass, and whether or not your a dude or chick, I'll still cuss you out when you kill me and still thrust my genitalia at the screen when I get that awesome kill I wanted.

 

[Tharwen]

with more female gamers there may be more female game designers which might change the balance, the only game i've played where i actually liked (not as in fancied but cared about because they weren't whiny or overly-sexualised) was heather from silent hill 3

But on the other hand, what about the opposite? The male characters are almost always "manly" men, with rugged good looks and gigantic muscles. (In Gears of War, ALL the male characters, even the old general, have huge and impossibly large muscles.)

i used to think this too but according to the GOW3 trailer there's a lady gear now so yeah, awesome

How much armour do you think they'll put her in?