Poll: Be honest, do you actually treat girl gamers the same online? (Minor update)

[Girl With One Eye]

I used to play online with my ex boyfriend so we would chat on the mic. It was really annoying for me and him to listen to guys be jerks to me. Most of the time it was the usual, "hey are you hot", "can I add you?" but you do get some real creeps too. In the end I just ended up automatically muting everyone else everytime I got into a match so I could just hear my boyfriend. It's a shame that people can't be more mature about it, I really don't see what difference it makes if you're playing against a girl or a guy.

 

[Enverex]

I treat them the same in that I don't care and I don't ask. Everyone flocking around females in games (or on forums) is just really sad though and quite annoying and that's speaking from my own perspective.

I'd probably never reveal who I was if I was female, the contstant hassle from the obsessed would be unbearable.

 

[Bioluminescence]

I'm a girl, but I don't really play online with people I don't know, so I can't answer about playing with strangers, but I come across a stereotype when talking to "guy gamers" in real life.

When I mention that I like playing video games, the guys I've talked to often assume that I mainly play JRPGs or the Sims, or "casual games." In my experience, there seems to be an assumption among some male gamers (not all, I'm sure) that girls don't like the same kinds of games as they do- FPSs in particular, or anything with a heavy emphasis on combat.

Has anyone else had a similar experience, or (for the guys) do you make this assumption sometimes?

 

[Crackin n Shmackin4U]

Yeah why wouldn't anyone treat them the same , I don't know why people treat them differently , its really stupid , I treat everyone based on their behaviour in the game , their personality and how they treat others ( intolerence etc.)

also as for your girl issue , asking a girl out your prob gonna get a yes, your not asking for a relationship or commitment , its just a one night thing , dont associate dates as the start of a relationship and you see how unimportant it is , I mean if a girl came up to you and offered

1 --> night at the movies / dinner / walk in the park / go karting / whatever
2 --> all expenses paid or at least half
3 --> no strings attached

and you have nothing better to do than stay home and watch tv , why would you say no , best to just bite the bullet , nothing worth having in life comes easy


also haters stop hatin noobs ! they don't mean to annoy you .... mostly @

 

[thedarkfreak]

Heh, I don't even treat my girlfriend differently when playing online. If we're playing a competitive game against each other, I don't hold back.

Was a lot of fun in Left 4 Dead 2 Versus.

 

[Quaidis]

I don't know what you're talking about. All gamers I play against are unisex. The only gamers I don't treat well are the ones that are assholes, though I'm more apt to just not playing with them.

I play both genders of characters in videogames. Once in a blue moon when I play a female character, someone asks me if I'm really female. If I have a sense of humor that day, I'll ask, "Depends... Are you?" regardless of what gendered character they play, or something else moderately more witty, then leave it in the air after that. Another rare happenstance is the one ass that starts throwing noticeably sexist or insulting gender issue lines out. For some reason I always assume these are kids just hitting puberty. They always tend to shut up if I ignore them or tell them it's old, or if their friend tells them it's not cool (which happened once, when some twat just carried on and on... and on.)

One time someone asked me out on a game. Instead of tell them any truths or get riled, I said, "Sounds good, how old are you?" They replied with some low age. I'm going to throw 15 out there. I replied with, "Great! I haven't dated a 15 year old kid in ages." When they asked me my age, I told them I was 68. Aaand... They logged off. (Just to make this clear, I am nowhere near sixty-eight years old.)

On the by, I never play with a microphone. And if a game has a voice function, I turn it off. It kills character immersion for me. You can't seriously play against some macho military guy with the voice of a squeally teenager, or with some cleric babe with the voice of a deep-throated black guy.

 

[Hasido]

somehow, im immune to the whole "this person has a different ideology/gender/age/etc, therefore i must treat them differently" thing.

those things just don't matter to me. things like being a fun person to play with/talk to are what matter.

 

[Sn0wLeppard]

If they act the same as male gamers, then yes. Sadly though, this isn't the case, and every girl gamer feels the need to broadcast the fact that they're a girl and likes attention whoring as much as possible.

 

[8bitlove2a03]

The ones that act like normal human beings I treat the same as any other (read: poorly if they're an idiot or well if they're not). The ones that won't shut up and mic spam all the time with stupid flirtatious comments which are obviously meant to break up the game and make it into one huge attention whoring clusterfuck with them at the center? I don't even bother. I make one comment to them about how they'd probably call me sexist if I called them an attention whore, then mute the entire server so I can play in peace. It's the easiest way.

 

[Sean Renaud]

Of course not. They aren't boys and they shouldn't be treated like boys. More to the point there is language that I in general would not use around a woman because I've found in my experience they don't find it funny. I suppose you could try to argue that it's never okay to joke about rape but lets face it, we not only joke about it it's to the point where much like the term gay a lot of us don't even equate "Man you just got raped by Johnny Cage" as the same word that happens to a woman (or a man). And when I'm feeling rude I'll tell the women the same as I tell the occasional gay who gets offended when I exclaim "God that guy's a fucking ******" or "Damn it stop camping, it's gay" that the word over the last decade or so has by and large become synonymous with negative. I didn't mean to offend him, I don't care about him except that I will vote for his right to get married. Then go on about my day.

 

[latiasracer]

I Just dont bother with Voice Chat, I always have it muted. Always. Beacause im socible like that

 

[Erttheking]

Of the two that I've met? Yes.

 

[zehydra]

Of course not. They aren't boys and they shouldn't be treated like boys. More to the point there is language that I in general would not use around a woman because I've found in my experience they don't find it funny. I suppose you could try to argue that it's never okay to joke about rape but lets face it, we not only joke about it it's to the point where much like the term gay a lot of us don't even equate "Man you just got raped by Johnny Cage" as the same word that happens to a woman (or a man). And when I'm feeling rude I'll tell the women the same as I tell the occasional gay who gets offended when I exclaim "God that guy's a fucking ******" or "Damn it stop camping, it's gay" that the word over the last decade or so has by and large become synonymous with negative. I didn't mean to offend him, I don't care about him except that I will vote for his right to get married. Then go on about my day.

or you know, you could just not fill the chat with that spam

 

[nathan-dts]

No, it's akin to seeing a disabled person for me. In that I don't want to ignore them too obviously, at risk of seeming rude. I also try to avoid making a big deal out of it.

 

[dickywebster]

Grew up with girl gamers, so i dont tend totreat them any differently from anyone else.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I treat them the same in that I don't care and I don't ask. Everyone flocking around females in games (or on forums) is just really sad though and quite annoying and that's speaking from my own perspective.

I'd probably never reveal who I was if I was female, the contstant hassle from the obsessed would be unbearable.

I've just about given up on using a mic in multiplayer matches, unless I'm playing with friends or deliberately trolling. It's a huge distraction from the actual game, and while it might be novel to everyone else, it just follows me around. Use a mic = prepare to be annoyed.

 

[LittleBlondeGoth]

Another girl who plays games chiming in here...

A confession though. I haven't done much in the way of online gaming through my consoles. The prospect of playing with a random bunch of children, arseholes or just complete wingnuts does not appeal. I'd rather play network games with those I know. This might be a girl thing, or perhaps it's just me - my patience threshold with people who think "hurr hurr LOL fag" is a scathing putdown is terrifyingly low. If I were to venture into the jungle that is out there, yeah, I'd probably leave my microphone unplugged. If only so no-one can hear me yelling at the TV when I get ganked / execute someone with a perfect headshot (no-one likes to hear a lady gloat).

What I have done, however, is 5 years of hardcore raiding in EverQuest. I found the community there on the whole to be more adult, and geared towards encouraging teamwork, rather than people going off in search of solo glory leaving the rest of you high and dry. Perhaps it's because the audience is of a more mature age - I'm thirty-something now, and appreciate the banter that comes from playing with your peers. Fourteen year old humour doesn't really do it for me. Having said this, I came across quite a few youngsters in my years of playing EQ, and most of them were very nice.

In all the gaming situations though, I'd prefer to be thought of as a team mate, rather than "a girl". I've had a few weirdos try to give me free stuff in EQ, which had the opposite effect they were hoping for - I just got creeped out and wandered off. But even though my avatar was female, a lot of people assumed I was a bloke. It was only when we started using Vent regularly, that some members were surprised to find out their raid leader had boobs. And could still out-DPS them. Heh.

It always surprises me though how few girls seem to enjoy playing games. Any kind of games. It's just... not done. And I don't get it. I got hooked when there were only 16 colours available on screen and floppy disks were the size of plates. Why did none of the other girls at school see what I saw? While they were off talking about makeup and boys, I was in the computer room programming games in RM Basic. And they thought I was weird. Why? There shouldn't be a stigma attached to gaming like that. Most girls I've met, if I start talking about how much I enjoyed Mass Effect, they'll look at me like I'm from another planet then start blathering about The X Factor. This is why I tend to hang out with men, for the most part.

Maybe I've just had rotten luck. I know there are girls who game out there, we just seem to be spread thinly...

 

[LittleBlondeGoth]

If they act the same as male gamers, then yes. Sadly though, this isn't the case, and every girl gamer feels the need to broadcast the fact that they're a girl and likes attention whoring as much as possible.

Rubbish. Most of us just want to have fun shooting the stuffing out of zombies or beating them round the head with the bucket-drill. Those of us who do enjoy gaming do it because we like it, not because we want attention. Hell, if attention was all we were after, there are much easier ways of doing it than spending hours getting good at Call Of Duty.

 

[Vamantha]

We're spread very thinly and I find a lot of women stick to certain genres of gaming. While others lie through there teeth to get attention from boys. I've met a couple of girls who say they like video games but never/refuse to play them. When they do it's obvious they never like or know how to play them.

I still don't understand why other girls can't see what I see in video games. It's always clothes, make up, and boys. It just feels kind of hallow talking to other girls. At least for me. Guys are more laid back and just want to enjoy a simple pleasure. Oh, god. I get so many weird looks when I go off on a Mass Effect love rant. XD