Poll: Lad or Lass?

[Jadak]

This is me trying not to jump to the conclusion that the guy needs to feel superior over a girl.

Of course that's what it is. Not necessarily needing to feel superior in every way, but most guys are accustomed to the fact the gaming is "their thing". Nobody really likes to lose in the first place, even playing with friends who constantly beat your ass can get pretty unfun rather quickly, but with friends you can always just tell them to fuck off for a bit and go do something else.

With a girlfriend, one who is both competitive, wants to play, and can kick your ass every time, not only is it a violation of the pre-conceived notion that gaming is your territory, but you also can'y simply tell her to screw off and not expect to cause problems.

Basically, you're stuck. You can't do something you enjoy without her wanting to do it with you, because she enjoys it too, and doing so quickly makes you stop enjoying it as well. So you can either give up gaming, learn to love losing, or give up her.

 

[Coffinshaker]

I have yet to find these people that dislike a woman who decides to play games.

I think we should be glad the whole market has opened up a bit more to chicks. We just need to get rid of booth babes (or, introduce booth dudes. Blegh.)

lol!! BOOTH BROS!

but uh, I never really think of gaming in a sexist way, I mean, I know plenty of ladies that play games, some even more than me. so I guess we're getting more diversified as a genre as we go huh?

 

[Jadak]

I guess I am just used to the idealistic notion that while winning would be nice, it's not really the goal so much as having a lot of fun with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

That really depends on the game and the person. For games with co-op modes and such, it's great. But on competitive games, even if the game is still fun without winning at first, that seldom ceases to be true when you never, ever win. That's kind of the whole point of such things, a competitive game is only fun so long as that competition exists. If you have zero chance of winning, there is no competition, and no fun.

 

[HydraMoon]

There's this cycle that doesn't get talked about much. Games are geared to a younger male demographic partly because they are easier to advertise to. Women are viewed as 'hard sells' and aren't viewed as having as much disposable income as a teenage boy. So more games are made for teenage boys, sold to teenage boys and thus we are left with the false notion that because the majority of games are made for teenage boys- the majority of gamers are teenage boys. Research has shown otherwise but marketing bias persists and we gamers just lap it up as 'fact'. It's not fact- it's marketing and it's working.

There are no shortage of women gamers- they are most likely simply not playing the games designed for teenage boys since, well, they aren't teenage boys. Is there overlap? Of course! I'm part of that sect that is female and still likes the 'boy' games (stupid gender coding society) but this still explains why there is a constant rumble of 'Where the women at?' as well as a slight uncomfortable feeling guys get when seeing a woman in a male-defined space; whether that's competition, fear of ego-bashing from a female or simply a madonna complex that women shouldn't be 'dirtied' by such things.

I think the bullshit divide between 'casual' and 'hardcore' is also marketing bs that we have bought hook line and sinker. "Hardcore" games are masculine and 'casual' are feminine. There are millions of women who play games longer, more competitively and are bigger fangeeks than 'hardcore' gamers even realise; the difference is the majority of women simply didn't want to play as a 28 year old dude with a shaved head who ran around acting like the last jerkoff they dated and had to put an EPO out on.

As people age out of the 'best' demographic for games (read- easiest to advertise to) we start to notice that the games aren't as good as the hype, the characters are wearing thin and we're growing restless. So people leave or they find different games to play that don't involve computers at all. Marketing is getting riskier and going for the tougher sell demographics now and wow- look! They weren't hard sells at all- we were just making the wrong games for them.

 

[blankedboy]

Most gamers are middle-aged women, assuming casual games count.
I'd still like to see more gender balance in the non-casual industry, though. It's certainly improving, but, well, you know. Gender balance is good anywhere.

 

[Yoshemo]

I have yet to find these people that dislike a woman who decides to play games.

And I have yet to find a woman who plays games. because Gods know I'd probably not let go without a fight.

I know 5! Too bad I'm in to dudes

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

SNIP

Sorry but this [http://images.cryhavok.org/d/14608-1/Man+Up+eCard.png] seems appropriate.[footnote]I'm joking you know XP[/footnote] Practice, win her respect, win! Besides, the whole point of playing a game is to have fun, right?

[sub]I wish I knew a girl who shared my views on gaming.[/sub]

OT: The divide is narrowing but in most "hardcore" game atmospheres the idea that it's only going to be guys you're playing against still is more or less accurate. It's not excluding girls, it's just one of those things like cars and football. Women are encouraged to take part but typically don't.

 

[JezebelinHell]

I have yet to find these people that dislike a woman who decides to play games.

And I have yet to find a woman who plays games. because Gods know I'd probably not let go without a fight.

I always thought that having a gamer girlfriend would be awesome... So I found one...

It was HORRIBLE.

She didn't just play games, she played them competitively. Sure, getting beaten by your girlfriend every now and then is alright, maybe even good since it shows that your girl is capable of gaming... But... When you get raped repeatedly by her in Call of Duty...its just... there are no words... Sad face.

I don't understand why that's a bad thing, could you go into further detail?

This is me trying not to jump to the conclusion that the guy needs to feel superior over a girl.

I don't see him trying to feel superior at all. Playing a game with anyone that always beats you and I imagine takes every chance to snark off about it wouldn't be fun regardless of genders and wouldn't be an attractive quality in a potential mate.

OT:
Honestly, I have been the only gaming female in groups since before a lot of you were born. It doesn't bother me one bit and I prefer it that way. At least once you get passed the few that are falling all over themselves to date you. With my group of PC, D&D and Shadowrun friends it has never been an issue once they have figured out I am competent, completely off the wall, down to earth and really interested in what we are doing. Luckily I didn't have the generalization of being just in it for the attention, that seems to be a more recent turn. I always ended up with more flack from guys over cars than gaming.

 

[Pegghead]

I was a bloke the last time I checked, but I often wonder about the whole "Gaming and gender" agenda (cwutididthar?).

I mean let's face it, eating cheese isn't exactly seen as masculine or feminine.

 

[InfiniteSingularity]

I don't think it's discriminate like that. Games are generally more enjoyed by the male audience, but there's no rule or generalisation about how games are primarily for one gender.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I have yet to find these people that dislike a woman who decides to play games.

And I have yet to find a woman who plays games. because Gods know I'd probably not let go without a fight.

...no offense, but you, my friend, are part of the reason women don't play games.

Yeah, it's not exactly going to be a convincing reason to join the scene.

Spoiler: snip

There's this cycle that doesn't get talked about much. Games are geared to a younger male demographic partly because they are easier to advertise to. Women are viewed as 'hard sells' and aren't viewed as having as much disposable income as a teenage boy. So more games are made for teenage boys, sold to teenage boys and thus we are left with the false notion that because the majority of games are made for teenage boys- the majority of gamers are teenage boys. Research has shown otherwise but marketing bias persists and we gamers just lap it up as 'fact'. It's not fact- it's marketing and it's working.

There are no shortage of women gamers- they are most likely simply not playing the games designed for teenage boys since, well, they aren't teenage boys. Is there overlap? Of course! I'm part of that sect that is female and still likes the 'boy' games (stupid gender coding society) but this still explains why there is a constant rumble of 'Where the women at?' as well as a slight uncomfortable feeling guys get when seeing a woman in a male-defined space; whether that's competition, fear of ego-bashing from a female or simply a madonna complex that women shouldn't be 'dirtied' by such things.

I think the bullshit divide between 'casual' and 'hardcore' is also marketing bs that we have bought hook line and sinker. "Hardcore" games are masculine and 'casual' are feminine. There are millions of women who play games longer, more competitively and are bigger fangeeks than 'hardcore' gamers even realise; the difference is the majority of women simply didn't want to play as a 28 year old dude with a shaved head who ran around acting like the last jerkoff they dated and had to put an EPO out on.

As people age out of the 'best' demographic for games (read- easiest to advertise to) we start to notice that the games aren't as good as the hype, the characters are wearing thin and we're growing restless. So people leave or they find different games to play that don't involve computers at all. Marketing is getting riskier and going for the tougher sell demographics now and wow- look! They weren't hard sells at all- we were just making the wrong games for them.

I'd agree with that...especially about actioney characters tend to be off-putting. Why is it that "hardcore" translates to "bully"?

 

[HydraMoon]

I'd agree with that...especially about actioney characters tend to be off-putting. Why is it that "hardcore" translates to "bully"?

I honestly don't know. I keep circling round the idea of people feeling threatened by other gamers' choices so they put up a wall to help insulate their ego or protect an ideological area that they feel is safe from change. Beyond that vague idea- I'm just as clueless as the next cat.

 

[Thamian]

I'd agree with that...especially about actioney characters tend to be off-putting. Why is it that "hardcore" translates to "bully"?

From where I'm sitting, that translation is chiefly down to the glorification of bullies in popular culture (music, films, etc.), and as such that is seen as appealing to more people, in turn meaning that the marketing is easier to target and it's a save investment.

Addendum: by popular culture I mean the popular culture among males between say 13-24 years old. As for why that glorification exists, it's about power, hormonal drives and the majority never having been the targets at school... Atleast, that's what I can see.

 

[Shirokurou]

Ai, ya scurvy dawg...
I be a fine lad of much gaming.

 

[Ekonk]

I have yet to find these people that dislike a woman who decides to play games.

And I have yet to find a woman who plays games. because Gods know I'd probably not let go without a fight.

It's not that hard, y'know. Lots of women play games, only a few play the real hardcore games.

My girlfriend is a die-hard Zelda fan for example, and I got her into Left 4 Dead and Mass Effect. It's also - partially - that many games aren't marketed to women or that gaming is assumed to be a mans pasttime. Which is of course ridiculous.

 

[Grafin Drachen]

When it comes to appealing characters, deep down, all girls like a "bad boy" and seeing as how most decent games are filled with well built "bad boys" it's kind of hard not to get attracted to some. It's kind of like you lads and your anime women. (Not that this goes for everyone).

The masses do have a point though, marketing. The devil in sheep's clothing. I can see why it's directed more at the boys, men tend to be less rational with there money and more impulse. While women tend to be a bit more guarded with the coinage (again, not all, but most).

But looking at the poll, looks like things are not as bad as I suspected. While the guy's bar is well populated, the female bar is not as scarce as I thought it would be.

 

[Norendithas]

I'd happily encourage more female gaming. Any woman who has a similar passion for gaming is welcome in my world!