Dairuka

About four years ago when I played Medal of Honor: Spearhead rigorously we had a female gamer from the UK and she was an amazing player but we treated her just the same as everyone else, she enjoyed playing with all of us guys as did another future clan mate who was a french woman who's husband we played with she too was a fantastic player and could show us a thing or two about the game. It seemed that when we all got to a point where we said "okay we are good enough at this game" the females kept moving forward and soon became better then us.

I have known many female gamers online through community and clan interaction, but I am always still surprised in my personal life when I meet a female and discover she plays video games.

(This is purely my opinion and not the opinion of GamingAngels.com.)

Dairuka,

Hi! You are correct that no gamer should be put on a pedestal. A gamer's skill or passion for gaming should speak for the gamer.

While you have a point in terms of marketing there is a strong need for women gaming communities. It's because most male communities are still sexist and difficult to play with online. While most females accept this and play on, women that are new to gaming may not and will therefore be turned off by it. Never to pick up gaming again. Which is something none of us want. We want more people to enjoy the hobby we love.

Also, the marketing of "hawt girl gamers" by companies won't stop until guys stop treating them special.

Trina ^_^

As a woman both in gaming communities and in game design, I thank you for your call for equality. Really, to some of us, that's all we want. Remember all the BS that happened when Sony introduced Home to the general public? None of us want to deal with that. I think I speak for most gaming women when I say that we don't want any special treatment and we don't want to be separated from the herd. It's really rather frustrating when suddenly you're treated as if you're not competent -- and it's also rather frustrating when you have to defend yourself from flirtations or even unsolicited contact. People used to throw items at me on a regular basis back when Diablo 2 came out -- but really, I can take care of myself. I'd like to be respected based on what I can (or can't!) do rather than have that skewed based primarily on something I have no control over.

@Trina -- I think quite a bit of it has to do with the media marketing a number of things with "hawt girl X". To be fair, though, our industry is especially bad. I think that part of it has to do with the fact that a girl who is a hardcore gamer (rather than just a girl that games) is easier to identify with for a gamer than somebody who doesn't understand what they do with their free time and why what they're playing isn't a waste of time. Moreover, being able to share what is a strong hobby for a number of male gamers with a partner is important. Sadly, I think the media is unfortunately taking note of this -- and using it to their (and not our) advantage. It's sad, really.

Good article, I can't really add anything that hasn't already been said to be honest.

Originally Posted by Sela

People used to throw items at me on a regular basis back when Diablo 2 came out -- but really, I can take care of myself.

Hilariously enough, when I tried to hand out my left-over items that I couldn't use/didn't need anymore to random people in Aion.

Guys gleefully opened the trade request I made, took everything I gave them, and left a half dozen thank yous on my doorstep for the trouble.

Girls refused to open the trade request box until I said, "I have a great belt you'll be able to use in a level from now." - Even then, they'd say things like, "You didn't have to do this." as if I should feel guilty for doing something nice for newbies...

Nice article. My best friend is a girl as well and we mostly play together and what is really sad is the fact that many guys, especially in MMORPGs as soon as they realize that she's female they try to chat all the time. I mean it is ok when you fall in love in a game with someone, that's a very great thing, but those that as soon as they know that somebody is female try to get their attention without even knowing their personality...for me this is worse than judging only by the looks of someone.
Another fact I don't like are the "babes" in all these conventions, which gives the general picture of being the only female persons having to do something with games. It's ok when there's a woman in a dress fitting to a games character or something, but mostly you see that the girl is there because she's a girl, not because she fits into the game.
I hope this will change, the whole attitude towards women in gaming.

This is a pretty good article. I enjoyed reading it and, unfortunatly, its very true. Just a few days ago I was on a server where every time someone said "Good job guys" she had to add "And girl".

In my former clan we had some rules about posting certain pictures in the forums. We had a new female member that kept posting pictures showing a little too much of herself. We took the posts down and a simple, polite email explaining why. She called use sexist and egotistical and not enlightened and quit the clan. Now thats not a big loss, but what makes it harder for us at the time is we removed a few male posts the week before for the same thing.

When I play online, I will treat everyone the same. I dont mind killing little 13 year old kids or 30something women or 50something "old" farts. And you better kill me back because thats what I expect.

Good article.

Nicely written and very well put. I was musing about this after I read it and I thought: wouldn't it be incredible if gaming culture grew to a point where women were treated equally in the gaming community, but still treated the same outside it. As though gaming culture was so progressive, it left the larger cultural sphere out. I don't see why this isn't possible, women are treated differently all over the world, but you don't ever hear about them being equal in one community or another.

Just an odd, half-formed thought I had lol Great job tho! And congrats on crashing the site

Good article Dairuka! I always enjoy your writing.

With that said, I am married to a beautiful gamer. Granted, she likes RPGs (she has every single Final Fantasy ever made), but I decided to still marry her. It is nice being married to someone who shares an interest that is such a big passion for both of us. Granted, we don't like all of the same genres, but we usually are willing to watch each other play for a while. Heck, I hear some stories where one significant other gets hassled for playing too much, but we understand it's something that can release stress and we do for fun.

Also, she has gotten some of her friends to play video games and they have made it their it their hobby also.

I have played FPS games for quite some time, and I have come across the different types of girl gamers you have described. I played with a couple that were great additions to the team and I enjoyed them immensely as teammates. And then there were others such as Crunch mentioned, where they were most likely there just to get attention. Excuse me ma'am, I've had a long day and I'm playing MoHAA, I'm not here to bask in your glory.

For those reading this who do not think women get much attention, go into an FPS game and pretend to be a woman if you are a male, you will quickly find out that you are treated differently LOL! I literally lawled at the 'chasing digital tail' as it is true!

I am a male, 38 years old. You may be perfectly right in everything you say.

I will however put women in gaming on pedestals. In my personal life I don't have many gaming friends, not to my level anyway. Most of my best friends are women. When I say I love women and games it is not as it sounds, I just find women more interesting from an intellectual standpoint then men. Not girls maybe, but women.

To be able to talk seriously about gaming with a women is near fantasy for me, as when approached they react with instinct that I am some creep, I know I would. This is maybe where our experiences meet.

I am a little to old to be a gamer and in my age there is truly a lack of female gamers playing the games I like, mainly shooters on the Xbox. Yes I am a Halo player, perhaps the birth of massive voice abuse against women.

I have one female on my friends list who enjoy playing the same games as I do, she is 20. The rest of my friends on Xbox live are male 20-30 years old. Yes I see a connection between age and sex. I don't count playing soduko online as gaming and I am not interested in MMORPGs. And yes I believe in these stereotypes.

Anyway, interesting article and forgive me for idolizing female gamers and putting them on a pedestal.

I think this is such an interesting topic because there are so many different small stories concerning it.

I remember the TGN podcast about a woman playing a male person in WoW so she just won't get many attention. FOr me the funniest thing always are guys that play female avatars as their main character. As I played SWG this would have never worked and I'm glad I never did this as I met my last girlfriend there...how would it have looked, if I was a female Character as well? The good thing is she thinks the same way and never would play a male if females are available.

But yes, there are also this girls who try to get any kind of attention, but I'm honestly not sure, if those are really girls, as those could likely be guys wanting to fool others.

The internet and games are a medium, were you can get in contact with someone so fast and it is never (except maybe these sites like Facebook) based on how you look, especially in MMOs it's about who you are and in games you feel so secure, that even shy persons have a chance to meet someone nice and to get new contacts.

The only bad side is the first meeting, as you nearly explode when you come nearer to this, you get unsure if she still likes you, if you turns around because you're different that she expected...but if you do it slowly, let them time pass before the first meeting I think it will never turn out bad.

I'd like to say for the record. I am a guy. No where in this article does it say that I am a female. In fact, I've made many allusions towards my 'boyhood' and 'maleness'. I even called myself a chauvinistic jerk, something reserved for males.

Owen from Kotaku goofed, and it was probably the funniest thing that has ever happened to me, but seriously. Repeat after me. Dairuka is a guy. Dairuka is a guy. Dairuka is a guy. Dairuka is a guy.

Originally Posted by Dairuka

I'd like to say for the record. I am a guy. No where in this article does it say that I am a female. In fact, I've made many allusions towards my 'boyhood' and 'maleness'. I even called myself a chauvinistic jerk, something reserved for males.

Owen from Kotaku goofed, and it was probably the funniest thing that has ever happened to me, but seriously. Repeat after me. Dairuka is a guy. Dairuka is a guy. Dairuka is a guy. Dairuka is a guy.

Does that matter? Is the article fake?

Good read dude

your pink backround and fem avatar doesn't help matters LOL

I have to agree with [MyIS]Crrrazzzy kidding aside, great article Dairuka; I've seen it referenced throughout my morning reads

FWIW I personally love working with the folks at TGN because (as you mentioned in the article) there aren't distinctions based on whether or not you happen to have a vagina or a ****, who gives a $hit, just play the game.

Originally Posted by Bawdyjane

I have to agree with [MyIS]Crrrazzzy kidding aside, great article Dairuka; I've seen it referenced throughout my morning reads

FWIW I personally love working with the folks at TGN because (as you mentioned in the article) there aren't distinctions based on whether or not you happen to have a vagina or a ****, who gives a $hit, just play the game.

You sure about that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvjDr8KKtsE

Originally Posted by Dairuka

You sure about that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvjDr8KKtsE

ROFL, owned with her own avatar.