View Single Post
Old 01-29-2009, 02:48 PM   #8
Kleothera
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 50
Kleothera is on a distinguished road
Re: Male and Female Players: Are the experiences different?

I guess,
a. For a start, less scantily clad gorgeous babes with biologically impossible anatomy

b. Less hack and slash. Women tend to avoid pure hack and slash- both because we aren't very good at mini-maxing stats (as Milawe pointed out) and because we often find it simply boring (these arent really mutually contradictory). I remember the time when my first character got into the top 5 ranks in the MUD (I was chasing a shot at immortality in a hurry at the time), someone commented that I was acting as if I had shifted gender- all that unwomanly concern with stats, equipment, damage.... ewww! Funniest bit was, while I was making a sudden spurt through the levels, I was actually getting bored out of my mind (that particular character of mine idn't make a single level after I got raised to the staff- that was 10 years ago!).

c. If not hack and slash, then what? RP, more social interaction and something that involves cooperative gameplay for something other than raids and more killing. In my experience, some of the best RPers in DE have been women (especially if we consider those who not just got involved in RP, but also set it up for others). Personally, I prefer RPing with random newbies with the idea that they get involved in the larger ongoing RP scenario to going to get an extra level just about any time.

d. Strong enforcement of no-harassment rules. Women need to feel safe from all sorts of virtual groping or being propositioned. Even one or two men can make life fairly difficult for female players, if its not nipped in the bud.

e. More and more realistic female heroes and characters in the game to which the player can relate to. Ultra powerful (usually male) heroes are impressive, but arent as much fun as someone with a weakness. I may also be totally wrong about this, but I think I have found female players to be more tolerant for moral ambiguities in RP, unlike male players who are more inclined to react with, "he was wrong and needs to be killed". This could, however, be a simple matter of emotional maturity as almost all older male players tend to be more tolerant of such shades of grey.

f. A game that already has female players (not female presenting males). Birds of a feather flock together.

Disclaimer- Anything I said previously would not necessarily apply for all women and at all times.

Oh yeah, a research on what men and women want in their games


GIRLS -- Leading characters are everyday people that girls can easily relate to, and are as real to girls as their best friends.

BOYS -- Leading characters are fantasy-based action heroes with "super power" abilities."

GIRLS -- Goal is to explore and have new experiences, with degrees of success and varying outcomes.

BOYS -- Goal is to win, and the play is linear. Outcome is black and white; die and start over; one 'right' solution.

GIRLS -- Play focuses on multi-sensory immersion, discovery, and strong story lines.

BOYS -- Speed and action are key.

GIRLS -- Feature everyday 'real life' settings as well as new places to explore.

BOYS -- features non-realistic, larger-than-life settings.

GIRLS -- Success comes through development of friendships.

BOYS -- Success comes through the elimination of competitors.

Last edited by Kleothera : 01-29-2009 at 02:54 PM. Reason: Added the URL
Kleothera is offline   Reply With Quote