Female Gamers

[Inyri]

That we like spam? ¯\O_o/¯

:0 I would never suggest that! *dons halo*

 

But seriously, bling bling is where it's at. Oh, and good playability is key as well. If it's got a crap control system, then it's probably not worth playing, no matter how pretty it is or how good of a story it's got.

Obviously. The key is having a happy medium of both. Or rather than medium, how about just awesome in both departments?

 

*steals Inyri's root beer lollys and fleeeeeeeeeeeeeeees*

Give those back! >.>

[Web Rider]

^^

It has been done, animated hentai. Not something that I would likie to see in a game usually.

something that I suspect is already in several games...and worse.

[Jae Onasi]

Now hold on Jae! You might be on to something here!!

 

I sense this idea is pure genious!!!

 

*Flees thread*

You are SO male.

[Darth333]

if I had to sacrifice something in a game, I'd sacrifice stunning graphics for a great story any day.

Me too...and I'd sacrifice the option to be able to play as female too if it means a better story.

 

I like to be able to play as female but I can also do without it. It all depends on the type of game. Too much freedom can kill the story too (just look at Oblivion: it's fun for freedom but it lacks in other aspects). Having a predetermined PC sex (and even appearance) can be relevant to the storyline and can sometimes give it a less anonymous feeling. I recently played the Witcher and have not been bothered at all by having to play as a womanizer male with long greasy white hair.

 

Also, as a female I enjoy playing a male char not *edit: only* for the eyecandy (can't really say the Kotor males were really pleasing to the eye ) but because I feel it's easier to act more freely as I tend to relate less to male chars and I have a lot of fun trying options I wouldn't normally try - per example, I just can't play a mean and evil female char with big muscles and no brains and who enjoys stealing lunch credits in an RPG as it just makes me feel bad! - In fact, when I have the option to play either sex in an RPG, I normally play a good female character first (which tends to put emphasis on stealth skills or magic and diplomacy) and then male chars (of all kinds, from the total eccentric nerd to the huge brute or simply a normal guy) almost exclusively and it's a lot of fun!

 

Why is Obsidian apparently taking a step back and going to a male-only character in their just-announced Alpha Protocol?

Before calling it a step back, I'll wait and see how the story is developed.

[mimartin]

Also, as a female I enjoy playing a male char not for the eyecandy (can't really say the Kotor males were really pleasing to the eye ) but because I feel it's easier to act more freely as I tend to relate less to male chars and I have a lot of fun trying options I wouldn't normally try [/Quote] I do exact opposite. Given the option, I normally play a female PC in an RPG, for much the same reason. I find it easier to be noble and easier to talk and listen to the NPC. Playing a male PC I get impatient and tune them out after a while, much as I do in real life. As a female PC I have more patients, that and I don’t like staring a guys butt for 40 something hours.

 

In fact, when I have the option to play either sex in an RPG, I normally play a good female character first (which tends to put emphasis on stealth skills or magic and diplomacy) and then male chars (of all kinds, from the total eccentric nerd to the huge brute or simply a normal guy) almost exclusively.

Same here, but in Mass Effect I enjoyed both classes as a female PC better, had something to do with the PC lines being voiced over by Jennifer Hale.

 

Too much freedom can kill the story too (just look at Oblivion: it's fun for freedom but it lacks in other aspects).

How dare you speak ill of Oblivion, yet you are completely correct.

 

I don’t believe males or female are all that different when it comes to gaming. A good story can hide some of the other imperfections of a game. I just want a game with a good story and some of the "shinies and bling bling" Rogue Nine was writing about.

[MasterWaffle]

...per example, I just can't play a mean and evil female char with big muscles and no brains and who enjoys stealing lunch credits in an RPG as it just makes me feel bad!

 

I am exactly the same. I've tried several times to play the game as an evil female but my guilty conscience combined with Carth giving me the hairy eyeball always sets me straight. I just can't be evil!

 

Well, not in a game.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

I am exactly the same. I've tried several times to play the game as an evil female but my guilty conscience combined with Carth giving me the hairy eyeball always sets me straight. I just can't be evil!

 

Well, not in a game.

I do the same thing >_>

 

Although KotOR's idea of "evil" is usually just being a jerk to people.

[Corinthian]

I personally exclusively play Male when I'm given a choice. Playing outside my gender makes me feel awkward, especially if I do the romances. Gender Benders really aren't for me.

[Inyri]

I personally exclusively play Male when I'm given a choice. Playing outside my gender makes me feel awkward, especially if I do the romances. Gender Benders really aren't for me.

A little insecure?

[Corinthian]

Not really, no. If I were actually insecure, I wouldn't have posted how I don't especially like playing games outside my gender. I just don't feel the need to play a female in any way. I mean, really, the draw on them for the KotoR series is..

 

In Kotor 1, you get to have a romance with Carth, the most annoying character in the game after Mission Vao! Ooh, more listening to him whining about his terrible past. And if you go Darkside, you don't even get to carve him into fishbait. Furthermore, he's a living reminder of the existence of Kaidan, my bane.

 

In KotoR 2, on the other hand, you deal with Atton, Disciple, and Sion, all at the same time. Now, I missed losing Disciple as I always played Male, he might have been perfectly respectable as a character. But the sheer squickiness of Sion made up for him. Sleeps with Vibroblades also wants to sleep with you. Maybe we can get some Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader slash fanfics up here, just to tighten the squick up a notch. Also, Atton was Carth's Sequel, with an even Darker and Sadder past, it's like a walking Wangst festival in there.

 

And then there's Mass Effect. Well, in terms of romances, I could have a romance with Ashley, Liara, or...Kaidan. My Bane. Since I'm not pathetic enough to play the freaking female just so I can enjoy boinking the Rubber Forehead Alien Chick with another female, I played the male. Didn't have an opportunity for more playthroughs anyway.

 

Besides, I tend to play Brute Force characters, and Brute Force really doesn't fit alongside these petite females. It's kind of like seeing an eight-foot tall guy decked in gold platemail sneaking up behind somebody with a dagger or slinging spells. It just doesn't look quite right. Especially since they always tend to go flying whenever I hit them with my gun in Mass Effect, like some kind of ragdoll.

 

I wasn't aware not having a fetish for playing your opposite sex in a video game was a sign of sexual insecurity anyway.

[Jae Onasi]

Psychoanalysis thread is two doors down and to the right.

[Tommycat]

Just as not all male gamers are the same, I suspect all female gamers are not the same.

 

From my observations it comes down to footwear.

I have 3 categories, High Heels, Pumps and flats, and combat boots.

 

High heels are generally the female gamers that go for the ultra sappy story lines that would make a guy puke, then burn the game for fear of accidentally reinstalling it on their system. These female gamers are few and far between because they are more likely to be playing head games on Myspace than actually playing a video game. Primarily because the gaming industry doesn't really put that much time into developing games for such a small segment of gamers.

 

Pumps and flats are the ones I would categorize as female gamers that regularly play games for a good story. This may be the biggest segment of female gamers(from my observations). They prefer the sensible games that do not tax their system to extremes, but rather tax their intellect. Many of their games are in the category of RPG, but have the occasional drift into other areas. There are more games that are geared to suit these women as the games fall into a shared category between male and female gamers.

 

Combat boots are the females that like their gore and violence as much as most guys do. Graphics are pretty high on their list. They like proving to the guys that they can be just as much of a gamer as they are(or better). They are just as competitive, but usually like a good story for their SP games. They just prioritize slightly more on the graphics. This makes up a smaller percentage of the female gamers out there. The good news for these gamers is there are a lot of good games for them because this makes up a large portion of games male gamers like. The bad news is the games are designed around male gamers.

 

Now by no means are these categories related to their real footwear. I categorized them based on the women I see at metal shows. High heels were there to look pretty, Flats were there to enjoy the music/show. Combat boots were the ones likely to get in the pit and throw a few people around.

 

Also I reserve the right to be completely wrong. Please note that these are generalities, and by no means a true definition of what female gamers are. Nor does it imply that because a gamer fits mostly in one category that they may not also fit into a part of another category.

 

As for my wife: She fits more into the combat boots gamer. She likes gore, and mayhem. Cool rendered explosions and heavy violence are on her top categories. As for at the metal shows, She's more of the high heels for some, and others the flats...

[Jae Onasi]

I'm a New Balance sneaker gal myself.

[RedHawke]

I personally exclusively play Male when I'm given a choice. Playing outside my gender makes me feel awkward, especially if I do the romances. Gender Benders really aren't for me.

I'm just the opposite... I can't stare at a guys backside in games like KotOR it gets to me after a while... say 5-10 min.

 

It also could have to do with, in part, becuause I have played more females in PnP RPG's than males... it is quite fun and challenging for me to try and understand and role play the opposite sex. My only male characters for example in PnP Star Wars was a force-using Ex Imperial Admiral and a Variable Combat Droid (do droids even count?) that would put our beloved HK-47 to shame in the gun toting psycopath department.

 

But if we don't have a choice and we have to play a male I'll still play it, and enjoy it if the story is good.

 

You are SO male.

[Tommycat]

I'm a New Balance sneaker gal myself.

I was going to put it down as "comfy shoes" but I figured some feel that combats are more comfy than runnin shoes.

 

Basically the more male the shoe, the closer they get to male gaming styles.

[Bee Hoon]

Flip flops, with a rare lapse into heels from time to time. Depends on whether the sap is well-written or not though!

[Inyri]

I was going to put it down as "comfy shoes" but I figured some feel that combats are more comfy than runnin shoes.

 

Basically the more male the shoe, the closer they get to male gaming styles.

That's a very curious observation. When I was younger (jr high, high school) I used to wear Vans/Airwalks, and I typically played shooters and such. Now I've matured into wearing Sketchers (I keep trying to get away from brand names, but they're sooo comfortable... ) and I've moved more into RPGs. I think there's definitely something to what kind of shoe people wear and what it says about their personality.

[PoiuyWired]

Hmmm... its shoes and girls again...

Well it would be nice to date a combat boots female gamer, at least I know who to pk when someone forgot to wash the dishes on her day.

 

But yeah, I guess it is possable to develop some games that are more competable with the "Pumps and flats" girls and yet not to be too mushy to kill off male population. I would think that the old adventure game type would work, think monkey island with an updated interface. Also, maybe a less action/zombie oriented resident evil style adventure... Well, I am not saying repackaging residentevil with slower zombies and replace zombies with kittens, but the genre would work for females i guess (saying that cause a certain girl likes monkey island, then again she is also not affected by gore). Note that these types of girls can easily be conditioned to play Super Smash Bros. with decent ability, or monster hunter (its the happy teamwork that gets them, and cats).

 

And yeah, sorry about those with highheels, I mean please keep camwhorring on myspace and don't taint the game world (it is annoying indeed to be given a link to some "look i am sooo pretty" site while I am grinding thinking that it is some site about character build or soemthing, especially one with the face like a corkmongler with a tiara... and I would rather be rickroll'd). Plus, you don't really need an mmo that focuses on being a mean beach drama queen, you can just do it on the sims and all is fine with the world.

 

On kotor. I think male/female both work wonderfully in k1, and the whole carth/revan ordeal is developed, and there is some kind of emotional development going on. The piece of perverted bantha poodoo sorry excuse of a pondscum stalker mical really gets on my nerve in k2, and I keep trying to find a way to kill him thru the most painful way possable, can't I just dump it outside the airlock? Sion is an interesting(and warped) case that is actually alternative enough to be interesting, as do homegal Mira and even that Han-wannabe Atton is somewhat acceptable.

[True_Avery]

I wear these like 5 or 6 year old worn out sneakers. Comfy.

Other times I'll wear these big steel toed hiking boots.

High-heels can go throw themselves into a fire.

 

And yeah, sorry about those with highheels, I mean please keep camwhorring on myspace and don't taint the game world (it is annoying indeed to be given a link to some "look i am sooo pretty" site while I am grinding thinking that it is some site about character build or soemthing, especially one with the face like a corkmongler with a tiara... and I would rather be rickroll'd). Plus, you don't really need an mmo that focuses on being a mean beach drama queen, you can just do it on the sims and all is fine with the world.

You win an internet.

 

--

 

I actually liked the Sion arc, even though it was small. He was an immortal held together by his own malice and hate, not even alive anymore. He ended up seeing parts of himself in Exile, another war torn, destroyed person. He saw her desire to push forward and keep living, while he had already given up and fell completely to his own hatred. In the end, he admitted he was still human and still wanted to redeem himself, and he did. It didn't kill him, but allowed him to finally pass on instead of staying in the clay-like body.

 

It may have been a little cheesy to some that he did it though love, but I guess that is personal taste. I don't think it was as crazy as some are making it out to be, because many people I've noticed can't seem to get around the fact he looks like he put himself through a wood chipper. "Arg I wanna sleep with you!" Seems to be the response of people who confuse sex with love.

[Inyri]

Other times I'll wear these big steel toed hiking boots.

I had steel toed boots for work over the summer... They're surprisingly comfy. And PW ruined what would've been an awesome post by mentioning the sims before I could. >.>

 

Also never worn legitimate high heels. I have enough trouble keeping my balance without doing something silly like making the surface area of me feet smaller. Women in general confuse me greatly. Then again, so do men. Human beings confuse me greatly with their inefficiency and overall silliness.

[Jae Onasi]

I'm a great believer in not wearing footwear that is going to actually damage my feet (i.e. high heels).

 

Perhaps it's a competitive/cooperative difference between guys and gals. Maybe it's because there's a tendancy for gals to mature faster that affects gaming differences. When I was a kid, I liked shooting Asteroids, playing Tank, and making Pac-Man munch the blinking ghosts. I probably would have enjoyed the shooter games we have available now very much. Now that I've reached permanently-29-status, I don't want to spend hours upon hours learning how to do a headshot just right to maximize points in a shooter game--that's boring. I'd much rather work my way through a story or see how my choices help develop a character.

 

I was thinking about what I liked about Guild Wars so much, since it's so much less story-driven than SP RPGs. I realized that while I do get things done adventuring alone and some of the grinding is rather boring, I really like the social aspect. It's fun to chat with a fellow party member or 3 or 8 about how to overcome X boss, strategize about how to conquer a tough area, and help each other out on missions.

 

Something else I've noticed in GW is that there are a _lot_ of females playing that game. Kids who are in junior or senior high now have grown up playing Playstation, Xbox, and other systems, and I don't get the same feeling that today's girls are going to grow up and put away video games as silly like I did when I was growing up. In addition, gaming is starting to be viewed as a legitimate form of entertainment for adults as well as kids, perhaps something that's an alternative to watching TV or movies. I don't think it's there all the way yet--some of the women in my church think because I game that I'm not completely mature. However, I think that will change as current gamers mature and the games themselves become more mature.

[Totenkopf]

Really, if some of you guys are fixating on pixelated T&A, you probably need a break from your gaming habits.

[hellhawk]

Games like Final Fantasy also leave you no choice with regards to the main character

 

yeah im a guy and i gotta say there are some games guys like where you mplay as a girl, like super violent medevil based games like heavenly sword. id tottaly go for that. i really dont care if the characters a guy or girl. heck i even own a game where all the characters speak japenese or somethin!

 

anyway my pitch to the thread is its gonna be hard for industrys to adapt to girl gamers, because there are all sorts of personalitys of girls. just look maround a high school. there are the ultra popular girls how are hangin out with the ultra popular guys, theres the group of girls who never get in trouble (no offense if there are any here) but seriously you never even hear them udder like crap at all. there is even a group who dig nerds. (lucky for most a the guys on this forum, huh?) there are also some wild crazy wierdish ones that have personalites somewhat like middle popular guys, anbd hang with them. anyway there are all sorts meaning they are going to have make alot of different games to keep it balanced.

[Web Rider]

Something else I've noticed in GW is that there are a _lot_ of females playing that game.

 

Now, are there a lot of girls playing GW, or are a lot of people playing as girls?

[Serpentine Cougar]

Pfah! If I wanted a good story, I'd read a book! Give me shinies and bling bling any day!

Ah, but a book can't have multiple endings and branching storylines, can it? (Unless it's a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Book, I suppose...) As much as I love books, I love stories in games ever-so-slightly more because of their interactive nature, which makes me feel more like I'm actually there.