Games & Girls II

Okay, I know I meant to post this yesterday, but stuff got busy IRL and then Digit and I got sidetracked playing Baldur's Gate 2.  We only got in 2 hours of gameplay last night, but managed to whomp an adamantium golem, a lich (who cast Meteor Swarm in a tiny, tiny room, and summoned a pit fiend to boot), a red dragon, AND a shadow dragon.  I think, all things considered, we did well.

Anyway - the content of this post wasn't what I was intending to write about, but having read this fantastic experience from snowkissed, I thought it deserved sharing.  I was basically nodding in agreement all the way through as I read it.  Highlights follow!

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Why is it a bad thing to pretend to like something? In any relationship, it's important to share hobbies. Boyfriend has to do what girlfriend wants to do once in a while, and vice versa. The cruelest thing you can do to a gamer's girlfriend, in my opinion, is hate on them for pretending to like games. They're trying, for god's sake, and they should get a nod of approval for that. If you're stupid enough to let a newbie access your save games, then maybe you deserve to have them deleted. Your girl isn't going to random delete shit, so quit bitching about it.

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Personally, I hate backseat gaming. I don't see the appeal in watching people play, but I have from time to time. It helps you discover new things. Don't hate on the explorers.

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I understand that this piece is satire and was likely written with good intentions. Unfortunately, I believe that girl gamers need more positive press rather than negative highlights. The dislike emphasized for casual gamers and feigning-interest gamers is particularly frustrating. I admit that sometimes I'm guilty of wanting to be the “only” girl gamer, but I do recognize the importance of shattering gender barriers. There really shouldn't be an emphasis put on the girl gamer, but rather on gamers as a whole. We're so varied in personality, play styles and genre preferences that I highly doubt our gender plays an actual role.

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Well worth checking out the full post.  I haven't read the article she's referring to myself (snowkissed, could you send me the link or comment here with it?), but from the bits quoted, here are a few more thoughts.

I know a lot of Stereotype 7 girls ("Grrl" Girl) from playing TF2 - just browsing around on the OZFL forums will bring many of them to light.  They're generally loved by the guys in the community - seen as being sassy and spunky and good 'mates'.  I don't have a crystal-clear opinion on them, but I generally don't go out of my way to befriend them.  More often than not they're more comfortable being either super-feminist and buddying up with other 'grrls' to 'whip the guy's asses', or kicking back drinking beers and talking footy with the guys.  Neither of those activities appeal to me, so I tend to just steer clear altogether.

Stereotype 6 (Obsessive Cosplayer), on the other hand... I don't know any such women, and I suspect there is truth to this stereotype as well, but I have an immense problem with guys hating on them for this.  If female characters in games weren't, 99% of the time, designed with chainmail bras and G-strings and very little else, female cosplayers wouldn't have to wear such scanty outfits to conventions.  Cosplaying is something they enjoy - yet to do it justice, they have to remain true to costume designs that are more often than not aimed at attracting male gamers' attention.  You want to talk about stereotypes, talk about that!

Most of the time, I find Stereotype 5 (I'll Kick Your Ass) amusing, actually.  Some girls carry it off with panache; some don't.  Like any other attitude based on cockiness, which often borders on arrogance or desperation, it takes a great deal of showmanship and humour (and skill) to do it without appearing stupid.  Generally, no matter how they do it, the end result is hilarious.  I am, however, with snowkissed on the stance that men do it just as much (way more, in fact) and it can be an annoying behaviour regardless of the protagonist's gender.

Stereotype 3 (Tries To Like Games) is something I sympathise with.  I was hassled by gaming friends for years to join in, and was quite shy - I didn't want to make a fool of myself, and felt that I undoubtedly would, since this was something with which I had next to no experience.  So I wholeheartedly support the girls who are game enough to try something new - something that relies on skill and reflexes that they may not have yet, which could see them 'losing' - with good grace.  All power to girlfriends who recognise that their men's gaming habits are part of their personality, and who support that, and go one step further and try to join in themselves.  Whether they succeed or fail, I admire them.

Stereotype 2 (Casually Casual) is described thus: "How they get attention: By hogging your PC or Wii -- Where to find them: In your living room at 4 AM with an empty bottle of wine".  snowkissed's comment on this is pretty accurately amusing: "If this so-hated casual girl gamer is not your girlfriend and is hogging your machinery, then you, sir, need to grow a backbone."  And to be honest, I've seen more men fit into this category than women.

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Further to what I actually WANTED to write about, this comment by Zeta_thompson caught my eye on the Girls In Gaming: Data Edition post on the company blog:

Basically my take on it is that gamers are gamers. Make a good game and we will play it. It is only recently that the manufacturers decided they need to market to female gamers. My take on that is just make decent games and those that like them will play them and tell our friends, but if you make a substandard product or something that is geared too much for one group or another, we will ignore it. We are Gamers, regardless of our plumbing.

That's pretty much exactly how I feel about the last section of my original Games & Girls post.  I don't know when gender became such a huge issue - it's obviously always going to be an issue for marketing departments, as you do have to take into account your target demographic - but targeting games specifically at one gender or another is probably less successful, less useful, and generally less helpful than just focusing on making good games, period.

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There's going to be a 'Games & Girls III" post at some point, as snowkissed asked me what my opinion was on pro-gaming girl groups such as the Frag Dolls, and to be honest, I know next to nothing about them, so I'm going to have to do a bit of research and formulate an opinion.

If there's anything else you guys want me to look up and write about, drop me a comment, shout, Twitter message, or PM. :)