What women want

[Greymain]

Daring to put a (married) male toe into this discussion. I suspect the deeper and more sophisticated and complex the society aspects of the game becomes, with opportunities to interact with the world without only having to kill everything, the more female players we will get. Dont get me wrong female players in my experience can be as bloodthirsty as any of us but do also enjoy organising the guild and I suspect would love to get into creating player towns and cities.

[Labyrrinth]

Personally I don't want anything different then the guys want

Ok.. I tried to retype out all my thoughts, but basically I'm finding I am repeating something I wrote a couple of months ago over at SV and since I'm lazy here it is

As a whole, female gamers have long been a conundrum to the gaming community. The industry itself has never been quite sure what to do with us and it’s reflected in the design of their games, most of which are produced and targeted for the male audience. They’re hell bent on finding a niche for us. Personally, I wish they wouldn’t. It frightens me to think that they’re going to try to put us in a pretty little box where we’re encouraged to socialize and make the gaming world a better place by advancing our skills in interior decorating.

The problem isn’t just the gaming industry. A good portion of the problem stems from the general gaming populace itself, males and females alike. I’ve often noticed that when the subject of female gamers comes up, people categorically try to lump us into 1 of 3 groups, “Women prefer the socialization aspect of games”, “Women prefer crafting in games”, or the ever present “Women will stick with the game if you offer elaborate character customization options”.

While I realize that there’s some truth with these categorizations, mainly due to the left brain, right brain differences in males and females, it’s not the whole truth.

One step in the right direction would be to give us more than the standard 3 options when polling us. While these aspects of gaming are important and I’ll be the first to admit that they’re fun, they’re not game defining, at least for me. These are not the things I want or look for in a game and I know a lot of my peers feel the same way. We don’t want a pink game for girls and a blue game for boys. We don’t want a game that idolizes us by making us into overgrown Barbie dolls with pretty clothes. We don’t play games to bake bread, brew mead or tailor clothing and we’re definitely not the adolescent girls that like to play dress-up, at least not in the confines of a game. I never understood why crafting, dressing up, or socializing was ever considered gaming in the first place. They’re part of a game, but they aren’t “the” game. While the guys are out righteously killing the bad guys, competing for loot and discovering lands unknown, we’re supposed to pretend we’re having fun waiting for them to come back so we can show off our new dress and the rat ear sandwich we made.

No thank you.

Most of us outgrew playing house years ago and now we’re looking for something more. We want a game that engages us, that makes us think, a game that requires strategizing, coordination, and competition. I want a game that lets me kick ass!

I’m not going to kid myself though. It has been, and will continue to be, an uphill battle. The female gender is often trivialized in MMOG’s. We’re often relegated to support classes, not because we necessarily prefer it that way and not because anyone forces us to select these roles. Many of us relegate ourselves to these roles because that’s where we know we’ll have a voice. We oftentimes even relegate ourselves to these roles because that’s what’s expected of us. I’d hazard to guess that it’s probably where a lot of us are most comfortable, at least right now. In a sense, I can’t help but wonder if most of the perceived gender problems in games today are caused by us alienating ourselves. We put ourselves in roles we don’t like, roles we feel or are told we’re supposed to like and when we discover we’re not having fun, we wonder why. How about instead of playing nice, play what you want to play. Play the hero!

Another thing I can’t help but wonder is if the industry is really as concerned as they say they are, or is it merely lip service? There are already numerous groups, similar to Bowenresearch.com, whose main purpose is to conduct research geared toward the result of improving gaming, for males. I’ve yet been able to uncover even one formal research group that is concerned with the female gamer. If they really want to create or find that market niche for the female demographic, it’s going to be a long, hard road. In order to succeed, a lot of resources in the form of money, time and research are going to be needed. Are they really willing to go this route?

It can also be argued that no further research is needed. After all, there are hundreds, if not thousands of polls that have already established what females are looking for and want in a game. However, the problem with many of these polls is that the questions are biased and they aren’t generally targeted toward a large enough audience to have any meaningful relevance. A poll cannot ask biased based questions like “Would you prefer to see more character customization or a more elaborate crafting scheme” and expect to get unbiased results.

In the end, I can only hope that the gaming industry decides not to go down that path. When all is said and done, I am quite comfortable with the way things are right now. There’s something about playing with the boys that I’ve always enjoyed and have always been drawn to. Playing in a world dominated by males allows me the comfort of letting the aggressive side of my personality show. It allows me to have the kind of fun I like to have, without apology. I don’t have to worry if I’m playing nice. I don’t have to check my behavior at the door and I don’t have to worry about making sure I “act like a girl”. Maybe it’s the abandonment of hard and fast rules, or maybe it’s the honesty in the male emotions. You know where you’re going, you know what your job is, and you know exactly where you stand. I not only like that, I prefer it

[Twyla]

I love character creation. The look of a character helps me define the role play ~ what they would say, what they would wield, how they would smite enemies and meet friends. I love the way game companies are creating eyes these days, just out standing.

Clothing - I am like a little girl playing dress up LOL and I don't care what you think

Environment - I love to explore places and take screenshots

Challenge - recently I learned that I enjoy a bit of pvp and I will be more inclined to try it out these days.

Team play - I love team dynamics and working out how to overcome a mob/quest/mission, even with pick up groups.

Guild / Community - I love to be part of a large community and help other people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are games out there giving me parts of these... maybe Vanguard will cover all of them.

[RiKohran]

the one thing that i really liked about Star wars Galaxies and city of heroes you could go and modify how your character looks after character creation so if you do get bored with how your character looks over time you can change it personally I think that would be an interesting idea in here have an NPC or PC later on mage Beautician crafting class hey that can be my next D&D character hey I think i might be on to something here tell me what you think

[Aredhel]

LOL....a Pixil Surgeon ingame, by appointment only!

[Shiver]

Hmmmm,

Ok I am fine with the avatars looking ‘hot’ it would be good to have it work both ways. Really just more choices in how we look would be nice. I do remember hearing a friend say that the men looked great in Asherons Call 2 if you were using the gaming glasses. Lol.

I think a large sign that blinks and points to us saying “yes, we really do know how to play could be good.” Sometimes I get tired of having people half my levels give me suggestions on where to go hunting. I am sure they are trying to be helpful but they try to ‘guide me’ while ignoring people who could use a hand.

More clothes options would be great. It is one of the things I loved about UO. So many types of clothes to choose from in UO, styles of hats, colors, sashes, gloves. That was really nice. Color is good. More colors, please more colors in the game, how many shades of tan and grey do we really need?

Definitely, many female gamers these days are able to log on more hours then normally guys can. A lot of the other females I have played with have health issues and/or are always at home. So having things we don’t have to do as a group is nice. Single person quests that get us nice ‘flavor’ items are good. Rings, new color of boots, maybe a special dye. That would be great.

I am very into crafting, guilds and helping the community. Any game that is set up to help out people who have questions is good. (chat channels and so on)

Really games have improved a lot from the aspect of being a female player. I am pretty happy.

[Fritz]

That thong thing sure would put the shoe on the other foot. By the way I wouldnt mind making an ugly human or a fat woodelf , think thats a cool Idea RiKohran.

[Azzikai]

Originally Posted by Shiver

Hmmmm,

Ok I am fine with the avatars looking ‘hot’ it would be good to have it work both ways. Really just more choices in how we look would be nice. I do remember hearing a friend say that the men looked great in Asherons Call 2 if you were using the gaming glasses. Lol.

To add to this, just general variety would be nice. Not every female one sees has huge breasts, a tiny waist and perfect hair. Unfortunately, to get away from that games typically make you play things like Trolls or Ogres. It would be nice to have a game where I could play a human or elven female where the whole barbie ideal wasn't the standard.

In the end, I can only hope that the gaming industry decides not to go down that path. When all is said and done, I am quite comfortable with the way things are right now. There’s something about playing with the boys that I’ve always enjoyed and have always been drawn to. Playing in a world dominated by males allows me the comfort of letting the aggressive side of my personality show. It allows me to have the kind of fun I like to have, without apology. I don’t have to worry if I’m playing nice. I don’t have to check my behavior at the door and I don’t have to worry about making sure I “act like a girl”. Maybe it’s the abandonment of hard and fast rules, or maybe it’s the honesty in the male emotions. You know where you’re going, you know what your job is, and you know exactly where you stand. I not only like that, I prefer it

I couldn't agree with this paragraph more

[Icecus]

Fashion of course is a big concern to women. Switching outfits to fit the occasion would be fantastic!

Fun emote actions, /bow was big in EQ. I always wanted a curtsy for my character.

Movement is also big with me, I want to walk, fight and move like a woman.

Crafting tailored to women would be fun also, quilting and knitting come to mind.

For busy women with kids, shorter adventures are apealing. A set of adventures that incorporate into a larger more complicated adventure, allowing busy women to complete them in segments.

Diplomacy....more carisma of course, ie our good looks!

[Mobius]

I myself am not a woman, but I will agree with the women here in that the whole armor diversity thing is a huge deal , I don't want to look like everyone else I want to be able toe pick and choose what my character looks like. Also someone mentioned that what does it matter if game designers attract female gamers, well as a statistic goes women outnumber men 3 to 1, so that would be a huge deal on the marketing aspect of game industry. I work with all females,and I think a game where they could have their own sense of fashion would be a huge hit, yet be distinctively rough and tough and play with the boys. I also think alot of females are more community oriented, if they could interact socially with each other that would be an improvement while still getting their ingame goals done. I find that women are more cerebral than men, so any game where they can think out their problems and solve it with strategy and crafting more than brute strength and prowess that'd be a game they might be interested in. Relationships well I think that has always been a part of the online gaming industry, lol if the guys over at eharmony were smart they'd add that to the game too lol (don't shoot me it's just an idea, I know there are alot of lonely individuals out there who are looking for someone who shares the same interest as them) I just think there are alot of improvements that could be added to todays gaming industry to make it more marketable for women.