FlopsyPrince wrote: »Thanks for everyone's replies.
I have noticed a similar gender shift in the field of boardgames as well.
I do remember seeing Pong in the department store, though I didn't have the dexterity to play it. Spent far too many hours playing the original Civ as well.
I know the designer end was almost all male at the very early Computer Game Designer Conferences, with Brenda Laurel and a few others being the notable exceptions. Each year I went (very early on) seemed to have at least one session on how to attract more women gamers, so that was definitely a desire of some there.
I wish I had found some of the older ones of you when I was younger, but that didn't happen and I was married to a non-gamer for several decades before she decided to leave. I know gaming isn't all of it, but I wonder if that can provide solid glue to long term relationships or not.
Interesting replies! Thanks again!
SianTamzin wrote: »42.
I've been gaming since the mid 80s.
Gaming was just a casual, fun hobby back in the 80s and 90s, and no one cared if you were male or female. It's the younger generation of gamers who have politicised gaming and who seem to think "girl gamers" are new. We're not.
FeedbackOnly wrote: »Elder scrolls online offers more variety of activities for female audience in my opinion
I'm sorry but I have to ask: what are the specific activities that women are said to prefer in a computer game?
I know I'm not the person you asked, and I'm not sure if this is the answer they were thinking of, but here's an article which addresses this topic: 'Female Gamers Want To Kill You, Just Not With Guns'
Edit: There's also this one, about how male and female hardcore gamers have different priorities: https://quanticfoundry.com/2018/08/01/casual-hardcore/
FlopsyPrince wrote: »I know gaming isn't all of it, but I wonder if that can provide solid glue to long term relationships or not.
FlopsyPrince wrote: »I know gaming isn't all of it, but I wonder if that can provide solid glue to long term relationships or not.
Well, it's a hobby, one topic you can talk about (which can, in case of TES, lead to very extensive lore discussions...), and one way to spend time with each other. I don't see a big difference to other pastimes, though, like travelling, or doing sports, or going to the cinema or museum together. In the end it's all about interacting, talking, sharing moments, creating memories. I can only speak for same-sex relationships, though, but I'm quite sure it's not any different for straight couples.
I never had a partner who was not a gamer, btw - it's even hard for me to imagine differently. Not because I would have a problem with a partner who doesn't care for gaming, not at all, my partner doesn't have to like everything I like - but I have the impression that many non-gamers just can't understand the appeal of gaming at all, any many even look down on it. And I wouldn't want to share my life with someone who finds my hobbies idiotic and nags about them.
FlopsyPrince wrote: »I know gaming isn't all of it, but I wonder if that can provide solid glue to long term relationships or not.
Well, it's a hobby, one topic you can talk about (which can, in case of TES, lead to very extensive lore discussions...), and one way to spend time with each other. I don't see a big difference to other pastimes, though, like travelling, or doing sports, or going to the cinema or museum together. In the end it's all about interacting, talking, sharing moments, creating memories. I can only speak for same-sex relationships, though, but I'm quite sure it's not any different for straight couples.
I never had a partner who was not a gamer, btw - it's even hard for me to imagine differently. Not because I would have a problem with a partner who doesn't care for gaming, not at all, my partner doesn't have to like everything I like - but I have the impression that many non-gamers just can't understand the appeal of gaming at all, any many even look down on it. And I wouldn't want to share my life with someone who finds my hobbies idiotic and nags about them.
I think it's very important to have a parter who at least accepts your interests, even if they don't share them. Being a gamer in a relationship with the type of person who thinks games are a stupid waste of time or actually harmful or whatever would be bad for everyone involved. But again that's the same for everything, if you're into hiking you probably don't want to be with someone who thinks it's incredibly dangerous and best avoided. If you like music you don't want to be with someone who thinks live shows are a waste of money and you could just stream the album and so on.
SickleCider wrote: »FeedbackOnly wrote: »Elder scrolls online offers more variety of activities for female audience in my opinion
I'm sorry but I have to ask: what are the specific activities that women are said to prefer in a computer game?
I know I'm not the person you asked, and I'm not sure if this is the answer they were thinking of, but here's an article which addresses this topic: 'Female Gamers Want To Kill You, Just Not With Guns'
Edit: There's also this one, about how male and female hardcore gamers have different priorities: https://quanticfoundry.com/2018/08/01/casual-hardcore/
I want to toss this in, for the data: the thrust of the first article resonates with me. Fantastic boss battles are my absolute favorite thing in video games, I just don't usually want to be fighting in those with guns because gun violence is too close and real. I want my violence to be artistic. I want to grind an eldritch abomination into paste with a big pizza cutter. Or maybe I want to fight a dragon with a greatsword that fires moon beams. Or maybe I want to parkour onto a monster's back and stab it with a tiny knife until it throws me off and I get concussed. 🤷♀️ Insta-deleting someone with a gun both unsettles and bores me.
I know I'm not the person you asked, and I'm not sure if this is the answer they were thinking of, but here's an article which addresses this topic: 'Female Gamers Want To Kill You, Just Not With Guns'
Edit: There's also this one, about how male and female hardcore gamers have different priorities: https://quanticfoundry.com/2018/08/01/casual-hardcore/
FeedbackOnly wrote: »Elder scrolls online offers more variety of activities for female audience in my opinion
I'm sorry but I have to ask: what are the specific activities that women are said to prefer in a computer game?
I know I'm not the person you asked, and I'm not sure if this is the answer they were thinking of, but here's an article which addresses this topic: 'Female Gamers Want To Kill You, Just Not With Guns'
Edit: There's also this one, about how male and female hardcore gamers have different priorities: https://quanticfoundry.com/2018/08/01/casual-hardcore/
SickleCider wrote: »FeedbackOnly wrote: »Elder scrolls online offers more variety of activities for female audience in my opinion
I'm sorry but I have to ask: what are the specific activities that women are said to prefer in a computer game?
I know I'm not the person you asked, and I'm not sure if this is the answer they were thinking of, but here's an article which addresses this topic: 'Female Gamers Want To Kill You, Just Not With Guns'
Edit: There's also this one, about how male and female hardcore gamers have different priorities: https://quanticfoundry.com/2018/08/01/casual-hardcore/
I want to toss this in, for the data: the thrust of the first article resonates with me. Fantastic boss battles are my absolute favorite thing in video games, I just don't usually want to be fighting in those with guns because gun violence is too close and real. I want my violence to be artistic. I want to grind an eldritch abomination into paste with a big pizza cutter. Or maybe I want to fight a dragon with a greatsword that fires moon beams. Or maybe I want to parkour onto a monster's back and stab it with a tiny knife until it throws me off and I get concussed. 🤷♀️ Insta-deleting someone with a gun both unsettles and bores me.
I thought it was an interesting article, and the data seems to track with my own feelings about settings and themes. But the speculation about the reasons for the data doesn't fit very well. I'm usually more of a ranged weapon player... give me bows, or big flaming fireballs, and I'm pretty content... but I'll switch it up semi-regularly with, for example, daggers. So I don't necessarily mind getting stabby in an up close and personal way. But I've realized that one of the main reasons I don't like to play games with guns is quite simply the noise. I get migraines regularly, and there's something about the sound of guns in most games that is a major migraine trigger for me. It could just be me, but considering that women make up a high percentage of migraine sufferers, I do wonder. Anyway, all other things being equal, I'm always going to prefer the swish of a sword or dagger (or of course, an arrow) to the harsher sound of gunfire.