Guild Wars 2

Hello, my name is Ferdinando and I am a supervised researcher at Flinders University, Australia. I’m doing research investigating to what extent male gamers use conventional beliefs about gender in order to portray masculinity in Guild Wars 2. I’m interested in finding out your opinions, views and experiences when playing as a male character in Guild Wars 2. I’m looking for men who are 18 years old or older and play a male main character. However anyone can contribute and comment.

If you are interested, please read below for more information and have a look at the attached letter of introduction from my supervisor Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to hear from you.

The questions:

1. What is your age and gender?
2. For how long have you been playing Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs?

The Following questions will focus on your main male character:

3. What are your character’s race, profession and personal story and what are your reasons for choosing them?
4. What are the things you enjoy doing the most with your character?
5. What aspects of your character would you consider masculine, if any?
6. Are there things in the game you would like to do with your character but are unable to? Can you give some examples?

Other Info Relating this Project
How can I participate?
Participation in this study is simple and entirely voluntary. If you would like to participate you can do so by answering the questions at the end with as much or as little detail as you like.

How do I agree to participate?
Participation is voluntary. If you choose to participate, you can do so by answering the questions at the end. If you choose to answer to this forum post, please be mindful that your answers may be used in the final study.

Will I be identifiable by being involved in this study?
Your real name and identity are not required to answer the questions in this study. Your username will be changed to something that it is not identifiable. As such, no personal information will be accessible. However, since parts or the entirety of your answer may be used in the final study, others may be able to find your forum post by using search engines such as Google.

Is there any risk if I am involved?
The researcher anticipates that there should not be any substantial risks other than inconvenience when participating in this study. This study has been approved by the Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Committee. If you have any concerns or questions you can contact us using the contact information provided.

How will I benefit from this study?
While this study will not benefit you directly, you will help advance knowledge and understanding in regards to video games and gamers in the social sciences. The answers collected here will go towards completing a thesis.

Contact Information

Supervisor
Dr Monique Mulholland
Associate Researcher
Tel: +61 8 82015453
Email: monique.mulholland@flinders.edu.au
Researcher
Ferdinando Biroccesi
Email: biro0005@flinders.edu.au

Also, if you play most of the time as a male then you can also classify for this study.

Your supervisor doesn’t take issue with you taking a non-anonymized survey? Really?

You need to modify your methods a little bit. Set up a survey on a survey website and publish the link to it, don’t ask for results in a public thread. Even PMing you the responses isn’t adequate. It’s a major privacy concern and the survey participants should not have to rely on you the researcher to personally anonymize their information. It needs to be automated. No human should ever see their personal identifying information, even if it is a username.

1. Male. 21.
2. Since launch. Other mmorpgs since approximately the age of 10.
3. Male human Elementalist. Circus storyline then Vigil. He’s a character who starts out frivolous and becomes an expert tactician.
4. Everything. Dungeons, open world play, pvp, WvW, jumping puzzles, you name it.
5. Only that he is male. He’s a pompous, yet likable genius with a flair for sarcasm. Leans towards the effeminate side, if anything.
6. N/A.

Hi Siphaed, your typos are incorrectly pointed out. Please have a look at the letter of introduction again. Also, while I appreciate your effort to correct or suggest modifications to my questions, I assure you that they are that way for a reason. Also, in the future please try not to let your criticism take an unjustified patronising overtone. Nevertheless, I will be more than happy to answer any further questions you may have.

Thank you for answering, Duke Blackrose.

I’m confused with all of this masculine stuff. It almost sounds like a feminist research undercover that later would be used to prove that games lack femininity or some other stuff like that, so I would like to ask – what is the purpose of your thesis and why this research subject?

Hi foofad, I appreciate your privacy concerns with my study. Both my supervisor and the ethics committee at my university are fine with me conducting this study in this way. I am required to change usernames to random letters or numbers. For example, participant A or participant B. Having said that, it is as you say my responsibility and is not automated. Unfortunately, an Internet survey is not applicable to my research.

Mirta.5029:

I’m confused with all of this masculine stuff. It almost sounds like a feminist research undercover that later would be used to prove that games lack femininity or some other stuff like that, so I would like to ask – what is the purpose of your thesis and why this research subject?

Hi Mirta, thanks for your interest. I assure my research has nothing to do with feminist research. I am gamer myself and I am completing an honours course in sociology. My reasons for this research and thesis topic are many. For one, there are not many studies concerning video games in sociology and the social sciences and also not many ask about masculinity and men. My other reason is simply to explore an area of research that has not really been paid much attention to in the past. I hope this clarifies some of your questions.

… What’s wrong with feminist research, anyhow?

Thank you for your answer Fantastic Timez! I hope that you will get people answering your thread

Kirschwasser.3972:

… What’s wrong with feminist research, anyhow?

Because it tends to be biased. There has been one woman that got 200 000 dolalrs to perform feminist “research”. She haven’t even played the games, but complained about everything. That women in games are too brave and “masculine”, then at other times that women in games are a typical steriotype, because they’re feminine and obviously made to appeal to men (newsflash, women can relate to a feminine character), that they’re pretty (women like to play with characters that are pretty), that too many of them get abducted (completely ignoring that in games like Lara Croft it’s men that get abducted).
In total I just don’t see games as something sexist, however every time feminists do their research they make them out to be that way.

… Except that the games industry IS exceptionally sexist. And just because one incident of a very sexualized character (Lara Croft) not being abducted doesn’t make the trope any less overused, prevalent, or troubling.

If this year’s E3 was any indication, the gaming industry is still exceptionally sexist. You should look at the blogs of women in the industry and the kind of ridiculous things they have to put up with.

Also: Using “feminist” as a derogatory term is very insulting to anybody that’s looking for equal rights for women… which is what a feminist is by definition.

I’ll bite… just b/c mine defies the stereotypes (nothing like Outlier data…)
1) 30-40 demo
2)10+ years
3)Asuran Monk (protection guardian)
4) ..the whole class is OP everywhere I go. …Oh you meant Aesthetics.. well, he’s small, in scaly green armor, not really a scholar or smart, just really disciplined & altruistic so he does content and events that reflect that.
5) None except for Hammer being his main DPS weapon. My Female alt is actually a lot bigger, faster, and more masculine than he could ever hope to be.
6) Take the horns back off that canthan Dragon Mask :p ….they’re a bit much
(yes I know that’s actually the helmet’s NAME … no I’m not being ironic)

ilr.9675:

I’ll bite… just b/c mine defies the stereotypes (nothing like Outlier data…)
1) 30-40 demo
2)10+ years
3)Asuran Monk (protection guardian)
4) ..the whole class is OP everywhere I go. …Oh you meant Aesthetics.. well, he’s small, in scaly green armor, not really a scholar or smart, just really disciplined & altruistic.
5) None except for Hammer being his main DPS weapon. My Female alt is actually a lot bigger, faster, and more masculine than he could ever hope to be.
6) Take the horns back off that canthan Dragon Mask :p ….they’re a bit much
(yes I know that’s actually the helmet’s NAME … no I’m not being ironic)

Thanks!

1. What is your age and gender?

51, male

2. For how long have you been playing Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs?

I’ve been playing Guild Wars 2 since the first beta, official since August 25, 2012. I’ve been playing MMOs for about six years.

The Following questions will focus on your main male character:
3. What are your character’s race, profession and personal story and what are your reasons for choosing them?

I choose race/profession even gender based on my interested in that race’s lore. I do tend to play characters that I find interesting from a story point of view. I chose Sylvari as my main race, because I loved the lore surround them. I chose a male character for one of my mains, but I don’t see him as particularly masculine. Of course, he’s a plant anyway. lol

4. What are the things you enjoy doing the most with your character?

I tend to prefer open world content and minigames over things like dungeons and PvP. Mind you, I do pretty much everything in the game. I actually spend more time running dungeons than hanging around in the open world because someone always asks me to help out, so I do.

5. What aspects of your character would you consider masculine, if any?

I don’t really think in terms of masculine and feminine. I mean, what’s masculine? Big, strong, muscle-bound? My character is slender, agile and strategic. He’s not particularly aggressive. He’s not “macho”. Though he’s direct in action, he still thinks things through before doing stuff.

6. Are there things in the game you would like to do with your character but are unable to? Can you give some examples?

I can’t really think of anything I’d like my character to do that he can’t.

Kirschwasser.3972:

… Except that the games industry IS exceptionally sexist. And just because one incident of a very sexualized character (Lara Croft) not being abducted doesn’t make the trope any less overused, prevalent, or troubling.

If this year’s E3 was any indication, the gaming industry is still exceptionally sexist. You should look at the blogs of women in the industry and the kind of ridiculous things they have to put up with.

Also: Using “feminist” as a derogatory term is very insulting to anybody that’s looking for equal rights for women… which is what a feminist is by definition.

Except that I’m a woman and I can see that the industry is not sexist. Hell, like many other female developers (that worked on those games that you call sexist), I’m going to enter the industry myself. And want to talk about rights? Be an equalitarian and demand equal rights, instead of demanding women rights to be above men. And focus on real problems – like genital mutilation in Africa, women being put in prison for refusing to marry their rapists in Muslim countries. And in some cases fight for both – you don’t want women to be forced into military service? You know what? No human being should be forced into military service.
I really have no respect for people that invent problems instead of trying to solve real ones. And also please tell me what game in E3 today is sexist and in what way. Also if to invent a problem shouldn’t it go both ways? Men in video games are unnaturally attractive and muscular, they always have to show either their strength or their wealth. I find that extremely sexist against males. Why don’t we get an average bear gutted Joe with no job or income as our main character?

Vayne.8563:

1. What is your age and gender?

51, male

2. For how long have you been playing Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs?

I’ve been playing Guild Wars 2 since the first beta, official since August 25, 2012. I’ve been playing MMOs for about six years.

The Following questions will focus on your main male character:
3. What are your character’s race, profession and personal story and what are your reasons for choosing them?

I choose race/profession even gender based on my interested in that race’s lore. I do tend to play characters that I find interesting from a story point of view. I chose Sylvari as my main race, because I loved the lore surround them. I chose a male character for one of my mains, but I don’t see him as particularly masculine. Of course, he’s a plant anyway. lol

4. What are the things you enjoy doing the most with your character?

I tend to prefer open world content and minigames over things like dungeons and PvP. Mind you, I do pretty much everything in the game. I actually spend more time running dungeons than hanging around in the open world because someone always asks me to help out, so I do.

5. What aspects of your character would you consider masculine, if any?

I don’t really think in terms of masculine and feminine. I mean, what’s masculine? Big, strong, muscle-bound? My character is slender, agile and strategic. He’s not particularly aggressive. He’s not “macho”. Though he’s direct in action, he still thinks things through before doing stuff.

6. Are there things in the game you would like to do with your character but are unable to? Can you give some examples?

I can’t really think of anything I’d like my character to do that he can’t.

Thank you for your contribution

Mirta.5029:

Kirschwasser.3972:

… Except that the games industry IS exceptionally sexist. And just because one incident of a very sexualized character (Lara Croft) not being abducted doesn’t make the trope any less overused, prevalent, or troubling.

If this year’s E3 was any indication, the gaming industry is still exceptionally sexist. You should look at the blogs of women in the industry and the kind of ridiculous things they have to put up with.

Also: Using “feminist” as a derogatory term is very insulting to anybody that’s looking for equal rights for women… which is what a feminist is by definition.

Except that I’m a woman and I can see that the industry is not sexist. Hell, like many other female developers (that worked on those games that you call sexist), I’m going to enter the industry myself. And want to talk about rights? Be an equalitarian and demand equal rights, instead of demanding women rights to be above men. And focus on real problems – like genital mutilation in Africa, women being put in prison for refusing to marry their rapists in Muslim countries. And in some cases fight for both – you don’t want women to be forced into military service? You know what? No human being should be forced into military service.
I really have no respect for people that invent problems instead of trying to solve real ones. And also please tell me what game in E3 today is sexist and in what way. Also if to invent a problem shouldn’t it go both ways? Men in video games are unnaturally attractive and muscular, they always have to show either their strength or their wealth. I find that extremely sexist against males. Why don’t we get an average bear gutted Joe with no job or income as our main character?

I’m just going to go ahead and stop this here, because talks about feminism in gaming tend to go pretty sour pretty fast and there’s no point arguing the matter on the internet. Needless to say, I disagree entirely and don’t find “I’m a woman” to be a valid argument against the matter.

Also: I’m not arguing for women’s rights above men and neither are most feminists.

Kirschwasser.3972:

I’m just going to go ahead and stop this here, because talks about feminism in gaming tend to go pretty sour pretty fast and there’s no point arguing the matter on the internet. Needless to say, I disagree entirely and don’t find “I’m a woman” to be a valid argument against the matter.

Also: I’m not arguing for women’s rights above men and neither are most feminists.

I’m going to end the discussion with
1. If I’m a female gamer and I don’t find the gaming industry being sexist towards me how is this not a valid argument? If they fight for all of us shouldn’t we then see that the fight is needed? And if most females don’t see it what does it tell you?
2. Then why are a) actual matters are nver discussed by feminists and what was protested by them recently was a man making a dongle joke in an IT conference, video games, females being drafted to the army, with the woman protesting against that saying that men should be drafted, because who else will protect the country (even though forced army service is silly), a bunch of feminists interrupting a male fatherhood conference with pulling the fire siren and cheering. Feminists ruined their name with their actions. If you are really for equal rights be an equalitarian and see for both rights of men and women.

Mirta.5029:

Kirschwasser.3972:

… What’s wrong with feminist research, anyhow?

Because it tends to be biased. There has been one woman that got 200 000 dolalrs to perform feminist “research”.

Are you talking about Anita Sarkeesian?

I would greatly appreciate if this thread didn’t derail into unrelated topics. I’m trying to keep the thread on topic. I hope you all understand

Mirta.5029:

Men in video games are unnaturally attractive and muscular, they always have to show either their strength or their wealth. I find that extremely sexist against males. Why don’t we get an average bear gutted Joe with no job or income as our main character?

I honestly can’t think of a video game in which the protagonist was a super rich and fit guy apart from the Batman series. What about the bear gutted rich guy and the super fit guy with no job or income? Aren’t they “entitled” to be represented in games as well?

1. What is your age and gender?

18, Male

2. For how long have you been playing Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs?

6 Years in total, Guild wars 2 since release.

3. What are your character’s race, profession and personal story and what are your reasons for choosing them?

My Main Character is a Human Warrior, he grew up in a commoner family because I want my Character to reflect myself. I don’t value objects very much, but I’m also no outlaw, so I picked commoner.

4. What are the things you enjoy doing the most with your character?

Fighting and watching him in Cutscenes. I spend many hours giving him the perfect look and then I enjoy it watching im in Action for a few days, then I switch his style again.

5. What aspects of your character would you consider masculine, if any?

His muscles, his comments, his fighting style and his armor.

6. Are there things in the game you would like to do with your character but are unable to? Can you give some examples?

I’d like him to be more of a man who does whatever he wants, like me. Ingame I have to fight for the Queen and Kryta and all that, but I don’t enjoy fighting for a single person. I completly ignore what came in the Personal Story after Claw Island, because after that everything was just so bad I want to forget it.

Justdeifyme.9387:

1. What is your age and gender?

18, Male

2. For how long have you been playing Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs?

6 Years in total, Guild wars 2 since release.

3. What are your character’s race, profession and personal story and what are your reasons for choosing them?

My Main Character is a Human Warrior, he grew up in a commoner family because I want my Character to reflect myself. I don’t value objects very much, but I’m also no outlaw, so I picked commoner.

4. What are the things you enjoy doing the most with your character?

Fighting and watching him in Cutscenes. I spend many hours giving him the perfect look and then I enjoy it watching im in Action for a few days, then I switch his style again.

5. What aspects of your character would you consider masculine, if any?

His muscles, his comments, his fighting style and his armor.

6. Are there things in the game you would like to do with your character but are unable to? Can you give some examples?

I’d like him to be more of a man who does whatever he wants, like me. Ingame I have to fight for the Queen and Kryta and all that, but I don’t enjoy fighting for a single person. I completly ignore what came in the Personal Story after Claw Island, because after that everything was just so bad I want to forget it.

Thank you for answering

I agree that the broader discussion should probably move to a separate thread.

Fantastic Timez, as a woman who plays mainly female characters, I can’t contribute to your study, but I am grateful that you’re working on this. There have been a number of (varying quality) studies on women and gaming (gender roles, conventions, expectations, etc. etc.) and in the interest of a fair and complete picture, we should of course look at both genders. It feels ever so slightly weird to me to, for the first time, not be the one that the survey is addressed to, and I absolutely welcome it!

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

I agree that the broader discussion should probably move to a separate thread.

Fantastic Timez, as a woman who plays mainly female characters, I can’t contribute to your study, but I am grateful that you’re working on this. There have been a number of (varying quality) studies on women and gaming (gender roles, conventions, expectations, etc. etc.) and in the interest of a fair and complete picture, we should of course look at both genders. It feels ever so slightly weird to me to, for the first time, not be the one that the survey is addressed to, and I absolutely welcome it!

Thank you for the kind words, Pixelpumpkin.

The questions:

1. What is your age and gender?

43, Male.

2. For how long have you been playing Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs?

GW2: Since Open beta. MMORPGs: about seven and a half years.

The Following questions will focus on your main male character:

3. What are your character’s race, profession and personal story and what are your reasons for choosing them?

Human: I prefer the aesthetics.
Ranger: I am fond of skirmishing ranged combatants.
Noble: It fit the origin story of the character.

4. What are the things you enjoy doing the most with your character?

Exploring, dungeons, non zerg group play.

5. What aspects of your character would you consider masculine, if any?

None of his traits, beyond the purely physical, seem specifically masculine to me.

6. Are there things in the game you would like to do with your character but are unable to? Can you give some examples?

Yes.
Most of them are game design and/or balance issues that seem unrelated to this thread. I would rather not bring arguments from other threads here.

i play female characters normally because they are much more “interesting” to look at while i play.

milo.6942:

i play female characters normally because they are much more “interesting” to look at while i play.

Is that why mini Kasmeer is worth 20G and mini Faren only 5G? I would love to answer this survey but I have 9 characters and 5 of them are female. (one being a female asura Aetherblade mesmer twin to my female asura thief which acts as a JP specialist and a mule).

Kirschwasser.3972:

… Except that the games industry IS exceptionally sexist. And just because one incident of a very sexualized character (Lara Croft) not being abducted doesn’t make the trope any less overused, prevalent, or troubling.

If this year’s E3 was any indication, the gaming industry is still exceptionally sexist. You should look at the blogs of women in the industry and the kind of ridiculous things they have to put up with.

Also: Using “feminist” as a derogatory term is very insulting to anybody that’s looking for equal rights for women… which is what a feminist is by definition.

I think that facebook and tumblr are better places for you to spread the feminist word.

Fantastic, Fantastic Timez; fantastic times indeed!

Before I start I just want to express how nice it is to see studies about video games directed towards the other gender (that isn’t about violence). I really hope that the purpose of this study is “on the level” and my contribution doesn’t further skew an already distorted and misrepresented community.

That being said, lets begin.

1. What is your age and gender?

35, Male

2. For how long have you been playing Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs?

I have been playing Guild Wars 2 from the first day the game launched. I have currently put in somewhere between 900 – 950 hours.

I have been playing MMORPGs since about 2006, starting with World of Warcraft (which I played about 200 hours). Since then I have dabbled in various MMOs such as:

- Lord of the Rings Online
- Second Life
- Star Trek Online
- Star Wars Universe

3. What are your character’s race, profession and personal story and what are your reasons for choosing them?

My main character is a human thief. I can’t actually remember my personal story in game, but the one in my head is that I am NOT a hero despite what the game wants me to be.

The main reason I chose the human thief is because based on other MMOs and similar type games, I have found it most enjoyable to play that type character. The ability to be quick, agile, and adaptive really appeals to me.

The reason I chose a human male is because I tend to connect more with that race of character than some of the other fantasy based ones.

4. What are the things you enjoy doing the most with your character?

Since day one, my goal has always been to explore the game with my girlfriend. Jumping puzzkitten ss fights, exploring, socializing, fractals/dungeons, and the Living Story/events are all parts of the game that I(we) enjoy most.

5. What aspects of your character would you consider masculine, if any?

Hmmm, well. I suppose my character has what would be considered masculine features such as stubble, and short, spiked hair. From a character perspective, the animations, voice, and body type are what I would say fall into what is typically considered masculine traits.

That said, I’m currently wearing a pink and red outfit to match my little Quaggan pirate girl, which many wouldn’t say is very masculine (I was called a gay pirate), but I think I’m pretty badkitten looking!

6. Are there things in the game you would like to do with your character but are unable to? Can you give some examples?

There are. Some, I would say are just practical things like:

- Sitting in chairs
- Dancing manually, or with a variety of moves
- Wear different underpants
- Use a whip
- Wear a fedora
- Wear any hat while retaining my own hair
- Wear hairstyles that are more “classic”
- Emote more
- Shake hands with people

There are some things that I wish I could do to make my character more how I see them.

- Voice options (pitch, inflection, etc)
- Body type options that aren’t muscular and “heroic” (e.g. Chubby, skinny, short)
- Average beard length (not the super beard)
- I wish I had more control over the face so I didn’t have to look like either a super model, or a super scruff ugly guy.

I hope that helps.

Where will be be able to see the study?

Hey Crazylegsmurphy, thanks for your comments and answers and yes my username is quite funny and ridiculous. In regards to seeing the finished study, I have to say that I don’t know when and if it will be published. If my grade is high enough it will be made available at my university library (Flinders University). Currently, there are no plans to publish my thesis in academic journals but that is a possibility later on the line. But answering your question, I would have to check and see if I can make the study available for others to see. It would be great if the participants had access to the published studies or the results but I can’t promise. I’ll get back to you on that.

1. 30 / male

2. One year

3. Human, ranger, noble – I chose human because I thought all the other profession run in an odd way. In terms of running animations, Asura reminds me of Super Mario, Sylvari reminds me of Luigi, Norn remind me of doofus’s, and charr’s runnig pattern on all fours throws off my jumps (I know jump boxes are the same, I’m just not used to how different it looks). Humans run in a way that doesn’t annoy me. Seeing your character running from the back is 90% of what you see, you know? The only redeeming animations for asura (for me) is the jump animation—which I love—and the dodge roll animation.

4. I enjoy beating other players with my ranger in wvw because ranger is viewed as under powered. I also enjoy working in a team with others while pwning.

5. I’d have to say my character’s ability to hold up a weapon for hours on end, running without getting tired, seems very masculine but honestly more God like. Man or woman, I don’t care, if you can hold up weapons out at arms length while running and fighting, I am amazed. Especially given the size of some of these weapons. It must be bloodstone magic because mere mortals can do no such thing.

6. I’d like to be able to wall jump and long jump. Can you imagine the awesomeness of a wall jumping theif or ranger???

The questions:
1. What is your age and gender?
35 male (i don’t know if it is important, i’m gay)

2. For how long have you been playing Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs?
- i play gw2 since 10 months but i played other mmos before including gw1 since 7 or more year now.

The Following questions will focus on your main male character:
3. What are your character’s race, profession and personal story and what are your reasons for choosing them?
- i have 5 characters all males: 2 humans (a mesmer and a thief) 2 sylvari (a ranger and an elementalist), 1 asura necromancer. i chose all of them for the look, in fact i have no charr because dressed they look ridiculous. i chose their initial storyline based on rp reason, but later in the game i realized it was useless and the initial choice referred only to initial storyline, after a while you are perfectly the same whatever origin you chose. so for the later character i just chose random.

4. What are the things you enjoy doing the most with your character?
- i mainly play my mesmer though and i did almost everything is possible to do in the game with him. whenever there is a new update is my mesmer that do all the stuff.

5. What aspects of your character would you consider masculine, if any?
- no aspect i consider masculine, there is nothing here other than the look that defines masculine in my opinion. i might add the fact that almost all light armor doesn’t look masculine at all when you see your character from behind most of the time.

6. Are there things in the game you would like to do with your character but are unable to? Can you give some examples?
- i really don’t know, one thing that i think misses really much is a bunch of emoticon (that were there in gw1) and basic feature like sitting on a chair. but i don’t role play at all in gw2 so i don’t miss those feature as much. also there are town clothes but no meaning in wearing them.

if you need any other explanation about my answers feel free to pm me

Kirschwasser.3972:

Mirta.5029:

Kirschwasser.3972:

… Except that the games industry IS exceptionally sexist. And just because one incident of a very sexualized character (Lara Croft) not being abducted doesn’t make the trope any less overused, prevalent, or troubling.

If this year’s E3 was any indication, the gaming industry is still exceptionally sexist. You should look at the blogs of women in the industry and the kind of ridiculous things they have to put up with.

Also: Using “feminist” as a derogatory term is very insulting to anybody that’s looking for equal rights for women… which is what a feminist is by definition.

Except that I’m a woman and I can see that the industry is not sexist. Hell, like many other female developers (that worked on those games that you call sexist), I’m going to enter the industry myself. And want to talk about rights? Be an equalitarian and demand equal rights, instead of demanding women rights to be above men. And focus on real problems – like genital mutilation in Africa, women being put in prison for refusing to marry their rapists in Muslim countries. And in some cases fight for both – you don’t want women to be forced into military service? You know what? No human being should be forced into military service.
I really have no respect for people that invent problems instead of trying to solve real ones. And also please tell me what game in E3 today is sexist and in what way. Also if to invent a problem shouldn’t it go both ways? Men in video games are unnaturally attractive and muscular, they always have to show either their strength or their wealth. I find that extremely sexist against males. Why don’t we get an average bear gutted Joe with no job or income as our main character?

I’m just going to go ahead and stop this here, because talks about feminism in gaming tend to go pretty sour pretty fast and there’s no point arguing the matter on the internet. Needless to say, I disagree entirely and don’t find “I’m a woman” to be a valid argument against the matter.

Also: I’m not arguing for women’s rights above men and neither are most feminists.

I couldn’t agree more. I laugh at the idea that a person’s small experience is counter argument to the inumerable signs of the rampant sexism in the gaming industry.

FT, good luck on your research. I have done something similar years ago, I hope it works out for you. Let me know if you ever do the opposite study – males who play more often female characters.

Fantastic Timez.3641:

The questions:

1. What is your age and gender?
2. For how long have you been playing Guild Wars 2 and other MMORPGs?

The Following questions will focus on your main male character:

3. What are your character’s race, profession and personal story and what are your reasons for choosing them?
4. What are the things you enjoy doing the most with your character?
5. What aspects of your character would you consider masculine, if any?
6. Are there things in the game you would like to do with your character but are unable to? Can you give some examples?

1-) 24, male.
2-) Gw2 on and off since launch. Other MMO: GW1
3-) Race: Human, Profession Warrior, then berserker Guardian. Because warriors suck at sustain and there’s not much difference in damage between the two. Personal story: Noble, Lost my parents and joined the Priory.
Reasons: I chose to be a human because of the same reason I play a male character. I play the game as myself or as a representation of myself. I make an avatar of my ideal me, the way I’d like to look like. And I make choices and decision I would make in real life.
I play as a warrior (settled for damage guardian) because that’s also what I see myself doing, were I in the fictitious world of Tyria. What can I say, I always like being the melee type.

Finally I chose the story steps I mentioned because of all the choices given, those were the most in congruence with my personality. Of course after playing the game I can say that the story in general is a bunch of crap, little more than filler but thats another subject.
4-) Doing hard content areas. Tweaking and modifying my stats and traits to make as much damage as possible. Going back to try my new changes.
What I’d really like to be doing: Enjoying the enthralling, absorbing and enchanting story the game doesn’t have.
5-) Everything. My character exudes masculinity, as I made it the way I’d like to be myself.
6-) I don’t think of my character as a friend or a pet or someone else. In fact I don’t think of my character at all. I think of me. I need to get me this sword or this armor etc, etc. So this question would translate as: Are there things in the game you would like to do but are unable to?
The answer is yes. I would like to do a death match type of PVP like RA in GW1 and hybrid content like FA or JQ or even AB. But, more than anything I’d like to enjoy a good story. Preferably something with the caliber of the Witcher, Mass Effect or Dragon Age 1. But I’d settle for something a la Skyrim.

Thank you all so much for your comments, responses, enquiries and support. I have enough responses to stop now. If I am able to (although I can’t promise) I’ll bring the results back so you can have a look. Again, thank you for your support. My research would not be possible without your help.

Erasculio.2914:

I couldn’t agree more. I laugh at the idea that a person’s small experience is counter argument to the inumerable signs of the rampant sexism in the gaming industry.

As a female I don’t see the sexism. I just don’t see it. I’m not oppressed in any way or saddened by the video game industry. Yet here you two are, standing here, telling me that surely I am, I tell you that I’m not and then you call me something akin to small minded.
That’s why I really dislike feminists. Instead of tackling a real issue they sit there on the internet telling us women how oppressed we are. The only ones oppressing us are you all, because you keep on telling us how we’re bad women if we do this, this or this (for example a lot of feminists hate stay at home housewives).
So please, stop. Want to help the world? Go and improve rights where improvement is actually needed.

Fantastic Timez.3641:

Thank you all so much for your comments, responses, enquiries and support. I have enough responses to stop now. If I am able to (although I can’t promise) I’ll bring the results back so you can have a look. Again, thank you for your support. My research would not be possible without your help.

You got 9 responses and that was enough responses for your research? O.o

Astral Projections.7320:

Fantastic Timez.3641:

Thank you all so much for your comments, responses, enquiries and support. I have enough responses to stop now. If I am able to (although I can’t promise) I’ll bring the results back so you can have a look. Again, thank you for your support. My research would not be possible without your help.

You got 9 responses and that was enough responses for your research? O.o

Yes, lets hope you were gathering data from other sources. 9 responses a sample size does not make.

I can’t be the only one who finds this extremely suspicious.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Astral Projections.7320:

Fantastic Timez.3641:

Thank you all so much for your comments, responses, enquiries and support. I have enough responses to stop now. If I am able to (although I can’t promise) I’ll bring the results back so you can have a look. Again, thank you for your support. My research would not be possible without your help.

You got 9 responses and that was enough responses for your research? O.o

Yes, lets hope you were gathering data from other sources. 9 responses a sample size does not make.

Worry not, I have more data from other sources.

Astral Projections.7320:

Fantastic Timez.3641:

Thank you all so much for your comments, responses, enquiries and support. I have enough responses to stop now. If I am able to (although I can’t promise) I’ll bring the results back so you can have a look. Again, thank you for your support. My research would not be possible without your help.

You got 9 responses and that was enough responses for your research? O.o

If that is the case i don’t think we are going to see the results published in any peer reviewed journals anytime soon.

colesy.8490:

I can’t be the only one who finds this extremely suspicious.

Why is that? Perhaps I could offer some insight?

Fantastic Timez.3641:

colesy.8490:

I can’t be the only one who finds this extremely suspicious.

Why is that? Perhaps I could offer some insight?

You couldn’t. He’s always that rude.

Am I the only one that things colesy is an alright guy?

Poor colesy.

1) 24, male
2)10+years
3)Human, thief,(from the commons, looking for my parents, blessed by grenth, belong to the order of whispers). I chose this because I liked the human race the most, thieves had cool shadow animations, grenth and OoW sounded cool.
4)I enjoy running around and killing things with my girlfriend.
5) He’s tall, has broad shoulders and a beard.
6) Some kind of affection action with female characters like kissing, hugging or carrying them around. Make my thief have a shadow aura and dual wield swords.

I was born male, now im female. would you like my input?

colesy.8490:

Kirschwasser.3972:

Am I the only one that things colesy is an alright guy?

Poor colesy.

People don’t like being told they’re wrong so I’ve got quite a few haters now.

I really should stop posting in the cesspool of bads and entitled players that the forums mostly are.

Ah man, colesy, you had a typo there. Fixed it for ya.