IGN - The lack of Female Diversity in Gaming

[SkilledRebuilds]

 

Thought I'd gauge your thoughts, does the lack of diversity have any affect on female gamers here? 

 

Does it make you less enthused as a gamer?

 

How much of an issue do females have with the lack of character options for girls to be modeled in game, whether customization, personal profile avatars and anything generally sticking with male demographics.

 

I'm sure if I was a female gamer I'd be pretty disappointed with the options...

 

BF4 may just win the female gaming crowd more so than thought. It would suck however if it was the only game to offer such an option...

 

If your going to post on this subject, dont be retarded, show respect!

[prolemur]

All of the MMOs I have seen offer a wide variety of both male and female characters.

Games about war and fighting have more to do with men becuase men are the people fighting the wars and fighting the fights.

[Godlygamer23]

All of the MMOs I have seen offer a wide variety of both male and female characters.

Games about war and fighting have more to do with men becuase men are the people fighting the wars and fighting the fights.

Though women do get involved in wars, and are sometimes soldiers.

[prolemur]

Though women do get involved in wars, and are sometimes soldiers.

Just recently and the number of women is miniscule. Men have always leaded since the beginning.

[pcexplosion]

There will be tbagging and vbagging.

[Computer Steroids]

Realistically, a lot of countries don't allow women in their armies, and even if they do, not special forces or anything of the sort.

A few of my female friends that also game pretty hardcore have told me that it doesn't really make them less enthused about the game, but they do have issues with the fact that the industry is rather woman-shunning, and that it's absurdly difficult to get a female protag in some games. For instance, I have heard that the dev of "Remember Me" had to BEG the publisher to make a female character the protag. What the fuck, why is that so risky? o_o

[TheMail]

*Insert psycho feminist post*

[Jan.B]

well i already answered that on another topic (you're welcome about the BF4 part btw :') )
But diversity would be a cool thing in fps games imho :)

[Conelton]

The game companies probably won't include women unless they think they can make a ton of money from the extra sales. I'd take a guess that they've predicted otherwise so they just won't bother.

 

Except for BF4. Because EA are a caring company.

[Guest]

I love it when they put females in games,

 

I loved tomb raider, and even though you don't play as Elizabeth - without her the game is pointless and it wouldn't be the same if she was a guy.

 

It also is quite sexy, which I guess is why a lot of people bought tomb raider in the first place :D, but I don't see why people wont put females in games.

[Jan.B]

The game companies probably won't include women unless they think they can make a ton of money from the extra sales. I'd take a guess that they've predicted otherwise so they just won't bother.

 

Except for BF4. Because EA are a caring company.

I don't think that making a female character hurts that much in the budget when you are making tons of male characters.

You could say that females in general are not appealed to games but you are forgetting that there are female gamers out there.

 Heck even Borderlands 2 has a female in the list (altough every char. is bonded with a certain power,there is still a female you could pick) It's not that i don't get your point, but they could, realisticly speaking, make a female char. in the same budget.

 

[v3nture]

I think the whole feminism and gaming trend of late is silly. Games are meant to be fun; if you get stuck up on what sex you're playing as theres somethings wrong. 

I love it when they put females in games,

 

I loved tomb raider, and even though you don't play as Elizabeth - without her the game is pointless and it wouldn't be the same if she was a guy.

 

It also is quite sexy, which I guess is why a lot of people bought tomb raider in the first place :D, but I don't see why people wont put females in games.

Im assuming you mean Elizabeth from Infinite. Her sex has nothing to do with the plot, she could be a male and the plot wouldnt change. Booker sold his child to get free of debt, regretting this he wanted his child back. Liz's sex doesnt matter. Furthermore, saying "it wouldnt be the same if she was a guy." is plain idiotic.

[Sauber-C10]

Alyx vance was awesome in half life 2 and elizabeth in bioshock infinite was too, also lara croft is bad ass, so how is there a lack of women in gaming, there are more awful and boring male characters than female ones

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Realistically, a lot of countries don't allow women in their armies, and even if they do, not special forces or anything of the sort.

A few of my female friends that also game pretty hardcore have told me that it doesn't really make them less enthused about the game, but they do have issues with the fact that the industry is rather woman-shunning, and that it's absurdly difficult to get a female protag in some games. For instance, I have heard that the dev of "Remember Me" had to BEG the publisher to make a female character the protag. What the fuck, why is that so risky? o_o

 

My thoughts exactly. The reason why you rarely see girls in "wargames" are because there really is a vast majority of men in the army. As a man though I can very easily see how the gaming experience would be a lot more interesting, at least story wise, if you throw in a woman or two. The whole idea of die hard right on action 24/7 really gets boring after 5 minutes. I am a man and I am not afraid to admit that I'd like some more drama (although it doesn't have to be a tribe psycho that is eventually going to poison me multiple times and attempt to kill me, once is enough (this is for you game devs)).

 

As for the female protagonist, I don't see how this is risky at all. I don't know a single man that would turn down a game just because the main character was a girl. As a matter of fact one of my favourite games, Mirrors Edge, has a female main character.

[Preston]

Except for BF4. Because EA are a caring company.

EA might include female characters in all their games... as a micro transaction. 

[Hans Christian | Teri]

EA might include female characters in all their games... as a micro transaction. 

 

Oh hell no. That would be so discriminating they would NEVER get away with that.

[SkilledRebuilds]

well i already answered that on another topic (you're welcome about the BF4 part btw :') )

But diversity would be a cool thing in fps games imho :)

Yeah I saw that, late thanks :) Your reply was the one that made me make this an actual thread, not just tack it on the other subjects in other threads.

I had known about the BF4 female inclusion (at least what the trailer shows) and that had me thinking about what female gamers actually think about lacking female character models.

 

And to be honest its all a evolution of events, the PC when born wasnt intended for gaming, when gaming was tended to PC's it was "surely all but probably" male orientated.

 

Womens rights and empowering themselves in many countries has evolved a great deal and it surprises me some feminist groups didnt take on games earlier about the lack of females (regardless of the genre it was concerning the necessity) especially with violence against women groups as well as feminine groups both not agreeable on the subject.

 

As stated in the video, and in real life we all know "you cant please everyone" so its a developer risk I guess.

I tend to think BF4 (if the female is playable or interactive) will pave the way for other game devs that would normally steer clear to maybe further evolve their games.

You could say that females in general are not appealed to games but you are forgetting that there are female gamers out there.

 

A lot more than you'd think, whether it be PC platform, Xbox or PS platforms, phone/tablet/portable casual games, there could be a lot more done to accommodate evening the balance.

Time will tell.

[Ashley]

I personally would love to see a non-sexualized female main character in a big name title. Hearing male grunts/noises/etc come from my character and being referred to as male for me makes a less enjoyable experience. Though I still love a lot of those games, don't get me wrong. Mario, Metro 2033, Castle Crashers, Crysis, Half Life, are all still fun games. I also really appreciate customization which includes gender like in most RPGs, that's highly inclusive and allows me to play as a character I can feel is a better fit. I still would, again, love to see more female representation in video games as main characters which aren't meant to be eye candy, and more female non-main characters as well since in most games it seems like 70-90% of the world is populated by men.

[ninjamonkey205]

Unfortunately, most women in games are portrayed as slutty, revealing characters. The only games that I have seen women to be great women and role models are Portal and Portal 2. Chell is hard working, problem solving, and defiant. Females in general should be like her, not some slutty, nude-modded skyrim character.

[Bupalooga]

Serious answer: MMO's very often have female character options, and theres definately games with women as main characters. They're simply rarer in AAA war games because they tend to try be 'realistic' and realistically there are far less females in war, especially elite units & it seems most big games are focused around shooting or killing someone of something. And although this has very much changed, gaming still falls back to the male gamer stereotype.

JKS answer: The extra Jiggle physics are just far too much for current technology to handle in todays HD world. =P

[Esivo]

A number of F2P shooters offer female models.. 

[James_McKeane]

Developers go with whatever sells.  That being said, I love how feminists get their panties twisted over "sexualized" "and "feminized" characters. 

 

New flash: women like being feminine and sexy.  They also like characters who are feminine, sexy and attractive.

[Esivo]

Inb4

 

 

 

 

[James_McKeane]

Unfortunately, most women in games are portrayed as slutty, revealing characters. The only games that I have seen women to be great women and role models are Portal and Portal 2. Chell is hard working, problem solving, and defiant. Females in general should be like her, not some slutty, nude-modded skyrim character.

Its getting harder and harder to tell the difference between feminists and Christianist bible-beaters.

[MdX MaxX]

I personally don't really pay any mind to it.  In a game with multiple characters (say, a fighting game) I never choose based on gender.  The gender of the protagonist or any character doesn't affect my perception of a game.

 

That being said, I see how the inclusion of, for example, female soldiers in a shooter, could make people uncomfortable.  It's like the classic "a man should never hurt a woman" sort of "rule" that many of us are taught, whether directly or indirectly.

 

And yeah, it irks me when women are portrayed in an extremely slutty manner in games.  It's just unnecessary.