Questions for a female gamer

[Sketchasaurus]

Hmm.. I Think I have a few questions you could maybe consider.

-Who, in your opinion, is the best female (or male, or really any) character in recent games? (the past 3 or 4 years) ((this question could be broken into multiple categories if you don't want to pick only one))
-How did you get interested in Gaming?
-What's your fondest gaming memory?
-Why is gaming important to you?
-Motion Controls: good or bad?
-What's your opinion on the current consoles?
-Favorite genre/gameplay type?
-Do you prefer playing with friends online or in the same room on the same console? should more games have split-screen multiplayer like they used to?
-What do you think are important elements of game design?
-Should arcades be reworked to cater more towards gamers? if so, how would you do it?

[Kosheh]

No seriously, why do you need a whole panel to justify your hobbies? I don't need a panel to justify my autism.

Why Am I So Godly At Video Games? Observations By A Gamer With Autism

I dunno, the con itself wanted there to be a panel on girls playing video games and I was asked to do a thing for it.

Also I never plan to say "yay, we're girls who love playing games! rawr!", thats not even the point of it.

...it sounds like the con wants that to be the point. it's as if they want you to be some Holy Grail, The Hott Gaming Babbe Secksy


unless they're looking for like a testimonial; i'd still ask around and bring up the point "hey, i don't like how other girls are causing a divide in the fanbase".

how they feel about girls portrayed in video games

dingo

i feel like you guys should tie this into like, the girls who are ruining it for everyone else.
because there's women in video games - and while female leads are having a pretty great time right now without receiving any criticism (Lara Croft, Lightning [soulbonds!], Chell) and there's the women who play video games. Nowadays, women probably can hold their own in video games which is awesome I guess!! but like,


no seriously the monetization of sexuality in twitch streams
that's a legitimate issue

id love to see a cool girl stream and give tips on games for once, not a cam literally focused on a pair of Nice Tits in a halter top with whining and losing constantly in games on stream



Dat Lightning FFXIII Booty Thundaclap Doe

[Gwen]

Dat Lightning FFXIII Booty Thundaclap Doe

I'm dying over here.

This is just fantastic.

[Koopaul]

How do you get a panel at a Con? I've always wondered this but never bothered to ask. Some sort of fee I suppose.

That's just a general forum question, not a Ask a Female Gamer question.

[Sevenstitch]

I've never really understood the whole "girl gamer" thing

Although I come from a family with 5 sisters, 3 of which are at least 6 years older than me

I've been watching and playing games with girls my entire life

some of them are even better than me

You could say that the idea of female gamers being taboo is a bit of a strange notion to me

[StarSock64]

My understanding is that there is a lot of harassment that goes on at these conventions. It's great that you guys don't have a problem with female gamers, but I don't think you're the audience. I imagine this panel is aimed at the types of people that cause me to invoke my "I will never speak over headset in public games" policy.

[Sevenstitch]

yeah i suppose the kind of guys that have these negative connotations or unrealistic expectations of female gamers
are the kind of nerds you would probably not want to talk to in the first place


Its comforting to know that us nerds are all gentleman here


but seriously i'm sure you'll get all sorts of weird inappropriate questions from people you'd rather not look at
good luck, have fun

[StarSock64]

Another thing I forgot to mention is, as men, you guys have the option of avoiding stupid people like that. Girls at conventions can certainly -try- to avoid people like that, but if a guy comes up to you and says raunchy things, there's not much you can do about it. It's not just a matter of being really annoying, either. Harassment can make you feel actually unsafe, depending on what's going on.

Plus, people go to conventions to have fun. Feeling unwelcome because people are harassing you takes away your freedom to have fun. I don't think advising people to grow a tougher skin is a very worthwhile endeavor, especially compared to trying to minimize the amount of harassment and creating a better understanding within the culture. Of course there's always going to be a douche or two, but that doesn't mean you should let it run unchecked.

[Kriven]

I don't get the same kind of harassment as a girl would at convetions, but I definitely just straight up avoid conventions/micgaming etc. because people are assholes. They're just assholes about different things depending on gender, I guess.

While I've never heard all the "I'm gonna rape you" bullshit myself, I have had people tell me they're going to climb in my window, slit my throat, and rape my family. And shit of that nature. Cons are shitholes.

Edit: Social situations are shitholes.

[Sevenstitch]

I wasn't advising to grow thicker skin

I understand the stresses of being a girl in public, much less the public all being socially awkward and potentially harassing

As already stated, 5 sisters heard it all, seen it all, beat the shit out of it all

Guys can be scumbags, It's something my gender is very good at unfortunatly

As a female, whether you like it or not, you have to be prepared for less than ideal circumstances need they arise


honestly not trying to scare or demoralize the opposite gender, but its just something that is, sorry about that

[StarSock64]

I wasn't advising to grow thicker skin

(I wasn't talking about you)

edit: That sounded really cranky... I didn't mean it like that, sorry!

[Koopaul]

I have reason to think that the harassment at a Con or in real life situations have a different cause than the harassment of online gaming.

I have heard that there are many cases of online gamers who say horrible things over the chat but are completely different people face-to-face. It's pretty interesting subject, here's a video on it:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lyOHNjZ-2qM

So what this mean is that harrasment online and in real life must have different causes and therefor must need different solutions.

[psychospacecow]

What is the process of getting a panel?

[Maxpphire]

I don't get the same kind of harassment as a girl would at convetions, but I definitely just straight up avoid conventions/micgaming etc. because people are assholes. They're just assholes about different things depending on gender, I guess.

While I've never heard all the "I'm gonna rape you" bullshit myself, I have had people tell me they're going to climb in my window, slit my throat, and rape my family. And shit of that nature. Cons are shitholes.

Edit: Social situations are shitholes.

Lets just say, I was sexually harassed by one of my co-workers working at a con once. And by sexually harassed I mean, I was sharing a room with him, he started to ask questions about who I was in general as a person, then the questions got too personal. I then had to get ready for my shift, so I went to the bathroom to take a shower, a few minutes in he asks if he can use the bathroom. I said sure because I live with people who have gastrointestinal issues so I'm used to this. He didn't even use the toilet, he just continued to ask more personal questions then attempted to peak at me in the shower. I told my two Boss figureheads (one if the owner of the company), and after my shift, I kicked him out of the room then proceeded to have a mental breakdown because of past events where I was actually raped before (It happened about 4 years prior to this event, so I've already pretty much gotten over the fact that it had happened, but it can still be triggering at times like this).

It isn't so much of a "I'm going to rape you" type of thing but uhh "Let me ask you a bunch of really personal questions, and get too close into your personal space" type of thing that can seriously make someone feel unsafe.


Also how to get a panel at the con: I dunno, this Con specifically asked my company to do a Panel, I'm sure if you actually look at convention websites enough time in advanced, they have a way to be able to make a panel.

[StarSock64]

I have reason to think that the harassment at a Con or in real life situations have a different cause than the harassment of online gaming.

I have heard that there are many cases of online gamers who say horrible things over the chat but are completely different people face-to-face. It's pretty interesting subject, here's a video on it:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lyOHNjZ-2qM

So what this mean is that harrasment online and in real life must have different causes and therefor must need different solutions.

That's an interesting point. It seems like it probably at least has an element of truth to it. Even if the problems aren't quite the same, though, it would probably help both situations to an extent if there were more girls out there playing games in the open and talking with other game-playing guys to normalize the idea that girls can play games too.

I think a panel like this could go horribly wrong, but kat seems pretty chill, so I dunno, maybe it'll do some good.