107 réponses à ce sujet

[InvisiShepard]

The funny thing is that Bioware doesn't even bother trying. I imagined a DA 2 trailer with FemHawke treating her like a different character (There are others who want the throne). I would actually love to see a Bioware game where your opposite gender equivalent is either a rival or love interest

[MrnDvlDg161]

InvisiShepard wrote...

The funny thing is that Bioware doesn't even bother trying. I imagined a DA 2 trailer with FemHawke treating her like a different character (There are others who want the throne). I would actually love to see a Bioware game where your opposite gender equivalent is either a rival or love interest

Wouldn't that be the equiivalent of incest then?

I mean the opp. of any character would look like his/her sister/brother, otherwise it would simply be a character of its own standing instead of a copy of the main character.

[MrnDvlDg161]

I put it this way, it would be like changing Lara Croft to David Croft, but who the hell in their right mind is going to protest that there isn't a male croft for the next Tomb Raider? 0. No body.

[Mr. MannlyMan]

Numa-Fai wrote...

I meant that marleting is related to the number and gender of potential customers, if we were supposed to be 45% male and 55% women (as we are more or less), there should be a FemShep. Anyway I already know videogames customer are mainly men but not as much as it's believed. I think it's about topics and change those topics (for instance, the belief that the potential Me customer is male).

Whoa, whoa... where'd those percentages come from? Link to an article or official poll, please.

Anyways, they should definitely use the femShep model for at least a few promo and gameplay trailers. In fact, they should have been doing that for the entire series. But, IMO, they've gone too long with the Sheploo model in official story trailers and major trailers to suddenly change it to a standardized female model. It would run the risk of confusing players who aren't already familiar with Mass Effect's customization options.

[Whatever42]

I think it would be difficult to show two different characters in the trailers and marketing materials without confusing people. Since I suspect the large majority of game players are still young males, who might be into a sexy lara croft but perhaps not so much into a tough talking GI Jane Shepard, I can understand why they went with the traditional superhero.



If people are unaware of the gender options at the beginning of the game, they should probably highlight that better. However, for marketing, I'm not holding my breath for a change in the ME3 marketing. But there is an excellent femshep launch trailer on youtube with a ton of views so fans can probably fill in.

[Jebel Krong]

Mr. MannlyMan wrote...

Numa-Fai wrote...

I meant that marleting is related to the number and gender of potential customers, if we were supposed to be 45% male and 55% women (as we are more or less), there should be a FemShep. Anyway I already know videogames customer are mainly men but not as much as it's believed. I think it's about topics and change those topics (for instance, the belief that the potential Me customer is male).

Whoa, whoa... where'd those percentages come from? Link to an article or official poll, please.

Anyways, they should definitely use the femShep model for at least a few promo and gameplay trailers. In fact, they should have been doing that for the entire series. But, IMO, they've gone too long with the Sheploo model in official story trailers and major trailers to suddenly change it to a standardized female model. It would run the risk of confusing players who aren't already familiar with Mass Effect's customization options.

she's talking general population statistics, not gamer statistics. despite BW's own data CLEARY stating that 80% of all shepards are male, some people use the excuse of BW not stating it clearly enough for them, using semantics to interpret the stats their way, or BW not qualifying it even further as a reason not to believe. the funny thing is - it's doesn't matter - femshep is still in the game no matter how many people play as one.

The reason femshep won't appear in any official ads/promotional material is simply: you don't dilute your brand recognition by confusing the consumer. having multiple shepards would do that, and that is what the default Shepard was created expressly for.

[Raizo]

Should female Shepard get more media exposure, yes.

Will it make much of difference and cause more gamers to play with a female Shpard, probably not. Lets not forget that gaming ( at least hardcore gaming ) is still mostly a male dominated past time and for alot of male gamers out there, if you give them the choice between picking a male or female avatar most will pick the male one.

I used to play alot of Phantasy Star Online back on the Gamecube and my main character was a female cast. Anyway I would always come across some jerk on the net who would be highly offended by the fact that I ( a male gamer ) would chose to play as a female character. Now I get that playing as a female character in an offline game ( ME1 and/or ME2 ) and playing as one in a online one ( PSO ) are two completly different things ( alot of those sad SOB's I encountered were probably just looking for girlfriends on the Online ) are 2 very different things but but the basic idea is still the same. The average male gamer will always go with the male avatar option simply because the avatar matches his gender, the why's differ from game to game but it does not change the end result.

[Numa-Fai]

Hey, who said I'm a "she", huh? Just because of my profile picture? Hah!



Anyway, yeah, I agree with most things you're saying. Of course you're right. That's not my point: my point is if women had better media support, we probably wouldn't be discussing that.

Two things:

1- I don't believe that exposing Femshep in commercials would confuse the customer if they make a coherent plot for the advertisement. They could just show different scenes in which ones the dialog showed that. Customers are not idiotic.

2- Yeah, you play with a female avatar you have gender issue as feeling sexually harrassed by male players, that's not a problem of femaleness, on the contrary, it's because the highly (well, maybe I'm exagerating a bit) patriarchal structure videogame's industries still use to sell their items. Just the same for "young male players" want a sexy female character not a GI Jane Shepard, not a proble with poor Jane but the lusty teenagers who think women are just big boobs and sex-centered.



Ps. The 45%/55% percentages are based on general population: there are more boys born but female life-span is better.

[sevalaricgirl]

More and more women and not teens/early 20s are playing Mass Effect. I think Bioware needs to publish new statistics for gaming. I've been through both ME and ME2 in a matter of two weeks. I'm female of course and not in my 20s. I have a female friend who is in her 50s who plays ME. Why do we play, because we need a break from the reality of our busy lives and ME gives that to us. She does play DA and I don't (I found it boring). Do I think BW needs to change their advertising, no. Do I think that they need to consider how many women are actually playing the PC version of the game, yes. Trust me, there are more women playing the PC version of the game than some may think. No we don't play it on consoles. Why would we when bringing the gaming laptop (I have two Alienwares) with us everywhere we go is easy and we can escape into the world that is ME anytime we want.  I'd really like to see the statistics of the women who play Bioware games. 

Modifié par sevalaricgirl, 29 septembre 2010 - 02:50 .

[JockBuster]

Spawnfreak73 wrote...
I think it's unfair that ManShepard gets all the media exposure while FemShepard gets none. Especially since FemShepard has been getting very popular. I think when ME3 comes around there should be two sets of commercials. One with ManShpeard and one with FemShepard. And two sets of box art as well.

When was the last time you saw IRL a female MARINE?
What country (other than Isreal) puts women in front line combat positions?
Yes it's a GAME, but it's roots are buried deep in real life, "Looks very lifelike, smells correct too."

[FireEye]

MrnDvlDg161 wrote...

I put it this way, it would be like changing Lara Croft to David Croft, but who the hell in their right mind is going to protest that there isn't a male croft for the next Tomb Raider? 0. No body.

Funny story: I've seen that used to advertise Uncharted.  Not 'David Croft' per se, but "It's like a guy Lara Croft!"

... nevermind that Lara Croft is already a gal Indiana Jones of sorts.  Heh.

Anyhow, fwiw - gamer that happens to be female here.  Didn't give Mass Effect a second glance (skipped reviews, ignored ads, because they all had typical-action-dude on the cover) until I inadvertantly found out that you could play as a woman, just this past spring.  Now ME1 is one of my favorite games.  So... yeah. 

[CannotCompute]

Don't think it will happen, because both 1 and 2 had MaleShep on the cover.

2 sets of box art is a great idea though.

Modifié par CannotCompute, 29 septembre 2010 - 03:03 .

[Inquisitor Recon]

A certain councilor has dismissed claims of a "FemShep." So yeah, can't argue with that.

[Mylene]

  As long as Bioware cares about fem players and makes fem shepard as good as male shepard or even better , well i think,there is no need for me to demand such media exposure.

[sinosleep]

FireEye wrote...

Funny story: I've seen that used to advertise Uncharted.  Not 'David Croft' per se, but "It's like a guy Lara Croft!"

... nevermind that Lara Croft is already a gal Indiana Jones of sorts.  Heh.

Anyhow, fwiw - gamer that happens to be female here.  Didn't give Mass Effect a second glance (skipped reviews, ignored ads, because they all had typical-action-dude on the cover) until I inadvertantly found out that you could play as a woman, just this past spring.  Now ME1 is one of my favorite games.  So... yeah. 

Why would you not play a game simply because you can't play your gender? Being male didn't stop me from playing Metroid, Tomb Raider, Bayonetta, or anything else. I understand that female gamers don't get as many leads, but why would you let it affect you enough to influence what you do or don't buy? 

[habitat 67]

CannotCompute wrote...

Don't think it will happen, because both 1 and 2 had MaleShep on the cover.

2 sets of box art is a great idea though.

It's not worth the cost, and the default Fem Shep is boring and would not make good box art.

[kalle90]

Sheploo gets too much exposure, changing John into Jane would be just worse though. Then I have 2 Shepards who I don't releate to instead of 1

[Valakas]

Rogue Unit wrote...

Spawnfreak73 wrote...

I think it's unfair that ManShepard gets all the media exposure while FemShepard gets none. Especially since FemShepard has been getting very popular. I think when ME3 comes around there should be two sets of commercials. One with ManShpeard and one with FemShepard. And two sets of box art as well.

I'd like to see Female Shepard and Male Shepard used in gameplay trailers but I think making 2 sets of box art and commercials is a bit much. That stuff cost money, ya know?

This.

The whole femshep thing is getting ridiculous, now you are even demanding a different box art and trailers, as i said ridiculous.



80% of the people play with Male shepard, and Bioware need to make profit, so they trailers are going to be targeted to the majority of the audience.

[FireEye]

sinosleep wrote...

Why would you not play a game simply because you can't play your gender? Being male didn't stop me from playing Metroid, Tomb Raider, Bayonetta, or anything else. I understand that female gamers don't get as many leads, but why would you let it affect you enough to influence what you do or don't buy? 

Short answer: "Because I've played that game before."  When you've got a variety to choose from, why go for the same old thing?  (Which is all that advertising had me believing Mass Effect was).

[Numa-Fai]

When was the last time you saw IRL a female MARINE?
What country (other than Isreal) puts women in front line combat positions?
Yes it's a GAME, but it's roots are buried deep in real life, "Looks very lifelike, smells correct too."

I cannot believe somebody has posted this. I don't know what IRL is, but

a- It is true there more men soldiers than women. It is changing. Must I remember women can vote less than a hundred years? Hey, we're working on that. About front line I don't know what to say, I honestly have no idea of military real life.

b- Exactly: IT IS A GAME. That's why everybody must feel represented. Please, don't make talk once again about the roots of patriarchalism. Please, don't. It bores me.

c- Well, I buy this kind of stuff since I was 12 years old, and I am not in my early twenties. I quite satisfied if I compare that Jedi Outcast of 1998? with the videogames I can purchase nowadays, but "quite satisfied" does not mean it could not be improved. Sometimes (always, ahem) I feel women players are not listened at all by the videogames companies. They must learn that we are raised in the same society than our male mates and we want very similar things, as I say we are a huge part of market, so they satisfy us (too)!

This.

The whole femshep thing is getting ridiculous, now you are
even demanding a different box art and trailers, as i said ridiculous.



80%
of the people play with Male shepard, and Bioware need to make profit,
so they trailers are going to be targeted to the majority of the
audience.

You know? That's exactly what the conservative men argued against women's voting a hundred years back. Equality is a slow process and it is sad that you are shielding yourself in that clumsy statistics nobody knows which are related to.

We just want to be listened. We are few but our numbers had incredibly increased in the last 10 years. So no, you're wrong. And I dont support that crazy idea of two boxes, my suggestion was not focus in Sheploo. leaving him/her to our imagination. N7 box, for instance.

Modifié par Numa-Fai, 29 septembre 2010 - 05:18 .

[Temper_Graniteskul]

I doubt they're going to change the marketing at this point, mostly for the reasons stated (extant branding, mostly). However, there are other things BioWare could do to raise the in-game profile of FemShep. Something I'd like to see is a slight change to the default - code it so that when you start the game it's a 50/50 chance of the default Shepard being male or female.

The way the ME2 stats are presented, there's no indication of why 80% of people played an MShep, only that they did - was it a conscious choice, or was it acceptance of the default settings (which might also be why Soldier was the most played class)? Shaking up the default sex to be 50/50 instead of 100% male might help combat the idea that there's one canon Shep and he's male, or that the default should be male. It also helps raise FemShep's profile within the ME gamer community.

[Schneidend]

It's very unlikely to happen. Giving the game a single, specific face is a potent marketing strategy. It's not a matter of sexism or anything else but making the character iconic. They want to be able to put Vandershep's face on something and have people instantly think "oh, that's that Mass Effect dude."

[ArmedChimp]

I bet if they actually did do media exposure for Female Shepard half of you would whine that she doesn't look like "your femshep".