173 réponses à ce sujet

[musicalfrog7]

A friend of mine linked a video from game trailers today about him talking about ME3 at comic con. I haven't been keeping up with Bioware actively since the original Dragon Age came out but every now and then slivers of information come my way.

In the video I found there to be a questionable sounding quote:

"We find that about one fifth of the players play female characters. You know, we've put a lot of effort over the course of this series to do a really good job of both the male and female experience as Commander Shepherd. And it's something we could've cut a long time ago because it's actually very expensive for us to develop."


As an avid female gamer, I am surprisingly hurt by this. The video does not show what the context is but when it is haphazardly thrown into a video like that, what am I to think? It sounds like such a strong disregard to the female fandom. I've thought for a long while, that Bioware cared more about the female fanbase than any other developer out there. Is that not true? Is it not true anymore?

One fifth? That cannot be. I was never polled nor asked what shepherd I play. Where does this poll data come from? The website? Video game registration? An educated guess? I feel like that statistic is unfairly wrong and inaccurate to judge on whether or not it's worthwhile to have a female playable character.

I love it when video game companies make video games that invite girls and women to play them by being approachable to our gender and/or adding a heroine that we can identify with. If the quote is about feeling under appreciated for your (Bioware's work) on the female heroines, I most certainly do love it and appreciate it. It's part of the reason why I love Bioware games so much!



The link in question can be found here:

[StefanBW]

You like Hale?

[Paula Deen]

I too am curious about how they get these statistics.

[Gabey5]

yeah the stats came out awhile back. few play femshep.. these forums are not representative of all mass effect fans ya know

[sTrYkZ1LLa]

You don't need to be polled check your online mass effect 2 options "upload gameplay feedback". IS on by default.

[Brenon Holmes]

I'm not entirely sure where we get that specific information, since it wouldn't be from any of the in-game data... but I would guess it's most likely from polling. :happy:

Modifié par Brenon Holmes, 01 août 2011 - 08:38 .

[Ryllen Laerth Kriel]

I actually disagree OP, it sounds encouraging that Casey made such a quote because they kept FemShep despite being confronted with those mysterious statistics. I would of been annoyed if they dropped FemShep support, I play a FemShep in addition to a MaleShep but I like Hale's version of Shepard more than Meer's.

Of course I might be missing the context of the quote, but to me it's encouraging they kept up the quality of FemShep.

[JamieCOTC]

Article on statistics.  http://www.1up.com/n...-effect-2-stats

Whether you know it or not, you send info back to BioWare/EA.  Can't remember where it is, but there is an option to opt out (not send stas).  These articles never mention that, however.

[oracle343gspark]

Why are you insulted when he just said that they could have dropped FemShep all together because it was costly, but didn't? One fifth sounds like an unrealistically high number to me.

[Jimhsnr]

there is an option in the game to upload game play stats
i assume they get most of the data from there

Go to "Extras - Options - Online - "Upload Gameplay Feedback"

Modifié par Jimhsnr, 01 août 2011 - 08:42 .

[Shockwave81]

Paula Deen wrote...

I too am curious about how they get these statistics.

The game reports user data.  Of course they're really only talking about players who have an active internet connection, and 'data reporting enabled' while playing Mass Effect 2. 

Really they should be saying "one-fifth of gamers that we have obtained data from" as opposed to making blanket statements like this.

Although I have just read Brenon's post and that casts doubt on my previous understanding. Good thing I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, hey!

Modifié par Shockwave81, 01 août 2011 - 08:41 .

[Veex]

In game reporting features if you play while connected to the internet. They use many of the same tools for gathering metrics in the Dragon Age games as well. There are likely many other resources they use to gather those traits, the import feature being one perhaps.

As to the context of his comment, it doesn't offend me. I traditionally don't play female characters, but from a development standpoint it seems fairly straight forward. They're likely spending an equal amount of funds for Hale's work to appease a fifth of the audience. It isn't an indication that he doesn't like femshep or the female gamer I don't believe.

[dafatcat]

How do you feel hurt by this? A disregard for female fandom? He's saying that they could probably make more net profit if they disregarded female fans, but they don't.  If anything, this should be a good thing.

Modifié par dafatcat, 01 août 2011 - 08:41 .

[Vanaer]

stefanbw wrote...

You like Hale?

I like to inHale, does that count?

[Bryy_Miller]

musicalfrog7 wrote...
 It sounds like such a strong disregard to the female fandom. I've thought for a long while, that Bioware cared more about the female fanbase than any other developer out there. Is that not true? Is it not true anymore?

One fifth? That cannot be. I was never polled nor asked what shepherd I play. Where does this poll data come from? The website? Video game registration? An educated guess? I feel like that statistic is unfairly wrong and inaccurate to judge on whether or not it's worthwhile to have a female playable character.

I love it when video game companies make video games that invite girls and women to play them by being approachable to our gender and/or adding a heroine that we can identify with. If the quote is about feeling under appreciated for your (Bioware's work) on the female heroines, I most certainly do love it and appreciate it. It's part of the reason why I love Bioware games so much!

You're over-reacting because he said they could have deleted that part of the game, but didn't.

Let me say it again.

They could have but did not.

I don't see how that's sexist.

[EgoSoul]

I am not really getting the point of our post. You posted a statistic that 1/5 of players choose to play as female characters. Are you posting because you are concerned they are taking the feature to play as a female shepard out of ME3?

[Fiery Phoenix]

Statistics without context are tentative at best, so I don't really care.

[JamieCOTC]

I'm a big advocate for femShep, and I believe Casey was trying to be reassuring that they will continue to support the female Shepard, in his own round about way. That said, I can't tell a difference in the animations between male and female outside of romances. So, I'd hate to see it if they DIDN'T spend a lot of money on it.

[musicalfrog7]

EgoSoul wrote...

I am not really getting the point of our post. You posted a statistic that 1/5 of players choose to play as female characters. Are you posting because you are concerned they are taking the feature to play as a female shepard out of ME3?

I am posting because the quote surprised me and I don't know what the context of the quote was. I didn't post it, but I was also hoping that if I posted this some of you who frequent this forum would be able to fill me in on what it means and why it was said.

[100k]

@musicalfrog7

There's no reason for you to be hurt. Mr Hudson was reassuring players that there would still be effort into creating differences between the two genders. Honestly, Casey was probably being generous when he said one fifth of the players are women. In reality, probably less than one eighth are female gamers.

You see, its great that Mass Effect is both a male and female friendly experience, but the games and their premises were never marketed like that. On the cover, in the trailers, and for the demos, Mass Effect (1,2) displayed nothing beyond the ordinary to the untrained eye. Just "a space marine fighting aliens and saving the world" is what most people tend to see.

Now, it's easy for you and I to look at Mass Effect, see the developer logo, and guess that its a far more complex title than that. But most gamers (and I cannot stress this enough) don't go onto online forums, play through development series (unless its in the social shooter genre), or know ANYTHING about a title before they pick it up in the store.

As such, when your average man and woman walk into Target looking for a title to pick up, they will likely only the face value on the cover. The man will be (likely) more excited to see a new space oriented shooter, because that's what he's used to playing/watching. The woman will likely ignore it, because she doesn't know about the CC, femShepard, or other female characters in the game. It'll just be another "macho" game to her.

NOW this DOESN'T apply to everyone -- and I'd be the first to admit that. But what you all have to understand is that gaming forum populations account for less than 25% of actual consumers.

If a woman sees a trailer for Mass Effect, but the trailer doesn't show that you can tailor your character to your preferences, she will be more likely to ignore that title than her male counterpart who will already be (subconsciously) used to this kind of title.

Modifié par 100k, 01 août 2011 - 08:56 .

[young fox]

dafatcat wrote...

How do you feel hurt by this? A disregard for female fandom? He's saying that they could probably make more net profit if they disregarded female fans, but they don't.  If anything, this should be a good thing.

Dafatcat is right. You have nothing to be hurt about - actually, you should be happy that they ended up taking the opinions of a minority into consideration, when they could easily have dismissed them.

What could he say otherwise? Lie and say that the FemShep fanbase is larger than it actually is?

[Captain Crash]

Shockwave81 wrote...

Paula Deen wrote...

I too am curious about how they get these statistics.

The game reports user data.  Of course they're really only talking about players who have an active internet connection, and 'data reporting enabled' while playing Mass Effect 2.  

Incorrect, did you see what Brenon just wrote above you?

Brenon Holmes wrote...

I'm not entirely sure where we get that specific information, since it wouldn't be from any of the in-game data... but I would guess it's most likely from polling. :happy:

Modifié par Captain Crash, 01 août 2011 - 08:57 .

[Adanu]

Pragmatic reality makes it so that female characters tend to be a luxury if they are sexed up bombshells.

[shepskisaac]

Brenon Holmes wrote...

I'm not entirely sure where we get that specific information, since it wouldn't be from any of the in-game data... but I would guess it's most likely from polling. :happy:

Really? Ohh I thought that's how you get the data on player choices. They get registered via Cerberus Network no?