112 réponses à ce sujet

[Dwarva]

Now, I don't know whether I have a particularly good 'control' for this because I generally hang about in the companions section of the forums, but there seems to be far more females here than men. Do you think that's accurate? Or am I way off base?

If so, why do you think it is? I'm a member on the Bethesda forums as well and the percentage of women there is far fewer. Bethesda and Bioware are probably the two major RPG companies at the moment, so I'm curious as to why their fanbase numbers seem different? Is it because Bioware invest more of their games into the relationships between characters and this appeals more to women?

As I said though, it could be it's just that particular section of the forums that are made up mainly of women...

[AkiKishi]

It's about 80/20

[Maclimes]

BobSmith101 wrote...

It's about 80/20

Based on what data?

I would assume that Bioware probably has a larger percentage of female gamers than other companies, because they tend to be a bit more flexible with gender issues and not in the "straight white males only" club, like many other developers. (Don't get me wrong, they still have a ways to go. But they're better).

I don't have any actual data to quantify that, however. It's just an assumption.

[Raydiva]

I would say yes, Bioware does have more female gamers buying their games than most other companies.

Most game companies aim towards the teenage or young adult male buyer, this does still include Bioware. Even games that have a female as the hero, are aimed more towards they male gamer. Since Bioware makes games that not only allows you to create a strong female character, but includes some 'eye-candy' for the females (ie Alistair) it comes to reason more gal gamers would purchase their products.

Only problem now is, we expect Bioware games to give something to the gal gamer and when they don't its more disappointing than it would have been if another company made the same game. For example, there are no new straight LI's for femShep in ME3. If any other company did this I would shrug and say 'heh, game was made for guys anyways' But since it was Bioware that made the game, I was not only disappointed but shocked that there were no LIs for my femShep character that I made sure not to romance anyone as to reserve her for any new LIs.

[deuce985]

Har, har.

I think Bioware games in general have more females than normal. Being able to play as a female when they want. Not many games do that. Also, the entire romance swing probably draws a lot of females in(I'm just speculating though). Building relationships is definitely one reason but I don't think it's entirely just females. I personally love the companion angle in Bioware games.

From personal experience, I've noticed a lot of females enjoy RPGs because it's USUALLY a slower genre they can play at their pace.

Don't kill me females please, I'm not trying to make big generalizations, just relating to my personal experience. Every MMO I've played had a massive female population. My ex-gf wouldn't play anything but RPGs. She use to think JRPGs were "cute".

*hides in hole*

Modifié par deuce985, 18 juillet 2012 - 04:55 .

[Maclimes]

deuce985 wrote...

Don't kill me females please, I'm not trying to make big generalizations, just relating to my personal experience. Every MMO I've played had a massive female population. My ex-gf wouldn't play anything but RPGs. She use to think JRPGs were "cute".

Kill it with fire!

Ha, I kid. But seriously, my neice, who is a 15-year-old girl, absolutely loves DA2. She did not like DA:O, never even made it past the origin. "Too slow, too boring, too complicated". Every time she comes to visit, she plays some DA2. 

[batlin]

In the least sexist way possible, I'm pretty sure games with the highest percentage of female players are games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. Not Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

Modifié par batlin, 18 juillet 2012 - 07:36 .

[Maclimes]

batlin wrote...

In the least sexist way possible, I'm pretty sure games with the highest percentage of female players are games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. Not Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

A good point. Basically, "Games in which gender is not a factor in any way, shape, or form".

[Giltspur]

I suspect Bioware has a higher percentage of female fans than Bethesda does.

Why?  Because Bioware, through interaction with NPC's, does a better job of letting you explore another character's thoughts, which increases the chances of identifying with a character.  

Why do I think that appeals to many women?  Well, in what can you best explore a character's thoughts?  Books.  And more women read books than men.  So...the same things that draw many women to books can draw them to games.  Or so my thinking goes.

[batlin]

Maclimes wrote...

batlin wrote...

In the least sexist way possible, I'm pretty sure games with the highest percentage of female players are games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. Not Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

A good point. Basically, "Games in which gender is not a factor in any way, shape, or form".

I suspect the reason is more like "games that are simple and easy to pick up and play" than having anything to do with gender.

[FieryDove]

Don't be silly. Everyone knows wimmins don't play video games.

If I had to guess I would say companion interaction (Not just romance) and story are strong points of BW. At least I always thought so.

[Silfren]

BobSmith101 wrote...

It's about 80/20

Please don't post something like this without the hard data to back it up.  It's meaningless otherwise.

[Silfren]

batlin wrote...

Maclimes wrote...

batlin wrote...

In the least sexist way possible, I'm pretty sure games with the highest percentage of female players are games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. Not Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

A good point. Basically, "Games in which gender is not a factor in any way, shape, or form".

I suspect the reason is more like "games that are simple and easy to pick up and play" than having anything to do with gender.

Er, aside from the fact that the entire implication of your suggestion here is that women generally prefer games that are "simple and easy to pick up and play" which has loads of gender assumptions.  

It would be nice to see people actually ASKING us women what we like to do and why we like to do it, rather than all these "I'm pretty sure/I think/I suspect" posts that are based more on cultural assumptions about gender than anything else.

[deuce985]

Silfren wrote...

batlin wrote...

Maclimes wrote...

batlin wrote...

In the least sexist way possible, I'm pretty sure games with the highest percentage of female players are games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. Not Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

A good point. Basically, "Games in which gender is not a factor in any way, shape, or form".

I suspect the reason is more like "games that are simple and easy to pick up and play" than having anything to do with gender.

Er, aside from the fact that the entire implication of your suggestion here is that women generally prefer games that are "simple and easy to pick up and play" which has loads of gender assumptions.  

It would be nice to see people actually ASKING us women what we like to do and why we like to do it, rather than all these "I'm pretty sure/I think/I suspect" posts that are based more on cultural assumptions about gender than anything else.

Well, he/she was asking for our personal opinions...

But I suppose you're right.

[Silfren]

batlin wrote...

In the least sexist way possible, I'm pretty sure games with the highest percentage of female players are games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. Not Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

Well, the question in the post wasn't asking which games have the highest percentage of female players, from the standpoint of ALL games, but was asking how the percentages of female players of DA games compared with other RPGs.  Not at all the question you apparently thought you were answering.

Modifié par Silfren, 18 juillet 2012 - 09:18 .

[FieryDove]

Silfren wrote...

Er, aside from the fact that the entire implication of your suggestion here is that women generally prefer games that are "simple and easy to pick up and play" which has loads of gender assumptions.  

It would be nice to see people actually ASKING us women what we like to do and why we like to do it, rather than all these "I'm pretty sure/I think/I suspect" posts that are based more on cultural assumptions about gender than anything else.

I do agree with this. It's like we are still in the dark ages. Oh your female and play video games? Farmville, bejeweled or sims? Right...

I play RTS and TBS almost as much as RPG's...Love em all. I also enjoy squad-based shooters. (Shock horror the world is ending)

[PsychoBlonde]

Silfren wrote...

BobSmith101 wrote...

It's about 80/20

Please don't post something like this without the hard data to back it up.  It's meaningless otherwise.

It's sarcasm.  He's invoking the "80/20" rule, aka the Pareto Principle.  Pretty much any time you hear ANYONE refer to the numbers 80 and 20, those numbers are guaranteed to be made up.

[Silfren]

deuce985 wrote...
Well, he/she was asking for our personal opinions...

But I suppose you're right.

I didn't dispute that.  But as for this subject that has come up as to why women may prefer some games over others, it would definitely be nice to see the subject treated as something to ASK A WOMAN about rather than seeing it treated as a mysterious concept that can only be treated with opinions and guesswork.  Why say "I suspect it's because of X reason" than "Hey, I'll go ask a woman and relate what she told me," after all?  

As for the hard numbers of how many female players play DA games versus other RPGs like Bethesda, that kind of hard stat data is definitely available through the right google search, as it is extremely valuable from a marketing standpoint.  I doubt anyone is going to get a solid answer from a sampling on the Bioware forums.

[Maclimes]

Silfren wrote...

I didn't dispute that.  But as for this subject that has come up as to why women may prefer some games over others, it would definitely be nice to see the subject treated as something to ASK A WOMAN about rather than seeing it treated as a mysterious concept that can only be treated with opinions and guesswork.  Why say "I suspect it's because of X reason" than "Hey, I'll go ask a woman and relate what she told me," after all?  

As for the hard numbers of how many female players play DA games versus other RPGs like Bethesda, that kind of hard stat data is definitely available through the right google search, as it is extremely valuable from a marketing standpoint.  I doubt anyone is going to get a solid answer from a sampling on the Bioware forums.

I asked two women: My wife and my niece (15).

My wife doesn't like RPGs at all. "Too complex". She prefers co-op games that let her play with her friends (in the same room, not online), and wants a very easy learning curve. (One of her favorite games is Samurai Warriors).

My niece loves DA2. She loves the story, but most of all, she loves the interaction and personality of all the companions. I tried to convince her that DA:O had plenty of that too, but she said it was "Too difficult to get in to. Too slow. Too boring."

[PsychoBlonde]

deuce985 wrote...

Silfren wrote...

batlin wrote...

Maclimes wrote...

batlin wrote...

In the least sexist way possible, I'm pretty sure games with the highest percentage of female players are games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. Not Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

A good point. Basically, "Games in which gender is not a factor in any way, shape, or form".

I suspect the reason is more like "games that are simple and easy to pick up and play" than having anything to do with gender.

Er, aside from the fact that the entire implication of your suggestion here is that women generally prefer games that are "simple and easy to pick up and play" which has loads of gender assumptions.  

It would be nice to see people actually ASKING us women what we like to do and why we like to do it, rather than all these "I'm pretty sure/I think/I suspect" posts that are based more on cultural assumptions about gender than anything else.

Well, he/she was asking for our personal opinions...

But I suppose you're right.

It's not that women are more likely to enjoy casual games (with the assumption being that "hardcore" games are beyond us), it's that women are somewhat more likely to have *numerous* casual to semi-casual pastimes than men, whereas men are more likely to have fewer but more hardcore pasttimes.  Not all men.  Not all women either, not even close.  It's not even really a trend because the demographics that lead to this shift constantly.

Most of the female gamers I know are pretty "hardcore" because I meet them through D&D Online.  The odd thing is that we're pretty much all centered in the 25-40 age range, whereas I meet guys aged anywhere from 8-60ish.  I don't think I've ever run across a female player who has used the words "Mom" or "grandkids" when talking about their RL situation.

As for whether more females like Bioware games . . . from my PERSONAL experience, I'd have to say probably not.  Most of the female gamers I know are better acquainted with, say, Diablo than any Bioware game I could mention.  The gamers I know who are excited about forthcoming Bioware games are universally male.  If I bring up Bioware, the ladies generally don't even know what games they have made.

[Melca36]

Maclimes wrote...

Silfren wrote...

I didn't dispute that.  But as for this subject that has come up as to why women may prefer some games over others, it would definitely be nice to see the subject treated as something to ASK A WOMAN about rather than seeing it treated as a mysterious concept that can only be treated with opinions and guesswork.  Why say "I suspect it's because of X reason" than "Hey, I'll go ask a woman and relate what she told me," after all?  

As for the hard numbers of how many female players play DA games versus other RPGs like Bethesda, that kind of hard stat data is definitely available through the right google search, as it is extremely valuable from a marketing standpoint.  I doubt anyone is going to get a solid answer from a sampling on the Bioware forums.

I asked two women: My wife and my niece (15).

My wife doesn't like RPGs at all. "Too complex". She prefers co-op games that let her play with her friends (in the same room, not online), and wants a very easy learning curve. (One of her favorite games is Samurai Warriors).

My niece loves DA2. She loves the story, but most of all, she loves the interaction and personality of all the companions. I tried to convince her that DA:O had plenty of that too, but she said it was "Too difficult to get in to. Too slow. Too boring."

My niece is 16 and LOVED Origins but only liked DA2.  Origins is her all time favorite NON Sim Game.

She liked the characters in DA2 but hated the fact that it was too short, hated the reused dungeons, and such.

[Maclimes]

Melca36 wrote...

My niece is 16 and LOVED Origins but only liked DA2.  Origins is her all time favorite NON Sim Game.

She liked the characters in DA2 but hated the fact that it was too short, hated the reused dungeons, and such.

Just goes to show that you can't judge an entire group of people by a few keywords, like "teenage girl"!

Modifié par Maclimes, 18 juillet 2012 - 10:40 .

[wsandista]

No.

[Melca36]

Maclimes wrote...

Melca36 wrote...

My niece is 16 and LOVED Origins but only liked DA2.  Origins is her all time favorite NON Sim Game.

She liked the characters in DA2 but hated the fact that it was too short, hated the reused dungeons, and such.

Just goes to show that you can't judge an entire group of people by a few keywords, like "teenage girl"!

Thats true.   My niece actually has the game on Xbox and PC. She loves the mods and has learned how to use the toolset to make her own stuff but is too shy to post it on Nexus.

She even read all of David Gaider's books and got an A on a book report for Asunder.   Origins just offered more creativity for her. I'd say shes put in over 1000 hours in the game.

She liked DA2 but it just was not the same for her although she did enjoy the DLCS when I got them for her. She found them more fun than the main game. I think she's put in about 200 hours trying everything and playing with the cosmetic mods but its really limiting without a toolset.

[Cimeas]

wsandista wrote...

No.

There have been a lot of 'No.' posts from you recently.  I'm wondering, since this isn't a poll, how it contributes to the discussion and how you have come to this interesting conclusion.