The Female, Male Demographic of Skyrim Players

[Volanere]

NOOOO blasphemy blessings froma false god.

Talos bless ure wife Volanere lol.

 

[shadowkitty]

My Hubby is a gamer but mainly COD, Halo and BOP's... He got Skyrim free with his xbox and wasn't interested in it at all and so I started playing it and got seriously hooked.
I just love the open world play. Customizable characters, houses etc.. The quests... The fantasy/medieval genre.
So in the end I bought my own xbox and Skyrim :legendary edition with the DLCs.
I have played a bit of Fable, not too bad, but kinda slow. Have Dragon Age as well but haven't played it yet.

 

[Freyja]

Before playing Skyrim I was a big fan of the Fable games and also Spyro. My brother had tried to introduce me to Dark Souls, but I really didn't like it. But one day I was looking through his games when I found Skyrim. I didn't have anything to do, and no one was home, so I put in into my XBOX and just got hooked on it! I love the way that you can be whatever you want to be, and don't have to be strictly a warrior or mage or whatever. The fact that you can change to your liking is what really got me into it. And now I can't get away from it.

 

[BlazeGlory]

I personally think that women in the gaming community is something that should be welcomed whole-hardheartedly, My girlfriend and I fight over the controller all the time, whether it's COD or Madden/2K and especially Skyrim. I can honestly say she's one of the most incredible women in the world. I almost feel like in other games the only guys that discriminate against female's are the overly immature/internet gangsta guys. I've seen my GF get verbally abused many times just to have the guy turn around and start messaging her apologizing because he doesn't want his friends to know how he really acts towards women. After all we are people aren't we? You don't go around discriminating for race or sexual preference, so why would you do it just because women got the short end of the stick (pun intended). Just my 2 cents.

 

[Pharaun159]

It's been predicted that, giving how the game industry is growing that by the end of 2013, women gamers will outnumber men gamers.

Women have always played games. I know. I'm in my late 30's and have been gaming all my life. What I haven't always participated in is "gamer culture" which shouldn't need an explanation. A lot of other women gamers have a similar story. The only reason I come to this particular forum is because it's moderated (kind of) and if someone here gets abusive or sicko or creeptastic or stalkerrific, I can say something without fearing all the guys here from ages 14 to 28 are going to scream at me "GO MAKE ME A SANDWICH YOU BLEEPING HO" Reddit-style.

But thankfully things are changing in the gaming community. More women are working in the industry, and industry is trying to hire more women, because the industry sees how gaming culture is changing to be more tolerant not just toward us women but to LGBTQ gamers too. It's not that we silly women finally realized you guys are doing something cool--we just have been doing it in our own spaces away from all the toxic hate and abuse that's been a hallmark of online gaming communities for too long but is finally beginning to die off, despite those individuals who couldn't buy a clue if you gave them a million bucks. But at least for those a-holes, I can put them on my ignore list.

(apologies in advance if i say anything sexist. If i do it is unintention an not in the interest of starting a scwabble. Perhaps im just old fashioned)

Personally i beleive that the reason for there being more women gamers, is simply because so many more guys are gameing. When i was a kid, if you played games past about 15 years old... your were automatically a nerd. Now its all, "Lets get drunk and blow plops up on COD!" That being said, with the social stigma removed, a guy that games is suddenly still attractive, and what better way to spend time with said guy then to do something he loves with him. Games are suddenly bringing people together in ways they wouldnt before due to social profiling. I knew i loved my wife, when she showed up oneday with a bottle of 100proof captian and a copy of the Mortal Combat lol! Still married, with a wonderful son. ANd yes we still game together, just not as often... kids don that to ya lol. But i guess the point is that the changes in the ratios of women games falls squarely on the shoulders of the current social order.

 

[golso]

(apologies in advance if i say anything sexist. If i do it is unintention an not in the interest of starting a scwabble. Perhaps im just old fashioned)

Personally i beleive that the reason for there being more women gamers, is simply because so many more guys are gameing. When i was a kid, if you played games past about 15 years old... your were automatically a nerd. Now its all, "Lets get drunk and blow pl*** up on COD!" That being said, with the social stigma removed, a guy that games is suddenly still attractive, and what better way to spend time with said guy then to do something he loves with him. Games are suddenly bringing people together in ways they wouldnt before due to social profiling. I knew i loved my wife, when she showed up oneday with a bottle of 100proof captian and a copy of the Mortal Combat lol! Still married, with a wonderful son. ANd yes we still game together, just not as often... kids don that to ya lol. But i guess the point is that the changes in the ratios of women games falls squarely on the shoulders of the current social order.

I'm disagreeing quite solidly with some of the things you've written here, but I respect that you're not trying to offend anyone. Women are no more or less inclined towards playing video games than men- there are in fact only very negligible psychological differences of that kind between men and women. Any that do exist (and they tend to be massively exaggerated by marketing) are learned behaviours. So a woman can get into video games without having a man introduce her to them!
I would attribute the increase in female gamers to there being less (although still tons) of games geared exclusively to appeal to men out there. And by geared towards men, I don't mean "manly themes" or whatever, we can love a good shoot out and/or explosion just as much as you blokes can. I mean the bunch of games that make all the playable characters men or have pretty much only male characters in important roles while women are stuck with being eye candy, damsels, witches and bitches, or guiding mother types. So part of the reason why I love skyrim is that while it would be possible to be like so many fantasy settings in which there is still a patriarchy, there are both female and male heroes, warriors and jarls as well as both female and male villains, cowards and homely types. And armor looks the same on both men and women (although the impractical boob plate is a bit of a gripe)- any skimpy armor is skimpy on both sexes hurrah! If women are just presented with games where you play as a muscly man hitting girls in bikinis with a baseball bat, we're not going to get into gaming, but now games like skyrim are making the whole gamer culture more appealing.

 

[Scarheart]

Most women heroes are laughable and unbelievable. Even in a fantasy setting where women can be made to appear as tough as men they usually come across as corny. They are relegated to supporting roles because it makes sense in a societal context. Women protagonists should never be shoehorned into anything just to appease a demographic.

 

[Pharaun159]

(apologies in advance if i say anything sexist. If i do it is unintention an not in the interest of starting a scwabble. Perhaps im just old fashioned)

Personally i beleive that the reason for there being more women gamers, is simply because so many more guys are gameing. When i was a kid, if you played games past about 15 years old... your were automatically a nerd. Now its all, "Lets get drunk and blow pl*** up on COD!" That being said, with the social stigma removed, a guy that games is suddenly still attractive, and what better way to spend time with said guy then to do something he loves with him. Games are suddenly bringing people together in ways they wouldnt before due to social profiling. I knew i loved my wife, when she showed up oneday with a bottle of 100proof captian and a copy of the Mortal Combat lol! Still married, with a wonderful son. ANd yes we still game together, just not as often... kids don that to ya lol. But i guess the point is that the changes in the ratios of women games falls squarely on the shoulders of the current social order.

I'm disagreeing quite solidly with some of the things you've written here, but I respect that you're not trying to offend anyone. Women are no more or less inclined towards playing video games than men- there are in fact only very negligible psychological differences of that kind between men and women. Any that do exist (and they tend to be massively exaggerated by marketing) are learned behaviours. So a woman can get into video games without having a man introduce her to them!
I would attribute the increase in female gamers to there being less (although still tons) of games geared exclusively to appeal to men out there. And by geared towards men, I don't mean "manly themes" or whatever, we can love a good shoot out and/or explosion just as much as you blokes can. I mean the bunch of games that make all the playable characters men or have pretty much only male characters in important roles while women are stuck with being eye candy, damsels, witches and bitches, or guiding mother types. So part of the reason why I love skyrim is that while it would be possible to be like so many fantasy settings in which there is still a patriarchy, there are both female and male heroes, warriors and jarls as well as both female and male villains, cowards and homely types. And armor looks the same on both men and women (although the impractical boob plate is a bit of a gripe)- any skimpy armor is skimpy on both sexes hurrah! If women are just presented with games where you play as a muscly man hitting girls in bikinis with a baseball bat, we're not going to get into gaming, but now games like skyrim are making the whole gamer culture more appealing.

I apologize. I never ment to insinuate that girls are incapable of likeing games for themselves, without a males influence. I just was pointing out the changes in a social stigma. I will admit that i feel a large reason why girls took as long as they did to get big into gameing was guys themselves. Ladies, show of hands for the number of times you tried to play a game, and a guy told you were doing it wrong? lol! i think that is why so many more diverse people play skyim. There really is no way to 'do it wrong' persay. As for a female heroin, have to point out there there has been progress in that front. Look at the new tomb raider. The things that that girl goes through in game, make all us guys cringe. It shows that survival isnt just something a guy has to worry about. Awesome game. ( and on a side note, what IS with guys playing as girls? Never got that. Sure i can understand wanting to look at hot chick all day, but honestly... I live with one. Why play with a pretend one? And as a roleplay step.... Never really got off on pretending to be a girl. Mind boggling.)

 

[Dagmar]

Most women heroes are laughable and unbelievable. Even in a fantasy setting where women can be made to appear as tough as men they usually come across as corny. They are relegated to supporting roles because it makes sense in a societal context. Women protagonists should never be shoehorned into anything just to appease a demographic.

Women have been portayed as heroes for over a thousand years. There are actual women in history acknowledged as warriors and heroes. There are many notable women protagonists in literature in video games. The notion that women inherently come off as laughable and unbelievable as heroes requires the perspective of the narrow mind of a chauvinist. Athena, Artemis, Atalanta, Freyja, Brunhild, Joan of Arc, Tomoe Gozen, Hermione Granger, Katniss Everdeen, Éowyn, Lisbeth Salander, Elektra, Painkiller Jane, Sarah Connor, Cameron, Ellen Ripley, Trinity, Selene, Nikita, Hanna Heller, Olivia Dunham, Female Commander Shepard, Bastila Shan, Satele Shan, and Alex Brand are just a few examples. Any perception that they're "shoehorned" into their roles speaks more about the reactionary anachronisms who share that perception than it does about the believability of these women as heroes.

 

[Scarheart]

Most women heroes are laughable and unbelievable. Even in a fantasy setting where women can be made to appear as tough as men they usually come across as corny. They are relegated to supporting roles because it makes sense in a societal context. Women protagonists should never be shoehorned into anything just to appease a demographic.

Women have been portayed as heroes for over a thousand years. There are actual women in history acknowledged as warriors and heroes. There are many notable women protagonists in literature in video games. The notion that women inherently come off as laughable and unbelievable as heroes requires the perspective of the narrow mind of a chauvinist. Athena, Artemis, Atalanta, Freyja, Brunhild, Joan of Arc, Tomoe Gozen, Hermione Granger, Katniss Everdeen, Éowyn, Lisbeth Salander, Elektra, Painkiller Jane, Sarah Connor, Cameron, Ellen Ripley, Trinity, Selene, Nikita, Hanna Heller, Olivia Dunham, Female Commander Shepard, Bastila Shan, Satele Shan, and Alex Brand are just a few examples. Any perception that they're "shoehorned" into their roles speaks more about the reactionary anachronisms who share that perception than it does about the believability of these women as heroes.

If you want to sustain an air of plausibility within any story medium you need to acknowledge gender roles. Game of Thrones does a great job of showing women getting their comeuppance in a man's world but even that only goes so far. Women heroes are believable as long as they come off as actual women and are not imbued with false (corny) bravado and strength greater than or proportionate to a man. The focus should be on how to make women heroes unqiue apart from men without adopting qualities from other better established heroes and/or exuding masculinity. Historical figures and precedents are fine and all but there is a reason they were overshadowed by men.

 

[Mr.Self Destruct]

Game of Thrones does a great job of showing women getting their comeuppance in a man's world but even that only goes so far.

>Disregard Daenerys Targaryen
>Disregard Arya Stark

Right, because all the women in a Song of Ice and Fire are hapless damsels.

 

[Scarheart]

>Disregard Daenerys Targaryen
>Disregard Arya Stark

Right, because all the women in a Song of Ice and Fire are hapless damsels.

Daenerys started out being sold by her brother and essentially became a sex slave. She was a "hapess damsel" before she acquired her army and dragons. Arya underwent a radical transformation as well and most women on the show started out being subjugated in some form.

 

[Mr.Self Destruct]

Daenerys started out being sold by her brother and essentially became a sex slave. She was a "hapess damsel" before she acquired her army and dragons. Arya underwent a radical transformation as well and most women on the show started out being subjugated in some form.

Daenerys was by no means a sex slave, Drogo only had sex with her when she gave him her consent.

The point is that virtues of strength and stoicism aren't exclusive to men, Daenerys started off a hapless damsel but changed and grew into a capable leader. Arya, on the other hand, had always been foolhardy and courageous and she beat the crap out of Joffrey. Bringing a Song of Ice and Fire in this in an attempt to show how women heroes are "supposed to be" can be disregarded easily by the simple fact that both men and women in the books are portrayed as noble and brave regardless of their gender.

George R. R. Martin said it himself, it doesn't matter whether they're men or women.

George Stroumboulopoulos: There's one thing that's interesting about your books. I noticed that you write women really well and really different. Where does that come from?
George R.R. Martin: You know, I've always considered women to be people.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

I've been to a few other forums (even other TES forums) and will not return. While we may occassionally get our idiots here, it's usually in good fun. I appreciate the ladies being here. Some of our most knowledgable folks are the ladies (e.g. Dagmar).

Keep it up ladies! Your perspective is incredibly valuable and we are very, very glad you are here.

 

[Jader]

Personally I'm,for the most part,ashamed of my gender.It's many a time that I try and play cod or whatever online with my gf,who mainly plays for the aspect of it being something we can do together as a team and equals,only to have her get bashed by some (pre)teen boys who yell stuff like "get back to your kitchen".honestly,its that kind crap that gives guys like me a bad name.games are meant to be played for fun not get turned into a c***-strutting contest.

Go gamer girls,have as much right to play as we do.
Chivalry isn't dead..just hard to find anymore.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

As some of you have noticed, I've kind of gone from a "KILL 'EM ALL!" kind of guy to more of an RP kind of guy during my time here on the forums. I can readily admit that the ladies are a very big reason for this. They actually made me have to think about what I was doing and my motivations for doing it. For that, I thank them. (Don't be insulted guys, you did too, but we all tend to get in some pretty stupid discussions and I'm easily distracted...).

 

[Jader]

Also can someone explain to me why "back to the kitchen" comments are used(aside from being sexist)?from what I've seen most cooks are males so I'd like to think its invalid.perhaps I missed the "punchline" of it.

Proud male Cook BTW

 

[Daelon DuLac]

Also can someone explain to me why "back to the kitchen" comments are used(aside from being sexist)?from what I've seen most cooks are males so I'd like to think its invalid.perhaps I missed the "punchline" of it.

Proud male Cook BTW

I always love the one "Barefoot, pregnant and in the Kitchen". What? Where are we, Kentucky?

 

[Jader]

People need to grow up.For the most part gender roles shouldn't exist,there are men who stay home and play househusbands while women bring home the income, etc.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

People need to grow up.For the most part gender roles shouldn't exist,there are men who stay home and play househusbands while women bring home the income, etc.

Well. We can't say that there aren't gender specific things. There are and any man or woman would admit that. There are two genders after all. No matter what anybody says - we are not the same. That being said though - when we deal with each other it's about tact and manners. Why would you feel it okay to objectify anybody? Harrass anybody? Denigrate anybody? You are so right that we need to treat each other like adults and stop acting like a bunch of drunken teenagers (although, from my hazy memory, being a drunken teenager was a heck of a lot of fun!).