The Female, Male Demographic of Skyrim Players

[OrexxerO]

In the short time i've been on these forums. I have noticed the larger then usual amount of female players on these forums is way higher then most any other game or forum i've been a part of.

I have a question for you lady's, why are you interested in Skyrim so much? I have ideas myself but I want to hear it from you guys. Also, is Skyrim really your main interest in gaming? Or do you like shooters and other such games as well?

I must say, im glad to see more lady's on this forum! Good to know that women like games like I do .

 

[Stigweard Ruadhan]

My wife has been sucked into it of late...she shunned it to begin with by I've turned her to the joys of Tamriel.

Her Bosmer build is a bit too "not Dwemer" for me though!

Lol

 

[MadHatter]

Male

I think the ladies like the idea of a pair of beefy, hairy nords able to become lovers....

Seriously though.. Yeah, Skyrim is my main gaming interest. I play Civilization V on the side but Skyrim holds a special place in my heart, just like Oblivion and Morrowind before that.

 

[Volanere]

My wife plays as well she a damn dirty nord and it pisses me off. She doesnt play that much though on count of me hogging it lol.

 

[OrexxerO]

Haha that is funny Volanere.

 

[Volanere]

Haha that is funny Volanere.

Yeah she did it on purpose she used to watch me play and decided she wanted to be what i hated the most. Plus she likes the hole taking a million hours to make the nord woman look like her.

 

[Gehenna]

I can't speak for other women because I'm probably very much of a tomboy when it comes to some interests, but generally, no, I don't care for first-person shooters. That's not to say I haven't played them, but for me it's all about a good storyline. That's why I gravitate toward RPG style games. I also prefer fantasy and horror over military and science fiction themed games. That's why games in a medieval setting appeal to me far more than yet the umpteenth iteration of some World War 2 game. Of course, throw in a supernatural twist and I'll play a WW2 game, no problem.

I also tend toward the creative which is why I adore games that can be modded, or games with a lot of customization options. Also, weirdly enough, sometimes I feel like playing the Sims, and it's probably to do with the customization.

I absolutely hate sports, strategy and puzzle games. Again, I have put up with puzzles (Legacy of Kain series) for the sake of a good story, but if the entire game is just about puzzles, I'm not interested.

So.. no real explanations here for you, other than I just like what I like. *shrug*

 

[kyleekay]

In the short time i've been on these forums. I have noticed the larger then usual amount of female players on these forums is way higher then most any other game or forum i've been a part of.

I have a question for you lady's, why are you interested in Skyrim so much? I have ideas myself but I want to hear it from you guys. Also, is Skyrim really your main interest in gaming? Or do you like shooters and other such games as well?

I must say, im glad to see more lady's on this forum! Good to know that women like games like I do .

I'd venture that there are a lot of women who play all types of video games, but simply aren't represented by forum membership. The forums here are pretty immersive and allow for creative outlets, whereas forums for other games might not. So it's entirely possible that there are as many women playing other games as they are with Skyrim, they just aren't represented.

I've always been interested in gaming in general (I've always been a tomboy) and I've kept an open mind to every genre. I enjoy FPS games, logic games, etc but I find that I just get more pleasure from RPGs. Before I played Skyrim, I was obsessed with Fable. I think Fable was the stepping stone to getting into TES.

 

[123]

Male, gay

I like Skyrim because of the ability to have same-sex marriages, the RPG elements, and basically everything about it.

I like FPS games, but only if they are an RPG, like Dust 514 for instance. It lets you modify your equipment, appearance, and essentially every aspect of your character to make it feel like a very custom experience. I just love RPG's in general.

 

[Medea]

I think a lot of girls are into Skyrim because elements of the fantasy genre appeal to us. How many of us had unicorn posters and trapper keepers as little girls?

Of course, there are fantasy games that aren't female friendly. I used to play pen and paper rpgs. There were companies like Avalanche press that tried to sell every product they made with half-nude women on the covers. Here's a couple examples:

Yeah. Then there are games like F.A.T.A.L.

F.A.T.A.L. used to stand for Fantasy Adventure To Adult Lechery, but the author has since changed it to From Another Land Another Time, in order to not be as controversial. F.A.T.A.L. has rules for sexual assault and rape, and includes statistics for "anal circumference", "penis size" and "vaginal depth". I'm not making this up. Needless to say, it's been rated the worst rpg of all time among several reviewers. I wouldn't even mention this except to warn people that if they see it to RUN LIKE HELL in the other direction.

That being said, there are nude mods in Skyrim, but that doesn't offend me, because it's optional.

In Skyrim, the hero of the world is who you make it, and it appeals to everyone, because you can be whoever you want, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation.

 

[DrunkenMage]

 

[Shadow King]

My wife plays as well she a damn dirty nord and it pisses me off. She doesnt play that much though on count of me hogging it lol.

Talos bless ure wife Volanere lol.

 

[Irish]

I wanted something different to play besides Halo, Black Ops, etc, so thought I would give Skyrim a try because it looked pretty badass on the commercial. One year later, I'm still playing it like I just bought it and it has become one of my favorite games. I like that I'm not locked into a pre-made character and that there are endless possibilities for RP. Creating and designing characters is really fun, too, but I'm (ahem) 29 years old and still play dress up.

 

[Moris]

I've visited other gaming forums. After the umpteenth post about jiggly breasts and every female npc referred to as "pussy" (and discussions about what the player wants to do with them -- from rape to various detailed varieties of mutilation).... you think to yourself, nah, sooooo not worth posting there.

I don't have a problem with the "who's the hottest babe" threads on these boards because they don't dominate discussion. We also have plenty of other things to talk about, like, "who's the hottest dude".

Also, a surprising number of other games don't give you the option to play as a girl. This didn't used to bother me before I played Oblivion. But as soon as I realized how much better it was to be able to RP my own gender, I stopped playing anything else that doesn't give me that option.

 

[Moris]

I also want to point out that just because you don't see us, doesn't mean we're not there.

If the environment strikes me as at all immature or girl hostile (lots of rape bravado, etc, etc), I'll use a male name with a male avatar. It eliminates a WHOLE LOT OF BULLplops that almost inevitably follows otherwise in these types of places.

Lots of the guys, in other words, are actually girls.

 

[Shadow King]

I also want to point out that just because you don't see us, doesn't mean we're not there.

If the environment strikes me as at all immature or girl hostile (lots of rape bravado, etc, etc), I'll use a male name with a male avatar. It eliminates a WHOLE LOT OF BULLplops that almost inevitably follows otherwise in these types of places.

Lots of the guys, in other words, are actually girls.

WTF this is the only forum I have ever been on, is there actually weirdos speaking about plops like that in other forums, its crazy.

 

[Saozig]

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.

 

[Moris]

This ^

ETA: I actually think that the mods do a great job here. They skirt the line between being overly strict and censoring the fun stuff, and keeping out the intolerably offensive stuff. It's a hard line to walk. This is one of the most balanced forums I've visited in this regard.

 

[OrexxerO]

Yeah, in just the short, short time i've been here I have actually noticed what a clean forum this is. Im a forum veteran. I belong to quite a few boards and have been with others over the years. I was just glad to see so many Women openly out on this forum, because honestly, its just really cool. Im glad you guys feel safe here to be yourself here. I get embarrassed for my own gender sometimes because of how stupid young men especially are when it comes to behavior online.

 

[The Phoenician]

WTF this is the only forum I have ever been on, is there actually weirdos speaking about pl*** like that in other forums, its crazy.

Sadly yes. I cant count how many times I've seen females get the "OMG ur a gurl show me ur boobz" reaction. This forum community for the most part further evolved than others.