Well, at first I thought this was going to be extremely sexist, considering that I am a female.
Now, why do I play video games? Because, they're fun, and I kind of grew up on video games like Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros, and Legend of Zelda.
Why Baldur's Gate? Because when my dad was waiting for Diablo 2 because he had just finished Diablo, he tasked me with adult supervision, mind you I was seven at the time, to go get Diablo 2, but it wasn't out yet, and when I pre-ordered D2, again with adult supervision, I ended up getting Baldur's Gate. Of course, it kind of helped that the gamestop clerk said that it was Dungeons and Dragons, and the seven year old me was having flashbacks to about three years earlier, back when my dad used to play DnD. So, I returned home with Baldur's Gate, dad and I installed it, and I watched him play, and I liked it because I could let my imagination roam. Just as I had done three years prior with the minatures that my dad had to use for the DnD campaign he was apart of.
What I can't understand is why any woman would want to waste her life behind a computer doing things that are, ultimately, inconsequential.
This was my first thought, that started this thread. In fact, I'm forced to admit, that all the games, are they GREAT or not, is a kind of "wasting a time". This doesn't mean, that I will stop playing them right now. Hell, no! But I think, that women have more wisdom, than men (from certain point of view), and that's why I can't understand when they waste their time playing...
May be, they simply know, when it is the right time to stop and dive in a real life, and I don't?
I'm going to take this question seriously, and I'm going to assume that your question was, indeed, worded the way it was because of translation difficulties. I'm also going to assume that you do not actually think women are incapable of "high concentration" but merely too busy or unwilling to expend that concentration on video games.
I am 40 years old, and female. I have been playing video games since I was maybe 11, and had an Atari 5200. I've played shoot-em-ups, silly arcades, all-text adventures, and a lot--A LOT--of those PC adventure games available in the 90s, like the Monkey Island series, Grim Fandango, Myst, all that stuff. Today I play the Nancy Drew series because, although made for a younger (and primarily female, I might add) audience, it appears to be the last of those types of games being made anymore. I'm also a fan of American McGee's Alice (a real psychological bloodbath of a twist on Lewis Carroll's children's classic), and I've been playing the BG series for maybe eight years.
Why? Dude, I don't know. Games are fun. They're a challenge. They're not real. Sometimes I like puzzles. Sometimes I really *like* blowing stuff up. Sometimes it grosses me out. It depends. A lot of times, frankly, I use video games to procrastinate or avoid reality. Games can hook me like a good movie or novel: what happens next? What if this? What if that? I'm not a full-blown addict, but I do know I have the tendency.
I do take notice of visuals and music, but that may not be because of gender but because I am artistic IRL. I love a good storyline, romantic or not, and I always appreciate when a game gets it right and does a good job in that regard. I don't always NEED it, though.
As for BG in particular, it has great replay value--you can do things differently every time, which hooks me. I'm always mixing it up, using different NPCs, combat techniques, spells, alignment, dialogue, everything. I also like the way the game makes you move through all levels of society, and make moral decisions. I know there are aspects to that which are limited or illogical (just look around this forum for tons of discussion on that) but for what it is, it makes you think, and that's a good thing. Also, it has golden pantaloons, long walks through beautiful scenery, and a great sense of humor. What more could a girl ask for?
This was my first thought, that started this thread. In fact, I'm forced to admit, that all the games, are they GREAT or not, is a kind of "wasting a time". This doesn't mean, that I will stop playing them right now. Hell, no! But I think, that women have more wisdom, than men (from certain point of view), and that's why I can't understand when they waste their time playing...
May be, they simply know, when it is the right time to stop and dive in a real life, and I don't?
I think you are assuming that there are significant differences between men and women in this category. At the end of the day, women like to waste time as much as men do. And wisdom is not necessarily a gender trait either. Just consider that people are people. How they spend their time can be equally frivolous.
I was surprised to learn a while ago that females are about 50% of the gaming population. A little off topic but I was shocked when I heard that I'm actually around average age for a gamer (30). When I was growing up video games were seen as a hobby mostly for children and teenage boys.
Would it blow your mind to tiny little bits to know that I started playing Baldur's Gate because my mother--my mother--played it when I was a little girl? I used to watch her all the time. Eventually I grew old enough to where I wanted to take a try at the game myself, and when I did, I fell in love with it.
As for why my mother played it, she probably did for the same reason I do today:
Well, last time I asked her, she said she needed to polish her armour for [this last] Saturday/Sunday's event (it rusts if you even look at it wrong). Someday... I can hope.
No member should be treated negatively if they have an honest interest in something. It is a true travesty to act in a prejudiced manner towards another who shares an interest.
Ha ha! My mom's a gamer too. Not into BG, but she likes solving things and is ridiculously good at it. Hell, she figured out the Myst sequel, Riven, all by herself.
Ha ha! My mom's a gamer too. Not into BG, but she likes solving things and is ridiculously good at it. Hell, she figured out the Myst sequel, Riven, all by herself.
And she's 73 now!
Gaming moms are awesome! I wouldn't be the person I am today without her. Nor would I have come to like so many great things. She practically raised me on sword and sorcery!
Ha ha! My mom's a gamer too. Not into BG, but she likes solving things and is ridiculously good at it. Hell, she figured out the Myst sequel, Riven, all by herself.
Now that is awesome. I probably could have not gotten past the first few hours without the book.
its a great role playing game so think it would be more popular with wmen if they gave it a chance but dont think most play RPG games maybe for time...I see wmen (and men) playing phone app games that are quick and easy like bejewled, angry birds, fruit ninja etc BG was meant to be played by both genders as we can see with the NPC interactions, especially with the EE NPCs...on a related note is it weird if my next BGEE playthrough my PC is Female and I choose Anomen, hexxat, Dorn, Rasaad with multi rom mod??
Speaking only for myself, I started out playing Pen and Paper D&D back when it was Dungeons and Dragons by the Tactical Studies Rules Company (aka TSR, which later became its real name). My first arcade game was Space Invaders, which I played in the Lobby of a Movie Theatre (This was WAY before Arcades were an actual thing). My first RPG that I remember was Pool of Radiance, which came out when I was in college. (I played it on the Mac IIgs in the Lab there.) Soon, I bought my own copy, which I played at home on my Mac LC. I also owned all the sequels, from Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades and Pools of Darkness. What I liked about RPGs at the time was that you could play female characters who were functionally the same as male characters. Other games seemed to have all male protagonists. I like playing Kick-Ass female fighters (my first D&D character was Zenobia (named after the famous Queen of Palmyra which I read about in the Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary I owned) who was a fighter with a 14 strength. And she kicked major butt!) and I loved any game where I could play a female fighter.
Baldur's Gate was much of the same. My first character was Zenobia, a female fighter- and that's all I remember about her. But, at the time I started playing RPGs like D&D, I was one of three female players in a 14 player group. I've DMed fellow women. I don't think there is anything that would make a woman *not* like these games. There is plenty of combat, but also plenty of story, and the game treats you the same, whether your character is male or female.
Sure, I play "casual" games, too. But I also play OLD SKOOL HARD games like Rogue-likes (And yea, I do tend to play female characters here as well). I feel I play for the same reasons men play these games: The Games are good, and they are fun. And they have a good, coherent story that treats CHARNAME the same, as a hero, whether you are a male or a female.
...some men think women are faking it to attract men, etc.
Can I just ask, does anybody actually do that? I've heard this sentiment before, and to be honest, I find it a little hard to believe (come on, we geeks aren't exactly the world's most desirable of guys out there! ). Does anybody have experience of girls faking interest in games to attract guys, or is it just one of those ridiculous cliches that has somehow gotten engrained into everybody's minds? I'd be interested to know.
My wife plays BG because she enjoys everything there's in this game. She enjoys generating a character, assigning proficiencies, killing monsters, finding items, interacting with NPCs, using different spells, trying new tactics, experiencing romances, reading about game-lore, watching spell animations, completing quests, gathering the party, buying all new wands and scrolls, exploring the wilderness, hearing the voice-overs, transferring her PCs between games, rescuing Imoen, conquerring the Iron Throne, meeting Terminsel at the end of Jaheira romance, building a big metal unit, defending Saradush, changing Vikky's alignment, rolling a crit, listening to in-game music, creating a band of dwarves, fighing with evil, going for the evil path instead, solving puzzles...
you know, she enjoys exactly the same things as me
A better question would be: "why do people play Baldur's Gate?". Your question is based on a premise that there is something overarching 'special' about women.
As for why people play Baldur's Gate I would think that can be due to character building, lore, no-reload challenges, nostalgia, D&D interests and more... And I would think those reasons can be found among different people rather than men and women.
@Aristillius, I do happen to believe there is something overarching 'special' about women. I just don't think those special characteristics make women any more, or any less, likely to play/like Baldur's Gate. In my house, which has three of those overarchingly specialist women, two of three like BG, one of three play BG. Hardly a representative sample, but it is what it is. I suspect that the game is why they play it, not their gender...
It surprises me that the gender percentage is relatively even. I would not have guessed that based on my gaming experience, although I admit I have not followed this topic. I would love to see it broken down by game and genre to see which games males and females gravitate towards. I would guess males trend towards FPS and strategy games and females gravitate towards more socially interactive games, but I am unable to locate the ESA survey data to test my hypothesis. I guess they don't release it, which is unfortunate.
Comments
Now, why do I play video games? Because, they're fun, and I kind of grew up on video games like Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros, and Legend of Zelda.
Why Baldur's Gate? Because when my dad was waiting for Diablo 2 because he had just finished Diablo, he tasked me with adult supervision, mind you I was seven at the time, to go get Diablo 2, but it wasn't out yet, and when I pre-ordered D2, again with adult supervision, I ended up getting Baldur's Gate. Of course, it kind of helped that the gamestop clerk said that it was Dungeons and Dragons, and the seven year old me was having flashbacks to about three years earlier, back when my dad used to play DnD. So, I returned home with Baldur's Gate, dad and I installed it, and I watched him play, and I liked it because I could let my imagination roam. Just as I had done three years prior with the minatures that my dad had to use for the DnD campaign he was apart of.
May be, they simply know, when it is the right time to stop and dive in a real life, and I don't?
I am 40 years old, and female. I have been playing video games since I was maybe 11, and had an Atari 5200. I've played shoot-em-ups, silly arcades, all-text adventures, and a lot--A LOT--of those PC adventure games available in the 90s, like the Monkey Island series, Grim Fandango, Myst, all that stuff. Today I play the Nancy Drew series because, although made for a younger (and primarily female, I might add) audience, it appears to be the last of those types of games being made anymore. I'm also a fan of American McGee's Alice (a real psychological bloodbath of a twist on Lewis Carroll's children's classic), and I've been playing the BG series for maybe eight years.
Why? Dude, I don't know. Games are fun. They're a challenge. They're not real. Sometimes I like puzzles. Sometimes I really *like* blowing stuff up. Sometimes it grosses me out. It depends. A lot of times, frankly, I use video games to procrastinate or avoid reality. Games can hook me like a good movie or novel: what happens next? What if this? What if that? I'm not a full-blown addict, but I do know I have the tendency.
I do take notice of visuals and music, but that may not be because of gender but because I am artistic IRL. I love a good storyline, romantic or not, and I always appreciate when a game gets it right and does a good job in that regard. I don't always NEED it, though.
As for BG in particular, it has great replay value--you can do things differently every time, which hooks me. I'm always mixing it up, using different NPCs, combat techniques, spells, alignment, dialogue, everything. I also like the way the game makes you move through all levels of society, and make moral decisions. I know there are aspects to that which are limited or illogical (just look around this forum for tons of discussion on that) but for what it is, it makes you think, and that's a good thing. Also, it has golden pantaloons, long walks through beautiful scenery, and a great sense of humor. What more could a girl ask for?
Look deep into your soul and answer this question.
If you answered yes, then we can say with certainty, the reason you played the game is the same reason why women play the game...
If you answered no... I believe we can blame it on trauma and a new found fear of sharp knives...
Oh and...
If you are a lady reading this... I apologise for my fellow male brethren.
*walks in with popcorn*
Would it blow your mind to tiny little bits to know that I started playing Baldur's Gate because my mother--my mother--played it when I was a little girl? I used to watch her all the time. Eventually I grew old enough to where I wanted to take a try at the game myself, and when I did, I fell in love with it.
As for why my mother played it, she probably did for the same reason I do today:
Because it's awesome.
Because they can!
I had no idea there was even a distiction between male and female gamers. Are we not all merely geeks drooling over a fantastic piece of software??
Why wouldn't they?
Ha ha! My mom's a gamer too. Not into BG, but she likes solving things and is ridiculously good at it. Hell, she figured out the Myst sequel, Riven, all by herself.
And she's 73 now!
That is sarcasm by the way
BG was meant to be played by both genders as we can see with the NPC interactions, especially with the EE NPCs...on a related note is it weird if my next BGEE playthrough my PC is Female and I choose Anomen, hexxat, Dorn, Rasaad with multi rom mod??
Baldur's Gate was much of the same. My first character was Zenobia, a female fighter- and that's all I remember about her. But, at the time I started playing RPGs like D&D, I was one of three female players in a 14 player group. I've DMed fellow women. I don't think there is anything that would make a woman *not* like these games. There is plenty of combat, but also plenty of story, and the game treats you the same, whether your character is male or female.
Sure, I play "casual" games, too. But I also play OLD SKOOL HARD games like Rogue-likes (And yea, I do tend to play female characters here as well). I feel I play for the same reasons men play these games: The Games are good, and they are fun. And they have a good, coherent story that treats CHARNAME the same, as a hero, whether you are a male or a female.
you know, she enjoys exactly the same things as me
As for why people play Baldur's Gate I would think that can be due to character building, lore, no-reload challenges, nostalgia, D&D interests and more... And I would think those reasons can be found among different people rather than men and women.
It surprises me that the gender percentage is relatively even. I would not have guessed that based on my gaming experience, although I admit I have not followed this topic. I would love to see it broken down by game and genre to see which games males and females gravitate towards. I would guess males trend towards FPS and strategy games and females gravitate towards more socially interactive games, but I am unable to locate the ESA survey data to test my hypothesis. I guess they don't release it, which is unfortunate.