Question for the Grrl Gamers in AO...

[____________Bagheera]

I am writing a paper for my ethics class regarding the stereotypes applied to women characters in video games, as well as women who play video games. As part of this I was curious if I could get some feedback about how comfortable "girl gamers" feel on Rubi-Ka.

Please, if anyone has the time, tell me if you've had any problems in AO as far as harassment, lack of help from other players, etc.

And please, no explicit details. I'm looking for GENERAL information - nothing that could implicate anyone or create problems for Funcom. I love this game...so I don't want to cause any trouble.

Thank you! Rest assured, any information I am given with be used in the most general sense - I won't be using anyone's screen names or player names in my paper. Even then the only people who will see it are myself and my Ethics professor.

[____________Fpockets]

I get alot of free items and money when i make a newbie female character. but i delete the female character because i dont like getting hit on by pimply faced teenagers who fall in love with sexy cartoon girls lol

[___________Wyldthing]

I am a 33 year old female in real life, and have been gaming since I was about eleven years old. I started with EverQuest as my first MMORPG, and noticed there that being female in game as well as real life meant a lot of pick-up lines and sexual comments (when people believed you were female real life), but it also meant a lot of free items, money, and gear.

On Anarchy Online I have noticed that a lot of the female clothing tends toward a more 'revealing' nature, making the pick-ups and sexual comments a common occurance. Not a day goes by that I do not see some female character run by in a skimpy bathing suit or see one dancing in front of the Fair Trade for attention. Most people usually do not even believe you are female real life when you tell them. Most often I hear hear someone comment about scantily clad females as 'whores', 'sluts', 'want some of that' or something along those lines, but again I think that is because most do not believe that the female character they are seeing online is a female in real life.

Despite the player base of most MMORPGs being somewhere between 17 and 25 of age physically (12 to 16 mentally) and male, I still enjoy playing the game. In spite of the constant pick ups, come ons and comments (whether real or jokes), I seek out the less annoying male players and just hang out with them to enjoy the game. It would help a great deal if male players could come to understand that there are in fact a lot of real life females playing these games and that the comments (whether aimed at a friend you know is male or merely thrown out because you assume the person is male) are insultive and annoying.

Anyway, I hope my comments were somewhat helpful for your report.

[____________Bagheera]

I really appreciate the information you provided me with.

Some info I found out from recent studies that have been done are showing that some 48% of gamers are, in fact, women. Our numbers are also growing in the industry with 30% of game developers/designers being females. I'm glad to contribute to those numbers!

I've met a group of really nice guys on Rubi-Ka 2 whom I team with almost exclusively. One of them is playing a female character - and was I surprised when I found out it was a guy.

I wonder how many guys are playing female characters...and I think they're girls...