Indeed. Having to actively hide that you're female isn't a solution - why should anybody have to do that? Of course, that's not to say anybody needs to go around deliberately making a big deal out of it in order to provoke a reaction either.
To be fair, the industry probably needs to be (and would benefit from being) more pro-active about expanding the scope of the market instead of just being reactive. If 95% of games are designed primarily to fulfill the young male power fantasy then that's exactly the audience they're gonna attract. If they made more effort to make gaming (on 360 and PS3) more appealing to other groups (how often do you see a black lead character, or a strong female lead who isn't just a sex object?) then there'd be more diversity and everybody would just get more used to other types of people being around. Adolescent males are always going to be insecure around females though, there isn't a whole lot they can do about that.
" @Vortexus1981: Now that I'm older, I'm getting more and more irritated with most of the online community. I just play with the mic off and mute half the players. I only talk when I'm rolling online with friends.
Basically, this.
It definitely doesn't get better as you get older. I met some really cool college-crowd dudes while playing ALOT of Halo 3 back in 2007, but that was 3 people in a span of about 200 matches. I remember about 30-35% or so of the players playing with their mic on, so other than those 3, the other people I saw were people that just didn't talk during that particular match, people that I didn't seem to fit in with or get much into the conversation they happened to be having, and the overwhelming majority were people who just annoyed the hell out of me with their immaturity and inability to take the fact that they lost a game. On the flipside, these same people annoyed me with their inability to cope with the fact that for once in their life they WON something and in their infinite wisdom took this opportunity to smear their smugness in my face with as many cheap insults as they can pull out of their ass before I leave the lobby and search for a different group of people to play with who will most likely be just as immature - If you are black, then suddenly you need to go back to tending the fields and working for your white master. If you are a white you are a socially-disabled nerd and are hacking the game. If you are a woman you need to go back to the kitchen. If you are hispanic then you need to go back over the Rio Grande and return to Mexico. The list goes on.
It has nothing to do with whether you are a girl or a guy - there are just a ton of idiots on Xbox live. Play with friends, or play with the mic and voice turned off.
" Indeed. Having to actively hide that you're female isn't a solution - why should anybody have to do that? Of course, that's not to say anybody needs to go around deliberately making a big deal out of it in order to provoke a reaction either. To be fair, the industry probably needs to be (and would benefit from being) more pro-active about expanding the scope of the market instead of just being reactive. If 95% of games are designed primarily to fulfill the young male power fantasy then that's exactly the audience they're gonna attract. If they made more effort to make gaming (on 360 and PS3) more appealing to other groups (how often do you see a black lead character, or a strong female lead who isn't just a sex object?) then there'd be more diversity and everybody would just get more used to other types of people being around. Adolescent males are always going to be insecure around females though, there isn't a whole lot they can do about that. "
Well said. I'm not gonna say much cuz I can get very rant-prone about these types of things, the idea I need to hide my gender (and then have every gamer automatically assume I'm a male) is irritating. But ultimately, all the male gamers I know in real life are awesome. The only times I've been insulted/harassed because of my gender, has been online, by people who have never met me. It's real easy to take out all your issues on a screen name. I do wonder how these guys treat women that they actually know.
" @Vortexus1981: Now that I'm older, I'm getting more and more irritated with most of the online community. I just play with the mic off and mute half the players. I only talk when I'm rolling online with friends.
Basically, this.
It definitely doesn't get better as you get older. I met some really cool college-crowd dudes while playing ALOT of Halo 3 back in 2007, but that was 3 people in a span of about 200 matches. I remember about 30-35% or so of the players playing with their mic on, so other than those 3, the other people I saw were people that just didn't talk during that particular match, people that I didn't seem to fit in with or get much into the conversation they happened to be having, and the overwhelming majority were people who just annoyed the hell out of me with their immaturity and inability to take the fact that they lost a game. On the flipside, these same people annoyed me with their inability to cope with the fact that for once in their life they WON something and in their infinite wisdom took this opportunity to smear their smugness in my face with as many cheap insults as they can pull out of their ass before I leave the lobby and search for a different group of people to play with who will most likely be just as immature - If you are black, then suddenly you need to go back to tending the fields and working for your white master. If you are a white you are a socially-disabled nerd and are hacking the game. If you are a woman you need to go back to the kitchen. If you are hispanic then you need to go back over the Rio Grande and return to Mexico. The list goes on.
It has nothing to do with whether you are a girl or a guy - there are just a ton of idiots on Xbox live. Play with friends, or play with the mic and voice turned off. "
I thoroughly enjoyed that reading. I just had the view as a female gamer, but ofc i'v heard several things spoken to the male gamers aswell. It's just sad in my opinion.
@G3RHRT Seriously you're going to drop the Nazi grammar thing on me? I wasn't being a dick about it. Her post wasn't exactly easy to follow and I didn't know that English isn't her primary language until she brought it up.
Honestly? Those people probably treat everyone the same, the only difference is the "jokes" they make. If they know your a chick, they do the usual kitchen sexism shit. If your a dude, they go for "fagot" and other "questionable" sexual preferences. Most of the idiots I've experienced doing shit like that do it to everyone.
Just tell them your "queer boyfriend is too busy baking communist cookies, so your stuck living out a life of man-itude with your fellow man-ites".
They think they won, but then ultimately the confusion and strangitudocity of your message will ultimately destroy them. Either that or they will keep being sexist racist homophobic rabbit faced yella bellied red coatin fucktards, and you can take comfort in the fact that they lead pointless, depressing, scary, and likely short lives.
There's the mistake you're making. Don't bother replying. Also Viper's like the hardest character in the game to play. I can barely play her lol.
"
Yes. I kinda know, but after 10-16-17 pms, you just want to say something. and yes. C.Vipers is hard as hell. But i dont want to be a "shoto". there are 35 characters in SSF4. 90%(my mind) uses 4-6 characters. I want to use the hard/overlooked one. BTW: Chokoblanka(female ssf4 player) look her up^^ But yes. Maybe i should just not reply. But then again. You male gamers, can you not reply after a "diss"? For me it took about 15-17 pms(just tonight) but how do you deal with this? "
Honestly, I really just don't even answer. In fact, I don't even open up PMs from people who aren't on my friends' list.
If I ever do reply to hate spam, though, I usually say something so below-the-belt that there really would be no way to come back at me. Generally this involves going for physical features. Insults about penis size are good ones, because not only are you insulting their anatomy, you're also insulting their sexual prowess (these guys are so pathetic that they equate dick size in a 1:1 ratio with sexual prowess). I guarantee you that if they reply, their reply will be defensive, saying that their dicks aren't small. At which point you can either not reply (because you already won by getting them to not reply with an insult), or you can reaffirm what you already said and send it back (just to rub in your victory in the war of words). And if you don't win on the first post, just keep at it. You don't ever have to make an intelligible response, and in fact you probably shouldn't. Because they're not using logic, so why should you?
To be clear, there wasn't anything too wrong or bad about your original reply diss, except that it was too long. Really what you'd want to say is something like "at least I don't play an easymode shoto guy like a punk bitch". It's gotta be short, direct, confrontational, and to the point. You don't want to get defensive, which is what "I'm trying to learn the character" is. Once you're on the defensive in one of these diss-fights, you've already lost. Which is why my method above works so well: they can't help but respond to your challenge of their "masculinity" by defending themselves.
As a side note, my friend and I bought the guide to SSFIV. The first line of the Crimson Viper page basically said "Crimson Viper is the hardest character to play in any game ever. Good luck having any success with her, because her moves are ridiculously hard and not all that effective". Except it was even more ridiculous and amusing than that. So if you can start beating people with C. Viper, expect a lot more hate, because they'll then be mad for losing to arguably the hardest character in the game.
@Vortexus1981: I have been called a faggot, a bitch, a shit head, whatever you like. It's almost always when I'm winning, but if you play as a female, most moron males are going to assume you are female. I wouldn't take it too personally, children will be children, after all. Laugh at it. Send them back something SUPER friendly like "Thank you! I enjoyed our match too!" It completely fucks with their minds.
There's the mistake you're making. Don't bother replying. Also Viper's like the hardest character in the game to play. I can barely play her lol.
"
Yes. I kinda know, but after 10-16-17 pms, you just want to say something. and yes. C.Vipers is hard as hell. But i dont want to be a "shoto". there are 35 characters in SSF4. 90%(my mind) uses 4-6 characters. I want to use the hard/overlooked one. BTW: Chokoblanka(female ssf4 player) look her up^^ But yes. Maybe i should just not reply. But then again. You male gamers, can you not reply after a "diss"? For me it took about 15-17 pms(just tonight) but how do you deal with this? "
Honestly, I really just don't even answer. In fact, I don't even open up PMs from people who aren't on my friends' list. If I ever do reply to hate spam, though, I usually say something so below-the-belt that there really would be no way to come back at me. Generally this involves going for physical features. Insults about penis size are good ones, because not only are you insulting their anatomy, you're also insulting their sexual prowess (these guys are so pathetic that they equate dick size in a 1:1 ratio with sexual prowess). I guarantee you that if they reply, their reply will be defensive, saying that their dicks aren't small. At which point you can either not reply (because you already won by getting them to not reply with an insult), or you can reaffirm what you already said and send it back (just to rub in your victory in the war of words). And if you don't win on the first post, just keep at it. You don't ever have to make an intelligible response, and in fact you probably shouldn't. Because they're not using logic, so why should you? To be clear, there wasn't anything too wrong or bad about your original reply diss, except that it was too long. Really what you'd want to say is something like "at least I don't play an easymode shoto guy like a punk bitch". It's gotta be short, direct, confrontational, and to the point. You don't want to get defensive, which is what "I'm trying to learn the character" is. Once you're on the defensive in one of these diss-fights, you've already lost. Which is why my method above works so well: they can't help but respond to your challenge of their "masculinity" by defending themselves. As a side note, my friend and I bought the guide to SSFIV. The first line of the Crimson Viper page basically said "Crimson Viper is the hardest character to play in any game ever. Good luck having any success with her, because her moves are ridiculously hard and not all that effective". Except it was even more ridiculous and amusing than that. So if you can start beating people with C. Viper, expect a lot more hate, because they'll then be mad for losing to arguably the hardest character in the game. "
I enjoyed reading that, and you a so right. But i think i'll stick to not responding in general. This topic was just for me to "vent" a bit and hear what others think. I think i have got alot of good feedback here:)
And yes. Viper is hard to use. I only know the basics and can do some combos. but it works from time to time, and i will keep up my practise:)
" @Vortexus1981: I have been called a faggot, a bitch, a shit head, whatever you like. It's almost always when I'm winning, but if you play as a female, most moron males are going to assume you are female. I wouldn't take it too personally, children will be children, after all. Laugh at it. Send them back something SUPER friendly like "Thank you! I enjoyed our match too!" It completely fucks with their minds. "
" I'm equally irritated with guys who treat female gamers poorly as I am with female gamers who feel the need to advertise that they're female. The whole "GamerChix" nonsense and all-female gaming clans are part of the problem, not the solution. Just play games, I don't need or care to know what your gender is. If it comes up online because you have a tag that makes it obvious you're a female (which I don't know why you would), just ignore the jerks, mute them, and don't respond to their messages. "
yeah basically this,
I think the majority of the answers in this thread go along the same lines as this, do what you do what you do, you're going to get the odd message from idiot but just don't let it get to you,
and why advertise something that doesn't matter? you have a handful of replies in this thread by idiots who just want to show some sort of dominance that they just do not have,
@Vortexus1981: Yeah. I know a little too much about insulting people over the internet, but I was trained at a (relatively) young age that that shit wouldn't fly, because of my nation's policy in an MMO I used to play. I actually got spoken to directly by one of the Inner Council about it, and after that I stopped making offensive statements to people online. I'd like to think that my membership in a largely older guild/nation really sort of helped my online maturity, because as a guild we were generally fairly professional, respectful, and adult about things, and it sort of rubbed off on me.
Plenty of assholes in real life, many more assholes on the internet. Like someone else said, you would likely get trolled about the same amount if you were a guy (or they thought you were), but instead of shitty kitchen jokes you'd just be called a fag, or something along those lines. But, in all honesty, they probably do send you a few messages they wouldn't have otherwise if they know you're female. I like to respond with sarcastic shit, just to fuck with them. And it's pretty funny if they're name is something like: 69xG0dLy-Ch33z_420N0sC0p3ZxX5.
It's always disheartening to hear this happening to female games consumers but the sad fact is that there's no immediate way out of this problem. The males that lash out at females do so basically because of close-mindedness and immaturity (i.e. The "Girls can't play vidja gamez" mentality). In the long run I think if the problem does go away I think it's only going to do so once we start to see diversification in the video game audience and possibly more moderation of services like XBL, and even then certain kinds of games may still have problems with this brand of idiocy. My advice is always report anyone giving you trouble and don't give them the reaction they want.
" Keep doing what you're doing and learn to love it. "
Yep, pretty much this.
I get a kick out of the "get back to the kitchen" messages I've received since I like to imagine it's some pasty teenager or young adult who's popping a vein in their forehead as they write the best insult they can come up with while raging.
Bah! For you PixelPrinny, it's more like, "Get back to the keyboard and blog more", but I guess it's just me being old.
For the most part, people who are overly hostile in online games do so because they're weak and powerless in real life and want to establish some sort of dominance over ANYTHING in their life, and choose to do so behind the anonymity of a keyboard. They feel like they can be insulting jerks because they can get away with it.
I don't see the point of this thread. People will look for reasons to be make fun of/harrass people. if you're short, bald, blonde, black, fat, female. trying to get sympathy because the reason you're getting harrassed happens to be common is kind of dumb. i get harrassed all the time for living in alaska for example. unless you are joe-every-man who has a job, girlfriend, lives in new york/califonia and have no strange traits you WILL be harrassed. just ask gingers, they will tell you ALL about how people will be jerks for any given reason.
@NuclearKnight: By that logic, racist and sexist comments are as bad as calling someone fat, blonde or short. Completely ignore the fact that in American society there are social and historical aspects of these points-of-view that make them more scathing and personal and insulting than making fun of someone for living in Alaska.
" Hello:) I always wonderd why guys seems to be so hostile to us female gamers. May it be fps, fighting and even dual of the planeswalkers. My secondary profil is my full name with only 1 letter as last name, and while playing this(as i mostly do) i find ppl just beeing jerkd. Ofc you can sort the "young ppl" and so on. but in general. i main viper in SSf(who knew^^) and after i'v been defeated, i normaly get pm's like: Get back in the kitchen or read the manual first. My normaly reply is: Im just training and trying to figur out this character. we cant all be easymode shotos, now can we? " and i never hear from them again. So! thats why im asking. I never hear from ppl again, but i still get my inbox full of just jerks who wanna be funny or be....retarded(no offence) So..... can any male gamer here answear why, and can any female members share or tell how the hell you get out of it? "
" I'd say because games are kind of a guy's thing. Specifically, it's for guys who never had any luck with the girls. What do you think is going to happen when they see the one thing they can never touch? On Giant Bomb, however, we've been around girls (specifically, Pepsiman and Symphony/PixelPrinny) long enough not to treat them like shit. "
Wait, they're chicks? Time to hit them up for boob pics. "
lol somewhat. Also Mel aka PixelPrinny/Symphony left the site. Well it seems she couldn't stay away, despite making a big who ha about leaving.
@Wrighteous86: Thats not what I said at all. I said people will use any reason to harrass people and alot of people will get very offended even if it is a dumb insult. I know people that will get just as offended for making fun of little things like that as a person would getting called a racial slur. Don't rip things out of context.
i talk shit to girls who are attention whores the ones who make a point t let everyone know they are a girl. then i tell them that nobody cares about their vagina and that they should get in the kitchen.
but to ones who just hang out and play games, whatever.
" I'd say because games are kind of a guy's thing. Specifically, it's for guys who never had any luck with the girls. What do you think is going to happen when they see the one thing they can never touch? On Giant Bomb, however, we've been around girls (specifically, Pepsiman and Symphony/PixelPrinny) long enough not to treat them like shit. "
Wait, they're chicks? Time to hit them up for boob pics. "
lol somewhat. Also Mel aka PixelPrinny/Symphony left the site. Well it seems she couldn't stay away, despite making a big who ha about leaving. "
Big? I didn't even notice it D= Someone obviously failed at making an exit. Especially since they're back.
@Axleisbored: Yeah, they should have to hide the fact that they're women because it makes us feel uncomfortable.
Not to mention those gays. If they want to be in the military, they should just shut the fuck up about themselves. The world would be a better place if everyone that was different from me had the God-given courtesy to act ashamed!
@NuclearKnight said:
" @Wrighteous86: Thats not what I said at all. I said people will use any reason to harrass people and alot of people will get very offended even if it is a dumb insult. I know people that will get just as offended for making fun of little things like that as a person would getting called a racial slur. Don't rip things out of context. "
Sorry, that wasn't directed specifically at you, but I still think a lot of people in this thread are acting like racial slurs and sexist comments are as frivolous as other insults, which isn't the case.
@Shirogane:@Video_Game_King: Big for some of us that knew her. Anyway it is more personal to get into things but I guess she is back. I am going to stop talking about this now.
" I'd say because games are kind of a guy's thing. Specifically, it's for guys who never had any luck with the girls. What do you think is going to happen when they see the one thing they can never touch? On Giant Bomb, however, we've been around girls (specifically, Pepsiman and Symphony/PixelPrinny) long enough not to treat them like shit. "
Wait, they're chicks? Time to hit them up for boob pics. "
lol somewhat. Also Mel aka PixelPrinny/Symphony left the site. Well it seems she couldn't stay away, despite making a big who ha about leaving. "
I know, I'm well aware actually. Was just making a joke.
Welcome to the internet basically. Most people are not like that but the people who don't care that you're a girl don't send PMs saying "Oh I'm so glad more girls can play games". You're just dealing with a very vocal minority.
While I don't agree with people insulting you, there's no reason to lie and call shoto characters "easy mode". If you want to get anywhere online you still need to be good at the game and while some characters are easier to use than others it doesn't make one character so overpowered that it becomes easy mode.
" Hello:) I always wonderd why guys seems to be so hostile to us female gamers. May it be fps, fighting and even dual of the planeswalkers. My secondary profil is my full name with only 1 letter as last name, and while playing this(as i mostly do) i find ppl just beeing jerkd. Ofc you can sort the "young ppl" and so on. but in general. i main viper in SSf(who knew^^) and after i'v been defeated, i normaly get pm's like: Get back in the kitchen or read the manual first. My normaly reply is: Im just training and trying to figur out this character. we cant all be easymode shotos, now can we? " and i never hear from them again. So! thats why im asking. I never hear from ppl again, but i still get my inbox full of just jerks who wanna be funny or be....retarded(no offence) So..... can any male gamer here answear why, and can any female members share or tell how the hell you get out of it? "
Expect every personal detail about you to be attacked on the Internet. I always try to stay as anonymous, as possible. Nobody knows my occupation, level of education, gender, age, ethnicity, or race.
@ThePhantomnaut: Telling girls it's their fault for not hiding their sex is the same thing as the military telling gays they're not allowed to reveal their sexuality. They shouldn't have to hide anything.
I wonder how many of the gamers in this thread that hate "attention whores" also think that they're "nice guys" that girls won't give a chance. I'm betting the cross-over is pretty high, because most "nice guys" are just passive-aggressive pricks.
" @ThePhantomnaut: Telling girls it's their fault for not hiding their sex is the same thing as the military telling gays they're not allowed to reveal their sexuality. They shouldn't have to hide anything. "
For the case of dem video gams, they will just have to deal with it then. They could ignore negative comments and get with their day. Also this is not the military.
@ThePhantomnaut: Agreed, but whenever these threads get started, about half of the posts are gamers trying to blame the girl, and it's ridiculous. The number of girls specifically trying to use their sex one way or the other is miniscule compared to the amount of guys who will spew bigoted shit at a woman upon realizing her gender.
" Hello:) I always wonderd why guys seems to be so hostile to us female gamers. May it be fps, fighting and even dual of the planeswalkers. My secondary profil is my full name with only 1 letter as last name, and while playing this(as i mostly do) i find ppl just beeing jerkd. Ofc you can sort the "young ppl" and so on. but in general. i main viper in SSf(who knew^^) and after i'v been defeated, i normaly get pm's like: Get back in the kitchen or read the manual first. My normaly reply is: Im just training and trying to figur out this character. we cant all be easymode shotos, now can we? " and i never hear from them again. So! thats why im asking. I never hear from ppl again, but i still get my inbox full of just jerks who wanna be funny or be....retarded(no offence) So..... can any male gamer here answear why, and can any female members share or tell how the hell you get out of it? "
I'm sure this has been said many times since this is now 5 pages, but...
I don't mind female gamers. Many of my friends IRL are female gamers. What people mind are "Grrrl Gamers" That is, girls who try to act special or try to gain attention because they are girls.
However, if you AREN'T acting like that, and people are being rude anyway, it's just because it's the internet. Anonymity gives people the strength to do things that they would normally never do, and unfortunately, many take that strength to mean "be an asshole with no repercussions."
it's because they only want to make fun of you. it's also the internet. a lot of times people that are playing video games are nerds that get made fun of them when they are not playing video games and in public (school).
Women who go around on the internet, parading their gender, and expecting to be treated different than everyone else - such as this thread - are extremely annoying. As such, I don't really care if the internet gives you a hard time. It's not like it holds back for anyone else.
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