Dear Bioware – You had that really awesome elusive thing… Don’t let it go!

There is something out there that all game developers seem to try to capture, and it’s as elusive as a unicorn.   In fact, it’s their unicorn.   At home we talk about a song in Rock Band that we can never complete on solo/expert…. My husband’s unicorn is GGHT.   The game industry’s unicorn… are you ready?   Is the female gamer.

How often at gaming conventions do we see panels about female gamers, or marketing to females, or how to get girls to play?   It seems like all the time.   Apparently the game industry is still trying to figure out how to market to females, how to get females to play their games, how to get females excited about their games.  

One thing is quite obvious though:   You can market to females, as an entire group, about as well as you can market to males as an entire group.   Just because you have the next awesome CoD game doesn’t mean that the guys that only really play sports games are suddenly going to come over and check out your new CoD, just as not all girls are going to rush to check out your new Sims or WoW.   The only thing you can possibly use to try to market to guys, as a whole, is a hot chick.   But that doesn’t work the other way around.   Many female gamers don’t care about the hot guy.   Some are just as interested in the hot chick.   Some don’t associate hot guy or chick with “gotta have that product.” So first and foremost, the game industry needs to accept that.   There is no marketing to females, as a whole.

What does this have to do with Bioware?   I’m getting there.   Walk with me.   We’re walking… we’re walking….   Inside joke, sorry.

I’m not your typical girl.   I’m married, in my 30s, with a kid and a career, yet I’m a total gamer.   RPG’s, MMOs, the occasional shooter.   Just keep away with that Sims or Farmville garbage.   I certainly don’t consider myself a girly-girl either.   I’ve only just started wearing pink over the last few years.   I don’t think I own a single romance novel.   My “chick flicks” consist of stuff like Coyote Ugly, Phantom of the Opera, and When Harry Met Sally.

Lately I haven’t been playing anything in particular.   Some GH:WoR here and there.   RB when friends are over.   That’s about it.   I’m back to looking for something to pique my interest again.   Last night I was considering my search.   And I considered just curling up with a good book.   But I wanted something, well I’m embarrassed to say now, with a bit of romance to it.   Not some Harlequin romance novel.   Something along the lines of Raistlin and Crysania in the Dragonlance books.   Or Alistair and the main female character from Dragon Age…. Wait a second!   That’s it!

That was the moment of my epiphany.   I realized that Bioware had created something so awesome.   They had created a game that gamers enjoyed playing, and they created a game that girls and women alike gushed over.   God knows I even gushed for a little while and I’ve NEVER done that with a game.   Never in my life had I had a video game crush until Alistair came along.   And the character interaction in that game (not just with Alistair, but with your whole party) really just fulfilled something.   It was like reading a good book, only better because you took part in it.   You got to be a gamer, enjoy a very well put together game, AND get the interaction that many females enjoy (without dealing with arseholes like on WoW).   Now granted, the Mass Effect games were pretty damn good too, but they just weren’t quite to the same level, in my humble opinion.

So Bioware, for a time at least, had caught that unicorn.   They almost let it go.   Dragon Age 2 was starting to sound much less appealing than the first.   I was quite disappointed when at first, we were told we’d only be allowed to play a male.   I’m glad that’s been changed.   I just truly hope that the game captures the essence of the first, and captures the female heart the way the first game did.   Boyfriends and husbands and guys in general probably weren’t too thrilled about their sisters, girlfriends, and wives flocking to Dragon Age fansites, but look what Bioware did – something that may very well be unprecedented in the gaming industry.

Dear Bioware – You had that really awesome elusive thing… Don’t let it go!

There is something out there that all game developers seem to try to capture, and it’s as elusive as a unicorn.   In fact, it’s their unicorn.   At home we talk about a song in Rock Band that we can never complete on solo/expert…. My husband’s unicorn is GGHT.   The game industry’s unicorn… are you ready?   Is the female gamer.

How often at gaming conventions do we see panels about female gamers, or marketing to females, or how to get girls to play?   It seems like all the time.   Apparently the game industry is still trying to figure out how to market to females, how to get females to play their games, how to get females excited about their games.  

One thing is quite obvious though:   You can market to females, as an entire group, about as well as you can market to males as an entire group.   Just because you have the next awesome CoD game doesn’t mean that the guys that only really play sports games are suddenly going to come over and check out your new CoD, just as not all girls are going to rush to check out your new Sims or WoW.   The only thing you can possibly use to try to market to guys, as a whole, is a hot chick.   But that doesn’t work the other way around.   Many female gamers don’t care about the hot guy.   Some are just as interested in the hot chick.   Some don’t associate hot guy or chick with “gotta have that product.” So first and foremost, the game industry needs to accept that.   There is no marketing to females, as a whole.

What does this have to do with Bioware?   I’m getting there.   Walk with me.   We’re walking… we’re walking….   Inside joke, sorry.

I’m not your typical girl.   I’m married, in my 30s, with a kid and a career, yet I’m a total gamer.   RPG’s, MMOs, the occasional shooter.   Just keep away with that Sims or Farmville garbage.   I certainly don’t consider myself a girly-girl either.   I’ve only just started wearing pink over the last few years.   I don’t think I own a single romance novel.   My “chick flicks” consist of stuff like Coyote Ugly, Phantom of the Opera, and When Harry Met Sally.

Lately I haven’t been playing anything in particular.   Some GH:WoR here and there.   RB when friends are over.   That’s about it.   I’m back to looking for something to pique my interest again.   Last night I was considering my search.   And I considered just curling up with a good book.   But I wanted something, well I’m embarrassed to say now, with a bit of romance to it.   Not some Harlequin romance novel.   Something along the lines of Raistlin and Crysania in the Dragonlance books.   Or Alistair and the main female character from Dragon Age…. Wait a second!   That’s it!

That was the moment of my epiphany.   I realized that Bioware had created something so awesome.   They had created a game that gamers enjoyed playing, and they created a game that girls and women alike gushed over.   God knows I even gushed for a little while and I’ve NEVER done that with a game.   Never in my life had I had a video game crush until Alistair came along.   And the character interaction in that game (not just with Alistair, but with your whole party) really just fulfilled something.   It was like reading a good book, only better because you took part in it.   You got to be a gamer, enjoy a very well put together game, AND get the interaction that many females enjoy (without dealing with arseholes like on WoW).   Now granted, the Mass Effect games were pretty damn good too, but they just weren’t quite to the same level, in my humble opinion.

So Bioware, for a time at least, had caught that unicorn.   They almost let it go.   Dragon Age 2 was starting to sound much less appealing than the first.   I was quite disappointed when at first, we were told we’d only be allowed to play a male.   I’m glad that’s been changed.   I just truly hope that the game captures the essence of the first, and captures the female heart the way the first game did.   Boyfriends and husbands and guys in general probably weren’t too thrilled about their sisters, girlfriends, and wives flocking to Dragon Age fansites, but look what Bioware did – something that may very well be unprecedented in the gaming industry.

I doubt that Bioware will read this.

I didn't expect them to read it here.  That's why it's a blog.  Not a letter written directly to their corporate headquarters or a message to one of their devs, or a post on their company-owned.  It's just my own random thoughts that I wanted to express.  Kkthxbye.

" I doubt that Bioware will read this. "

what

Out of curiosity, after the epiphany, did you go back and realize why you liked some of the other games you've appreciated over the years? 
I had a realization myself this year about what I like in games, and I ended up suddenly realizing why a few games have stuck in my mind over time.

" I didn't expect them to read it here.  That's why it's a blog.  Not a letter written directly to their corporate headquarters or a message to one of their devs, or a post on their company-owned.  It's just my own random thoughts that I wanted to express.  Kkthxbye. "

My husband and I often have discussions about what we like or don't like in games.  Often it's more of a discourse on what keeps one of us interested in a game more (or longer) than the other.  Chances are, if we purchase a game, each of us will play it at some point, if not simultaneously.  And certainly there are games that we've gone back to over and over throughout the years.  Most often, these are RPGs that either we never finished, or are open world, or that we can play through again in a way that we hadn't played through before.  Bioware has mastered these elements too.
 
I mean, I knew a lot of this stuff about Dragon Age when I played it last year/earlier this year.  But it never really occurred to me until last night that Bioware had finally captured something that appealed to a wide audience of female gamers in a way that no other game (except perhaps MMOs) has so far. 
 
Certainly, it's a guilty pleasure that some females may not even admit to.

" I doubt that Bioware will read this. "

" @melcene said:

" I didn't expect them to read it here.  That's why it's a blog.  Not a letter written directly to their corporate headquarters or a message to one of their devs, or a post on their company-owned.  It's just my own random thoughts that I wanted to express.  Kkthxbye. "

No shit, bro. 
 
Guess what? 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.  

 
 

 I was joking with you.

"

Are Unicorns the answer to getting the female gamer? Sounds about right.

I completely agree.  I enjoyed both Dragon Age and Mass Effect, though I think Dragon Age had more to it, with the random things your party would say while you were out with them, and the seemingly more options to how to interact with your party members.

Indeed, Dragon Age: Origins really had something more to give the player (both story-wise and game play experience), when comparing with allot of other RPG's that's fairly new on the market. I recently picked it up to continue on my save, and I just can't stop due to the really good storyline.

It doesn't help that a lot of RPGs that have been showing up on the market are... well, they're crap ultimately.  I mean, when The Witcher is competing with Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Fable... that's pretty sad.

Thanks.  Actually I played the first, but don't think I ever got around to playing the second NWN.  Back when I was playing the first one, I was also playing Morrowind, and Morrowind kept winning out for my time.

One space between words, not two.

" I doubt that I will read this. "

A lot of the arguments I get into about this is that if you removed the shooting, ME wouldn't be a game anymore.  I think the genre's just unrealized; if you have meaningful choices, ways to use lying and manipulation, or strategic truth-telling, there could be tons of depth.  But even if you're just talking about the general flavor moments that make the world feel alive and less like a fill-in-the-dots exercise, I agree this needs to be explored more. "