Female gamers: Weal or woe?

[PaulofCthulhu]

Look! Proof that ladies play the game!

OK, well a drawing.

 

[Imperialus]

I think that poor Mr. Bryson would unequivocally say that girls and gaming can only lead to Woe... Or at least major head trauma.

Cedar City » When Logan Bryson suddenly awakened in the early morning of May 30, he thought he was having a bad dream until he realized someone was beating him with a hammer.

"I didn't realize I was being attacked until I fell to the floor with my arms up to defend myself," said Bryson, who took the stand Monday in 5th District Court in Cedar City during the preliminary hearing for Zachery Frank King, charged with beating Bryson and Daniel Shokrian at Shokrian's home in this southern Utah city.

King is charged with two counts of attempted aggravated murder and a count of aggravated burglary, all first-degree felonies. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge G. Michael Westfall bound King over for trial.

King, who agreed to be arraigned after the preliminary hearing, pleaded not guilty to the charges before being returned to the Iron County Jail.

Testimony Monday suggested a motive for the attacks may have grown from the trio playing the fantasy role-playing game "Dungeons and Dragons" and jealousy over a girl who King and Bryson knew.

Bryson, 23, suffered a concussion and bruises in the attack; Shokrian, 20, lost some vision and his ability to read and write, which he is trying to recover through therapy.

Bryson and King knew each other at school and had spent time the previous day playing "Dungeons and Dragons" with Shokrian, who was acting cocky during the game, according to
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Detective Nathan Williams. Shokrian was directing the game as Dungeon Master, and King didn't like what he was doing with King's character, Williams said.

Detective Michael Bleak testified that during an interview at the police station, King told him he went home after playing the game at Shokrian's house, took an over-the-counter sleeping pill and went to bed. He awakened angry, found a hammer in a tool shed and drove to Shokrian's house, entering through an open window.

Bleak said King told him he went to Shokrian's bedroom and said, "I hate you," and started hitting Shokrian with the hammer. King then went to the room where Logan was sleeping and attacked him.

Bleak said that King had an issue with Bryson for dating a girl after both said they would not date her.

 

[Rechan]

I've had two instances where the presence of women caused problems.

One most recently was that a player wouldn't play because a girl was floated as being included. Because he had promised his wife that it would just be a "Guy's night out" and there wouldn't be any girls, and so he couldn't reneg on that. So two potential players (a couple) couldn't join. That guy really wound up to be a real problem person anyhow.

Another, I was running my first campaign. I had an insane female NPC. The players found out after they fought her that her insanity was due to miscarrying her child; the way that the bond between mother and child's souls had mingled had just broke her. This severely upset the female player in the group. She accused me of not being mature, of handling a delicate issue with crassness, and that I should be careful with handling things. The topic had never occured to me as being too sensitive to breach as part of an NPC's background.

Other than that, I've had positive experiences gaming with women. Or had conflicts that delt with their personalities, as opposed to anything relating to gender.

 

[N0Man]

I think that poor Mr. Bryson would unequivocally say that girls and gaming can only lead to Woe... Or at least major head trauma.

That has nothing to do with girls and gaming... It's two guys both interested in one girl.

It might surprise you to discover that outside of gaming, sometimes interactions between 2 guys both being interested in 1 girl can lead to tension, betrayal, hurt feelings and lots of other unpleasantness.

Gaming has little to do with it. It could have been a basket weaving class, a book club, or a night at the bar. There is nothing special about D&D that brought this about, and to suggest otherwise is as absurd as claiming wearing trenchcoats lead to school shootings.

 

[weem]

I currently PLAY in 3 different 4e games. One of them has 2 females (and 4 of us guys). The GIRLS are the ones who instigate most of the "filthy" topics and get things sidetracked along those lines so there is no worrying about what to say or not say around them - they cross the line more than we do, haha.

With that said, all experiences I have had with female gamers have been just fine - no more issues with them then there would be with the guys.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

While most of the gamers at my tables or beside me at the tables of others have been male, the ladies I've gamed with have run the same gamut of behaviors and attitudes I've found in the guys. Some I'd play with at the drop of a hat, some I never want to see at a gaming table ever again.

So IME, gender doesn't really seem to matter in terms of their good or bad influence on the game.

 

[N0Man]

I've had two instances where the presence of women caused problems.

One most recently was that a player wouldn't play because a girl was floated as being included. Because he had promised his wife that it would just be a "Guy's night out" and there wouldn't be any girls, and so he couldn't reneg on that. So two potential players (a couple) couldn't join. That guy really wound up to be a real problem person anyhow."

That's not something unique to gaming, that's just a weird situation. If his wife wouldn't trust him to be around a couple, then that's a bit unreasonable... It wasn't the presence of a woman that caused the problem, it was the indirect effect that a woman who wasn't even playing had on the game.

"Another, I was running my first campaign. I had an insane female NPC. The players found out after they fought her that her insanity was due to miscarrying her child; the way that the bond between mother and child's souls had mingled had just broke her. This severely upset the female player in the group. She accused me of not being mature, of handling a delicate issue with crassness, and that I should be careful with handling things. The topic had never occured to me as being too sensitive to breach as part of an NPC's background.

That's a tough one... I thinks he overreacted, but at the same time it seems to display that you might lack perspective on the subject. Some women are touchy on some subjects, and this can be one. Miscarriages are unfortunately far more common than many people realize. I also kind of wonder if you are confusing a miscarriage with a stillborn.

 

[N0Man]

And on the main topic...

I don't understand why female gamers are such a big topic of conversation. People talk about them like they are mythical, rare, and/or volatile.

You may find this hard to believe... but females are people too. Some like to game, some don't.

I haven't played in a single session of any roleplaying game that was all male in nearly 10 years. Every one had at least 1 female. I've played in some D&D sessions where there were more females than males. It was business as usual. There was no crazy drama. There were no pillow fights. It was just rolling dice, roleplaying, killing monsters and taking their stuff.

 

[Rechan]

it was the indirect effect that a woman who wasn't even playing had on the game.

That's what I meant by bringing it up. That the mere indirect presence of women can do that.

But that's merely because it's people and their weird relationships getting in the way of gaming.

That's a tough one... I thinks he overreacted, but at the same time it seems to display that you might lack perspective on the subject. Some women are touchy on some subjects, and this can be one. Miscarriages are unfortunately far more common than many people realize.

At the time, I just wanted to toss in something tragic and reasonable for the NPC than "Well she's just freaking nuts". I honestly didn't think it'd be a problem.

But then, it's tough to tell what a touchy subject for someone is until you hit it. Especially when it's something in their past/family they don't tell anyone.

To use a less touchy subject to illustrate my point, if you have a "Save the princess" plot, the player might get very touchy because their sister was once kidnapped. You just don't know that. Obviously I'm avoiding more "mature" topics, and it's not uncommon mature topics hit a nerve.

I also kind of wonder if you are confusing a miscarriage with a stillborn.

*checks wiki*

No, definitely a miscarriage. It was caused when the NPC was caught in a rock slide.

 

[Rechan]

And on the main topic...

I don't understand why female gamers are such a big topic of conversation.

Not to hit the ol' stereotype, but the geek/nerd stereotype involves being socially underdeveloped and having trouble talking to girls/getting uncomfortable in their presence.

But then, I also think it's because a lot of people play D&D here. Now I'll hit the generalization dead horse: I imagine WoD players are far more familiar with girl gamers than say, D&D players.