Neat GM advice on Female Gamers:

[amerigoV]

The funny thing is, I remember a thread posted very recently that said more or less the exact same thing. Which makes me wonder if any real progress has occurred over the last seventeen years.

Technology progresses, human interaction and group dynamics do not (ie, we are no different than the Romans, Babylonians, or Australians).

 

[fuzzlewump]

As a man, I just find it pretty embarrassing seeing this type of thread and especially entire paragraphs written just to give advice to men about playing D&D with women. Isn't there even a Slayer's Guide to Female Gamers or something?

Come on guys. Why does this topic always come up? Are women really that foreign to you that you actually need advice on how to play a game with them? The only RPG advice we need about dealing with women is advice about roleplaying in the bedroom with them. That's it.

What type of thread are you talking about? The OP, or at least the quoted section, agrees completely with you. That there is no specialized advice for dealing with female players.

Anyway, maybe women really are foreign to some men (probably boys, to be fair) and they really do need advice, as given in the quoted section of the OP. So, in addition to academic curiosity, which I assume is what the OP has, that is why this topic always comes up.

 

[Dausuul]

A lot of people start gaming in their teenage years. Advice on dealing with the opposite sex is probably always going to be a good thing for teenagers.

For the rest of us, well... it'd be nice to think no adult gamers need the advice. Of course that ain't so, but I think it's closer to true now than it was 20 years ago. Give it time.

 

[pawsplay]

I fully agree with Oryan77. You work, study, have fun, roleplay as a mixed group. There is no magic about that, we are all just people.

I'm having a hard time getting from here...

Only note is that I've noticed that girls don't get that into wargamer-stuff and technical details. In general I'd avoid these two in a group where there are females. If you want to ask random girl-gamer what does think about that spell or that detail about the story, she most likely has a great opinion. But if you start to discuss about the details of AK-47 or how to repair that flying car, they seem to get generally uninterested. And who would be interested???

... to this. We are all just people, but don't talk about technical stuff in front of "girl-gamers?"

Note that I'm NOT generalizing, just saying what I have observed. And most of the guys don't like that technical stuff either, so we are not different about this...

And now I am really confused. If men and women are much alike, and it's merely an etiquette issue, then it probably would be considered patronizing to alter one's behavior for the sake of a few women present.

 

[pawsplay]

A lot of people start gaming in their teenage years. Advice on dealing with the opposite sex is probably always going to be a good thing for teenagers.

For the rest of us, well... it'd be nice to think no adult gamers need the advice. Of course that ain't so, but I think it's closer to true now than it was 20 years ago. Give it time.

I think, at least, most adults who wouldn't heed the advice these days know they won't want it, whereas most who would, make the effort to be inclusive.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Next thing we'll need articles telling us how to play with the A.I.

sheesh.

 

[Mark CMG]

Neat GM advice on Female Gamers:

Don't compare D&D to pr0n?


We had a girl in our group in the seventies when I was a teen (we were just boys, hence "girl"). I knew of a few others, too, though not many. It's never been exclusively male as a hobby, afaik.

 

[megamania]

Gamers are gamers. Male or female. I have been in games and campaigns where both male and females have been either bloodthirsty or into roleplaying.

As with any social group either you get along or you don't. Genders shouldn't treat each other different per say. Just be respectful of each other.



Game on.

 

[Umbran]

A lot of people start gaming in their teenage years. Advice on dealing with the opposite sex is probably always going to be a good thing for teenagers.

Quite. Even into early 20s. It is not all that uncommon for people to not have much social contact with folks of the opposite gender other than dating. I have run across several folks who don't believe there's such a thing as being just friends between men and women.

So, we'd hope that most of EN World doesn't need the advice, but that it has some use in the broader scene doesn't surprise me in the least.

 

[Jon_Dahl]

I'm having a hard time getting from here...



... to this. We are all just people, but don't talk about technical stuff in front of "girl-gamers?"



And now I am really confused. If men and women are much alike, and it's merely an etiquette issue, then it probably would be considered patronizing to alter one's behavior for the sake of a few women present.

Patronizing? Wow, now this response came as a complete surprise to me. Yes I do alter my behavior according to the people around. If I'm with women, I tend not to talk about certain things such as what was the best Mortal Kombat. If I'm playing with religious people, I tend not to talk about religion. If I'm playing with politically active people, I tend not to talk about politics. If I'm playing with a person with dyed hair, I don't talk about how artificial dyeing looks like in my opinion.

So yes I usually try to exercise certain level of self-censorship and try to pick my words with some level of carefulness. I don't find it patronizing. In my view it's being social. And if you think the fact that I try to speak less about car mechanics when females are present is patronizing, then I'm afraid you have no other choice than to shoot me for being such a bastard.

I must say that your attitude offended me.