[MUD-Dev] Gender and Mud Development

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Tue, 8 Jun 1999, Marian Griffith wrote:

> Well,  no and yes and no.  But I fear this discussion would be wildly off-
> topic for this mailing list.  I remember once mentioning my impressions of
> the computergames,  and why I would not consider going into a shop  buying
> one.  I am not very confident about computers  and only happened into muds
> because a friend played them at the university. I think not many girls are
> using computers and looking for games to play on them.  Those who do maybe
> are, in general,  not that attracted to muds.  My personal interest is not
> for intricate combat or levels, but rather for meeting friends and talking
> to people.  Yes, 'living' through danger with a group of friends  features
> somewhere in the things that I enjoy(ed)  but it is not the thing that did
> draw me to the game in the first place.

I think you've hit the proverbial nail on its head. The "living through
danger" with a group of friends seems to have LOTS of appeal to our female
players. 

You know, one thing that is kind of interesting about the fact that fewer
females play MUDs is that they tend to be highly valued as companions by
all the males who cannot get a date. I occassionally get female players
'complaining' (I'm not sure how heart-felt these complaints are) about all
the help they get offered, all the people that want to talk to them, etc
etc. I've actually considered, in the past, PAYING females to play just to
keep some of the males satisfied.

--matt




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