[MUD-Dev] Boys and

[Paul Schwanz]

From: "Caliban Tiresias Darklock" <caliban at darklock.com>
>From: "Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services"

>> Since these people are so easily misled, perhaps it would be a
>> good idea to talk about "games that appeal to girls" instead of
>> "girl games?"

> I tend to think any culture that can grok "MMORPG" can adapt to
> "girl game" with little difficulty. After all, I see precious
> little RP going on in the average MMORPG, but we get the idea
> anyway.

> Or am I giving the list too much credit?

But then I'm not talking about the list.  (A point that is a bit
obfuscated by your choice of what not to include from my former
statement.  If you had included the rest of that paragraph, other
readers could see quite clearly that "these people" is not a
reference to list members, but to those easily misled people who
will invest in anything, as you pointed out previously.)

I don't have any trouble understanding what you mean by "girl
games."  I don't think that Marian struggles with your meaning
either.  And my purpose for posting at all isn't about trying to
fault you for using it on this list.  My concern (and I expect hers
as well), is that the terms used on this list by knowledgeable
professionals, though understood quite clearly by other
knowledgeable professionals, have a tendency to make their way into
other conversations where people are not as knowledgeable, but
instead often give in to lazy thinking.

We all know and understand that girl gamers are just as complex (if
not more so) and multifaceted as boy gamers.  We will all know and
understand this whether we use the term "girl games" or not on this
list.  (It has not been my intention to claim that you used it to
mean anything other than games which appeal more to girls.)
However, off-list there are developers and investors who think "girl
games" are about Barbie or ponies.  And it seems there are enough
parents who don't disagree to ensure that these developers and
investors keep making "girl games" about Barbie and ponies.

I agree with Marian that this list is as good a place as any to try
to begin to address this issue.  And though I am not nearly
optimistic enough to believe that simply changing the way we refer
to games that appeal more to girls will correct all of the lazy
thinking out there in the rest of the world, I do think it is a good
first step.  It certainly can't hurt to use terms that are less
likely to be misunderstood.

While I'm at it, I'll point out that "women's basketball" is quite
commonly understood to be a statement about the fact that female
athletes participate in that particular sporting event.  If we were
to have a discussion about sports programming on TV that appeals
more to women and wanted to be understood to mean a broad range of
sports programming that may or may not be based on the participation
of exclusively female athletes, I would similarly advise that we
stay away from terms like "women's basketball."  Although, in the
context of the conversation, others might be able to ascertain our
real meaning, if the terms were to propogate beyond that particular
conversation, confusion would likely result.

But I think this is quite enough to say on the subject. I hope I've
adequately explained my own perspective on the issue.  I believe
I'll move on to other items of interest.

--Phinehas

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