[MUD-Dev] Re: The Price of Being Male

[Castronova]

From: "Richard A. Bartle" richard at mud.co.uk

[snip many good points]

> Overall, the data you present in your paper are solid and throw up
> some interesting questions. It's in the interpretation that there
> are issues. If you've unearthed a discrepency between the apparent
> values of male and female characters, that's notable; it's worth
> featuring in the title of your paper even if it is mere noise
> alongside the effect of levels on character values.

its smaller than the level effect, but statistically substantive. i
would argue the effect is also substantively meaningful: 10 percent
discounts are not inconsequential.

> The problem is, in the speculative part of your conclusion you
> suggested that one explanation for it may be for reasons of
> real-world discrimination.

yes. "may be." that's all i wrote: the data do not rule out cultural
factors, such as discrimination.

> Whether you expected it or not, this is a particularly
> headline-grabbing hypothesis that could be misquoted for years by
> people with an axe to grind. A lot of the flak you're getting is
> because people either take it personally (you're indirectly
> accusing all male players of sexism) or they foresee the damage
> that could result if writers take this hypothesis and run with it.

i don't get this. im wondering who you think has an axe to grind,
what that axe is, and what bad things are going to happen if the axe
is ground. what damage will be cause by writers assuming that
there's the same kind of male-female interaction in EQ as there are
everywhere else?

and by the way, this isnt so much about individual males being
sexist, its more about a system of male-female interaction thats
nobody's fault - it's an evolved feature of a system that's been
around for eons. i would also claim that if there is sexism (or
'unfair sexism,' whatever that would be, to adopt the standard that
many in this discussion are putting forth), it causes problems for
everybody, including males.

Edward Castronova
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