[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 27, Issue 8

[Sean Howard]

"Adam Miller" <adammil2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Doesn't this list sound a lot like what simply "new gamers" like?
> Consider that after a few years that she might graduate into much
> more involved and complex games regardless of gender. I suspect
> that eventually, those games get boring to just about anyone if
> you play them long enough.

I first met my wife in high school, and at the time, she was very
much the picture definition of a typical female non-gamer, nor did
she have any concept of how to use a computer (other than playing
Snood and deleting DLL files because she thought they created
clutter). However, after hanging out with me for a few years, that
changed completely. She's now a sysadmin at the university she
graduated from with a computer science degree. She knows more about
computers than me and she absolutely worships Super Metroid and
Final Fantasy Tactics. (She's still not a gamer, as she doesn't
spend any time reading about games or keeping up on game news, but
since I do, she doesn't need to).

The difference between a non-gaming female and a gaming female isn't
anything mental or permanent. I always laugh when people say that we
need to craft games to appeal to women. What we need to do is give
them the idea that sitting down to a game of Diablo II can be worth
the learning curve and nervousness that new gamers face.

> Again, perhaps the issue of missing female players is more about
> how difficult it can be for any new gamer (regardless of gender)
> to have an enjoyable first gaming experience, which leads to
> bigger/complex games later.

I believe you hit the nail on the head.

My wife had such a hard time playing Super Metroid at the beginning
- she could not do the jumping required to escape the first level in
the rather lengthy time limit. Those of us watching got really
frustrated and started asking if she wanted us to do it for her and
then started yelling at her when Samus fell all the way to the
bottom for the 100th time. It took her a few more weeks before
trying the game again because the first experience was so
rotten. When my 50-something father tried to play Goldeneye, it took
him many, many tries before he got past even the first guy - and
this was mostly because he spent most of the time staring at either
the ground or the sky. He did start getting the hang of it, though,
and I'm confident that it was within his power to eventually enjoy
the game with decent skill.

We talk about the accessability of videogames as a way to get new
gamers in, but I think that most people equate it with being a dumb
game, like Bust-A-Move. I don't think we need to make dumb games or
even girl games.  I think the trick is to simply make people want to
go through the novice nervousness required to get the basic skills
needed to enjoy the game. Our brains are like magic. It doesn't
require a lifetime to learn how to play a complex physical game
(like a console FPS which requires many buttons and knobs), but the
initial frustration won't seem important without some promise of
value along the line.

- Sean Howard
http://gamebastard.blogspot.com
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev