[MUD-Dev] DGN: Reasons for play [was: Emergent Behaviorsspawnedfrom...]

[Amanda Walker]

On Aug 23, 2005, at 11:56 AM, Sean Howard wrote:

> What I'm saying is that the differences mean little, and that the
> differences between two random people on the street would be
> overwhelmingly larger than the two sexes collectively.

Agreed in some respects.  Especially when it comes to actual
capacities (strength, coordination, spatial abilities, verbal
abilities, etc.), the variance within each sex is much, much wider
than the difference between the averages.  Assuming that women
gamers can't master complex controls or handle fast 3D action is
just condescending.

When it comes to social characteristics, the variance isn't quite as
large (overall, people tend to conform to social expectations), and
the differences become even sharper when it comes to sex-specific
marketing.  People respond to how you market your game.

If you pick up a copy of Unreal Tournament, for example, everything
on the box (or the computer running a demo) screams "I'm a guy
game."  This doesn't stop women from buying it and playing it, of
course (it happens to be my favorite FPS), but it does communicate
to women that they are an incidental market for that game.

This isn't limited to games, though.  Razor companies market the
same razors and shaving cream to both men and women, with the only
different being the color of the plastic and the packaging graphics.
And they sell more that way.  Companies that make wedding stuff make
it in white for American markets, and red for Chinese markets.  And
they sell more that way.

When you're thinking about marketing it's important to distinguish
between objective and subjective factors.  In the consumer market,
it's all subjective.


Amanda Walker
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev