[MUD-Dev] Sexism in design

[Louis d'Ambra]

On 11/20/05, Lydia Leong <lwl at black-knight.org> wrote:

> It's about creating gender differences in games, and how inferior
> women are to men.

> The earnest debate going on in that thread is an interesting
> example of how MUDs-for-experimentation can differ from commercial
> gaming projects -- but also a worrisome illustration of how far
> embryonic future game designers still need to go in their
> thinking.

Of course there are a lot of clichés, like the female spellcaster
that heals everybody and has more dexterity than males, but gender
discussions should appear more often in my opinion. It's a very
interesting question that may draw the lines of the next king of
MMOs.

Women and men are different, aren't they ? Are women gamers and men
gamers different ? My personal feeling (based on maybe 10 years of
online gaming) tells me : yes. There are always exceptions to
confirm to rule, maybe like you, Lydia ?

When it comes to design, i'm not fond of the "box approach" that
puts everyone erm... in a box. If you're a girl, why should you play
some kind of inferior and uninteresting avatar ? Still, there's a
lot of work to be done when it comes to gender in persistant
worlds. It should remain an open topic : politicaly-nerfed and
science-boosted.  Using personal philosophy and feelings is not a
rational or valid approach to any sociological concept.
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