One Saturday in March, I decided to air my getting to level 80 on World of Warcraft. Some of you attended and some of you did not. The key thing here though is that it gave me SO much insight into the type of people who watch and follow girl gamers.
People would log onto the cast and would first ask, “What is this?” The first reaction they had was one of surprise… How could people be watching a girl game? They waited a bit to see what I would do – maybe I would pause for some comedic relief or offer up some instrument playing of some sort – but I just sat there gaming… Grinding to level 80.
I met many, many interesting people that day. Those people who popped in and out all day to check on my progress and those people who popped in long enough to be a bit of a bother and to be moderated out of the channel. All in all though, it was amazing to see the outpouring of support you all had for a girl gamer.
The webcast proved to me that girl gamers really are unique in this industry but also that they are needed. We need to have a voice that speaks loudly and is opininated on games that some game developers may not think girls play. Some of you may be reading this and thinking that I am being all femininst-like and I want to clarify… I’m not a feminist. I simply want women around the world who game to be taken srsly when we have opinions.
I want to see things like high level character customization, scenery that suits both a female and male audience, girl characters that don’t just make a boy’s mind run wild but that actually look like a normal girl… You know, equality. Don’t get me wrong, I think that Lara Croft and blood elves from World of Warcraft are some of the hottest gaming characters but I would still love to see a few characters who were gorgeous AND had normal proportions (y’all know what I’m talking about…)
That being said, I do love being a part of an industry that is more male-focused and here’s why… In a group of women, I wouldn’t get away with screaming “DIE MOFO” at my monitor but when I’m around the guys, it’s cool… No one minds and in fact, they egg the behavior on. I like being able to throw down the heels, take off the earrings and just game – talking about all sorts of things I wouldn’t normally talk about.
After all that, I just want to say that I love gaming and am so glad that others do too. Awww, insert corny, “You’re such a girl” here.
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