Fallout3 a boys club, or are girls in too?

[shadyhasankhan]

Dont know about fallout , but lot of women are playing oblivion. check out that forum

[Veilchen]

I'm a woman, and in addition to Fallout 3, I play (or played) the Icewind Dales, the Baldur's Gate's, NWN / NWN2 plus their EP's and Add-ons, Fall-Out, Fall-Out 2, Daggerfall, Morrowind plus EP's, Oblivion plus EP and Add-on's, Planetscape Torment, Mass Effect, Vampire:Bloodlines, and a few more I can't think of right now. I'm impatiently waiting for Dragon Age:Origins as a future game to play extensively (I hope).

 

So yes, women play as well, and furthermore, I always prefer buying games where I can play a female PC. The gaming companies and publishers are slowly getting wise to the fact that there is a large part of the consuming public that was shamefully neglected. Obsidian, Bioware, Bethesda, and some others are companies that knew about the growing number of women gamers, and now they have created a whole new customer base for their products.

 

I have the habit of scanning the products of those companies / publishers first and more in-depth, mostly because I know they usually keep women gamers, who are willing to spend their money for games like above mentioned in mind. If there are two games I'm equally interested in, but one does not allow choosing gender and the other does, the game that does allow it will be purchased - every time.

 

I also mod, but only for myself and friends, because frankly, I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with a wider audience. I know how much work modding is, whatever construction set is used, therefore the modders have my admiration and appreciation.

 

As far as the games aimed at women, keep them, because personally, I don't like them at all. The Sims (whatever number) does not interest me.

 

I do not stand alone in this, there are many women who like immersible and/or challenging games. As a matter of fact, I know quite a few myself. The number of women playing RPG's (whichever kind, C, J, and so on), MMORPG's, FPS's, or Hybrids thereof is increasing, and now companies other than those already in the know are finally taking notice.

[csb]

Boy, there's seems to be a lot of presumption about women's preferences in game playing. :biggrin: The Sims? Ick!

 

I prefer games that immerse me in a great story (Oblivion and the other Elder Scrolls), Bioware's games overall (Neverwinter Nights1 & 2, Baldur's Gate, etc. -- really looking forward to Dragon Age). I guess a love of reading fantasy/science fiction goes a long way in influencing what games I like to play. My preference are games that are not gender-specific and force me into playing a male character, though there are exceptions like Witcher, and that are customizable to how I like to play ... NWN1 & 2, Oblivion and Fallout3 all excel in this (and how I wish the GECK was as easy as NWN's toolsets! ... but I'm getting there!).

 

As far as online games ... I liked Everquest II for a while and Star Wars Galaxies. But MMOs ultimately tend to be too time-consuming for my tastes. An online version of Tameriel or the Fallout3 universe ... hmm ... I'd definitely have to reconsider. :biggrin: Thankfully, Bethesda has spared me the temptation thus far!

[Tony the Wookie]

Boy, there's seems to be a lot of presumption about women's preferences in game playing. :biggrin: The Sims? Ick!

 

It is simply an observation ;)

 

A big part of my job involves selling games and stocking games, and I can tell you that I have never once seen a girl buy Fallout 3, but I have sold over 30 copys of the Sims 3 to female buyers.

 

 

That doesn't mean that no girls play Fallout 3, but from the evidence placed in front of me I can assume that a much higher number of girls perfer to play the Sims over Fallout 3.

[shadyhasankhan]

Hey people Sims is not all bad . I play all type of games. sims has been fun for me ... you how hard is to kill a child in that game ... :devil: :devil: :devil:

[csb]

Boy, there's seems to be a lot of presumption about women's preferences in game playing. :biggrin: The Sims? Ick!

 

It is simply an observation ;)

 

A big part of my job involves selling games and stocking games, and I can tell you that I have never once seen a girl buy Fallout 3, but I have sold over 30 copys of the Sims 3 to female buyers.

 

 

That doesn't mean that no girls play Fallout 3, but from the evidence placed in front of me I can assume that a much higher number of girls perfer to play the Sims over Fallout 3.

 

:D Okay, first point taken about your unique observation. But having raised two kids of my own, I don't need a virtual simulation! I wonder if that "control" group is age-related? Anyway, thanks for the morning chuckle, Tony. Fallout3 I got at Best Buy, the DLCs from Amazon, since they weren't available off-the-shelf.

[Tony the Wookie]

Boy, there's seems to be a lot of presumption about women's preferences in game playing. :biggrin: The Sims? Ick!

 

It is simply an observation ;)

 

A big part of my job involves selling games and stocking games, and I can tell you that I have never once seen a girl buy Fallout 3, but I have sold over 30 copys of the Sims 3 to female buyers.

 

 

That doesn't mean that no girls play Fallout 3, but from the evidence placed in front of me I can assume that a much higher number of girls perfer to play the Sims over Fallout 3.

 

:D Okay, first point taken about your unique observation. But having raised two kids of my own, I don't need a virtual simulation! I wonder if that "control" group is age-related? Anyway, thanks for the morning chuckle, Tony. Fallout3 I got at Best Buy, the DLCs from Amazon, since they weren't available off-the-shelf.

 

Another interesting observation is that we do sell the DLCs on the shelf, but we have never sold a single one of them... ever...

 

But 90% of the people I sell games to are under the age of 16, so it is a completly different demographic :wink:

 

But the whole idea of realism simulations just make me laugh... but they sell very well... especially on the Nintendo DS...

 

 

 

But then again, maybe I shouldn't talk... because after all I am the one makeing a Wasteland Farming mod that was inspired by Harvest Moon... So people are probly laughing at me the same way... (but at least I have dynamic dialogue and Centisheep...)

 

 

But anyways, the point of that is... that I have no point...

[butanokaabii]

What would make me feel uncomfortable is if the game has a bunch of women in skimpy outfits or exaggerated melon boobs,now that'sgeared towards males.

 

Only a certain demographic of males. I'm a guy and I personally can't stand the "LOL BOOBIES" mindset that seems to be really popular, especially with FO3 mods nowadays. Pettanko >>>>> enormous melons in any case whatsoever. Every girl dressing like a stripper is right out. It's unrealistic and sexist, and women can definitely look attractive when conservatively dressed. Besides, in the case of skimpy armor, it's also utterly illogical. If it's basically metal lingerie, it should by all rights have a *negative*defense rating for leaving so much skin exposed, and boob-armor would realistically result in a near-perfectly-centered, entirely fatal chest wound due to the concave shape.

 

 

Back on topic, while I don't personally know any female FO3 players (for that matter, I don't think I've met any of either gender), I do notice that there are quite a few on the Nexus.

[BigBodZod]

LOL Kitty says "I'm in yur kichen making cheezbrgrs!!!"

 

:whistling:

[csb]

:biggrin: It is reminiscent of Barbie meets the Wastelands. Or Dolly Parton visits Megaton. That said, by and large, you have to give the modders who do body replacers a lot of credit -- they do great work with meshes and textures. And they certainly don't force anyone to download their mods.

 

As with Dimon's Type3, BABE, et al., Breeze's refinement of Robert's work on male replacers -- it adds a sort of realism to the game, and players are free to use them or not. Melon boobiness aside, what they do doesn't bother me. As I said above, I can appreciate the artistic and creative merits of their work.

 

My "objection" is with the reactions (comment posts/picture posts) of obviously immature males. Do I "like" that women are objectified in such a way? No, I don't. But it's part of RL -- as a woman, you learn to deal with such things ... at least in the game, it is an aspect I can somewhat control.

 

I just realized that I never commented on the OP's original question.

 

Yes, Fallout3 is a "boys club" -- it was designed predominantly by males and targets a male-dominated market. But (and to me it's the redeeming good part), it is a bias that is based in reality. The social strides that woman's rights groups have made would be largely negated in a post-apocalyptic world, as they are largely dependent on a social structure that imposes and enforces legal gender equality. That structure would be absent in the Wastelands.

 

Game mechanics-wise, though ... there is no gender difference in anything that really counts: a female character gets the same SPECIAL abilities, TAGs, etc. Some games make the gender choice have consequences (say by lowering strength and increasing agility), so in that regard, Fallout3 isn't a "boys club."

 

Since Fallout3 isn't a multi-player game for the most part, it is really what the player makes it to be. In my case (as Mr. T in the old TV show would've said) ... "Pity the fools."