Women GW gamers?

[Commissar Lewis]

I've found that it's easier to get chicks into 40K than it is find a chick already into it.

Haha, true, brother, true.

[Morgrim]

One thing I've noted in this thread, and one I find sad, is that most of the females have had to resort to physical violence because of males hitting/shoving/groping them.

I guess I've had an easier time than many because I'm not a curvy female. This reduces the sexual harassment markedly. I'm also a nerd myself, and have been studying science for quite a few years at uni, so am actually most comfortable in a male heavy environment. <.< I did have one teenage brat wave his Inquistor at me and say he was going to purge me as a foul and heretical xeno for daring defile the store, but two of the Redshirts threatened to kick him out. <.<

It is annoying when some people assume that my boyfriend plays and I'm there because of him. Sorry, I've never had a boyfriend that supported the hobby. One was even firmly against it.

[Kahoolin]

How would you go about increasing the amount of female gamers, and do you think there is more GW could do to help? (if you trust their corporate office not to make things worse some how, hehe)

I think the main problem with trying to get women into the hobby from GW's perspective is how to do it without reducing their current audience. Let's face it, I'm pretty sure Rick Priestley and Jervis when they wrote WHFB in the 80's weren't trying to build a game with a strong business model that appealed to all markets. They were trying to write a game that they and their mates thought was fun.

So the reason GW games appeal mostly to guys is because that was how they were designed. I'd say I've only ever met one or two guys in my entire life (I'm 31) who didn't think GW games seemed fun. Most of them were too lazy/poor to play it, but they all thought it seemed cool. GW games are pure male escapist fantasy in a world where there isn't that much of it around any more. GW would have to be very careful about changing anything about their games to bring in females. They'd have to know they would be getting more females than the males who would lose interest if it became less . . . male

I would be very surprised to meet a female GW gamer who had no brothers when she was growing up or a partner or ex who introduced her, and who had discovered and stuck with the hobby completely on her own. I think the way the games are (40k in particular), the themes and everything, are so male fantasy oriented that a girl would have to understand the mind set of guys just to comprehend them, let alone enjoy them.

[eldargal]

Absolutely, the LAST thing I would want to see is GW change their games to appeal more to any audience. Heck I still get snitchy about Necrons (and don't get me started on Tau...). What I mean is what marketing strategies could GW use to raise the hobbies profile amongst girls. I think it is a good time to do it now that the 'geek girl' seems to have gone mainstream, as it were.

I think the main problem with trying to get women into the hobby from GW's perspective is how to do it without reducing their current audience. Let's face it, I'm pretty sure Rick Priestley and Jervis when they wrote WHFB in the 80's weren't trying to build a game with a strong business model that appealed to all markets. They were trying to write a game that they and their mates thought was fun.

So the reason GW games appeal mostly to guys is because that was how they were designed. I'd say I've only ever met one or two guys in my entire life (I'm 31) who didn't think GW games seemed fun. Most of them were too lazy/poor to play it, but they all thought it seemed cool. GW games are pure male escapist fantasy in a world where there isn't that much of it around any more. GW would have to be very careful about changing anything about their games to bring in females. They'd have to know they would be getting more females than the males who would lose interest if it became less . . . male

I would be very surprised to meet a female GW gamer who had no brothers when she was growing up or a partner or ex who introduced her, and who had discovered and stuck with the hobby completely on her own. I think the way the games are (40k in particular), the themes and everything, are so male fantasy oriented that a girl would have to understand the mind set of guys just to comprehend them, let alone enjoy them.

[Mike X]

One thing I've noted in this thread, and one I find sad, is that most of the females have had to resort to physical violence because of males hitting/shoving/groping them.

I guess I've had an easier time than many because I'm not a curvy female. This reduces the sexual harassment markedly. I'm also a nerd myself, and have been studying science for quite a few years at uni, so am actually most comfortable in a male heavy environment. <.< I did have one teenage brat wave his Inquistor at me and say he was going to purge me as a foul and heretical xeno for daring defile the store, but two of the Redshirts threatened to kick him out. <.<

It is annoying when some people assume that my boyfriend plays and I'm there because of him. Sorry, I've never had a boyfriend that supported the hobby. One was even firmly against it.

Well, see, most of the girls I date are geeky, and most of them are curvy (read: busty with a booty), and they usually let guys feel them up to begin with, so they don't suffer harassment because they consent.

And I'm the non-jealous type, so I couldn't really care less either.

[Kahoolin]

Absolutely, the LAST thing I would want to see is GW change their games to appeal more to any audience. Heck I still get snitchy about Necrons (and don't get me started on Tau...)

Aww, I like the Tau. Necrons seem a bit lame to me though I have to admit...

[Mike X]

Aww, I like the Tau. Necrons seem a bit lame to me though I have to admit...

I love all the races and factions in 40K, except for Chaos Daemons because they make no friggin' sense fluff-wise.

I also hated Squats, but GW remedied that!

[KnightShift]

I love all the races and factions in 40K, except for Chaos Daemons because they make no friggin' sense fluff-wise.

Chaos Daemons are on a whole 'nother metaphysical level. They're not supposed to be understood by anyone in the mortal realm. And then the Warp goes all screwy and they wind up imposing on our plane of reality anyway and that's where the problems start...

Sorta like Cthulhu in the Lovecraft stories. Most people who gaze upon him go insane. Chaos is definitely evil, but an entirely different wild extreme of evil than can be readily comprehended, with its own motivations that can't even sincerely be guessed at. The Chaos Space Marines and others who fall under Chaos' sway are limited in their understanding of Chaos by their own carnal desires... when in truth they are in WAY over their heads more than they possibly know!

[BuFFo]

I love all the races and factions in 40K, except for Chaos Daemons because they make no friggin' sense fluff-wise.

Agreed.

I also hated Squats, but GW remedied that!

I didn't know an 7 year old could hate an army so much

[Phoenikuz]

Personally, I think that women in gaming is something that's just going to happen eventually. I mean, there's no point in GW attempting to engineering genderspecific marketing just for the sake of getting girls to game. It'll happen all by itself.

Just look at online gaming; no special care has been taken to get women into gaming; they do it all by their own accord, once they figure that it's worth spending time on

Of course; giving Redshirts and Outriders some social skills when it comes to women - i.e. having them learn not to treat them as an inferior or weird species - would be a big step forward. But that's hardly marketing; just good common business sense

... I don't get why Daemons are such a big deal, fluffwise? But that's a topic for another thread.