bythegawds wrote:
It pains me to generalize but I've had nothing but bad experiences with female gamers. Being a long standing member of the RPGA, I'm often forced to share tables at conventions with people with whom I'd never normally associate. Invariably, there are always 1-2 females at the every con I attend. They all seem to think that they either deserve special treatment, must be the center of attention at all times, or they can get away with being incredibly obnoxious without any consequences.
They tend to either come up with character concepts too dumb to survive (challenge ratings are calculated for four COMPETENT PCs of the same level) or have their boyfriend/husband sitting at some other table at the convention make them a killer PC whose abilities they have no idea how to properly utilize. I play Living Greyhawk a lot and I tend to get suspicious of female players automatically. I had a female at a table at a con not two weeks ago with her 11th level fighter who thought that Power Attack meant that she got an automatic crit.
The bottom line is, I find that I am annoyed by a much higher percentage of female players than I am male players. I'm sure there are great female players out there...I've just never met one...
Vincenzo
Being a female gamer, I have to chime in on this. :) This post here, while you meant no offense, kind of irks me. YOu are generalizing chick gamers as dumb. I, for one, have the core books for more than just looking at the pretty pictures. ;)
My fiance Dm's our game. He gives me no special treatment, and has actually told me that while we're at the table I'm not his girlfriend, I'm just a gamer. Fine, no problem. I look at it the same way when I feel he's in the wrong and commence a rules argument. But I play to escape life. All my frustrations are taken out on those poor monsters when I sit down. You can't hack, slash, maim, and kill in real life. So I use this instead. I tend to be an "accumulating" ( want more magic items, stat boosting stuff), butt-kicking player (From DMG II). One of my favorite things to say to my fiance is, "Why aren't I killing anything yet?" Do I think there is anything wrong with the game? NO. I don't think there needs to be any accomodations made for female players to be drawn in. I think that female expectations may be the hindrance here, also men's unwillingness at time to sit and talk it through. This all depends on the level of involvement on the part of the male who's trying to bring them to the table. I think men generally think that women wouldn't want to be gamers. I don't have a problem with men who use it as thier "private time." Also, alot of women roll thier eyes at the guy talking about it, thinking, oh, lord, he's (insert age here), and still plays that game? To me it's no different than a video game, except it's more of a social setting instead of staring at the dummy box for 8 hours. Hey it could be worse, my guy could be out at the bar drinking his money away, instead of buying supplements. Who loses on that deal? I get something to read that I'm interested in, and I'm not on his case. Winners all 'round.
