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Why don't more women play Eve Online?

First post
Author
Serene Repose
#81 - 2015-02-09 16:37:15 UTC
Remiel Pollard wrote:
Serene Repose wrote:
Maybe guys are better off leaving this one alone. Seriously. All you can do is state your misguided prejudices as gospel truth. How you look when you're done? Really. You don't want that.


Don't you think it's a bit ironic to generalise all men as prejudiced?
Not really, as "irony" is humorous.

We must accommodate the idiocracy.

Primary This Rifter
Mutual Fund of the Something
#82 - 2015-02-09 16:37:29 UTC
Jenshae Chiroptera wrote:
Arrow All the combat gets your testosterone levels up, so you all argue, swear and joust with your e-peens and they have no interest in that.

Okay. Fantastic. They don't have to have an interest in that. It's great that they stay away if they can't handle it, rather than come into the group and start making demands about people's behavior.
Ralph King-Griffin
New Eden Tech Support
#83 - 2015-02-09 16:37:35 UTC  |  Edited by: Ralph King-Griffin
Godfrey Silvarna wrote:
Celestia Via wrote:
I believe CCP artists have taken great pain in achieving the opposite

This is the part where I disagree. EVE is a very visually bland game, especially in the core game play of purple boxes, red boxes and red crosses that we spend most of our time interacting with. Walking in stations and modernized ship designs might help some, maybe.

ill have to disagree on that.
Serene Repose
#84 - 2015-02-09 16:41:43 UTC
Primary This Rifter wrote:
Serene Repose wrote:
That's a fact I don't think CCP realizes. I think they see themselves as boys (who're losing their greying hair now) amongst boys. So, female input on some EVE issues are taken...wrong. Even the contempt for "carebears" teeters on the edge of disrespecting, and claiming a rather large demographic isn't welcome here. We of course, aren't going to take that crap from a bunch of unwashed testosterone overloaded males who do this 'cause they can't impress a female well enough to get a date. *bobs and weaves* The pink sock, locket wearing dingbat female is a thing of the past. Meow.

EVE is what it is. If you want to change the game itself with the aim of making it more attractive to women, then no, your input is not welcome. There's no inherent reason that game should be changed to cater to you. If women aren't playing EVE because EVE doesn't contain elements that women want it to have, I don't see a problem with that. There are, as you yourself have pointed out, plenty of other games that women can and do enjoy playing.

Serene Repose wrote:
My friends who game love to fight. I think seeing them play some of these games would be a real eye-opener to a lot of guys. They can be viscious to an extreme, but aggression? Puleeze. That is not a male domain. Those who I know who don't like this game object to the violence for no particular reason. They prefer fights that lead to a concrete result of some sort, not just fighting to be fighting which is seen (by them...and me) as a male, testosterone-driven spazmo fit. We see the guys behave this way IRL in other ways, and it's part and parcel of the same thing. That is a significant gender difference. I'll caveat - you can never say one size fits all.

"Men like EVE and its tacit approval of random violence because they're senselessly aggressive spazzes." What fantastic, reasoned, sensible insight you have.

Serene Repose wrote:
Ladies I know prefer to build and nurture things, and see them grow. If they're going to lay something low, it's in the interests of maintaining or preserving threats to something they're growing. EVE is seen as being dominated by people who just like to get enough of what they need to destroy other people's stuff. It's a sandbox. These people just run around kicking sand in people's faces, while crowing, "It isn't against the rules, carebear!" Nobody with any sense pays for such an experience.

Tens of thousands of people are currently paying for that experience. Are they all senseless? It almost seems like you don't understand this game that you're playing.

Serene Repose wrote:
Get real. Only a fool can't answer your question - Why don't more women play EVE? 'Cause women aren't stupid.

Women don't play EVE because women aren't stupid? So men play EVE because they are? That's sexist.
I'm not sure what your goal is but you won't ever achieve it with that kind of myopic bigotry.
My input has been welcomed on dozens of occassions over the years. Your opinion is like your a-hole. Everybody's got one. You seem to think yours is unique somehow...to the point of becoming FACT perhaps? Not likely.

We must accommodate the idiocracy.

Pok Nibin
Doomheim
#85 - 2015-02-09 16:44:32 UTC
This thread is a monument to how men (and boys) have a loose grasp of the truth with a firm grip on the joystick.

The right to free speech doesn't automatically carry with it the right to be taken seriously.

Thorn en Distel
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#86 - 2015-02-09 16:45:34 UTC  |  Edited by: Thorn en Distel
Elenahina wrote:
Part of it may the fact that a girl in teamspeak is generally enough to reduce corps of grown men to teenagers in a **** measuring contest. I imagine it's amusing at first, but I expect the novelty wears off after a while.

It may also be that fewer women find the game appealing for whatever reason.


I'm a female gamer and sure, there's things that tick me off about the incredible immaturity that goes on in some voice chats. That, however, is sadly universal to MMO's, including the fact that a lot of men apparently don't believe women play MMO games, let alone engage in PVP. There's different ways of dealing with this, and most of us find one way or another.

So no, I don't think that explains the lack of interest in EVE.

I do not think the explanation is a fear of women of 'hardcore' gaming/PVPing or losing stuff when killed. There are other games with harsh PVP conditions, and I've seen more women there than seems to be the average here in EVE.

Part of it may simply be a lack of interest in science fiction. Women are conditioned by western society to be less interested in hard sciences and mathematics and more interested in the 'soft' sciences.

Part of it may be the fact that most women like communities and social interaction. Having an environment where you cannot even trust your own corp mates is a strong disincentive to playing.
Ria Nieyli
Nieyli Enterprises
SL33PERS
#87 - 2015-02-09 16:47:41 UTC
Primary This Rifter wrote:
I'm not at all denying that there are some people in EVE that can be somewhat hostile towards female gamers, but I don't think that it's able to explain why there aren't that many women playing it. For one, they face the same kind of **** in other games where they're much more represented (e.g. WoW, LoL, even CoD probably has more female gamers). And, for another, this community is generally a lot better about such things than the communities surrounding those other games.

Ria Nieyli wrote:
Being masculine does not preclude you from being nurturing or vice versa.

I'm not saying that it does.


Ah yes, but then again everyone faces ****** behaviour aimed towards them.

The difference with WoW, LoL and CoD is that these games have much larger playerbases than EVE, and as such their female contingent is

1) Much more visible, as there's a higher raw number of female players
2) Higher total percentage since the games are much more mainstream and are more likely to come up as an option if you're looking to play a computer game.
Unezka Turigahl
Det Som Engang Var
#88 - 2015-02-09 16:49:50 UTC
Celestia Via wrote:
Godfrey Silvarna wrote:
Celestia Via wrote:
What do you think the reasons are for EVE being overrun with males?

EVE's ships and visuals are basically just huge phallic symbols. I like collecting big dongs. They make me feel like I have a big dong too.

I suspect women don't get that appeal.


I am sorry, but I completely disagree.

I believe CCP artists have taken great pain in achieving the opposite, or at least to not draw "dong-ships"

Now I understand that to some feminist - driven minds, anything with a longer x than y axis, or even (by your own words) anything big appears as a phallic symbol that men crave and women are indifferent to.

I find such logic sexist and irrational, and if you are of such a mind we have nothing further to discuss.


Do you know why missiles are shaped like penises? Because they were built by MEN. MEN who want to throw their penises around all over the place and cover the world with their foul "explosions", if you get my meaning.

What? Missiles are shaped like that because they need to be aerodynamic?

N..n..noooo... they're penises! Filthy filthy penises! Built by menfolk. You know what you get when you take the word MEN, move the M to the end, put an E before it, and a Y after it? ENEMY. Coincidence? I think not.
Leannor
State War Academy
Caldari State
#89 - 2015-02-09 16:50:26 UTC
Thorn en Distel wrote:
[quote=Elenahina]
Part of it may be the fact that most women like communities and social interaction. Having an environment where you cannot even trust your own corp mates is a strong disincentive to playing.


This! General assumption of trust and being sensible, and reliable (aka mature) is missing in much of EVE. ...

"Lykouleon wrote:

STOP TOUCHING ICONIC SHIP PARTS"

Celestia Via
Kill'em all. Let Bob sort'em out.
Ushra'Khan
#90 - 2015-02-09 16:51:49 UTC
Jenshae Chiroptera wrote:

(I even know a few women that use voice synthesisers to sound like men and avoid the "ti.ts or gtfo" type of behaviour.)



very disturbing if true.

this is a very interesting subject, i disagree that "eve should not be changed to include women", an opinion voiced by someone above.
eve should be changed to include women, or should at least try not to exclude them in such a way that the quoted phrase demonstrates. Its sad to think that even the few women that want to play EVE need ways to hide their gender inorder to not drown in the testosterone tsunami that is currently EVE.

I really enjoy EVE as it is, a boys club, but it can be better.
Making the EvEverse female friendly without it losing its competitive edge (the male friendly factor) is a huge challenge for CCP, but one with great rewards if accomplished.
Rewards such as, almost double the current playerbase and a better community, balanced and mature.

To whoever wants to argue about the currect community, i urge them to just take a look at these forums, where its usually 20% constructive posts, the rest being pointless chest beating and length measuring. We can do better.

"We marched for days and nights, under sun, in the rain. Our minds and bodies ached for rest, but in our hearts there was nothing but the fight."

Erin Crawford
#91 - 2015-02-09 16:51:54 UTC
Kenneth Endashi wrote:
Why don't more women play Eve Online?

This forum serve as a shining example why not.

"Those who talk don’t know. Those who know don’t talk. "

Leannor
State War Academy
Caldari State
#92 - 2015-02-09 16:52:21 UTC
Unezka Turigahl wrote:
Celestia Via wrote:
Godfrey Silvarna wrote:
Celestia Via wrote:
What do you think the reasons are for EVE being overrun with males?

EVE's ships and visuals are basically just huge phallic symbols. I like collecting big dongs. They make me feel like I have a big dong too.

I suspect women don't get that appeal.


I am sorry, but I completely disagree.

I believe CCP artists have taken great pain in achieving the opposite, or at least to not draw "dong-ships"

Now I understand that to some feminist - driven minds, anything with a longer x than y axis, or even (by your own words) anything big appears as a phallic symbol that men crave and women are indifferent to.

I find such logic sexist and irrational, and if you are of such a mind we have nothing further to discuss.


Do you know why missiles are shaped like penises? Because they were built by MEN. MEN who want to throw their penises around all over the place and cover the world with their foul "explosions", if you get my meaning.

What? Missiles are shaped like that because they need to be aerodynamic?

N..n..noooo... they're penises! Filthy filthy penises! Built by menfolk. You know what you get when you take the word MEN, move the M to the end, put an E before it, and a Y after it? ENEMY. Coincidence? I think not.



missiles and penis's have the same fundamental prupose ... to penetrate. hehe, that's why they shaped similarly. ;-)

a penis shaped like Mr Strong wouldn't be very pleasant for either party ... likewise a pretty useless missile. ;-)

"Lykouleon wrote:

STOP TOUCHING ICONIC SHIP PARTS"

Jenshae Chiroptera
#93 - 2015-02-09 16:55:35 UTC
Thorn en Distel wrote:
Elenahina wrote:
Part of it may the fact that a girl in teamspeak is generally enough to reduce corps of grown men to teenagers in a **** measuring contest. I imagine it's amusing at first, but I expect the novelty wears off after a while.

It may also be that fewer women find the game appealing for whatever reason.


I'm a female gamer and sure, there's things that tick me off about the incredible immaturity that goes on in some voice chats. That, however, is sadly universal to MMO's, including the fact that a lot of men apparently don't believe women play MMO games, let alone engage in PVP. There's different ways of dealing with this, and most of us find one way or another.

So no, I don't think that explains the lack of interest in EVE.

I do not think the explanation is a fear of women of 'hardcore' gaming/PVPing or losing stuff when killed. There are other games with harsh PVP conditions, and I've seen more women there than seems to be the average here in EVE.

Part of it may simply be a lack of interest in science fiction. Women are conditioned by western society to be less interested in hard sciences and mathematics and more interested in the 'soft' sciences.

Part of it may be the fact that most women like communities and social interaction. Having an environment where you cannot even trust your own corp mates is a strong disincentive to playing.


/ thread

CCP - Building ant hills and magnifying glasses for fat kids

Not even once

EVE is becoming shallow and puerile; it will satisfy neither the veteran nor the "WoW" type crowd in the transition.

Gwen Ikiryo
Alexylva Paradox
#94 - 2015-02-09 16:56:22 UTC  |  Edited by: Gwen Ikiryo
To elabroate on what I said a minute ago, most women I know don't want to play Eve because it's become a self-reinforcing bubble of stupid bravado and masculine crudeness. In most MMOs, a lot of immature habits - And argue that it's your right to do it as much as you want, because it ultimately is, but spouting constant sexual threats and sexually rooted slurs is immature in the eyes of society, like it or not - Have been slowly driven away because the population of women was big enough that people got enough negative feedback that they gave up.

But Eve has been so completely male dominated, and for so long, that instead a that a lot of men playing it have established it as a safe space for that sort of thing in their minds, and so will naturally get defensive when anyone tries to intrude on it. Look at how many people are shouting "If you don't like it, get out!" over and over. The people sick of it have left already, and the ones left don't want to change. It's a classic boys club.

Eve (in most cases) is the only MMO left where I get heckled instantly for describing myself as a feminist. It is the only MMO left where people make jokes or crappy comments when I speak in a voice chat server for the first time. It is the only MMO left where people throw out slurs like crazy and feel confident enough to tell me to shove it when I point out that they're acting like snickering boys at the back of a playground.

No amount of features that appeal to women demographically, like avatar gameplay or stuff to "build", will change that at this point.
Celestia Via
Kill'em all. Let Bob sort'em out.
Ushra'Khan
#95 - 2015-02-09 16:58:58 UTC
Leannor wrote:
Thorn en Distel wrote:
[quote=Elenahina]
Part of it may be the fact that most women like communities and social interaction. Having an environment where you cannot even trust your own corp mates is a strong disincentive to playing.


This! General assumption of trust and being sensible, and reliable (aka mature) is missing in much of EVE. ...


agreed, as i mentioned above, but community is made up by the individuals. How can we have better community and social interaction without women to help us? You cant expect men to simply change and be better all by themselves, nor can women expect to find a great community laid out for them without taking interest in it and working towards making it better.

"We marched for days and nights, under sun, in the rain. Our minds and bodies ached for rest, but in our hearts there was nothing but the fight."

Jenshae Chiroptera
#96 - 2015-02-09 17:07:54 UTC
Celestia Via wrote:
Leannor wrote:
Thorn en Distel wrote:
[quote=Elenahina]
Part of it may be the fact that most women like communities and social interaction. Having an environment where you cannot even trust your own corp mates is a strong disincentive to playing.


This! General assumption of trust and being sensible, and reliable (aka mature) is missing in much of EVE. ...


agreed, as i mentioned above, but community is made up by the individuals. How can we have better community and social interaction without women to help us? You cant expect men to simply change and be better all by themselves, nor can women expect to find a great community laid out for them without taking interest in it and working towards making it better.

Mature well advertise corps and alliances that kick the immature guys out will attract women.

CCP - Building ant hills and magnifying glasses for fat kids

Not even once

EVE is becoming shallow and puerile; it will satisfy neither the veteran nor the "WoW" type crowd in the transition.

Vyl Vit
#97 - 2015-02-09 17:11:44 UTC
Gwen Ikiryo wrote:
To elabroate on what I said a minute ago, most women I know don't want to play Eve because it's become a self-reinforcing bubble of stupid bravado and masculine crudeness. In most MMOs, a lot of immature habits - And argue that it's your right to do it as much as you want, because it ultimately is, but spouting constant sexual threats and sexually rooted slurs is immature in the eyes of society,
I think you pulled your punch here. Such behavior is now seen as indicative of a deeper,
underlying psychological disorder.

Paradise is like where you are right now, only much, much better.

Serene Repose
#98 - 2015-02-09 17:13:56 UTC
Vyl Vit wrote:
Gwen Ikiryo wrote:
To elabroate on what I said a minute ago, most women I know don't want to play Eve because it's become a self-reinforcing bubble of stupid bravado and masculine crudeness. In most MMOs, a lot of immature habits - And argue that it's your right to do it as much as you want, because it ultimately is, but spouting constant sexual threats and sexually rooted slurs is immature in the eyes of society,
I think you pulled your punch here. Such behavior is now seen as indicative of a deeper,
underlying psychological disorder.
Yeah. AND, I think we're underplaying the notion that corporate endorsement of sociopathic behavior tends to appeal to sociopaths. We're actually invaded by some pretty imbalanced people at this point.

We must accommodate the idiocracy.

Celestia Via
Kill'em all. Let Bob sort'em out.
Ushra'Khan
#99 - 2015-02-09 17:14:07 UTC
Jenshae Chiroptera wrote:

Mature well advertise corps and alliances that kick the immature guys out will attract women.


that is true, my own corp was founded and run by females back when it was active. and lemme tell you, it was great.
things were always polite and sensible, underdeveloped e-peen'ers where promptly driven away. And also, there was decent male company for those of us that wanted to blow out some steam. Thats the kind of community I am talking about, and one i want to see in EVE in general.

"We marched for days and nights, under sun, in the rain. Our minds and bodies ached for rest, but in our hearts there was nothing but the fight."

Unezka Turigahl
Det Som Engang Var
#100 - 2015-02-09 17:16:48 UTC
Kestral Anneto wrote:

Well, Sarkeesian has done more damage than good to gaming as a whole.
Social Justice Warrior's can carry on crying.
Though this is a good hypothetcial, what would CCP do if the SJW started bitching? Would they appease them?


Why would "SJW" types cry about EVE? CCP makes fun of the damsel in distress trope with... The Damsel in Distress mission. The female clothes tend to be sensible. The sexes are represented equally with regards to clothing and character customization. Valkyrie's main NPC is to be a female fighter pilot and a leader of sorts. Voiced by a female actress who played a bad ass fighter pilot character. They got rid of the pleasure hub chick. They added Exotic Dancers, Male. The old artwork with silly scantily clad women is nowhere to be seen anymore. EVE would probably be praised by such people.

Apparently sensible depictions of females doesn't bring in flocks of female gamers all by itself though.

As for Sarkeesian... I don't get it. Maybe I didn't watch the right videos. The couple that I saw had her pointing out the obvious over and over. This causes the internets to explode? Meh.