Women and wargaming

[avrotim]

Sure.  Its a bit of a catch 22 for them.  And these guys (well, its owned by just one guy) do stock a fairly impressive number of boardgames, and a few wargames (all GMT).  The thing is, the staff don't seem to know much about them.  I don't think its all that hard to keep up with news and to know at least the names of the bigger boardgame companies, if not the games themselves, but nobody bothers.

At least the owner now recognizes me and will give me a friendly hello, if he's around the day I go.

[mirth]

Yeah, it's pretty much the same story at the local shop in my area. The owner is a good guy and he tries to stock some variety, but all the interest is around Magic and a handful of other 'hot' games. He does let folks run some historical minis games in the shop, but the moneymaker is definitely MTG.

[GJK]

I imagine that it's very true that those little snot-nosed MTG playing dweebs do harass female gamers when they join in because it's probably the only interaction that the dweebs ever get with women and they release all of their pent-up adolescent anger towards them.  Same goes for the online gaming MMORPG crowd too I imagine.  I'd be shocked to hear that a table full of mid-40/50 yr old wargamers ever turned down a female that asked to join or treated her with anything but the utmost of respect.  IOW, it's not "gamers" per se but just the way that young men are raised these days.  I'm sure that you get the same thing in the work environment, when passing them on the street and in every day interaction no matter the activity.  And to me, that really stinks that young ladies have to deal with that - respect isn't something that is taught any more it appears to me.  I think that saying it's because it's a "clik" crowd of gamers only that behave this way (and because of the games) is just silly.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I enjoy watching the nerd mating rituals at my FLGSs. Reminds me of those nature shows with David Attenborough where the bird does his courtship dance and fails.  I hang out at 4 stores on a semi regular basis.  The one that caters to the hard core, old school wargamers and miniatures enthusiasts hardly ever gets any women in.  Can't say I'm surprised.  These guys come from a time where being a nerd meant taking a beating.  They're committed to the hobby and much less committed to showers or toothbrushes. God damn but too many of them reek!

The biggest store is the one that caters to MTG and is where I usually play X-Wing and Armada.  Fairly large number of girls there and there are two groups who are there almost every day.  Each group has a couple of very hot Asian girls in it (and some not very hot white girls.). Absolutely hilarious to watch nerds try to work up the courage to try to talk to them.  Said nerd will stare for far too long then finally work up the courage to make the approach only to have the courage fail when he's about 5-10 feet away then he'll do the sudden veer off to pretend to check out some fascinating modelling glue from ArmyPainter situated right behind the tables where the girls play.   One of the girls likes to dress in very slinky little outfits and flirt. Most of the guys she goes up to will just sort of stare at their shoes and mumble until she moves on. 

The third store caters to the Euro/social crowd and gets the largest number of women coming in.  There are quite a few regulars and a disproportionate number of them are lesbians.  They're usually the ones to scare off the new drop ins.  The store used to host a game night at a local cafe on Fridays and that brought in a lot of female players but that's stopped now unfortunately as the cafe is going under and has reduced their hours.

The fourth store is the RPG/comic store and is kind of a repeat of the MTG store.  Couple groups with some hot nerdy girls in them are there quite regularly.  Two of the girls tend to be quite domineering and bitchy and drive off new girls they don't like with passive/aggressive bullying techniques that are played off to look like support but are actually quite insulting. 

The common factor is that none of these chick ever want to play Bomber Command or Empire of the Sun, damn it!  (Although one hot Chinese girl who always comes in with a red silk shirt, no bra, and very pointy nipples loves to sit and watch Sails of Glory.  Throws me off my game it does.  Have to stare at my shoes and mumble til she goes away.)

[Nefaro]

I imagine that it's very true that those little snot-nosed MTG playing dweebs do harass female gamers when they join in because it's probably the only interaction that the dweebs ever get with women and they release all of their pent-up adolescent anger towards them.  Same goes for the online gaming MMORPG crowd too I imagine. 

As a brief former MtG dweeb, I can say that at least two women thought it interesting enough to ask about.  Twenty years ago.  Because they didn't know what the fuck it was at first.  One actually demanded we teach her, because it "looked interesting", which we did.  It never stuck long-term (she was more of a console gamer type I suppose) but she wasn't mocked or anything.  Of course, I was in my early 20s so MtG was just an interlude between partying, when few people were over, and we weren't some mal-adjusted social troglodytes like some of the oddballs.

As for MMORPGs, I'd bet that genre easily has the highest amount of female gamers.  Having been an occasional MMO dweeb, including joining a handful of small "guilds" for various MMOs, I can say with certainty that the ladies were everywhere.  Many admit they refuse to tell other people that they are, indeed, female in-game for fear of being harassed by some teenage zit-faced jagoffs.  But there are many and they tend to get very vocal once that initial fear is allayed.

Actually, the two small MMO guilds I stuck with for long stretches were both run by women.  At a couple points, we had as many, or more, women as men in them.  We had more mature people, ages ranging from 20s to 40s, but they still kept things organized and running well without a bunch of the egotistical drama bullshit so often present in male-run orgs. 

[Toonces]

I'm not sure, but I think SDR might have won the internet for today.   ???

[Jarhead0331]

I'm not sure, but I think SDR might have won the internet for today.   ???

Pics, or none of it happened.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I'm not the most socially adroit person out there but I have to imagine that a schlub like in their mid 40s taking photos of college aged chicks in a game store is probably going to be frowned upon and/or lead to a restraining order. 

[Jarhead0331]

I'm not the most socially adroit person out there but I have to imagine that a schlub like in their mid 40s taking photos of college aged chicks in a game store is probably going to be frowned upon and/or lead to a restraining order.

Not my problem, dude.

[avrotim]

I'm not the most socially adroit person out there but I have to imagine that a schlub like in their mid 40s taking photos of college aged chicks in a game store is probably going to be frowned upon and/or lead to a restraining order.

Well, good thing I'm in my 50's then.

[ArizonaTank]

I once wargamed with a guy whose girlfriend could recite from memory, the armor penetration values of the German 88mm KwK 43.  She could even talk intelligently about the subtle design differences between various models of Sherman tanks.  The other guys in the gaming group were jealous...she was a "keeper."

[Ubercat]

Damn. You got THAT right.

[MikeGER]

I'm not the most socially adroit person out there but I have to imagine that a schlub like in their mid 40s taking photos of college aged chicks in a game store is probably going to be frowned upon and/or lead to a restraining order.

...depends on the opening line, story that go with it, how fitting your are dressed to that story, ... and the bluff-skill modifier printed on yours avatar card  ^-^
(maybe happenstance street casting for web addvertisement for an upcomming game based on movie Hungergames or some Asian stuff in development, or wait ... now i got it: possible booth babe job for Brants Origins area... channel your inner Faceman not your inner Murdock ;-) )         

[airboy]

I met my wife through D&D.  My D&D group in College had more females than males.

I've migrated mostly to computer games.  I read anything I come across about gaming industry, markets, marketing strategy, etc....

Females probably play wargames less than strategy games, RPGs, LARPS, Adventure & Mystery Games on PC and the like.  The more hard core the wargame, the lower the female participation rate.  This is not a good/bad thing - it just is.  I've seen this at conventions, in stores, in articles, etc....

[Windigo]

I'm not the most socially adroit person out there but I have to imagine that a schlub like in their mid 40s taking photos of college aged chicks in a game store is probably going to be frowned upon and/or lead to a restraining order.

Not my problem, dude.

LOL... yup