November 2005
- Computer Security for MMOs and Online Games Greg B
- Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation Chris Duesing
- Commentary on Recent PlayOn Blog Social Cohesion Christopher Allen
- quest engine design documents? Johnicholas Hines
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Ghilardi Filippo
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Kiztent
- Effort to produce a quest Vincent Archer
- Effort to produce a quest Damion Schubert
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Damion Schubert
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Randolf Richardson
- Effort to produce a quest Lachek Butalek
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) Sarah Bonner
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) Otis Viles
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? John Mauney
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Sean Howard
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Sam Pointon
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? John Mauney
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? justice@softhome.net
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Lachek Butalek
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs cruise
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Roger Hicks
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains cruise
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lydia Leong
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Dave Mitchell
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lost
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lachek Butalek
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lost
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains jack fredricks
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Arnau Josep Rosselló Castelló
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Damien Neil
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains ceo
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs cruise
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Jaycen Rigger
- (no subject) Koster, Raph
- Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) cruise
- Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lachek Butalek
- MMO a temporary phenomenon? John Buehler
- Sexism in design lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Sexism in design Marc Bowden
- Sexism in design Louis d'Ambra
- Sexism in design Sean Kelly
Louis d'Ambra wrote:
> On 11/20/05, Lydia Leong <lwl@black-knight.org> wrote:
>> It's about creating gender differences in games, and how inferior
>> women are to men.
>> The earnest debate going on in that thread is an interesting
>> example of how MUDs-for-experimentation can differ from
>> commercial gaming projects -- but also a worrisome illustration
>> of how far embryonic future game designers still need to go in
>> their thinking.
> Of course there are a lot of clichés, like the female spellcaster
> that heals everybody and has more dexterity than males, but gender
> discussions should appear more often in my opinion. It's a very
> interesting question that may draw the lines of the next king of
> MMOs.
It is, but it's also a touchy subject and therefore quite subject to
unintended side-effects. It's also worth noting that game mechanics
are just that: game mechanics. In the current crop of games,
mechanics has an impact on combat and little else. There is nothing
stopping people from forming a sexist social structure in game. In
fact, I've heard stories from people with female avatars that would
claim this social climate already exists.
> Women and men are different, aren't they ? Are women gamers and
> men gamers different ? My personal feeling (based on maybe 10
> years of online gaming) tells me : yes. There are always
> exceptions to confirm to rule, maybe like you, Lydia ?
> When it comes to design, i'm not fond of the "box approach" that
> puts everyone erm... in a box. If you're a girl, why should you
> play some kind of inferior and uninteresting avatar ? Still,
> there's a lot of work to be done when it comes to gender in
> persistant worlds. It should remain an open topic :
> politicaly-nerfed and science-boosted. Using personal philosophy
> and feelings is not a rational or valid approach to any
> sociological concept.
I agree. Which implies to me that the game mechanics should not
confer any benefits to one gender over another. After all, that
would be using personal feelings (those of the game developers) to
define unbreakable game rules. And as you have said, while there
are certain qualities that are generally attributable to one gender
vs. another (sex vs. gender identity is a somewhat messy topic so
I'm assuming they're the same thing for the sake of this
conversation), these are only generalities and they are rooted in
experiences from only one culture. Personally, if game designers
were to include gender qualities in a game I would much rather see
it done in a fantasy setting where new social ideas could be toyed
with. Spiders, for example, tend to have a dramatically reversed
set of gender differences from what it seems we're used to. Why not
create a hypothetical world that challenges stereotypes? In this
vein, Ursala LeGuin wrote a book that's basically a species/culture
study of a hypothetical asexual human-like race (The Left Hand of
Darkness). I would love to see something like this made into a
game, even a single-player one.
Sean
- Sexism in design Sean Kelly
- Sexism in design Amanda Walker
- Value Brian "Ayavaron" Ross
- Griefing Brian "Ayavaron" Ross
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Jean, Yannick
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Marc Bowden
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lost
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Damion Schubert
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lachek Butalek
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look)
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Caliban Darklock
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Ryan S. Dancey
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Jeffrey Kesselman
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Ken Sewell
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Joe Ludwig
- Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation Chris Duesing