A Letter from woman gamers to the industry.

[gwensdad]

Posting a link to this as a bit of a favor.

[URL="http://letterstogaming.wordpress.com/"]http://letterstogaming.wordpress.com/[/URL]

Here's an excerpt

We are the women who play, write, design, create art for, and love your games. We play video games from first person shooters online to Wii Fit. We have top of the line gaming machines and old play stations we keep running with gum and shoe polish. We know every game coming out next month and we have been playing the same copy of Doctor Mario since we bought it years ago, used. We are also table top players and LARPers. We have invested thousands of dollars in collectible card games and miniatures for war simulation games. In some cases we are 40% of the market, and we are 50% of the population.

Despite all that, there are times when many of us feel neglected or forgotten.

Read, comment, share and enjoy.

[BuFFo]

So the six 'woman' gamers worldwide made a letter. Big whoop.

I like the skewed 'percentage' in that letter about 'in some cases even 40% of the market and 50% of the population'

1) 40% of what market? Such a blanket statement like that serves no purpose but to mislead. I guess the author must mean 40% of the Pokemon and Sims market?

2) 50% population? lol. Women out populate men 100% of the time on the planet. I guess by the author's view, a billion women must be dying and being born every day for such a fluctuating number to exist.

The point of this thread has 'what' to do with 40k?

[gwensdad]

It's gaming and we have some vocal female gamers.

[BuFFo]

I agree, but this has nothing to do with 40k specifically.

This should go [URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/forumdisplay.php?f=34"]here[/URL], where all non GW related topics should go.

[Sangre]

What's the problem exactly?

[Lord Azaghul]

What's the problem exactly?

I kind of agree here. Didn''t really see much in that.

Fact remains that the majority of gamer markets are male.

I say ask for better quality material, but don't try to politcize and feminize the gaming industry just to politcize and feminize it.

If you have a problem with a company, don't buy there products.

[MajorSoB]

It is a good letter and a good topic.

To explain what it has to do with gaming and 40K is simple. I could best describe it as Soccer Mom syndrome. I have worked at gaming stores and spend countless hours in them. Most young adolescents come in with their mother and its a woman who decides what they will spend their allowance on. Moms hand out the money for Magic cards, D&D books, 40K as well as video and computer games. In many marriages too women help regulate the discretionary spending on hobby related purchases. I know this is a hard concept for many here but someday you may actually have a woman in your life who doesnt require inflation and I can guarantee she will have some impact on your spending in relation to your hobbies. So what does this letter have to do with 40K, quite simply it has everything to do with it. Its a known fact in the industry that Chaos and Deamons were a poor selling army in the Southern US states? Why is that, because many women there as well as in other areas of the world were put off by the sexuality and nudity. Have you ever wondered why the new deamonettes are no longer naked? GW reviewed this army and GW didnt want to alienate over 50% of the worlds population. Women have a huge influence on what products are purchased, believe it!

[Lord Azaghul]

It is a good letter and a good topic.

. Its a known fact in the industry that Chaos and Deamons were a poor selling army in the Southern US states? Why is that, because many women there as well as in other areas of the world were put off by the sexuality and nudity. Have you ever wondered why the new deamonettes are no longer naked? GW reviewed this army and GW didnt want to alienate over 50% of the worlds population. Women have a huge influence on what products are purchased, believe it!

I'm a married man, but my reason for having 0 interest in Chaos and Daemons are far more of a religious root then a gender equality issue. Where or not the daemons are clothed has nothing to do with my decision not to purchase them.

I don't doubt a mothers influnce on what ever son (since its most likely a son playing the game and not a daughter) will be purchasing, but I also see mothers who care very little about that activities their children participate in - I think the daemonettes were clothed because of westerners preoccupation with nudity.

[MajorSoB]

I'm a married man, but my reason for having 0 interest in Chaos and Daemons are far more of a religious root then a gender equality issue. Where or not the daemons are clothed has nothing to do with my decision not to purchase them.

I don't doubt a mothers influnce on what ever son (since its most likely a son playing the game and not a daughter) will be purchasing, but I also see mothers who care very little about that activities their children participate in - I think the daemonettes were clothed because of westerners preoccupation with nudity.

Think what you like about the deamonettes but this is the information that came directly from a GW rep.

Many more women than you would like to acknowledge have direct influences on purchases made in the gaming industry. While 40K does not have many female gamers there are some ( we have several in our area) and many more who control their child's and husband's purchases. Fantasy has a higher female population, while games like Magic, Pokemon, YuGiOh and D20 style games share even more of a female audience. WoW has a huge female online presence, and currently there are games that cater exclusively to little girls like Bella Sara. Many miniature painters are women. Many women also play video games as well. To ignore the concerns of the female portion of the gaming community is anything but a sound business decision. All I see in this letter is a few concerned women asking to consider their views when decisions are made. It is not an unreasonable request.

[Lerra]

As a female I do get a very strong sense of "You don't belong here" from GW. The game is very clearly targeted toward men - and that's okay - but it doesn't need to be at the exclusion of females either. All GW has to do is throw us a bone every now and then to show that they want our business (and that we're not unwanted members of a boy's club). I'm fine with the half naked daemon models or the big chested women dripping with sexuality, as long as their are a few non-sexual models to balance things out. Give female gamers the choice of having a mixed-gender force without running Slaanesh (which isn't really female anyway )

It's the little things that GW could change to attract more female gamers. I felt kind of silly showing up for 'ard Boyz and declaring that I wanted to be the top "Boy". Have FW add a female Guardsman model or two. Make plastic Sisters. Drop the references to sportsmanship and "acting like a man". Maybe add one token female into the 6th ed rulebook photos.

What percentage of female gamers play either Sisters or Eldar? Over 75% from personal experience. That's because those are two of the only armies with options for female models.

Female gamers are a small market, but so are Dark Eldar players or Alpha Legion players, etc. How many guys would want to teach their girlfriends/wives/daughters how to play 40k? Why wouldn't GW try to expand their business as much as possible? It does seem like they are ignoring a segment of the population that they could be selling their products to.

So the six 'woman' gamers worldwide made a letter. Big whoop.

For what it's worth, my FLGS is about 30% female, more on D&D/RP days. Of the 40k players, only about 15% are female, but you can hardly say that we don't exist :P