Take a hint boys!

Behave!There are many things I love about being a female gamer – people tend to be more sociable with you online and I’ve met some great people…and I can’t deny there’s nothing better than schooling some cocky guys who let their guard down because you’re only a  gamer chick! But there is a downside, and it’s one I experience first hand continuously and I’m sure I’m not the only one. The downside of course is the men out there that seem to have made gamer girls the fashionable new fetish to have. Along with the friends requests I get more than my fair share of obsessives. First they beg for a picture (n.b. I do have an xbox cam I just refuse to tell anyone who isn’t a real life friend about it!) then come the lewd messages which lead not surprisingly to a swift complaint being file and removal from my list.

Once upon a time, and yes, younger readers will laugh, the Internet wasn’t full of smut and was actually a safe and informative environment. I just can’t believe we’ve got to the stage where consoles are now being used in such a way. Not to sound like a total naive prude but I use xbox chat for gaming purposes and gaming purposes only! I’ll give out tips, I’ll chat to friends, I’ll share the latest gaming goss, but I will not put up with what seems to me to be completely bizarre behaviour. You wouldn’t act this way to a woman you just walked past in the street so why do people do it online?! Yes there are many attractive women out there that play games but 99% of us are online only to enjoy the pleasures of gaming.

Fully aware this blog was just a much needed rant I’ll be wrapping it up about now but hopefully some of the people who read this blog will learn from it. Online communities are about just that – “community”, and just like real life a small number must try and spoil it for the rest of us.


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9 responses to “Take a hint boys!”

  1. Dave avatar
    Dave

    I think folk think they can do it and get away with it due to the anonymity tied with online gaming. All you see is a gamer pic and user name and all you hear is their voice. This makes it easier for folk to run their mouths off, chat up women and generally be wee dicks (for lack of a better word).

    It’s a case of ‘welcome to the internet’ this is what it’s become, unfortunately 🙁

  2. Dave (a different one) avatar
    Dave (a different one)

    What intrigues me is that people think it’s anonymous, but forget that they can be reported and even banned!

    All that aside, what do they accomplish? Do they actually think that sending messages like that is going to get a positive result?

    Losers

  3. Riala avatar
    Riala

    Girls Don’t Play Games!

    Sorry to burst your little man-bubble here, but us ‘girls’ DO in fact, play games, be them on the PC, or console!

    I am an SMS addict, forum lurker, and complete n00b at any game I play. That said, I do have a level 70 alliance char in WoW, and I will happily challenge anyone to a C&C3 war!! (letmewinkthxbb)

  4. Laura avatar
    Laura

    What bugs me is the people who seem to “collect” girly Gamertags on their friends lists. I hardly add anyone anymore but I do tend to get more bad reps given to me now I’m declining requests.

    I do find that there are a good few females on Live that I think are just there cause they know they’ll get chatted up by the dudes which is fine y’know but I don’t. I wanna play games and I wanna talk about games regardless of whether it’s with a girl or a guy. I want to be treated as an equal and I don’t need to be abused or admired for the fact that I am a girl gamer.

  5. Dave avatar
    Dave

    Hi Riala, who said girls don’t play games?

    I know tons of girl gamers who are both kickass at games and who school me regularly. I’ve even convinced my girlfriend to get into games and now she likes what are generally regarded as’man’ games like Condemned and Resi 4, which I think is awesome.

    I think it’s a shame that girls get hounded like this online, I can only imagine it as being extremely off-putting, but as I said:’welcome to the internet’ – you’re always going to come across these idiots online, it’s a bad side-effect of the freedom of speech it has granted people.

  6. Chris avatar

    Hey Zoey, great post and I totally agree. A friend of mine suffered quite badly recently from an American stalker on XBL and it’s prompted me to write a blog too funnily enough.

  7. City avatar

    I agree Zoey, I even get it on Yahoo Pool now.. seriously.. ONLINE POOL?? why would you try and pick someone up there…

    I also used to get it a fair bit over at another forum.. usually comments of “you’re a girl? Pics or it didnt happen!” sigh!

    It makes me rant to…

  8. Andrew123100 avatar
    Andrew123100

    lol guys like that make me laugh they give us nice guys a bad name, the one that makes me laugh tho is when a guy goes hey r u a chick or little kid my friend kristine used to get that alot but i used to be there to tell people to get lost i like playing girls tho specially when they make the mouthy guys look so stupid when they kick there butt 😀

  9. Frances avatar
    Frances

    I’m actually not very knowledgeable about this supposed online gaming world. Do people just wander into random places and add random people…? Okay, I don’t get it. I play several console games (yes, the “kill everything in sight” kind) but I wouldn’t even know where to go to find these random strangers to play with. I play with my friends, who introduce me to their friends, etc. I have a huge network of people I play with as a result, most of them people who I suppose really are strangers because I don’t know them aside from playing with them. I’ve never experienced any of what people describe happening to girl gamers. I think maybe if you talk to strangers you’re inviting the kind of behavior that comes with… talking to strangers. But, again, I guess I’m coming from a completely different way of playing multi-player games or something.

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