An article on world-building

[clumber]

Hi all

 

Came across a fairly interesting article about a common mistake people make when world-building. The article focuses on games but to be honest most of it looks like it applies to pretty much any storytelling medium.

 

Link

 

It's about how a lot of people set out to create a gender-neutral society in their world but often slip up on things which breaks the effect.

 

What do people here think? Has anybody ever had problems writing gender into their worlds for their stories and the like?

 

 

Martin

[littlebuddy]

I think the system is broken personally because while a gender-neutral society works in someone's world, the culprit is almost always the reader who maintains 'real world' social dynamic baggage. It doesn't help that most video games are played by males.

 

A few years back I was having a conversation with a female professor who had mentioned how difficult it was to have a career in her field. Later she said that it's all right that men can have 'type A' personalities because we tend to venerate that behavior but the moment a woman shows any signs of being 'type A' she comes across as being a bitch.

 

Another conversation I had with friends were on famous sci-fi/fantasy writers like Tolkien and Douglas who apparently can't write strong females to save their lives. I can understand given the era in which they wrote and I'm sure future generations will look upon the writers of this era and mock our weird gender roles too.

 

On a funnier note, a male friend once tried playing a female character in D&D and each time he spoke he tried speaking at a higher pitch and softer and I. Couldn't. Stop. Laughing. Personally, I think we each perceive gender roles differently, and trying to build a world where things are gender neutral will always be tainted by what we know and feel.

 

Just my two cents.

 

lb.

[clumber]

I think the system is broken personally because while a gender-neutral society works in someone's world, the culprit is almost always the reader who maintains 'real world' social dynamic baggage. It doesn't help that most video games are played by males.

 

A few years back I was having a conversation with a female professor who had mentioned how difficult it was to have a career in her field. Later she said that it's all right that men can have 'type A' personalities because we tend to venerate that behavior but the moment a woman shows any signs of being 'type A' she comes across as being a bitch.

 

Another conversation I had with friends were on famous sci-fi/fantasy writers like Tolkien and Douglas who apparently can't write strong females to save their lives. I can understand given the era in which they wrote and I'm sure future generations will look upon the writers of this era and mock our weird gender roles too.

 

On a funnier note, a male friend once tried playing a female character in D&D and each time he spoke he tried speaking at a higher pitch and softer and I. Couldn't. Stop. Laughing. Personally, I think we each perceive gender roles differently, and trying to build a world where things are gender neutral will always be tainted by what we know and feel.

 

Just my two cents.

 

lb.

 

 

Weird thing is that the thing about most video games being played by men? Not true. The perception has stubbornly hung on but there are a lot more girls getting into gaming now and a fair few recent big hits are closer to being a 50/50 split if anything. (The Dragon Age series, the Eldar Scrolls series, Fallout: New Vegas, Portal series... Team Fortress 2 has also had numerous significantly large female communities as well - they just tend to hang out in different places on the internet.)

 

 

In a way I think it is one of the big problems. A lot of the people in the industry, whatever they say, seem to be writing aimed at a solely male market, and often a fairly immature one at that. As such, they make claims about it being gender-neutral and completely open to any characters in that snece but then you find the entire story is written assuming you are playing as a guy. (Certainly the first Dragon Age seems to have this problem big-time.) In many ways, the moment you start assuming that the player character will be a certain gender (despite the possible choice) you run the risk of making the games claims of gender-neutral societies looking incredibly shallow. Just because there is a woman holding a big axe somewhere doesn't mean that the gender issues of assuming people will have certain roles goes away. (For a start, where are the fem guys? If I want to play as a girly-boy mage, why can't I? )

 

Martin

[littlebuddy]

http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2011.pdf

The Entertainment Software Association begs to differ.

 

Sure the divide is nowhere as wide since the early 2000's but most games that are fps, rts, rpg, mmo and fighting games still largely focus on males.

 

I think the big question is what does gender mean to you for video games?

 

Lb.

[Persinette]

http://www.theesa.co...ESA_EF_2011.pdf

The Entertainment Software Association begs to differ.

 

Sure the divide is nowhere as wide since the early 2000's but most games that are fps, rts, rpg, mmo and fighting games still largely focus on males.

 

I think the big question is what does gender mean to you for video games?

 

Lb.

 

42% vs. 58% is not a large divide by any means. Not to mention, 42% of players are female players despite the industry (and gaming culture) often being downright hostile to women. If anything, that should indicate that there is massive untapped market - after all, those players are just the ones who are willing to wade through poor treatment.

[littlebuddy]

I would agree with you there about females being an untapped market. In some ways they are being tapped, the Nintendo DS, iPhone and Droid markets do a fabulous job targeting them, but there is a pretty distinct difference between those games and games for say console gaming. Some games have a female leaning but I don't think any game has women specifically in mind.

 

lb.

[clumber]

I would agree with you there about females being an untapped market. In some ways they are being tapped, the Nintendo DS, iPhone and Droid markets do a fabulous job targeting them, but there is a pretty distinct difference between those games and games for say console gaming. Some games have a female leaning but I don't think any game has women specifically in mind.

 

lb.

 

 

But surely that is the point. If they are not being made with women in mind and yet are still being played, it indicates that the potential market is far bigger than it is now. If anything, it would almost suggest that with some slightly re-directed advertising the balance would easily slip to being a majority female market.

 

And yes, there are a lot of women playing the big title console and PC games. They just aren't hanging out where the men are online.

 

Martin