Gaming Community Study

[Frelock]

Greetings, all. Though I am, by trade, more of a mathematician/engineering sort of guy, the university requires that we take a class connecting the more technological and physical sciences with the social sciences. Therefore, I find myself needed to write a paper connecting technology to society in some way. The subject matter for us to choose from was rather broad, so I decided to do something with games, as that it my main interest in my free time. Considering the enormous amount of feminist research, I felt that examining how games effect women would be something relatively easy to do. To further tighten my thesis, I decided to research whether there was any difference between how women are treated in indie gaming communities (such as our beloved H&H forums) and mainstream communities (like the World of Warcraft boards, for example). Unfortunately, there's not much literature research on this particular topic; probably because gamers as a whole are simply lumped into one big group in the general literature. Demographics are studied, but differences between types of gamers are not as often considered.

So I come to you in this grand quest for discovery. Active research is something actually encouraged by this class, so I ask for a moment of your time to help me understand this brave new world that the internet has created. To the women of the Haven and Hearth forums, if you could fill out this short survey for women about your experiences in gaming communities, I would be greatly appreciative. Naturally, all questions are optional, and all answers anonymous. If you feel strongly on this subject, I'm also in need of interviews and case studies to flesh out this research. Send me a PM if you'd like to participate (again, all identities will remain anonymous).

To the far larger demographic of males who play H&H, I'm in need of your help too. This survey for men asks you about how you have seen women treated in gaming communities. Again, standard disclaimer that all questions are optional, and all answers anonymous.

For everyone, my thanks for participating in this research. This thread too is a vital part of the research, if a little less scientific. Surveys miss questions that need asking. So, comments? Questions? Concerns? Tacky remarks? How do you feel women are treated in the gaming community, or even in the internet in general? Why do you think that is? Have a story regarding this sort of thing? What about indie gamers vs mainstream gamers? What are the stereotypes? How do they actually act? Do try to be respectful in here; though a thread of full of insults towards women would certainly be telling data, it is my fondest hope that the people here are understanding to the difficult situation many gamer girls find themselves in elsewhere on the internet.

[Irish_Pride]

.....What.

[rye130]

He's doing research on gaming community's views on female gamers and wants people to complete his survey

[Chakravanti]

Here's a good start... viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11648

[Jackard]

if by 'good' you mean 'terrible'

[Chakravanti]

I was being sarcastic, yes.

[Repercussionist]

What a strikingly odd coincidence...

[Frelock]

Chack, yes, that thread also gave me a few nudges towards that direction, and also made H&H a testing ground I really wanted to examine.

Repercussionist, I'm curious as to the coincidence. Are you also studying this sort of stuff? If so, I'd love to compare notes and share sources.

[Thurrok]

The Internet: where men are men, women are men, and children are FBI agents

...sorry for trolling this, it came to my mind. Also, I hope you have some luck finding interviewees. Last girl I knew who was playing HnH quit 4 months ago.

[Chakravanti]

I know some trannies that play if you're interested in that...I could ask them if they wouldn't mind an interview and we could manage to keep it anonymous.