Confessions of a Gamestop Girl

I was looking for more about Women in Gaming because for some reason this topic has caught my imagination.  When I did a search on Google, I came up with several articles, one from Escapist Magazine.  In the article above, the girl that the author interviewed talked about how working in Gamestop, sometimes female gamers came in and assumed that she didn’t know anything about gaming. 

She talked about how sometimes gamers call themselves elite because they play a certain game, or in some cases played a certain game.  Like finishing Final Fantasy II with no errors on the game save.  Like thinking that they’re hard core because they play World of Warcraft.

That got me to thinking, do I think I’m a hard core gamer because I MUD?  I mean MU*ing (playing either MUDs or MUSHs) doesn’t attract the attention of the younger generation any more.  Why play text based games when you can play visual games like WoW or Everquest?  Yet my feeling is why pay for gaming when you can get the same result using your imagination?

Which of us is the game snob?  Or are both of us?  Someone who plays WoW and thinks that text based games are stupid?  Or the one who plays text based games because that’s what she used to play, and it uses her imagination more?

I’ve been trying to remember why I didn’t like EQ as much.  Granted, I didn’t play a long time because I got involved in some stuff in my personal life at the time.  BUT, I think I realized why I played Asheron’s Call more than I played Everquest.  With Asheron’s Call, I could practice making stuff, food or arrows.  Oh, and a really close friend and his wife used to play.  I think I was all about the social aspect even then.  Trying new things and exploring are both fun, but it’s more fun to socialize. 

In the article it also talks about how mothers would come in to get video games for their girls and would choose Bratz games over anything else.  So are we directed toward what others think we would like for games?  If I hadn’t had 3 older brothers, would I have even had an Atari?  I’m pretty sure I would have gotten into Sci-Fi/Fantasy still.  Though I would read all of the books my mother got for my brother, I picked up Caves of Steel on my own.  Oh yea, and the book that truly freaked me out Z is for Zachariah. 

So am I a game snob?  Does someone have to play RPG’s to get my respect?  I’d have to say the answer to both of those questions is probably closer to yes.  I may want to say no, I may want to see the best of myself, but I don’t see that someone playing the Sims is anywhere close to someone who plays World of Warcraft.  Maybe it’s the percieved level of skill involed.  I don’t know.

wotmud was nice enough to leave this link in answer to my last post. 

http://womeninleadershipandtechnology.blogspot.com/2007/09/female-gamers-on-increase.html

It sounds like the person who wrote that post is in the gaming industry, so she has a different perspective on it than I do.  However, she does state this:

Female players tend to be casual, interested in easy-to-pick-up social games but not willing to fork over $30 to $50 for more “tough guy games”. The lure is in getting girls to obsess over games the way they obsess over boy bands or shows like Hannah Montanna.

There are some games I get obsessed over.  I’ll fully admit that I used to be addicted to MUDding.  A bit of that feeling has been coming back lately, when I log on.  I used to be addicted to Asheron’s Call, though I never was for Everquest because I had too tough a time with that game.  If I had had more time, I probably would have gotten addicted to that too.  Fortunately, I’ve learned to control my addiction to gaming so it does not interfere with my work or family life. 

 However, as a former AD&D player, the type of game I go for is going to be different from those who aren’t interested in fantasy roleplaying games.  My son has picked up some of the same interests, but he likes first person shooters and other military games. 

One of the drawbacks I’ve seen listed is the high cost of the gaming platform… Though my son had a PS2 (he broke it), we play mostly computer games.  In that case, the gaming systems are something I would have in the house anyway — did I mention I’m a computer geek? LOL

That said, I am cheap.  Though I have paid to play Asheron’s Call and Everquest, and for my son to play World of Warcraft, I prefer not to.  That’s why I like MUDding. 

I may like to solve puzzles, but games like http://puzzlepirates.com just don’t interest me for more than a month.  I get bored with doing the same puzzles over and over to go up levels.  I prefer to be doing different things.

I may have to check out other MUDs to see how many female gamers playing on them.

Players Who Suit MUDs

 I’ve been reading a lot about gaming recently, and why there are few female gamers.  Quite honestly, I got used to being one of the few females in many situations, so I wasn’t that uncomfortable as a girl on the MUD I played on.  It probably helped that 2 of my friends played female characters and I didn’t realize that they were not female in real life for at least a year after I “met” them online. 

 A lot of guys preferred to play female characters because they took advantage of the help they got as a supposed female.  I never acted like that, so to me that concept was foreign.  However, these two became good friends and though I have lost track of one of them, the other is a very dear friend to me. 

 One thing that I’ve noticed is that game companies need to start focusing on attracting female gamers.  I’m a fantasy style gamer.  That’s why I MUD.  In the times that I wasn’t MUDding, I played both Everquest and Asheron’s Call.  After awhile, I got bored with both of these games.  I had trouble with the lack of socialization compared to MUDding, and lost interest because I found it too difficult to explore and learn new things.  That’s one of my main focuses in MUDding. 

 Actually, I’m pretty well balanced with three of the four groups in the article that I linked to.  I like to socialize, I like to explore and I like being able to achieve something difficult.  However, most days the socialization and exploration are more important than achieving anything once I’m a high enough level to actually do anything.  Since I don’t play a pkill MUD, I don’t do the pkill part at all.

Gaming is probably going to be increasing in the next few months.  Especially with the financial news getting bleak.  Games are great for an escape.  For a few hours, you can forget what’s going on in the real world.

It’s been long enough since my last post that I really should post again. It’s also 11:30 and I really should go to sleep. Tomorrow’s Monday and… well we all know what they say about Mondays and back to work.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about the possibility of a recession.  It’s odd because the media seems to flip-flop between “yes, we’re in one” and “no, we’re not in one.”  It all seems to depend on what website I’m reading for that day.  I’ve been watching the reports about the Fed lowering interest rate.  A lot would think that’s a good thing.  But honestly, though I understand what they’re trying to do, they are making a big mistake.  The price of everything is going up because the American dollar is weakening against foreign currency. 

 When I lived in Vermont, Canadians would come south to shop, even with the exchange rate, they were getting a better deal in the US because of the GST (sales tax).  Now, $1 CN is roughly equivalent to $1.02 US.  That’s the closest I’ve ever seen it.  In 1998, $1 CN was roughly 70 cents US.  That’s the earliest I can find data for, but that’s about what it was in 1992 when I was working retail. 

 Foreign bond investors are no longer buying US bonds because the US Treasury is pretty much making its own money to try to stave off the problems with the “housing bubble” collapse and the attendant problems with the banks.  The US dollar is in free-fall and all the Federal Reserve wants to do is make sure that the banks don’t go under.   

 The problem remains larger than just the US though.  The world economy is going to go through some tough times while the markets “reset” to where they should be if it hadn’t been for this “housing bubble”

 Maybe it’s time to get a farm and start growing my own food. More on that later.

Ok, so it’s not too late after all. If you want more information about stopping the Mother’s act I talked about in one of my previous posts, go to http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_freedom.php  

Personally, I’d prefer that we really test any of these so-called drugs before we let pregnant women take them. Everyone I know that has taken anti-depressant drugs has had an adverse reaction to at least one. It’s scary to have suicidal thoughts because of a prescription medication that is supposed to help you.

I’m having issues with WordPress tonight, so the link is going to have to stay as it is.

I promised a dear friend that I’d go to bed early, but I forgot I had something to do for work first.  So, while I’m waiting for the last update routine to run, I had time to post…

I think part of why I’m so exhausted today is simple stress.  I know I felt my blood pressure raise today at work today.  It’s just been one of those weeks.  They gave me a bunch of work to do before Monday, and I hate rushing on things rather than doing them right the first time.  With rushing, there’s too much of a chance of making a critical mistake.  Well, it may not be critical to most people, but allergen issues in the meat industry can mean sickness or worse to someone if I label an item incorrectly, or if production makes an item incorrectly because I was rushing to set it up.  That on top of the drama at work and it’s no wonder I don’t want to go in.

So, I get to stress out over this and see what happens.  Add in that I have another writing assignment that I forgot I had signed up for so early.  That means I’ll have to be done before 8 instead of 11 pm tomorrow.  I’ll write at lunch.  I should be able to kick out at least 1/3 of the article if not more in my 30 minute lunch break.  It’s a subject I’m familiar with 🙂

 The update is done, finally, so I can stop yawning and go to bed.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, my hormones were driving me crazy.  With the added stress of working overnights the whole time, I was very depressed.  I asked my doctor about going on an anti-depressant and I was told that there were not enough studies out there to prove that anti-depressants did not harm the baby.  The more research I did, the more I realized she was right.  So I just go through it the best I could.

Now, the pharmaceutical companies are trying something new.  http://birthfriend.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/stop-the-mothers-act/ Unfortunately, the time has passed to register an objection.  However, the idea that they would insist on giving drugs to those who might suffer from depression or post-partum depression (in some cases post partum psychosis) is absolutely unbelieveable.  So you’re going to put the baby in danger with who knows what side effects?!? 

 Remember, these drugs have not been tested for birth defects.  My doctor wouldn’t even give them to me — and looking at my daughter now, I’m glad.  I could not imagine what would have happened to her if I had taken these chemicals. 

 Don’t get me wrong, I did end up with post-partum depression too, especially since my husband moved to Oklahoma while I was still in Kansas.  However, there has been testing to show whether the a/d medication I was prescribed could be passed through breastmilk.  That can be tested… in vitro, how do we know what’s going to affect the baby? 

 This forcing drugs on people has got to stop.  It’s just wrong.  Unfortunately, since that’s where the money is, they are going to continue to pass the laws requiring us to get vaccines and take other drugs that have not been thoroughly tested.  We are the guinea pigs on these pharmaceuticals, and it’s all for someone else’s profit.  We pay to be their guinea pigs.  That’s the saddest part of all.

Work should get interesting in the next couple of months. I guess the Biggest Loser franchise is making a lot of money… I know the local gym has a Biggest Loser contest going on, and now we received an email from one of the corporate dietitians about one that they’re going to run through work.

The whole thing has me intrigued. I haven’t watched the show, I’m not into reality TV. Actually, I don’t always pay attention to the TV except as background noise. Sometimes I’d just as soon *gasp* turn it off. Oh that annoys my husband and son… LOL

Anyway, I know that they wouldn’t make us weigh in in a sports bra and shorts — I HAVE heard people talking about it LOL — but I really wouldn’t mind participating. Of course, I’m also considering joining the gym next Friday when I get paid. I keep putting it off because it’d take time away from things I want to do and people I want to spend time with. However, since I want to be around for my daughter, I need to do better at taking care of myself. Plus, the exercise is good for stress.

I think I figured something out, I had cut out any caffeine other than my morning coffee. Tonight I had a (diet) soda and I’m awake late into the night. Guess that’s an indication that I’m getting too old to drink caffeine after 3 pm. Funny, I don’t feel too old.

All week, I thought that I was going to have to spend tomorrow in the freezer again at work. Today, my boss informed me that she’s had people doing the work all week so we don’t have to do it at the last minute. Well gee, it would have been nice if I had known that. I guess I can’t complain too much, I was freezing and sore by the time I finished last week, so I’m just as glad I’m not going to be there this week.

I really should be sleeping, but I’m not tired. I guess I have too much on my mind, even though it’ll mean getting scolded next time I see my dear friend. I need to make my son get a job so he can help pay to go to his prom. Especially since he’s now saying I can’t drive him there, he needs a limo. Umm yea, ok, you can pay for that kid. Plus the $100 for the tux. Oh yea, kids are so fun some days.

I’m supposed to be writing, but I guess I’ll just have to focus on getting it done as quickly as possible tomorrow so I can do what I want the rest of the night. At least as quickly as I can and still do a good job. I’ve got a number of things I want to do, and oddly only a few of them have to do with the MUD tomorrow. I’ve been on an exploring kick lately. I just wish I hadn’t lost my book with the directions on how to get places. Of course, some of what I want to do is window shopping or something. Oh yea, and get a computer set up to get my son off my back. Of course he’s not going to have the password because I need some sort of way to control his computer time to coerce him into doing chores around the house. ;0

I realized tonight when I was doing my freelance writing assignment, I’m making it much harder than it needs to be. I really don’t need to stress about anything other than staying on topic, getting the keywords in and hitting the word count. I don’t know why I put it off over and over. Friday I’ll work on the next one I signed up for and I’m just going to relax about this one. I definitely think too much.

In some cases, that’s a good thing though. I read an article today that made me think of something a teacher friend of mine had complained about. She said that she spent so much time teaching to the standardized tests that the government makes the kids take to make sure that the kids learn everything the government thinks they need to learn.

I looked into what the testing is for… reading, math and science. What about art? If I didn’t have art, my writing, my web design.. I wouldn’t feel whole. Reading is great, but if you want to write historical fiction, you need to have a knowledge of history. Without learning about economics, it’s no wonder that more than half of Americans are having problems with their money. They’ve overspent because they haven’t been taught how to budget, either by their parents or the school. Isn’t that what Home-Ec is for? Oh, that’s right, they call it FACS class now (Family and Consumer Science).

What about the sad fact that a lot of Americans (I think the last count was 60%) cannot find Germany (I arbitrarily chose that country) on a map. Let alone cannot list all 50 states. Yet, this plan is supposed to be helping the kids? I don’t see it.

We really need to insist that the government re-evaluate how they are handling this. More money to the schools, positive reinforcement, that’ll go a long way toward helping our kids learn more.

If they want to complain about how the kids who live below the poverty line do not do very well at school, give these kids families money so they don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. Forcing the schools to teach these kids like this is not helping at all.