Women play harder than men in online games, study finds

[ccharles000]

The words "You play like a girl" could turn out to be the ultimate compliment.

When it comes to online role playing games, women spent more time playing than men, according to a University of Southern California study of gender differences among gamers. Among those who played EverQuest II, a game developed by Sony Online Entertainment, women spent 29 hours a week in the game, compared with 25 hours for men.

"The women play more intensely than the guys," said USC economist Dmitri Williams, who co-authored the study with Nick Yee of the Palo Alto Research Center and Scott Caplan of the University of Delaware. "They're less likely to quit, and they're happier playing."

The discovery is one of several stereotypes refuted by the study. Contrary to the image of the overweight nerd glued to his computer, gamers in the study were no less fit than the general population. In fact, women who played EverQuest II tended to exercise more and weigh less than the average American.

Another shattered stereotype: The pimply teenage gamer. The average age of the 7,000 players in the USC survey was 31, and gamers in their 30s outnumbered those in their 20s.

But the study also affirmed many gender tropes. For example, women ...

... played less aggressively, while men tended to focus more on achievement. Those styles played into traditional gender roles of the nurturing female and the heroic male.

This was especially true when couples played the game together. The men played more aggressively, while their female partners toned down the violence.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/12/women-play-harder-than-men-in-online-games.html

[Geek_Girl]

1. K&R

nt

[Echo In Light]

2. HA!...so true...I work around a few who are at it all day long

[asdjrocky]

3. Played WoW with a girl.

She ruled.

[NikolaC]

12. I loved playing WOW

One of the best raiding guilds that I was in had an awesome GM who was female and that included a couple of raid leaders. Also, some of the best BG and arena players that I saw in that game were also women.

[asdjrocky]

15. I've decided I miss WoW and I'm thinking about building a new desktop

and starting up again. When I quit I had a lvl 60 Warlock and now they go to 80 and have flying mounts, kind of too cool to pass up.

Loved my guild too, Priceless. We had a male GM but there were several women in the guild, one was the best hunter I'd ever seen, never missed a pull.

Listen to me, I'm getting excited just writing about it.

[NikolaC]

17. LOL

Level 73 Night elf Shadow priest (I know, sad), with a "flying mount". My husband has a level 80 and a 72. I decided to take a break for a while, it's been nice seeing the outside world again :-). A new version is coming out next year with a level 85 cap I believe, I might go back too.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

4. It's true

I just had my butt handed to me in an arena match on World of Warcraft. You can't imagine how surprised I was to find a 40-something mother of two playing that big mean Death Knight . . .

[Regret My New Name]

5. WHAT???? GIRLS PLAY COMPUTER GAMES???

LIIIIES ALL LIES!!!

:P

[conspirator]

7. Did you know they watch porn too. My sister does nt

[seabeyond]

8. how old are you? nt

[conspirator]

10. How is my age relevant? nt

[seabeyond]

11. maturity level explains a lot. i am remembering an earlier post of yours today

seems to be a theme

[Regret My New Name]

14. Yeah right!!! Next you're going to tell me they enjoy sex too...

[Odin2005]

6. I already knew that, LOL!

[seabeyond]

9. hubby hide and picks off. i run out in the middle and fire.... lol. i die a lot

why i like god mode. and insist on playing cooperative not competitive cause he kicks my ass and pisses me off. lol

[Romulox]

13. WoW, EQ are social time sink games, not games of skill...

:shrug:

[Mixopterus]

19. Yep

It's more or less common knowledge among gamers that women tend to gravitate towards WoW, EQ, and other MMOs as well as the Sims series. These are by and large games that require little to no skill, especially in comparison to tactical shooters (Arma series, Red Orchestra, etc) which are almost entirely devoid of women. Due to this, playing "harder" or "longer" does not translate into "more skilled at".

I'll be impressed when I see a single female in the Wild Bunch servers for Red Orchestra, or in any game of Arma 2. I'd even be impressed if I saw more than a handful in stuff like Crysis, Counter-Strike, or the Empires mod for Half Life 2.

EDIT: I'm not even gonna touch wargames, it's too easy.

[skids]

16. You mean those "female gamers" in the mythical creature codex...

...actually exist?!?! :+

[varelse]

18. Interesting