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Special Sections: Shadowbane Related
Note: This Article originally appeared on our Shadowbane Affiliate Site, Aerynth Atheneaum  All right, I have decided that enough is enough. I’ve decided to do a rant before I do my next installment of the Game of Houses and Thrones. That’s right. I’m going to share something with you that many just won’t believe. (Ladies, if you’re reading this, just sit back and chuckle; this is really aimed at the men who think they have us all sown up.) Yes, I know…you’re on the edge of your seat even now, I can see it. Get ready for it because here it comes...
Women are gamers too!
No, no... don’t nod your head and say, “Yes, I knew that all along.” You really don’t. You really have no idea what I’m talking about. That’s ok. I’ll help you along right here and right now. Why am I being so generous? Because frankly, I’m sick of hearing about how things have changed so that “girls” can play now too. I’m tired of hearing about how there need to be more games that cater to females so that it draws us in. And frankly, I don’t care that Wolfpack has a bare breasted Succubus picture hanging around in cyberspace. Why don’t I care? Because a Succubus is usually bare breasted. It’s part of mythology. It’s an acceptable thing to me. There are plenty of other things unacceptable but that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I’m here to talk about something else.. ME.. and how I’m one of those “elusive” female gamers that don’t really exist. Sit back and let me explain a little something to all you “men” folk. Female gamers exist and have for far longer than you realize. Stop telling me how you’ve only in the past few years started seeing more of them. You want to know why? Because they (the gaming companies) finally figured out that we play too! I’ve heard everyone saying how the gaming companies created female skins and characters to lure female gamers in… erm.. Wrong boys… Though that may be partially true and a great lure for future female gamers, it’s not the gospel. We’ve been playing games like Doom and Duke Nukem for years without female skins. Why do I prefer games that offer great female skins? Because frankly, I want my victims to know they were fragged by a “girl.” It gives me perverse pleasure because so many men still squirm when they realize it. Let me give you MY background as a female gamer. (No, I’m not a chick gamer or a grrrl gamer nor do I think “the man” is keeping us down.) I started on the Atari. This was the first console game out there and soon became adept at games like Asteroids and Pitfall. My brother would lose count of how many times I would flip the score back to zero. Later we had the Coleco Vision and the Commodore 64 to play with. I am 5 ½ years younger than my brother and he was my influence on the types of books I read and the games I was introduced to. (Before you say, “AHA! You wouldn’t have known of all of this if not for your brother!” Guess what? My mother was HIS influence and guide to reading and exploring more of what was going on than anyone else. She was one of those darn feminists people like to bash. No, not a feminazi. She worked part time and sometimes full time when she needed to, but her primary goal was raising her children right. She respects men and women alike and believes in the equality of people, period. So, in other words, if you’re reading this and choose to reply, “Don’t go there.”) We had the typical brother younger sister relationship. I wanted to play too; he didn’t want anything to do with it. *smiles* I still got my way and managed to weasel into D&D games, fantasy RP board games, video games and anything else I could get my hands on. Was it just the influence of my brother? No. I wanted to play by my own choice. Eventually he had to make a rule. I wasn’t to play any game before he had played long enough to feel comfortable with it first. I won’t give examples here because that’s not what this is about, but he knew he could sit me down at nearly anything and I’d cruise through it. The first online games I played were mostly games with friends with servers or lan parties, Doom, Duke Nukem, Hexen, Heretic and on and on. I mostly enjoyed the idea of meeting the “fresh blood” that was brought into our little group from time to time because their first reaction has always been (and surprisingly still is), “Oh look, that cute girl is going to try to play too. I’ll just go easy on her.” As the game progressed their reactions turned more toward colorful expletives as they were made into gibs. (Chunks of body parts for those not hip with the lingo.) That’s right.. I’m one of those darn FPS people. I’m a “twitch” as some would call it. At the same time as we were holding our lan parties etc, we also had weekly AD&D sessions. I wrote a lot and read a lot and therein is my background for RP. I know, you’re thinking “My lord! Someone that plays twitch games can’t possibly know how to RP!” Let alone the most important part, I’m a female gamer, one of the original. One of the ones you didn’t realize has been playing along side of you all these years. I’ve played, FPS’, RTS’, a couple of nothing RPG’s and pretty much anything that struck my fancy. I enjoy PVP. I don’t have to be coaxed into it. I don’t have to be coddled or lured in by “pretty outfits”. I have been in Quake Clans as well. The first was.. brace yourself now… An ALL FEMALE CLAN!!! Are you still breathing ok? I know it’s a shock. The second clan was a both a female and male clan mixed. Who was the more bloodthirsty? The women. Who were the more dedicated to those frag counts? The women. Why? Because it seems we are still trying to prove we are here, have been here and will continue to be here for a long time to come. What does this all boil down to? Basically, women are gamers, have been gamers and don’t need “allowed” in to play. We are not closet lesbians nor do we need the lure of “safe” servers and social interactions to bring us to the games. I’m all for being social but I want to be able to take someone out if for some reason they have offended my female sensibilities. *grin* We are also not all fat balding men that pretend to be women, we are not ugly women that can’t get dates if our lives depended on it either. Many are married, dating and/or playing these games right alongside their husbands, boyfriends, brothers and sisters. What it all boils down to is knock off all of the sexist lingo and get to the heart of things, the game. Don’t think you’re going to make things easy on us either. We don’t want you to make things easy. We don’t want your handouts. We’ll take friendship and camaraderie any day. If you tick us off, expect to watch your back. Oh, and happy gaming gentlemen. I may look sweet but I have that same "killer instinct" and I plan on racking up those kills. Now all we have to do is wait for Shadowbane to go live so I can start my happy little kill list. *smiles sweetly* I’ll be waiting on the battlefield for you and don't think to count me out of the running. Note- The picture is not the best but at least now people can stop asking me for one. ;> Don’t bother emailing or posting any marriage proposals. I’m taken. No, I won’t join your guild either… I’m quite happy with mine. Discuss: What, you never seen a picture of Sachant?
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