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It's Official ! Girl Gamers are better than the Boys.
This news article from the BBC certainly hits the right note. Girls are better gamers than their male counterparts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3496963.stm
The women challenging the stereotype that professional online gaming is the realm of geeky men alone.
Anja Maller, aka Vildkatten
Anja Maller lives a double life. By day she is a 26-year-old single mother studying to be a journalist.
But when she gets in front of her computer, she becomes Vildkatten, the scourge of the online world of Counter-Strike.
Ms Maller is part of a growing breed of professional female gamers who are shaking up the traditional image of a gamer as a male geek who spends hours in a darkened bedroom, shooting anything in sight.
"I have played computer games since I was a kid," says Ms Maller, a member of the Danish clan, DoMe.
"It was inevitable that at some time I would run into Counter-Strike. I ran into it three-and-a-half years ago and I just got hooked straight away. It is just so much fun."
Tactics and concentration
Since its release in March 1999, Counter-Strike has become the most popular online shoot-'em-up of all time.
Men dominate in Counter-Strike
Its simple premise pits counter-terrorists vs terrorists, and it is played by tens of thousands of gamers across the world.
It is widely seen as something of a boy's game due to its violent nature. But Ms Maller says it's about much more than just running around with all guns blazing.
"At a professional level, you have a lot more aspects in the game than just shooting, like tactics, team spirit, concentration. There is a lot you have to focus on when you are playing at a competitive level."
Her clan was one of a handful of professional female teams talking part in last month's Cyber X Games in Las Vegas, competing for a slice of the $600,000 on offer in cash and prizes.
The imbalance between men and women was clear to see, with almost 50 male teams taking part, compared with just seven female squads. And as in the world of sport, there were separate competitions for each gender.
Seek sponsorship
"It is good that we are having female competitions," says 24-year-old Louise Thomson, another member of the DoMe clan, known online as Aurora.
Counter-Strike is 99% male, so females that do come into this world feel overpowered or that they are not welcomed 
Louise Thomsen
"But it is two steps up and one step down as we are segregating males and females. It's saying that the girls aren't as good as the males."
Ms Thomson was also introduced to computers at an early age. When she first came across Counter-Strike, she thought the game looked boring. After giving it a try, she was hooked.
"It's like reading a book," she says. "You can sit by yourself and entertain yourself. You are in a world of your own, in your own little world."
Gaming over the internet has proved so popular that there are professional teams, backed by corporate sponsors, who compete in international competitions for big prize pots.
But it's hard for female teams like DoMe to be taken seriously and attract the kind of backing that top male clans enjoy.
"The prize money is not the same," says Ms Maller of the Cyber X Games. "The guys look at our competition as a side event. But we take it seriously, hoping that it will become just as big as the event for the guys."
What women want
Part of the blame can be laid at the door of the games industry.
The DoMe team in Las Vegas
Traditionally, video games have been made by men for men, with many believing that women are only interested in role-playing, puzzles or adventure games.
Female gamers dispute this, saying that what makes a great game and what appeals to women is subjective.
"It is stupid to put female labels on games, it is better to appeal to the individual," says Ms Thomson.
"But there are stereotypes. Counter-Strike is 99% male so females that do come into this world feel overpowered or that they are not welcomed. If people just opened their minds and didn't see us as being male or female, it would be much better."
End Note: Femmes Fatales will be recruiting for WarHammer two months before it is released.
myspace page is
http://www.myspace.com/femmesfatalesguild 
(under construction)
also see
http://www.girlgamers.co.uk/forums/mainindex.php
Have a great New Year !!!
Keri
xoxoxo
Comments
Umm, where does it say girl gamers are better than boys? The article is not about that at all.
lol it's true. This topic is misleading; this article says nothing about either gender being better than the other. Interesting, though -- not that I really suspected any different, as I've met many girls into gaming. I don't see why it's a big deal.
So where exactly is it stated in the article?
I believe its really up to the individual, as stated. I bet there is some dude out there who is pretty good at emroidery or something... but that doesnt mean XX > XY or the other way around. Generalization is a bad thing... in general.
Subscribtions: EVE, SWTOR WOW, WAR, DDO, VG, AOC, COV, FFXI, GW, RFO, Aion
+plenty of F2P, betas, trials
Female Dwarf player: WOW, VG, WAR, DDO
.
Due to the recent economic crisis and spending cuts the light at the end of the tunnel was turned off. Sincerely, God.
The article is just saying that more female are starting to get in games these days and some game competetions arent letting the genders compete with eachother. I think its because they dont want to stir up more hate.
Agreed, it only says that in the online gaming world there are mostly men playing and female numbers are lower than men. It doesn't say anything else other than these women preffer to play games most men like to play as well.
Better than boys . yes...
But not me Im a man :P
seriously though its good to see girls making a pronounced statement in gaming... I can make some speculations why girls are not welcomed more by they're male counterparts but ill keep it nice and just say who cares what they think.. you do your thing and they will just have to deal with it
there 2girls that play cs:s on the same server as me and they're pretty bad >.>
dude is that an undoctored picture? that dude must be a pharmicist
Is that unbuffed or buffed? Either way I'm sure the undewear has got some pretty hefty +STR bonus.
Subscribtions: EVE, SWTOR WOW, WAR, DDO, VG, AOC, COV, FFXI, GW, RFO, Aion
+plenty of F2P, betas, trials
Female Dwarf player: WOW, VG, WAR, DDO
.
Due to the recent economic crisis and spending cuts the light at the end of the tunnel was turned off. Sincerely, God.
lol i dunno i just googled as soon as i read your post.
he could probably fit in womens underwear.. his berries gotta be the size of rabbit droppings
What's with the constant need for validation that we get from girl gamers all the time? For that matter, why do females in general focus so much on what others think about them.
Look, it's just a video game. Being better or worse than someone at it should not affect your self-worth. Most male gamers don't give a shit what gender you are as long as you are a fun person to play with.
It's not just in gaming either. In business, parenting, sports, etc. women always seem to want to get into a pissing contest with men to bolster their own self-esteem. Really, I think it's pretty pathetic.
Oh, and I didn't read the entire article but I didn't see anything comparing genders in regards to competence. I'm sure that one chick is great at fps games but that doesn't mean all women are good.
[quote]Originally posted by Keridwan
[b]
"But it is two steps up and one step down as we are segregating males and females. It's saying that the girls aren't as good as the males."
[/quote]
No no, it's because girls are better at CS than their male counter parts.
Men are like the handicapped friend at a sports event, he also gets a medal for competing. And in CS women are so much better that the $600.000 prize goes to the men, since they are so much worse than women.
Get a clue mate.
My friend plays on a high level CS in a danish league called SLAP, and he claims that sure some women players are good, but not even the best can compete with their male counterparts.
You are just creating bridges by keep making men into stereotypes. It's even worse than men, who thinks the way you do.
By making a WAR guild for women only, you just make the gap between men and women in competetive sports even larger. What's wrong with men and women playing together?
Who is the real chauvinist?
Futilez - Mature MMORPG Community
Correcting people since birth.
Is this from a new Aliens V. Predator, cuze he sure don't look human anymore lol!
LOL that is rediculous.. the only thing your really using when playing a video game is your reflexes and brain. and women can compete with men on that level.. the reason there are less is because less women are into that sort of thing... but women are not inferior to men mentally ... if you want to talk about football then sure .. men are larger and take a better beating but saying men are better gamers is dumb and has as much meaning as seperate Billiards leagues for women... on another note
I used to be in the military and i gotta admit i prefered women intel officers on comms to men and this is why.. women are much more inclined to make a decision if plans change rapidly.. men are much more likely to think of theyre carear first and ask someone else what to do wasting what could be valuable time.
Don't you girls take these dudes comments to seriously .. consider that this is a global website and there are still plenty of countries where women are treated way worse than in the US / Canada or even the UK.. that being the case who knows who these guys are but the danish comment was a perfect example
ALso i played many years ago in the CAL league for CS ... No we werent pro but we were good... i was in a clan called ONP and we had a girl on our team and she owned.. I know her personally and shes definatly a girl.. And she could wreck many of her male counterparts at the age of 20.
Shout Out to ONP-Jet
She can frag with the best of them
When women are required to sign up for the draft at 18, we'll talk equality.
It was a ok article though. The chick mentioned in it with her 70's straight greasy hair looks 46 not 26.
It's cute that you're making a women only guild. I'm sure the women in my guild will be happy to beat down a bunch of feminists alongside their male counterparts.
I think there are some differences how male and female brains function, given how the work was distributed through the ages or some such yada yada, I'm sure you can google it up if you really wanna know, so there can be some theoretical advange for men, but lemme repeat, its all about the individual, so some talented girl can very well be equally competitive than the male counterparts or even the best in any given field, why not.
EDIT: reaction to LordSic's last post mostly, I hate to quote large chunks, and replies are popping out like crazy in this topic
Subscribtions: EVE, SWTOR WOW, WAR, DDO, VG, AOC, COV, FFXI, GW, RFO, Aion
+plenty of F2P, betas, trials
Female Dwarf player: WOW, VG, WAR, DDO
.
Due to the recent economic crisis and spending cuts the light at the end of the tunnel was turned off. Sincerely, God.
This comment is for chip
Dude im a military veteran .. Are you? i would rather not have women in the military if they dont want to be there. The last draft was 35 years ago or so... comparing military service to gaming is insanity. i cant imagine too many miitary vets saying they think women need to be on the draft list .. im really quite taken back by that comment
It's cute that you're making a women only guild. I'm sure the women in my guild will be happy to beat down a bunch of feminists alongside their male counterparts.
How are they going to know if some guy is trying to get in as a female avatar just for fun. And I realy dont understand whats the point of having an all female guild.
I think you completely missed the point the guy was making. He was basically saying that women AREN'T equal, and they never will be, because they'll never be required to draft.
Read a post several times and think about the context before jumping to conclusions, is my suggestion.
As stated before, "Girl Gamers" were never better. And the "Boy Gamers" never said we were better either. I don't get why you have to make a topic about this, we all know there are "Girls" out there who can play MMOs just as good as "Boys". The only thing I see in this topic is an advertising technique for your "Girl Gamer" clan. Thats it.
I think you completely missed the point the guy was making. He was basically saying that women AREN'T equal, and they never will be, because they'll never be required to draft.
Read a post several times and think about the context before jumping to conclusions, is my suggestion.
There was no conclusion to jump to... i simply stated my personal opinion and didnt really comment directly on his post at all... i do think there is an implication in what he said which i didnt comment on but bothers me yes