Gamer Ladies?

[Tiberius Martius]

However, they are obviously fairly rare or I would have encountered more of them. Relative to other interests that girls usually have strategy gaming is a pretty damn uncommon one. It's probably also partly the culture, as girls who like to play computer and war games (gasp) are considered stranger than boys who want to do it.

I agree! I started out playing Avalon Hill boardgames -- Squad Leader, Civilization, Kingmaker et al. I couldn't find ANYone in my age/area at the time (I was in high school) to play with regularly. Switched to computer games with an Atari 800, playing M.U.L.E., Blue Max, Infocom text adventures, etc. and those at least you could play by yourself.

Girl gamers are definitely on the rise, though -- and I don't mean those silly Barbie games and frou-frou what-not. The Sims phenomenon, wasn't that estimated to be the best-selling game series of all time because at least as many women as men were playing it?

Women gamers also add a little something special to LAN parties... :lol: How would you like to be waxed in a deathmatch by someone called "Eat My Thong"...

That's funny haha. I got a story to add to that. I was playing MVP Baseball Online (I'm a college pitcher so...you know, brushing up on the skills. haha) I played this person online and I got destroyed like 9-2. It was awful, I got completely lit up. I noticed the name sounded familiar on the gamer tag and I went downstairs to get something to eat and this girl started laughing at me and was talking about the game. Not only that, it was like the hottest girl I've ever seen. I was happy to take that butt kicking, just to see that there are girls who like guy's sports games too which is awesome.

[manda]

-raises hand-

I'm certainly one of them! I play games either when I'm not online, trying to do some work, horse riding etc. Games I have and love are;
- Rome Total war
- Medieval Total war
- Age of Empires Seris
- Stronghold
- Sims 2
And lovely little Dungeon Keeper lol

But at the same time, I'm a big post-by-post rpger too. So that takes up alot of my time too. lol You know its bad when your parents try to get you to go out.

[FAVENTIANVS]

I like to re-enact as well with my PC:
Pacman, Arkanoid, Donkey Kong Jr., Camelot Warriors, Nonamed...

[Zenodoros]

It was actually the first Age of Empires that got me into ancient history in the first place.

I still play all the AOE games (including Age of Mythology, and I can't wait for War Chiefs), RTW and still considering Rise and Fall, but the inaccuracies are a tad too numerous, and apparently the Romans are OP.

For console games, I almost strictly play games set or based on ancient times, more recently God of War and Spartan: Total Warrior. They're not exactly history (or mythology) lessons, but they are fun games, and GoW has a great story line to go with it, too.

[M.ilionario]

It was actually the first Age of Empires that got me into ancient history in the first place.

Just as me

For console games, I almost strictly play games set or based on ancient times, more recently God of War and Spartan: Total Warrior. They're not exactly history (or mythology) lessons, but they are fun games, and GoW has a great story line to go with it, too.

I loved Spartan:TW, I've beaten it 3 times in veteran difficulty :lol: , sadly I never had the opportunity to play GoW

[Zenodoros]

You should play it... it's got a cool combo system and the story is really cool. And if you had no problem of the somewhat inaccurate portrayal of the Spartans in S:TW, then you won't mind it in GoW... I thought videogames would usually glorify them, but jeez, they're just wimpish in both games.

[petrinus]

I love gaming, but not so much computer gaming. I prefer roleplaying games...we based one in ancient rome and it ran for several years.

I also like miniture wargames...15 and 28mm ancients. I have both a roman and celtic army in 15mm...the roman imperial version is essentially a full cohort of miniatures. These were also used for RP games.

I also play Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, and so on. My partner shares in RP type games but has no interest in miniatures. As has been said, all in moderation.

Rutilia

LEGIIAPF, REALLY? HMMMMMMM I SHOULD LIKE VERY MUCH TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE! AND A RPG/MINIATURES FAN, VERY NICE!

[Lepidina]

I don't think it's because girls grew up playing with dolls (I certainly didn't) but that overall, girls aren't as competitive as guys. Generalization here, and I'm not saying that girls aren't competitive to begin with. But I've noticed that games with other girls play very differently than games with guys or mixed groups. Chicks usually play for the fun of it and the social aspect and usually don't have the "I MUST WIN!!" attitude. They are also less likely to stomp on someone else to win the game.

I go to Alan Moon's Gathering of Friends every year and it's probably got the most even balance of women to men of any gaming convention out there. Then again, it is a German boardgames convention and not a wargaming or RPG convention. There are some really competitive women there but none of them get that hardened, testosterone look of determination that the guys do.

Also in my polo school, the guys often forget that there are other people on their team and are more likely to try and drive the ball down the field or the arena themselves instead of trying to pass it to someone else or take out another player so a teammate can get the ball. (Thus they tend to commit more fouls.) They're learning to be more team players but they definitely play a lot more aggressively than women. American/South American machismo might also be a contributing factor as well.

And personally, I don't play the wargames because I don't have the patience to deal with lots of little chits, hours of board set-up followed by days of actual play, and a rulebook that's the size of War and Peace. If I can't learn the game mechanics in 10 minutes and it takes longer than that to get up the board, I loose interest. Yes, I am low attention-span theater.

[JRSCline]

Deb, you should try "Hannibal" or "Successors", two excellent games Avalon Hill put out before being gobbled up by Hasbro. They are great fun even for non-grognard types.

[Optio equitum]

Jenny, funny, your game listing reads like my geek list growing up. I can remember an Avalon Hill game, Victory in the Pacific, being one of my favorites. First computer strategy was Hunt for Red October on the C64 and M.U.L.E, as well as ZORK. First PC game was Caesar 3. (I id not have much time for combuter games while in uniform, hence the gap in games :wink: ) Now I would say RTR, AOE 1, Blitzkrieg and Stronghold 2, with a bit of Zoo Tycoon thrown in (go figure).