Short vs. Long Games
Mel Nicholson

Regarding gender in gaming, I belong to two gaming groups. One plays German and German-like short games in short two-hour-ish evening sessions. That group is around evenly split for gender. The second plays monster games on very rare weekends and is mostly male.

I've never seen a lack of intensity nor interest among the females in either group (neither towards playing nor towards trying to win). Both groups are filled with late 20-something and early 30-something people, many married. I think that takes the sex-starved edge that younger group might suffer from out of the picture.

Then again, we've been pretty selective over the years as to who joins the group, and the rare behavior problems get quickly dealt with through non-reinvitation. I suppose this is possible only because of the small close-knit nature of the group.

Also, I think there is something self-reinforcing about gender mixed versus gender-homogenous groups. Having other members of your gender around makes joining easier, reducing that 'outsider' feeling. For those of you in gender mixed groups that didn't work out, how much would you say the problem was based on members with no interest of their own (as in the classic case of the spouse dragged along by an interested partner), and how much was it intergender interactions going sour?

Star Fleet Preferences
David Damerell

Strange to tell, I think every Star Fleet Battles player I've played against on a regular basis is periodically involved with girls; admittedly, one of them says she prefers guys these days...

Female Advantages
Ian Pearson

Since reading this thread it has become apparent that people feel that in a mixed gaming group the guys are always the one who behave badly. Perhaps this is because the females are usually in a minority.

During my student days (ah glory days) I was in the privileged position to run a game of Bushido with six (yes six) female and one male. Now Bushido is not that easy a game to deal with and the male soon left the group, but he was very badly treated by the rest. Now he wasn't a complete jerk, but no real attempt was made to fit his style of play into that developed by his female party members. In fact he tended to be ignored.

The attitude was one of "Oh here he goes again". They did listen and then discounted what he had to say. He was definitely shut out and made to feel in the wrong place. I'm not really surprised he moved on to other games. Different to, but with the same result as, been patronized and leered at.

Now as to the women handle games differently from men debate, I can assure you they most definitely do! The six women I had left were a complete dream to referee. Ok, I'm male enough to appreciate six females hanging on my every word, but they way they handled the game was the best I have ever seen.

They did everything right. They role-played superbly, supported each other, co-operated and their plans were well thought out and executed with considerable wit and style. They also knew how to use the rules when it suited them. I had to keep my wits about me at all times. It was great fun.

The male groups I have run the scenarios with did things completely differently. They bickered, put together chaotic plans that Always had to be changed, were gloriously over the top, egged each other on to heights of bravery (stupidity ?) and constantly pressed their luck against their knowledge of the rules and made it a lot easier for me. This was also great fun.

Both groups were equally successful and all had a good time.

Those females going into a gaming group must understand that it's like any other male dominated group, you will always get the idiots. I will say though that the reverse is also true. How many men have been patronized by women sales assistants when they try to buy something personal for their wives/girlfriends.

On a final note, women have do have one distinct advantage. Most men are terrified of them, especially those in a gaming group.

From a Female Gamer
Jessi Laurn

Well, I can throw in my two cents. I'm a female gamer (both RPGing and wargaming), and have noticed some interesting trends when I wander into the wargaming arena.

First, there is an almost immediate dismissal by roughly half of the male gamers. You can almost read their thoughts -- "Here we go again, another girl here to make her boyfriend happy" or something similar.

Second, there is a drool-fest by the remainder of the male gamers. Something in the line of, "Ooooh! Look, Grogo! Girl!!!" accompanied by some truly stupid grins. This is hardly a conducive environment to having females feel comfortable in the hobby.

Even worse, these attitudes can affect gameplay. In a Star Fleet Battles tourney a while back, I managed to nail a Gorn with the entire contents of a scatterpack (for you non-SFBers out there, this almost never happens in tourney) because he had written me off as a free slot and got careless. I went on to win that tourney, but do not feel that it was really me that won...it was my gender and the first opponent's dismissal of it.

I've been in other games where I out-and-out know the opponent threw the game in order to make "points" with me. Not good. Not good at all. Finally, there is a tendency among many grognards to shun a successful female wargamer. I don't know if they feel threatened or what ("Oh no, I've been beaten by a girl!"), but it becomes rapidly apparent after a few sessions that they don't want you there if you are going to be able to hold your own.