Marketing MMORPGs to Women

There is a discussion going on my Crimson Eagles message boards spawned by the article I mention in The Holy Grail regarding marketing MMORPGs to women. A fellow gamer writes:

I think the female population is left in the dust. From a marketing perspective and a financial perspective, itd be superb to get the female demographic into things like WoW, or gaming in general. [..] Advertising would help but I think it may still be a bit premature for girls to become fully integrated into the gaming society. This is more of a mentality issue than anything else.

One research paper I read found exactly what Carmella was talking about. Carmella said guys and girls both give her funny looks when she talks about WoW. This may be partly because girls seem to have the mentality that they perceive themselves to have peer approval for moderate amounts of game while boys think that it is ok to play ‘a lot’ of video games, and that the popular boys played these video games. [..]

Im digressing. On advertising to a specific demographic, I am with Carmella and think shes onto something. Research has shown that girls are more likely than boys to choose fantasy violence games as favorites (Buchman and Funk (1996)). To me that is an awesome finding that would justify advertising WoW to the female population! I think its wonderful to have this coexistence of both sexes in the game. It provides for a better environment in my opinon. The dynamic of play in all senses is defiantly improved and I think it kinda levels the playing field a bit too. [..] Actually, in my opinion i think most girls are better at playing their character than guys (this is contrary to what researchers say when comparing competency at videogames between genders (Blumberg, Sokol (2004)).

In conclusion, I suppose that as time progresses and the male and female socialization stabilizes, a larger advertising initiative would have the most impact.

Carmella, a major female gamer (that is higher level than me in WoW and much more experienced in MMORPGs) responds with the following:

From my own experience, a lot of women dont really know how to react to the game phenomena. Once we organized a [dinner for 30+ folks] in the area. Some men had brought their GF’s around, their first reflex was to come toward me so they could talk about everyday stuff. When they realized I came as a player wanting to discuss strategies, behavior totally changed. I think part of it might come from the old reflex of ‘What is unknown and undiscovered for a person can become scary’.

As we can see, MMORPGs are becoming increasingly more popular to the world at large (World of Warcraft in particular). These games are now appealing to the masses rather than the small sub-groups of geeks that have been pocketed around the country for years. When I play WoW or discuss WoW in a group setting, I find that more and more women 1) have heard of it and 2) have played it.

These games are morphing into more than simply games…but social software and communication tools. As we see them grow, what effect will they have on the female population? The Sims Online is a good example of a game that is marketed more towards the female population than the male. When will we see game companies begin marketing towards women as much as towards men? I feel the time is fast approaching….Men still out number women in the gaming scene, but those numbers are beginning to balance.


Comments

6 responses to “Marketing MMORPGs to Women”

  1. Woohoo! Girlie gamers ftw! :D

    I got in to WoW recently after having played a MMO called Horizons beforehand (oddly enough, most of the players of that mmo were female). I found it hard to adjust to the testosterone “omgleetzerz I pwn jooz!” kiddies but as soon as I found a few friends and joined a guild everything became much better.

    For a woman who does not understand the inhabitants of the internet, joining WoW and getting on ok with it might be difficult.

    The way the community interacts in WoW is something they need to deal with before women flock to join. I don’t think I’m the only person who feels that way.

  2. I’m a girl that’s been playing MMO’s since I was seven. Most of my family are into computers. Some guys at school do look at me wierd when I say I’m a girl, but they get used to it pretty fast, and then we’re discussing about how annoying a certain dungeon is and figuring out strategies for sneaking into the Undercity. My 5 cousins (Only one is a guy) all play, too.

  3. Girls are generally more geared towards “feminine” things such as shopping, talking on the phone, make up, fashion . . . this is what I have found when talking to other women. I was raised in a family that was predominantly male. I was the only female under the age of 40 until I was 23 and my second cousin was born. Still didn’t really count. :p Funny thing is, my brothers don’t game and they find the whole MMORPG thing to be strange.

    I’ve Always been into computers, though. It’s been a natural progression for me. Everquest was my beginning and then WoW. I’ve been through all aspects of the games: n00b to noob to newb to casual to low end raiding to high end to end game, I’ve been a guild member, officer, class lead, etc . . . .

    I think most women are conditioned to believe it’s weird, or it’s a guy thing. I rightly don’t care, it’s fun and I enjoy it . . . that’s enough for me.

    I have noticed the player base in WoW is much less balance so far as male vs female population goes. EQ had many more female players than WoW does. I believe it to be due to the sheer . . . hmmm . . . geekiness of WoW as opposed to EQ. WoW is much more involved if you want it to be. Macros, scripts, stats . . . it’s more math / logic based when you get to the guts of it and most women prefer emotion to logic. Left brain vs right brain is likely.

    So far as WoW marketing to women . . . well, good luck I think. Even I resisted the idea of being Horde b/c Horde is ugly . . . I wanted to play a NELF because they’re cool looking . . . it’s totally superficial. I gave Horde a try and wouldn’t go Alliance for anything now. My point is, initial response is that the game is not aesthetically pleasing enough to appeal to females (majority). It’s also the math thing again. There’s also the fact that so many danged WoW websites cater to males. Women don’t generally care to see half-naked women with captions of, “she’s waiting for you.” She can just keep on waiting, honey, because I’m not interested. Now, you put some beefcake fella up on these sites with a caption of, “he’s waiting for you” and you’ve got my attention. /wink Women will generally avoid places where other women are portrayed as sex objects. We see a woman with a nice body and a pretty face on a site and we think, “slut,” and click on through to something else. By “we” I mean women in general.

    To reinforce my point: check out the male models in the game as opposed to the female. Compare the male to the female dances. The female dances are generally provacative and sexy (nelf / troll / orc). The male are either totally fem (nelf / human) or ridiculous (undead / troll). Granted, human chick dance is totally stupid and indicative of the typical sorority girl / dumb blonde. WoW simply appeals more to the male mentality than the female. To market to women, there would have to be something more feminine introduced to the game, and frankly, I don’t want to see that. Now, hot guy ads I’m All for . . . =p but to make the game less logic-based would be a total loss imo.

    I’m fine with less women . . . it means less drama and less superficial chit chat. It’s really sick how men suddenly turn into blabbering idiots when a woman shows up in game. Offering gold and items, offering to help her level up and whatnot . . . essentially enabling the “I’m helpless and need a big strong man to carry me through” mentality. Make them work just as hard as the guys have to and reward them just as the guys get rewarded when the women put forth the same effort as the guys. Imbalance based upon gender is simply annoying. Yes, she has boobs. No, that does not make her special, it makes her slightly different in a physical capacity. That’s it.

    /off the soap box :D

  4. Ivanko Avatar
    Ivanko

    Honestly Tippet, I dont agree with you on some levels…
    Lvl 66 Dwarf paladin lvl 47 Ud warrior etc.
    Yes It may appeal to guys a little more because it is more strategic and has a economically person friendly interface compared to most games, Ive played. But think of the market, who mainly buys violent Trheashing, midevil video games? Guys do and that goes for most games. Fact is guys are into the Strategic… Im gonna flank your right or out manuever you kind of games. Where as of girls… I have no clue what they like lmao. Ironically enough I have plenty of friend characters that out number my guy friends on Warcraft.. =/ go figure.
    Yes I have to admit that a girl saying she was a gamer may be a bit weird, but here’s why. Most Girls aren’t comfortable talking about it. So when they do say something its a bit off key for them. However, like girls, if you want to talk to them, talk to something they like. That’s why guys seem abit forward when talking about guys, usually girls are the one’s talking, but when you bring a subject you both like, like games, its a bit weird to see a guy chatting away in hot conversation with a chick. It use to be that the guy world and girl world (likes and dislikes) don’t correlate until they bot meet the gaming world.
    In my opinion.. I’d rather see more female gamers. Kind of like a balance in the gaming world. As for the dances. Honestly, they are dances lol they don’t mean crap, Blizzard kind of threw them together to get the game out.
    As for the Dwarf dance … P0WA 2 DA BOLSHEVIKS!![*==]

    Alliance-Bonechewer Pally Power
    ps Dwarves Rock Da house Commie power.

  5. Nextrodaet,

    You think men are naturally born with knowledge on the workings of the internet? Hah! My husband couldn’t find the Back page button if you pointed right at it. They would find it difficult if they were new as well.

    Trippet,

    Parts of your comment reminded me of the situation over in the middle east, reffering to the fact that women have to cover up completely and remain outrageously “modest” just because the men have no self control. Not all women are drama queens nor do they want a ‘knight in shining armour’ to do everything for them, never in my whole gaming experience have I known players to treat a girl as ‘special’. O_o Which you believe there should be less of women because of that. Its not like the girl asked him to act all stupid when she joins the group, thats the guy’s fault not hers. She is just another player and he should treat her as such.

    Ivanko,

    Exactly, you don’t know what girls like so how can you say that guys mostly like blood n guts and more strategic games? Your also not a girl so you can’t speak for them as far as how they react to certain situations.

    Then again the terms male and female only define the physical body, not the mind. So I don’t know what other girls like either because I’m not them. All I know is yes physically I am a girl but deep inside I like to gnaw on the outer layer of my enemies, dig my hand into their back, rip out their innerds and lay them on my roof to dry. I have a couple of huge lizard bones and a flattened snake from my roadtrip to nocal up there right now and if you dare to continue categorizing men or women as having one mind… then you will be joining them. :)

    -Life is full of crap. But when life throws you a stick, what do you get? Crap on a stick… least you don’t have to touch it.

  6. Women_Do_Play Avatar
    Women_Do_Play

    I have played for going on three years, i’m a wife with a child on the way and i got my husband into the thing. I find that women while more chatty tend to get situations in hand before males do. I play a 70 resto druid and i have seen the whole group wipe with one big ‘Macho’ man jumping into a problem before thinking. I use my brain and while i see the situation as ‘lost’ i let them take the agro and shadowmeld. then when the mob resets i bring there sorry butts back.

    in another situation i have been on my low lvl priest. Running through VC
    (dead mines) And kept alive when i had 6 health and the rest on my group perished. Brains are something were born with but common sense is a trait you learn, and for most it’s straight over their heads. I can go from my healer to my hunter and know the different ways classes need to be played. While as a druid you have options, as a hunter your nothing but dps. Well i’ve rambled on long enough, some girls are more into the material some are more into the fun and gamer style things. Oh and while most gamers are guys, i see more often then not that guys play female chars. It’s also more ,that i know of, Older people and then the young kids who play the hardest.

    Older people focus on one char and working well in groups. Young children focus on one char, and disrupting the union of the group(s). It should be segregated to realms for people over a certain age or under a certain age. Like the BG’s are lvl oriented, and soon to be split between true Optimum BG lvl players, and Simply lvling characters who are in a bg for points.

    Thanks For reading this long post, and spread the word! We do exist in MMORPG’S such as WoW.