Commodification of Female Players in Prime World

[anison]

Upcoming League of Legends-style multiplayer strategy game Prime World to offer gender-based in-game status bonuses (note: link goes to Penny Arcade report, part of the PA conglomerate)

Quick breakdown: if you play a character that is the same male/female gender as in your Facebook profile, and link up with a character/player who is the opposite

Comments

[wazira_sharira]

It sounds like women will get a bonus for bringing men in, not just the other way around, but at the same time, the reasoning is really flawed and they could probably be more successful if they just gave a bonus for bringing any of your existing Facebook friends in, or something similar.

[anison]

Yeah, both genders get the bonus as long as they're paired up with an opposite-gender player, but the developer's stated goal in the article is to get more female players involved by incentivizing them as a team advantage for male players. I certainly wouldn't want to step into that environment without some iron-clad anti-harassment measures, particularly with how much they're pushing this game as a social activity. Also, the bonus only kicks in if you're playing a character that's the same stated gender as your Facebook profile--and I doubt the female character designs are any better than the usual.

Basically, it feels to me that instead of taking steps to make a game that's actually attractive to female players, they're creating artificial demand for them in the hopes that male players will do the work of bringing women in for them. Getting a diverse player base is a great goal, but I think they're doing it completely the wrong way.

[anunreallife]

I'm a guy, and I don't have a sister or a girlfriend. I have a brother and a boyfriend, but apparently those relationships are less important.

[nightmer]

That's really odd. I don't think I want to join a game with that sort of patronizing mindset, or a game that forces me to interact with male players. And I assume this would broadcast your gender to everyone you're playing with? Horrible idea.

I remember that whole Facebook debacle, but can't recall what game it was.

[maladaptive]

It links to your FB profile?

Yeah. NO. I'll play female characters in-game, no problem, but linking it in any way to my FB is creepy and asking for trouble.

And what if I'm a woman that wants to play with another woman? I'm guessing the game has this to bring in more female players, period, so aren't I helping doubly by bringing my girlfriend?

Also: "When boys gather around to play games just with each other, it’s not really social. When girls gather around just to chat, it’s not very social. The social starts when they hang out together and play games together" CREEP ALERT DING DING DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER. This definition of "social" is... wow.

[skellington1]

Hanging out and chatting isn't social. Riiiight. I see they're using the 'special' dictionary. That they apparently wrote themselves.

Agreed about the facebook creep. I haven't played a ton of games on line, but when I do, I don't hide my gender, and I still wouldn't link ANY game ot my FB profile! Random multi-player people do NOT need to know who I really am.

[maladaptive]

Exactly, and I don't trust them even if they say that other players don't see your FB profile-- because so many companies have said "trust us! We would NEVER share your info!" and then... do. Hell, Blizzard wanted to RealID to forum posts.

But mostly I'm boggled that hanging out with people of a certain gender isn't "social." What is it when I go to the bar and hang out with friends, then? Am I actually a hermit, all alone and my friends are an illusion that I made up because I'm that sad and lonely?

Wonder what they make of women's only schools, then. /snort

[anison]

Clearly it is not actually social unless there is the possibility of heterosexual flirtation. :|

There's something vaguely skeevy about all this, particularly the way the bonus only works between male-female pairs. It could be just their way of trying to encourage teams with 50/50 gender split, but that quote makes me feel like this is all a thinly veiled dating thing. And for straight people only.

[ferrous_awesome]

This is problematic to me as someone who doesn't ID as either.