PC Gaming

I only ever really saw the clsssic toxic gamer behavior flourish once most games switched from having private dedicated servers ran by the players that almost always had an admin present to handle toxicity to unmoderated developer hosted servers no players have any bit of control over. Counter-Strike: Source vs CS:GO/CS2 is quite a leap in the general attitude of players you would encounter.

Wild how removing people who managed the player's behavior makes the bad behavior intensify.

It's just one joke, over and over again. I'm a guy, but one of the reasons I stopped going to lan parties was hearing this same few jokes again and again whenever a woman showed up. If it wasn't a woman, it would be something else from the limited number of topics and opinions they had. When it wasn't frustrating, it was simply boring.

I agree that most competitive games tend to go that way. My ex and I played a lot of League of Legends in a small friend group together (where this did not happen, thank god), and if playing with "externals" it was unbelievable what bullshit she had to deal with. and although most of the time the creeps bit off more than they could chew, it must have felt pretty bad, regardless of what me and our friends did or said.

Anyone with experience in non-competitive game settings to share?

I suspect the environment is different depending on the game. I never witnessed any of that in overwatch back when I used to play for instance. Though I pretty much never play multiplayer games without at least one friend so the numbers are skewed a bit by having at least 2 non-weirdos on the team

But if you just treat them like normal you can make some good friends. I had a group of women I played CS with for quite a while after playing with them as a random and just treating them like regular people for once.

It takes absolutely nothing to just not act like you're amazed at talking to a woman. They're just people trying to have fun in the game, just like you and every other teammate you've had. Don't treat them any differently.

I think it's a black PS5 controller. No light.

“ackshually mobile games don’t count as real games 🤓”

Yeah, that is pretty much true. Or at least you should consider the difference between the types of gaming cultures.

Mobile games: There are several studies out about mobile games and the tactics used to keep you playing. This is a very significant difference, as many are pay to win or as a vehicle for ads, so they are designed to keep you playing rather than an end goal. They are convenient and easy to pick up and often used to "kill time".

Studies have shown a correlation between frustration, loneliness, unsocial behaviours in both sexes for mobile games. In the article they said the women felt guilt and shame, but mobile gaming studies show they are not alone. Although many studies suggest that women play more of these types of games then men, which skews the results.

So I think it is a valid to question the title that uses the phrase "gaming culture" when there is very little "culture" in psychologically driven revenue generators.

Like this comment on hacker news: “...boatload of psychological exploitation tricks that we used to keep people playing (and paying). The game mechanics were literally a rigged slot machine. The meta-game was designed to constantly tantalize you with something just out of reach.”

Just like gambling addiction, a constant dopamine machine will make people feel guilty, irritable, and depressed.

Dr Seán Roberts, who researches gaming at Cardiff University, said: “When I ask people if they play video games, women often say no. But if you ask about playing games on a mobile, many of them will suddenly say yes. It’s like they have an idea of what a real gamer is in their heads, and they feel like they don’t meet that ideal.”

TBF I don't really consider myself a gamer anymore... even though I clock a few hours a week on the playstation. But like I used to play competitive FPS/MOBA/RTS 10+ hours a week.

How the fuck are they getting shamed and excluded in mobile games?

Gotta have data to do anything with it. Important to actually be able to show and prove problems exist before trying to deal with them. (Need more data on causes)

Eh, I’m one of those MMO ‘females’. I have to be really cautious when I first join a guild. I’m often seen as a ‘female’ first and gamer second. The amount of times I’ve gotten OnlyFans comments is way too high. I’ve had the best luck in multiplayer FPS games. The downfall of Bungie hits me hard because Destiny in particular was a great place to be a woman gamer. Can you do the mechanic and communicate? That’s all a good team wants.

Do mobile games have voice chats? I've never seen one that did.