Let's Hear it for the Girls!



Back when Mercurie was playing pen and paper roleplaying games in the 80's, he was fortunate enough to play in a regular group with a couple of real live women. Now he's contemplating women who play MMOs, and is pleasantly surprised to find that more women enjoy online gaming than he'd thought. Take a look at this week's Mercurial Thoughts and join Mercurie in welcoming the ladies to what is often thought of as a "boy's club."

To many old time gamers like me, the revelation that many women play MMOs was a bit of a surprise. In her paper, "Multiple Pleasures: Women and Online Gaming," Taylor gives various reasons why women would be attracted to MMOs. One is quite simply the social dimension of online role-playing games. In MMOs a woman can log on, meet new people, renew old acquaintances, and socialize in general. Quite simply, the virtual communities of MMOs give women the opportunity to forge new relationships.

• Read this week's Mercurial Thoughts