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Role Playing (Games) Entertainment Games

The Economics Of Gender In Everquest 37

Posted by simoniker from the girls-who-like-boys-who-like-girls dept.
Obscure Economist writes "The Social Science Research Network has just posted a new paper of mine that follows up on some issues from a previous paper I wrote about MMORPG Everquest's economy. The new paper asks: If two equivalent avatars were being offered for sale, and the only difference was that one was male and the other female, which one would have the higher price? As it turns out, female avatars sell for about 10 percent less than male avatars, holding all other characteristics equal. Most gamers are men, so this seems to suggest that men do not like being treated like women. Of course, just why that is, and what it might mean in a broader context, is open to debate."
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The Economics Of Gender In Everquest

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  • I always though that all you have to do to get a girl is to buy her a beer (or two)... ;)

    But then again, you don't have to give anything to a man to get him. Well, Everquest seems to have strange economic and social rules.

    SCNR

  • highly valuable research (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mikeburke ( 683778 ) on Monday June 23, 2003 @07:57AM (#6272194)
    Could it be that most men prefer to role play male characters, therefore creating a higher demand, therefore resulting in a higher price ?

    Hell no! There are huge, huge ramifications on a broad socio-economic scale that will justify at least 2 dozen more essays written by a social science student with a closet EQ addiction.. which will all unfortunately be posted on slashdot.

    mike

    • LOGIC ALERT! (Score:5, Funny)

      by notque ( 636838 ) on Monday June 23, 2003 @09:36AM (#6272699) Homepage Journal
      Could it be that most men prefer to role play male characters, therefore creating a higher demand, therefore resulting in a higher price ?

      You have just displayed logic, and forethought in a slashdot post. Please cease all communication until this has been corrected.

      HUGE ramifications on a socio-economic scale.

    • Re:highly valuable research (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      So what they he is trying to say is that people who need to flee reality by playing a game 8 hours a day have a problem with women?

      Shocking. Absolutely shocking. I think we need a few more papers on this.

  • seems obvious (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Wonda ( 457426 )
    female chars get given all kinds of stuff, so it is easier to get them to the same level, they should be cheaper! and wow, they are, what a surprise.

    • Re:seems obvious (Score:4, Insightful)

      by 6hill ( 535468 ) on Monday June 23, 2003 @08:46AM (#6272405)
      But if you bought a char to develop it further (which is what I'd assume, given that the primary function of a character is to be a playable object), wouldn't it be beneficial if people were more likely to give you free stuff? I.e. female characters would be more desirable and hence more pricey?
      • Ehm nope, simple market stuff, if they would go for more and are easier to make, everyone would just make female chars to sell. assuming there is any market for male chars, the price difference will be in the effort to make one. there may be many more female chars for sale though (sounds so cheap) :D

    • Re:seems obvious (Score:3, Insightful)

      by MyRuger ( 443241 )
      A do agree with this post. One day I decided to create a female Barbarian Beastlord and I ran her out into the world. Before I got to my newbie zone I had been given two items and high level shaman buffs. Unfortunatley I can't RP a female so I deleted her 10 levels in.

      The Flip side of this story is that according to several surverys about 25% of EQ players are female IRL. My Main character is a Half-elf Paladin and the Ladies just love him. I have been offered help and items from female characters many tim
    • I prefer to play female characters in games like Everquest, DAoC, SWG (the beta, anyway) and others. Why? Because people like to give money to women. One time I was playing EQ as my female cleric, just minding my own business in the North Freeport bank. This guy comes up to me and starts saying how beautiful I am (all in role-playing mode)...so I role-play back. When it was all said and done, I walked away with 400pp of free money. All because I was a "female."

  • Actually... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MrKinkade ( 676107 ) on Monday June 23, 2003 @08:12AM (#6272252)
    ... quite a fair few blokes in online games like EQ UO et al play female characters. Female characters get treated better and tend to get away with a lot more. You will find it a lot easier to get help from somebody if you have a female avatar than if you had a male one.

    Some people (including ones I know) use this to exploit other gamers. But, talking about sold accounts is a little different. If you are buying a well developed character you wouldn't likely need to exploit the female avatar to further your character developement or loot whoring.

    If I used female character I would have to play a lesbian role :P

    • Re:Actually... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by will_die ( 586523 ) on Monday June 23, 2003 @08:59AM (#6272493) Homepage
      I usally just use female character if I am tring to test something or just want to look around.
      However I noticed that I do get treated better and just sitting around I will get more people offering to group or even standing around me.
      One other thing I get is a whole lot of sexual messages, suggestions of that nature, and lots of profanity sent to me.
    • If I used female character I would have to play a lesbian role :P

      Why? So you could hook up with other guys using your strategy?

  • And this relates to real life how? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Guppy06 ( 410832 ) on Monday June 23, 2003 @08:13AM (#6272260)
    Given what most male EQ players look like, do you really want to look like a woman? When it comes to relations with the opposite sex, most of them resemble a certain Muppet (WO-MAN! WO-MAN!).

    With that being said, though, I fail to see how this relates to real life any. EQ players aren't exactly a statistical cross-section of society (or even gamer society).

    • Not a cross-section? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Farscry ( 674981 ) on Monday June 23, 2003 @10:46AM (#6273292)

      Granted, the playerbase of EQ isn't as varied as, say, the viewerbase of movies in America or something. However, as far as games go, EQ has a surprisingly varied userbase [nickyee.com] for a computer game.

      Like most computer games, the playerbase is heavily skewed towards the young male student demographic, but also incorporates a more varied cross-section of gamers than most computer games (especially single-player ones). I guarantee you'll find more variety in the player base of EQ than in Counter-Strike or UT2K3. (not bashing those games; they're well-made and enjoyable)

      There's also an interesting essay about men and women [nickyee.com] on the site I've linked to.

      As for your Muppet comparison, I'd wager that it's really just the vocal and annoying minority that stand out to give such a bad impression, much like how that one customer who just rips you a new one will ruin your day and stand out more in your mind than the 20 pleasant customers you dealt with.

      Then again, I suppose it's just more sensational to rip on EQ gamers with your Animal-like chant of "LO-SER! LO-SER!". You'd fit in at the New York Times, sir.

      Legal disclaimer: I play EQ, am a single male in a healthy relationship, earn a decent living, and tend to be online less than most people sit in front of their football or NASCAR (only a handful of hours each week).

  • Or... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by T-Bear ( 31340 ) <brian@thyer.net> on Monday June 23, 2003 @08:39AM (#6272377)
    "Most gamers are men, so this seems to suggest that men do not like being treated like women."

    Maybe it simply suggests that most men who play everquest *prefer* to play a male character simply because they're male.

  • Girl Characters (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fuzzybunny ( 112938 ) on Monday June 23, 2003 @08:44AM (#6272393) Homepage Journal

    I am a straight guy with a girlfriend and a life and I like to play girl characters.


    Why?


    I mainly play games that involve blowing things up, and I think girls with guns are sexy. Same with girls who drive fast cars, girls who can swordfight (q.v. Emma Peel, Uma Thurman in 'Kill Bill', Charlie's Angels, yada yada yada.) And I know a lot of other guys who think the same.


    Also, look at how popular Tomb Raider was. So it doesn't make a lot of sense that sword-chicks on Everquest would sell for less. Maybe the magic and fantasy geeks have a stronger desire to be CONAN THE BIG UGLY MUSCULAR BARBARIAN than those of us who already look that way. :-)


    But I suppose what it all comes down to is that I wish I'd been able to spend my college years 'researching' this kind of paper.


    Or maybe I just like looking at girls' butts, offscreen or on...

    • I also think their sexy, but I really dont want other guys in a game I'm playing to think I am a sexy girl with a gun and then hit on me. Do you?
      • I also think their sexy, but I really dont want other guys in a game I'm playing to think I am a sexy girl with a gun and then hit on me. Do you?
        That is when and upon who you use the gun. :-)

      • Re:Girl Characters (Score:2, Insightful)

        by asdkrht ( 655186 )
        Well, should guys really be going around and hitting on what they presume (hope?) are sexy girls in game in the first place?

        I think there are some girl gamers that use male avatars to get away from this kind of thing.

        • Re:Girl Characters (Score:2, Insightful)

          by ChadN ( 21033 )
          Maybe male characters are "worth" more because there is more demand for women wanting to have male characters, than men wanting to have female characters.
      • Dont must not go on IRC much. Go on there with the nick Kelly16f and see what happens :)
    • Some people play who they'd like to meet (a girl), some play who they'd like to be (a guy). I sometimes do both. When I'm roleplaying I sometimes choose a girl because I have a good idea for a story. Sometimes, or usually, I choose a male because they seem to fit the role I imagine better, or they're who I'd like to be - or someone I'd like to try being for a time.


    • > I am a straight guy with a girlfriend and a life and I like to play girl characters. Why? I mainly play games that involve blowing things up, and I think girls with guns are sexy.

      Yes, but what about men in drag with guns?

  • ..maybe it's just that men would rather play their own gender than engage in irreversible cross-dressing... Ya think?

  • how much? (Score:5, Funny)

    by scrytch ( 9198 ) <chuck@myrealbox.com> on Monday June 23, 2003 @12:19PM (#6274098)
    "How much for the little girl? The women, how much for the women?"

    "What?!"

    "Your women, I want to buy your women! The little girl, your daughters! Sell them to me, sell me your children!"

    "Maitre D! Maitre D!"

  • For those of you interested in some pretty good surveys and studies that follow this, you may want to look here. [nickyee.com]
  • There is no human entity, just human Cubics - as in 4 different people in a 4 corner stage metamorphic rotation - never more than 1 corner at same time. -www.timecube.com I have demonstrated absolute unrefutable proof of 4 simultaneous 24 hour days with in a single rotation of Earth. No other man or god can claim such Truth manifestation. The academic brainwashed mind is corrupt and can't comprehend Cubic magnificence. -www.timecube.com

  • gender stats... (Score:3, Informative)

    by bigbigbison ( 104532 ) * on Monday June 23, 2003 @05:38PM (#6277929) Homepage

    According to , About 84% of EQ players are male, while 16% are female. So as others have pointed out, this would expain why male characters are more valuable, men want to play as men. [nickyee.com]

    The same study says that nearly 48% [nickyee.com] of men have a character that is female, but nearly all of them spend most of their time playing as a male.

  • ... removes sock from mouth ...

    Our LAN gaming group is about 7-8 people, all guys (most over 30), and about half of the group plays female chars. Admittedly, we have yet to play any massively multiplayer games in the group, but if you go on what happens in DungeonSiege and UT2K3 (our faves), half the group will be playing with chick skins or chick chars.

    I played UO for a good long time, and found that while I got more assistance and lenient plunder-sharing privs with my chick char, I got hassled by the dO

  • And is typical of why some people get rich.

    There's NO DIFFERENCE in performance yet the female avatar is 10 % off.

    Which one does the intellegent sentient buy?

  • ... all you would need to do is make it so avatars could be *completely* undressed, and then put true reflective mirrors in EQ ... now your lvl10 poledancing character suddenly sells for 50x the cost of the highest male char ...

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