Today is International Women's Day. We decided to highlight the women of the Stack Up community with their very own Redshirt Roundtable. We asked them some questions about gaming communities and the games they enjoy.
What brought you to the Stack Up Community?
As gamers, the communities available are not always welcoming to women. What has your experience been like?
What is a piece of advice you have for other woman-identifying gamers searching for communities they feel welcome in?
What are some gaming communities you think other gamers who identify as women would enjoy?
What games have you been playing/streaming that you are currently enjoying?
Thanks to everyone that participated! Go out there and be awesome.
What brought you to the Stack Up Community?
I was a streamer in the Star Citizen Community, and we did a related fundraiser for Call to Arms one year. That inspired me to learn more about what Stack Up is all about.
As gamers, the communities available are not always welcoming to women. What has your experience been like?
I don't play FPS MMOs, so I think I've been able to avoid a lot of the aggressive harassment. But in the gaming communities that I'm involved in, they are usually mostly male. While there is the occasional aggressive person, the majority of my experience has been a lot more subtle. Lots of guys just want to help, too much so, and it can impede playing a game normally (like gifting things, running through raids for the XP, etc.). There are a lot of private messages about all sorts of things, like suggestions on what to do better, compliments on simple things, and basically any excuse to start a conversation. The biggest thing I've encountered is the excessive attention, and I have to make a choice on whether I want to deal with all of that attention when playing a game or just play alone.
What is a piece of advice you have for other woman-identifying gamers searching for communities they feel welcome in?
LIFT UP OTHER WOMEN. Gaming is competitive by nature, and a lot of times, there are only a few select women in a gaming group. This can lead to feeling a need to compete on who is "the" girl of the group. Instead, bond together, be sisters and kick some butt.
What are some gaming communities you think other gamers who identify as women would enjoy?
Star Citizen. There's a lot of controversy about the game still being in development, but it has a lot of potential. One of the founders, Sandi Roberts, helps keep the guys on their toes and often holds them accountable for making the game appealing to women. I also run a Discord server for women in Star Citizen (called SC Ladies Night Out) as a social group to play together and to help out women who are new to the game.
What games have you been playing/streaming that you are currently enjoying?
I've been back on a Minecraft kick lately and have been occasionally streaming it. I also recently played the beta for a casual card game about birds called Wingspan, which is a good chill out game. I'm looking forward to Tiny Tina's Wonderlands and Sons of the Forest.
RoughRider
What brought you to the Stack Up Community?
My son! He was six at the time, and he saw BeckBroJack do a spot for Stack Up. He thought it would be a good way for me to find some of my old military friends.
As gamers, the communities available are not always welcoming to women. What has your experience been like?
I've always stuck to gaming with rl friends, with the few exceptions being WoW guilds and my LotRO kinship. Come to think of it, though; those were also run by vets, who strictly enforced a culture of respect and focus on the mission. My online experiences other than gaming, just running into random online strangers, has been largely erratic and unpleasant.
What is a piece of advice you have for other woman-identifying gamers searching for communities they feel welcome in?
I honestly don't have any, really. I'd love some, lol.
What are some gaming communities you think other gamers who identify as women would enjoy?
I've never really been a part of a gaming community other than StackUp, but in general, I don't go out of my way to identify myself as a woman in online communities, so it's hard to say.
What games have you been playing/streaming that you are currently enjoying?
I've been playing a lot of Generation Zero and AVICII Invector, and with my son, I play a lot of Grounded, Astroneer, and Barotrauma. Oh, and as a family, we really enjoy Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop!
RealAmanda | Twitch
What brought you to the Stack Up Community?
Someone on the Influencer Relations team found me streaming, liked the cut of my jib, and reached out!
As gamers, the communities available are not always welcoming to women. What has your experience been like?
A jarring mixed bag of hostility and objectification, but it has improved greatly over time! I've learned what experiences to avoid and what to cultivate and encourage!
What is a piece of advice you have for other woman-identifying gamers searching for communities they feel welcome in?
Trust your instinct when it comes to red flags. Genuine, supportive, and inclusive communities will never try to gatekeep you, talk you into doing anything you're uncomfortable doing or expect you to change who you are!
What are some gaming communities you think other gamers who identify as women would enjoy?
The tabletop gaming community was an amazing place for me to make friends of all genders, but some of my closest and dearest friends were made in that community, so I can't recommend it enough!
What games have you been playing/streaming that you are currently enjoying?
I've been enjoying Dying Light 2 and rediscovering my love (See: "obsession") of Cities Skylines!
DarthSagaSwag (They/Them) | Twitter
What brought you to the Stack Up Community?
I was an Air Assault recipient that Stack Up brought out to PAX West years back. I lurked the discord for a few years until Stack Up put out a job post for a Social Media Manager a few weeks after I finished my Creative Writing degree.
As gamers, the communities available are not always welcoming to women. What has your experience been like?
As a Two-Spirit, I have always sat somewhere in the middle. I have a deep enough voice that I can get away with using voice chat in games and get assumed to be a dude, so I've had very little harassment on that front. There have been times when I met gatekeeping or had people question me as a gamer, but I've been gaming for 27 years and cannot be bothered. I'm also more of a solo player simply because I'm a very "on my own time and space" kind of person.
What is a piece of advice you have for other woman-identifying gamers searching for communities they feel welcome in?
I would agree with most of the advice already included in this post. Lift up other women, find other gals in the group and back each other up. Find folks who are supportive and more focused on gaming and having fun than squabbling. If a space doesn't feel safe, it's most likely not. Listen to that internal voice if it's telling you so.
What are some gaming communities you think other gamers who identify as women would enjoy?
The Sims community. Many of the major content creators are women, and most people are just focused on designing Sims, houses, and stories with their Sims. Mass Effect and Dragon Age and Life is Strange communities tend to be pretty great too. I've noticed fans of those games just care more about the stories and characters and making art and such for them than anything. Queer Women of Esports has been doing pretty well though I have been as active as I would like.
What games have you been playing/streaming that you are currently enjoying?
Cyberpunk 2077 recently updated, and the game plays pretty smoothly. Wish they'd taken longer in development. I've also been playing Crusader Kings III and the Sims.