these are my two favorite characters so far

Hello Kitty- level eight magic scrapper (with claws!) on the Liberty server-

Tragedy Ann- a level seven mutation tanker (with an axe!) on the Liberty server

But somehow this game isn't quite as addictive as the average rpg. First off the chat interface is really, really bad. Having to actually click in the typing space to speak? Hitting backspace to reply to a tell? That's just not functional. Also there just isn't as much interaction or a need to interact like other games. Don't get me wrong I like it. But I can walk away from it after a comparatively short amount of playtime and not really feel that *need* to get back to it. There's something different with this one.

Someone actually said to me tonight "Wow a rl girl in an online game. That's more rare than a sober Irishman." Smartass that I am I said "But a sober Irish girl in an online game is the rarest of all." Yeah I'm always the center of attention in games like this because I'm not afraid to hide the girliness. But I also make it quite clear that my husband is the tall dark guy with the glowing eyes in the corner. That way they know that I'm friendly and may even flirt but there's no chance of anything other than their fantasies of a character that looks nothing like me (while retaining my rl wit and intelligence ha!) in their fevered little brains. Yeah every geekboy's fantasy and greatest fear: a girl gamer.

I'm SO not the only woman playing though. Unfortunately for those guys most of us are in committed relationships. In fact, we usually started gaming because of our boyfriends / husbands. We could either complain about the amount of gaming or resolve that it might be a cool thing that they'd rather be home in the cozy office with you on a friday night happily fighting the foes together than out with the boys getting up to god knows what. And once you start playing you may find you actually like it better than he does. You might even *gasp* be better at it too. And you may even be able to find a nice way to vent your frustration when mr man forgets to take the garbage out or says something dumb to your mom in a nice virtual ass kicking. But for that I recommend a street fighter-type game on the console of your choice. I always take a special pleasure in wiping the floor with him while playing the tiny girly characters. But we're pretty far behind in the console world. Yeah we still use an original playstation.

When Cody and I were first living together back in 97 I was a casual gamer. My games tended to be adventure or simulation games. I still enjoy sim games. Don't ask how many gigs of Sims downloads I have or how much I've spent on pay sites to get them but I've been doing it pretty consistently since its release in 99 so you can imagine how large it is now. I think part of The Sims' huge success can be directly attributed to its appeal and popularity to women. No other game in the industry has hit that particular market with anything approaching Maxis' success with The Sims. I kind of like to think of the Maxis Sim series and the Tycoon franchise as a sort of 'gateway drug' to a gaming addiction.

Anyway, back to 1997. I hadn't really played an online game nor did I consider myself much of a gamer back then. I'd get a new game like, say, Phantasmagoria, and play it pretty much straight through in a weekend. But I wasn't doing it all the time. So there I was your typical "You're wasting your time why don't you get off that computer and spend some quality time with me" girlfriend. But if anyone on this planet can be considered an immovable force it is my now-husband. So what changed you say? I read this article. Gave me a whole new perspective on things. Thought I'd give it a try. Since he worked at aol at the time we got to play some online games for free so I played Terris and Legends of Kesmai. It was fun. Tried my hand at Diablo. Things started looking up. Then Diablo II came out. Then Anarchy Online, then Star Wars Galaxies. Now City of Heroes until World of Warcraft comes out. And those are just the online games. Don't get me started on the others there are far too many to count. We don't go to movies really. We don't go to bars or clubs. We spend that entertainment money on games and tv.

Here are some great links about women who play computer games

Top ten myths about girl gamers
The women of counterstrike
gamegal.com
the girl gamer's manifesto
Girl Gamers: seeking narrative in a male-centered world
Gamer girl column on swg