The Myth of Meritocracy in Online Games

Posted by Kyle Francis in Francisism

Interesting, short, well-observed article on the myth of meritocracy on Left Mouse Button. Be sure to berate her in the comments, though. We can't have doubletalk like this gaining traction. Next they'll be wanting equal wages.

Here's the quote that hooked me, from a seventeen year old guild leader on World of Warcraft:

“Girls just aren’t on the same level. Sometimes they’re okay as healers or whatever, and I’d rather have a girl than an empty raid slot, but they lack that primal aggression that a man needs. They don’t need the kill as bad."

It's telling, I think, that all I could think of while reading that was how badly my girlfriend kicks my ass at Puzzle Fighter whenever we play it. Or how bad Natalie, of the review crew, used to when we ran in the same rough crowd in University.

Anyway, providing anecdotal evidence to debunk anecdotal evidence isn't particularly useful, but I'm sure all the males reading this have some shameful memory of being handed their testicles by a friend, sibling or significant other in their favourite video game. The thread Cassandra winds through her article is much more interesting and well formed than all of this, so I suggest you go read.

(via RPS)


more in Video Game Features     |     posted Feb 5th, 2010 at 9:38am     


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