Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/11/10/games-show-how-the-presence-of.html
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Seems a bit like the social dynamic in the Southern slave states. Poor whites with no slaves of their own never the less vehemently resisted abolition on the unacknowledged grounds that the existence of the slave underclass created a group they could always look down on and feel superior to, no matter how poorly they were doing.
I’m sure some men view their gaming skills vis-à-vis women in a similar light and don’t react well when the bubble is burst.
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The study makes sense to me at face value (don’t have the time to read all of it right now). Personally i like having good diversity in the player base of the few online games i play, so losing to a woman or whomever would not trigger me. What triggers me is people with poor sportsmanship or just out and out assholes, but i generally go out of my way not to engage them because that enables them to continue the behavior or increase the intensity of the trolling.
In my small group of online friends that play Overwatch we have a few ladies that play with us and we have a great time playing and don’t treat them any different but make sure that it’s a welcoming and fun environment for all involved 
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Edit to add commentary…
I have to admit, as a gamer, I have played at top levels (top 100 world ranked guild) in World of Warcraft and then just been a filthy dirty casual (WoW, SC2, Hots, OW). I prefer playing with women, and especially women who are better than I am. They are always open to teaching me and me asking what I am doing wrong or how I can do it better. They coach me, and I am always receptive to learning and open to constructive criticism on my game play…I know I suck!
Males on the other hand…especially YOUNG males…oh god please no.
Me: So, what am I doing wrong?
Them: You just suck.
Me: How did you do that, can you show me how?
Them: I just did it, figure it out yourself.
Me: Hey, can I get some tips from you about your rotation, how you apply dots, and dps bursts?
Them: Dude, there are websites for that shit, learn2google.
Its always the same asshattery behavior. NOT just to females, but to males too.
Original comment:
FYI…the advert popup in the middle of the page keeps taking over the entire page and won’t close.
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I don’t see anything, but then again i’m using two ad blockers.
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I wish I could…my work laptop doesn’t allow me to install them.
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Hm, my work laptop does not allow me to install things either but browser extensions do install. You could probably finagle the IT person to install one for you since it does block ads, which can potentially serve you malware
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I’ve mentioned it…I just deal with it…if I draw too much attention BB could be put on the blocked sites list!!!
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We don’t want that :c
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Was raiding in Destiny a while back, and had a guy complain that he couldn’t get a raid done because there was women in his group prior. He expressed the view that women generally suck at Destiny.
The rest of the group (5 including myself) disagreed strongly. In a co-op game like Destiny even teenage girls do better on average because they seem to be able to put their egos in Check, be quiet, listen, communicate and focus on their assigned task.
That guy ended up rage quitting because he was terrible.
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off topic, but SHIT! WHAT IS UP with the pop-up video window when I open an article page on Boingboing? I can’t close the damn thing! 
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Insights into Sexism: Male Status and Performance Moderates Female-Directed Hostile and Amicable Behaviour, Additional Document S2_Text.docx shows exemplar dialogue. Warning: It’s as bad as you can expect.
What I would really like to know is why XBL is so much more hostile on average to women than PSN.
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I use four!
(If you count Privacy Badger…)
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So, is there any…recordings of this?
Is it wrong to want to watch a female player destroy a misogynist in a shooter?
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where particularly high-performing female players begin to receive greater praise than similarly excellent males;
I’ve seen that too in other things as well. Usually in male dominated arenas. I think that is from two angles 1) encourages them to stick around and keep at it, as there are so few. 2) surprise that a girl can hang at that level, (i.e. really good for a girl) which is sort of that mild sexism one isn’t typically self aware of.
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XBL has been notorious for having a more toxic bro player base than PSN since the original Xbox days. I am sure Sony’s platform has its problematic assholes as well but because XBL has typically had a larger player base people encounter bad behavior frequently.
Back when i was playing certain games on PSN frequently i never had any issues but i would not take my experience as the norm since i usually avoid online multiplayer and talking to people i don’t know.
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Black female friend of mine is good at fighting games and she encountered a ton of sexism and toxicity. I wouldn’t say she’s a top level fighter but what she excels at is having a ton of drive and focus, and if she has to resort to cheap tactics to win she doesn’t care. A win is a win is a win, and she revels in pissing people off so male players blowing up at her encourages her to keep at it. I certainly admire her drive but having to put up with that kind of behavior to begin with is such bullshit. She’s told stories of her going to local tournaments or game releases for fighting games and have these mouth breathers ask her if she’s the GF of a player or assume she’s a casual player.
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I used to be part of a raiding static in a MMO and we used Reddit to replace a couple members who left for life stuff. One guy was impressed with our progress / DPS logs and wanted to join but the second he heard that a few members were women, he noped out because, in his words, women hold back progress.
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Perfect, don’t want an asshole like that around anyway 
Assholes hold back progress.
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