But should I really have to? You as editor are responsible for making sure that facts are backed up by research, and for a scientific piece that does not mean "Why is sex fun?" It means at the very least a book by someone with a PHD in biology, like Richard Dawkins, and preferably a scientific paper from a citation source like PubMed. As a final word of advice to make your life easier, remember this as a general rule; no-one did anything because our cavemen ancestors used to. Evolutionary behavior goes much farther back than that, and the cavemen you're thinking of weren't our ancestors anyway.
-Doug Inman
To the Editor: This is in reference to the letter from Eva in issue 26, and although I'm new to The Escapist I wanted to comment on her take on the article by Whitney Butts "OMG Girlz Don't Exist on teh Intarweb!!!!1"
I'm a 33 year old female who has been gaming since I was 13. I got hooked on D&D about the same time as Tetris so I was thrilled when the MMOGs came out in force. I met a nice guy, proceeded to get him addicted to videogames so he wouldn't complain about my own addiction *evil grin* and then got married. My husband went to get my Christmas present last year - a 23" monitor. When he told the salesguy it was for his videogame addicted wife, the poor guy totally freaked. He then asked my somewhat amused husband what was the best way to find a gamer girl. My husband's response was to tell the guy to look for a girl who has multi-colored hair.
I'm currently addicted to FFXI and have been playing that game for two years and I can say it's finally getting good because a lot of the idiots (OK, a few of the good people too) have moved over to WoW.
First, Eva, sorry but I have had exactly the same experiences that Whitney has had, in fact just last night. Honestly I am extremely tired of explaining to the young guys on the game that girls do play games. Yes, I'm the tank and will save your 13 year old butt because I know how to hold hate. No, I won't send you a pic, or tell you where my picture is on FFXIplayers and really I don't care if you believe me because I don't need you to justify my existence or give me permission as a female to play.
But, I find the mature guys don't have an issue with me, so yes, I agree, Eva, it does totally depend on who you are hanging out with. The Linkshell (aka Clan, Guild) that I hang out with is mostly older people (above 18), a mix of males and a few females. Sure there is fun banter and even some flirting going back and forth, and the occasional "omg please don't log cuz we will all turn into barbarians when the girls leave."
The problem, though, with these MMOGs is you need to play with other people. My other gamer girlfriends have gone onto games that don't require as much time associating with the rabble, or they won't play online at all. When they do go online they play with their husbands/boyfriends, only, so they can be shielded from the aforementioned idiots.
What is the solution you may ask? Girls keep playing, keep telling the idiots that they are in fact idiots, keep kicking their butts, keep being beautiful, sexy and smart and most importantly, have fun!
-Samantha Jane
