It's really sad, some of the behavior I see toward women. I want to say that this describes a loud minority of players...but that would be a lie. It's the majority. I just don't get it. MAYBE they are just extra hormonal guys hoping to meet a cool gamer chick who would be into them. [i]But aren't we all?[/i] No seriously, I think single guys don't realize that every (heterosexual) guy kinda hopes to meet a girl who is into the same things they are. At least in passing. And yeah, it would be really cool. Yeah, I find it really hot when my fiance sets dudes on fire and giggles about it. But in knowing that, you know that [i]the way to get a really great girl to pay attention to you, who shares a hobby with you, is not to just walk up and hump her.[/i] For example... say we were both into bowling. We're both bowlers. Cool, she's a bowler! We bowl! We can talk about bowling and bowl together! Great stuff! I sure hope this girl who bowls likes me, or at least gives me a chance! Hell, I'd be okay with being friends just to shake up the sausage fest formula on my bowling team a bit! It would be NICE to have a girl or two around, because it's NICE to have girls around. I like girls! They're cool! [b]LET ME GO SHOW THIS BY SHAGGING HER LEFT LEG, CALLING HER A SLUT AND TELLING HER TO GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN.[/b] See the problem? Not only will she tell you to -blam!- off, she'll probably think twice about bowling again. Everyone loses. She loses a hobby, you lose a chance to interact with someone who isn't drowning in testosterone and maybe, MAYBE, might be willing to give you a chance on another level. Here's more truth: I don't think male gamers want to admit the fact that they [i]like[/i] playing with women. I'm taken. I'm happily taken. But I still do like playing with women as much as like gaming with the boys. For the same reason I like playing with different people at all---they're different. The same old jokes get tired. The same voices get tired. Sometimes, I just like playing a game with a girl---because a girl is another type of human, and the same old humans get boring fast. That's the point of the internet. Who really makes this so difficult? The dick measurers. The same people who call everything Over Powered, the same people who rage when they get crushed in Crucible, or rage at bosses, or just rage. See, they can tell that their repugnant attitude repels women. So they see people with women in their groups, and [i]because that is more rare[/i] they either whine about not having it OR claim that women just aren't wanted. See: The common reaction to exotics. You either get rational people who get it if they got it and are happy with it and not upset if they didn't, people who rage about not having them because they don't, or people who try to convince everyone that no one needs them because they can't figure out how to make sure that they're the one with the thing not everyone has. They don't hate girl gamers. They don't want to be the gamer with no girls in their group, and can't figure out why they're the reason for that problem. Somehow it becomes a status thing, like almost everything else, while the rest of us out here who are reasonable are just like... Lolwut? ~Ricochet EDIT: Respondent said this needed a TL:DR. Here it is. [quote]Here, I'll do it for you: Be nice to girls. It can be fun to play video games with girls. Don't be mean to girls. Maybe if you are nice more of them will play.[/quote] ...and furthermore, it shouldn't be a hostile environment for women to begin with. Not cool, no matter what your reasons are behind behaving the way you do. EDIT: 4pm Eastern Standard Time, I'm retiring replying to people. Thanks to everyone who participated in this conversation!