Online Stereotypes

The violence and harassment that we find hidden in online gaming communities today often stem from small events such as the panel at the 2014 E3 conference. In response to the statement about adding female characters into the game, a female gamer from Canada wrote “The message from the industry is that men come first” (Gittleson). In an industry that favors one gender over the other, we will begin to notice significant shifts in the treatment of the opposite or “lesser” gender within the gaming community. The major issue that had consumers questioning the legitimacy of the panelist’s comments when stating that female characters would have doubled the amount of production time. This disconnect begins when users note that earlier installments of the Assassin’s Creed franchise featured female characters. As well as the film that was speculated (released two years after) emphasized the amount of diversity they held.
The majority of male players could argue that the diversity of the gender of video game players does not impact the percentage of female video game players. To an extent, this statement stands true. According …show more content…
Like many other online gaming servers, Microsoft’s Xbox Live servers contain an option to report online harassment and inappropriate behavior. According to a BBC news article, “Microsoft’s Xbox Live online gaming platform [is described] as ‘the service most often referenced when harassment in our community comes up’” (Fletcher). It is known that the majority of harassment comes from platforms such as Xbox Live, which allows users to send both text messages between players as well as vocal messages. When people report these kinds of behaviors, it is often not dealt with properly, and the accounts of known instigators are still active. Grace, a user who runs a website called Fat, Ugly, or Slutty