Playing While Female
General forum
Posted on July 21, 2014, 9 a.m. by KaraZorEl
So, as a woman, I've noticed lately that it's not such a big deal to be female while playing magic anymore. It used to be a rather negative experience. But everyone seems to have lightened up. I think I like that. :)
Davids_hype says... #3
Tbh - I love it when there are girls around.. it's less geeky and I can finally, flirt with some haha... in a respectful way of course, haha.
No on a serious note -
I think Magic gives off this perception of a bunch of basement living weirdo's who live in this magical world in their games and fantasies. The moment I mention that I play MTG... it's always the response I get.
But to be honest, most of us are just normal people now, alot of the hardcore introverted geeks have probably gown up and no appreciate anyone joining in the fun, the others have probably gone to the online gaming side(MTGO)- less social interaction their. I think because MTG was loaded with "SUPER NERDS" and people who probably just aren't used to being spoken to by women(aliens they would probably say) - you and many other girls probs got the awkward cold shoulder or rude kinda treatment. Nowadays though - TONS of normal people play magic...
Invite your girlfriends!!! Honestly... So many FNM events would be amazing with some girls around, not even joking now. Girls are more social - might even bring out some of the really introverted people a bit more. At the end of the day - it's a game... so the more the merrier I say.
Just a thought... or many that is.
July 21, 2014 9:20 a.m.
See, that attitude can be damaging. I'm not saying you're doing anything wrong, but imagine walking into your FNM and no one actually wants to play with you, just flirt with you and tell you how pretty you are. I'd imagine it gets obnoxious quickly.
July 21, 2014 9:25 a.m.
Davids_hype says... #5
I totally disagree.. There's harmless banter... and there's dudes just trying to score.Also I'd imagine that if you went to an MTG event just to "score" you probs be straigt outa luck and wasting your own time and money.
I think you took what I said and turned it into - "oh right so all women are good for at MTG events is flirting." That's not what I was implying at all.
Tbh, there are two girls who play at the FNM events that I attend - and they both are awesome players. I think girls have this in ornate ability to be more tactical at times, maybe it's a finesse thing.
Not to mention everything above "No on a serious note" was meant as a joke, apologies, I thought that was pretty clear :)
July 21, 2014 9:33 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #6
I'm glad to hear that you are having a more positive experience while pursuing your hobby. I however have not had anything but negative experiences playing with females. Then again I wouldn't enjoy getting hit in the face with 20 258/258 trampling elves any more if it were a male doing it to me, so maybe it was her deck and not her I didn't enjoy playing with.
Ok I'm sorry, its always nice to see communities become more open and welcoming, because it only serves to strengthen the community by encouraging a greater number of active players.
July 21, 2014 9:37 a.m.
My girlfriend has never had any problems but our playgroup had many females anyway. I'm really glad that magic seems to be maturing and opening in this way. The community really needs to open its arms to all and be as non-judgmental and impartial as possible. There have been sexism problems in the past but I'm sure these can be overcome.
July 21, 2014 10:21 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #9
It might just be my area, but I've never experienced any difference in attitudes when a lady or female or person of the non-male gender is playing. As long as they act like everyone else (by that, I mean that they aren't there just to take advantage of their gender in the venue, which I have seen at some SCG Opens), they're treated like anyone else. Everyone that plays around here is pretty much a normal person that happens to like the game. The doctor can play with the law school student, the little kid can play with the minor league baseball player, the store owner's girlfriend can play with the guitarist from Born of Osiris, anyone around here can play and no one makes a big deal of it.
I'm sure that other places aren't as user-friendly, but It really isn't that hard to just be nice and respect your opponent no matter who they are.
July 21, 2014 10:38 a.m.
Do any of the other guys from Born Of Osiris play magic? I find that pretty funny. My friend and I played some gigs with them along long time ago.
July 21, 2014 10:46 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #11
I think that Lee is the only one. I just learned yesterday that he also makes Dubstep under the name Dimir. Couple of his songs are called Thoughtseize and Detention Sphere , which, taken out of Magic context, do sound like really good song names.
July 21, 2014 10:48 a.m.
Fair enough Davids_hype, wasn't trying to attack you personally or anything like that. Just trying to note, as you did, that deciding to flirt with a girl that came to FNM because "omg girl playing magic I must seduce her" is probably annoying. ThatBlueMage got it right; just treat everyone as a person and everybody will be happy.
July 21, 2014 10:50 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #13
For those interested. Off-topic, yes, but cool nonetheless.
July 21, 2014 10:54 a.m.
A long time before I decided to be a psychologist, I played in a somewhat successful metal band.
July 21, 2014 11:06 a.m.
Idk how many of them play magic, but I know BOO has a ton of magic cards. I know members of Carnifex and the Acacia Strain play as well though.
For the other part of the discussion, I'm glad you're getting a more positive experience as a female player. I have seen both sides in my experience, girls who get creepily flirted with, and some who can just sit down and play. I feel like normality is coming to the mtg players though, and it's much more diverse so Imo girls will be increasingly accepted to play, without people being weird about it
July 21, 2014 11:23 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #16
Unfortunately, I have watched females leave Mtg for good because of the "girls can't beat guys" mentality that is ever present in the more competitive metagames.
And to make it worse, there are lots of guys without girlfriends that see every new female mtg player as an opportunity to woo. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have someone that has a lot in common, but too many guys rush this. And it gets creepy after that point. Very creepy.
Here's to hoping that even more females will play mtg!
July 21, 2014 12:24 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #17
I love it when people play; I don't care boy/girl, whatever. One of my best friends' wives got into our casual group and its a total blast. She's an extremely worthy opponent. I think a lot of women bring a different sort of rhythm to the table than an all-male group is generally accustomed to, and it's a lot of fun to see different mentalities and approaches to deckbuilding develop.
I wish more women played.
July 21, 2014 12:40 p.m.
Dalektable says... #18
The magic community is getting more mature and I think the whole stigma of it being a more male-oriented game is disappearing slowly. Plus, i would love to get my girlfriend to play.
July 21, 2014 12:58 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #19
Come back in 2090:
"Hi, I'm from the planet Thorax, I like magic the gathering but you humans creep me out."
July 21, 2014 1:04 p.m.
Ugh thoraxians are such whiny bitches. Their planet is a bug's ass anyway so no wonder they're so shitty.
July 21, 2014 1:15 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #21
I always get them confused with the natives of Tharaxx, they're pretty nice people, once you get past the fact that smiling is an insult...
July 21, 2014 1:59 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #22
There's a creepy, mustached lady at my LGS. She keeps trying to hug me and hit on me and I have absolutely no interest. Other than her I don't see any women regularly play at FNMs, as our store has a dedicated "Lady Planeswalkers" night.
ChiefBell: What was the name of your band? Anything I would have heard of? I've been in and out of many metal bands over the years but was never able to get paid much outside of beer, lol (i'm a guitarist too).
July 21, 2014 5:25 p.m.
I played a little with the Haunting of Leica and Vidina, among many others.
July 21, 2014 6:08 p.m.
I have to say the most fun game i have ever played was against a 14-15 year old girl. She was brand new to the game played a few games with her brothers i think then they helped her build a deck and tossed her into FNM. Well she beat the snot out of me! My deck should have been better, i should have been the better player, hell even if i was trying to say "oh i let her win" i wouldnt have let her win so viciously. It was highly entertaining! btw im 25 and have been playing magic for over a decade haha.
July 29, 2014 2:52 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #25
I love other players who have fun while losing! I'm one of those people and often times I see too many sore losers in EDH/Commander.
On top of that, I hope that males (which I am, if you didn't know) get more accustomed to females beating our asses. That way we can get rid of the immature concept of "it's hard for a girl to beat a guy" which is silly, ignorant, and unfortunately common thought.
July 29, 2014 3:15 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #26
Tolerance overall has been preached about in the open over the last few years. Far greater then in the past. Some people just realized women are people too.
July 29, 2014 3:20 p.m.
OcelotProblems says... #27
Magic is a game that should be enjoyed by everybody. Heck, at one of the magic celebrations I played against a girl who was no older than 10. It was pack wars (1 pack of cards + 3 of each land) and she made very intelligent decisions and beat me quite competently. Her twin brother barely lost to my friend. Their dad played my wife and won his match against her. It was funny cause they had that child's aloofness to some of our conversation, but it was awesome to see all three of them attending and playing together.
Murtagg says... #2
It makes me happy to see this. I've always tried to be open and welcoming to women that play, without doing the whole creepy thing that sometimes happens. I'm glad to see that others might be doing the same.
July 21, 2014 9:19 a.m.