Why is it that Fire Emblem has more male fans?

[Christactics]

When browsing through Serenes Forest or other websites in general, it is noticeable that there seems to be more male player than female? Decided to make the thread after I noticed all the audience in the Cipher stream were male. Is there a specific reason why a they may enjoy FE more than others? I have a hunch that it's because of its JRPG genre, but have absolutely no proof of it.

[Thane]

23 minutes ago, Christactics said:

I have a hunch that it's because of its JRPG genre, but have absolutely no proof of it.

Do you know of any genres where women are the majority? I'm not asking that to sound dismissive, mind you, I'm just genuinely curious. 

[Magical Glace]

While there are more female gamers than in the past, most gamers are still dudes.

[Etria]

I don't know anything about rates, but I do know that you can't blindly believe statements on a player's sex. I know a handful of women who claim to be male to avoid being harassed. Some games have a really toxic male fanbase.

[Shadow Mir]

The obvious answer: most gamers are male.

[Christactics]

8 minutes ago, Levant Mir Celestia said:

The obvious answer: most gamers are male.

 

10 minutes ago, Glaceon Mage said:

While there are more female gamers than in the past, most gamers are still dudes.

 I don't know why I never considered that, It is pretty obvious. I suppose this already boosts the ratio of male gamers, so FE is no exception.

[Ertrick36]

I don't think FE is particularly special in that regard, though I think coming from the more patriarchal Japan makes them all the more inclined to appeal to males first.

But generally speaking, the gaming industry is still male dominated.  I believe it's a bit more equal in the west, and that it'll eventually change so that they're just as broadly appealing as movies and TV shows.  It'll probably change in Japan as well, but not at the same rate unless something drastic happened.

 

It's funny, 'cuz my sister was actually the one who introduced me to FE, so I never really thought of it as a "male" game, if you get what I'm saying.  In fact, I started with Awakening, so I had the tough-as-a-bull Sully, the militaristic genius Cordelia, the elite Maribelle, and even in the introduction the first royal who actually had top authority was Emmeryn.  Not to mention the well developed - and woman who is equally as strong as the protagonist - Lucina.  Even with Chrom being the primary protagonist, I didn't think it to be a very masculine game to the point where its audience was composed of a vast majority of males.

Then again, my sister effectively introduced me to gaming in general, so I think my whole perspective on the masculinity of gaming is skewed.  I'd say it's for the better because I learned to appreciate games in a different way than most boys and men do.

15 minutes ago, Efina Leonhart said:

I don't know anything about rates, but I do know that you can't blindly believe statements on a player's sex. I know a handful of women who claim to be male to avoid being harassed. Some games have a really toxic male fanbase.

This is a valid point, as well.

On the internet, men's opinions are generally more respected, and there's less of a chance you'll get pursued by men in those ways.

I have actually role-played as female characters before (in places where I didn't have my own gender attached to my profile), and I was treated in a drastically different way than normal.  People would confess their love to me, treat me kindly so long as I didn't try to oppose their authority/opinion...  I know first-hand the awkwardness of being flirted with by strangers on the net, even if only for a moment rather than just a constant barrage like most women on the net would get.

And I know that's not even the worst that can happen to a lady on the net.  I'd much rather take the blunt, sometimes rude behavior I receive for being a man over the potential to get flooded with flirts and dick pics.  And I'd hate to have my opinions be constantly talked down just because people think I'm a lady.  So I understand if most women would be inclined to pretend to be males so that they could receive that same treatment.

Edited December 7, 2017 by Ertrick36

[Christactics]

27 minutes ago, Thane said:

Do you know of any genres where women are the majority? I'm not asking that to sound dismissive, mind you, I'm just genuinely curious. 

No, actually. It was that I saw quite a few female gamers state that they did not enjoy the JRPG genre, although I guess they just happened to be female.

[Christactics]

18 minutes ago, Efina Leonhart said:

I don't know anything about rates, but I do know that you can't blindly believe statements on a player's sex. I know a handful of women who claim to be male to avoid being harassed. Some games have a really toxic male fanbase.

Agreeable point. Though I've never encountered such problem on the internet (or genral games) because of my gender, I've seen others being harassed. 

[badatfireemblem]

32 minutes ago, Ertrick36 said:

I have actually role-played as female characters before (in places where I didn't have my own gender attached to my profile), and I was treated in a drastically different way than normal.  People would confess their love to me, treat me kindly so long as I didn't try to oppose their authority/opinion...  I know first-hand the awkwardness of being flirted with by strangers on the net, even if only for a moment rather than just a constant barrage like most women on the net would get.

This.

I actually debated when joining SF to say I was male because there is simply too much of this around when it comes to gaming.

 

As far as FE being male orientated, I've never really seen it that way. I actually introduced my brother to FE after playing several of the games, but I have found that generally there are more men who (currently) enjoy gaming than women, so I wouldn't really say FE is any different in that regard. I remember when I was younger, having mostly male friends who enjoyed gaming, but I'm sure things are changing now.

[Gebby]

For one, most gamers are male, and beyond that, some females opt to say they're male to avoid being treated weirdly.

Using pfps of females and having a handful of 'feminine' qualities, like a tendency towards proper grammar, I've been mistaken for a female on numerous occasions. While these experiences have been generally positive(I've gotten more respect from the start as a 'female' than a male), I've had some arguably negative experiences as well, such as unpermitted nudes. I think that the majority of females masquerading as males are just trying to avoid being treated differently, be it positively or negatively.

[Etria]

57 minutes ago, Christactics said:

Agreeable point. Though I've never encountered such problem on the internet (or genral games) because of my gender, I've seen others being harassed. 

I don't play any online games, so I have no stories as well. But I remember there was a pretty well-known tumblr where a female gamer (I think she was also a game developer?) posted some of the messages she got. Pretty horrible stuff.

[De Geso]

Most people who play games are men. It's always been a predominantly male hobby.

Edited December 7, 2017 by YouSquiddinMe

[SullyMcGully]

But most of the profile pics around here are girls. That's just plain confusing! 

In all honesty, I'd say Fire Emblem, with its easy-going combat and social sim aspect, has a more even ratio of guys to girls than most game series. 

Edited December 7, 2017 by SullyMcGully

[omegaxis1]

1 hour ago, Ertrick36 said:

I have actually role-played as female characters before (in places where I didn't have my own gender attached to my profile), and I was treated in a drastically different way than normal.  People would confess their love to me, treat me kindly so long as I didn't try to oppose their authority/opinion...  I know first-hand the awkwardness of being flirted with by strangers on the net, even if only for a moment rather than just a constant barrage like most women on the net would get.

And I know that's not even the worst that can happen to a lady on the net.  I'd much rather take the blunt, sometimes rude behavior I receive for being a man over the potential to get flooded with flirts and dick pics.  And I'd hate to have my opinions be constantly talked down just because people think I'm a lady.  So I understand if most women would be inclined to pretend to be males so that they could receive that same treatment.

Well that must have been awkward. 

I have a friend that gets a lot of shit, and quite a few are cause she's a girl. She generally goes for RPs, and whether its reddit or tumblr, she always finds herself somehow getting onto the bad side of a male toxic community, and goes through shit. 

Honestly, due to how there's still a large amount of sexism in society, some don't even have to be on purpose, there's always going to be a hard time finding a balance when it comes to these things. 

[Freezerburn]

This is a really interesting question!

Like a few users stated earlier, the majority of gamers are male. I think the amount of female gamers out there gets underestimated. However, I think it'd be wise and interesting to look at the male to female ratio by genre, instead of as a whole. Quantic Foundry put out a really interesting piece about female to male ratio by genre, which is HERE if anyone would like to read it!

I think the gender gap has to do with a few, different things. A lot of video games aimed towards girls had to do with fashion/cooking/etc, and most of them weren't all too engrossing. I used to know a few different girls who exclusively played those types of games when they were younger, and eventually stopped gaming as they got older. I think that how much parents initially support someone's gaming hobby can also influence it? As FE has a really big adult/early adult audience, I'm unsure of how many female players were really encouraged to play FE and other strategy games like it. If someone's parents never really buy them video games when they're younger, then maybe they're likelier to lose their interest. Maybe this happens with female players?

My parents were always very supportive of my hobbies when I was younger and bought me games for my birthday/other occasions. A lot of female gamers also tend to stay quiet about their sex, in order to avoid discrimination. I've experienced that kind of bad behavior before, and it was really hurtful. So I don't blame them. Female players especially experience discrimination in FPS games, too. Some male gamer scan view female gamers as "rare, special unicorns" and try and harass them for their numbers, or things like that. Though, this is rarer these days, I find.

I'm female and I got into FE by chance. One of my friends bought me Awakening for my birthday a few years ago! I greatly enjoyed it, as it was like nothing I had ever played before.

Though, I'm just spit-balling, here! None of my words are meant to be spiteful or offensive or anything!! My thoughts are rather messy on this subject, too.

Edited December 7, 2017 by Freezerburn

[omegaxis1]

4 minutes ago, Freezerburn said:

Though, I'm just spit-balling, here! None of my words are meant to be spiteful or offensive or anything!! My thoughts are rather messy on this subject, too.

We're being asked opinions though, and you gave a very nice statement on your part. Very insightful.

[Stephen the Great]

Perhaps the tendency towards fanservice? To my (admittedly incomplete) understanding, men seem more prone to lustful conduct than women.

Edited December 7, 2017 by Sigismund of Luxemburg

[omegaxis1]

2 minutes ago, Sigismund of Luxemburg said:

Perhaps the tendency towards fanservice? To my (admittedly incomplete) understanding, men seem more prone to lustful conduct than women.

There are more fanservice towards the male audience than there are for females. 

[Florete]

Aside from what everyone else is saying about most gamers being male, FE is simply geared more towards male players, as many game franchises are. With only a few minor exceptions, every FE game has a male protagonist: even the games with avatars heavily promoted the male version in the marketing. Prior to Awakening, the majority of each game's cast was male, and male characters generally took the more "powerful" roles with classes like Fighter and Berserker being restricted to men (while this is being fixed for gameplay, the story roles in Fates show this trend is still very much alive). The male characters tend to be more diverse in appearance, while the female characters are more likely to be more conventionally attractive and, lately, sexy.

However, while it is geared more towards male players, I think it appeals to female players more than most games of its type because of its emphasis on strategy and thought over testosterone-fueled action.

[Freezerburn]

Just now, Sigismund of Luxemburg said:

Perhaps the tendency towards fanservice?

This, too! I've seen a lot of fans gripe about the impractical armor designs for the female characters, especially in newer games. There's some of it I really agree with, such as wishing Camilla at least had pants in her wyvern riding sprites. ;; Or the cavalier models having pants and wearing more than thongs. I really didn't like those parts of the designs, but only because the male characters of the same class would receive PANTS. 

Don't get me wrong! I really like fanservice-y outfits! Thigh high stockings n skirts are really cool. And I get that Fates tends to go by anime/JRPG logic. But it was kind of upsetting to see the differences between the male and female outfits for certain classes. I'm actually fine with the female Nohr Noble and Adventurer outfits. And I think they handled the Hero, Troubadour, and Sorcerer classes really well. Just please... let the cavaliers and wyvern riders wear pants. As long as every female character isn't fanservice-bait, then it's fine with me.

[Rezzy]

Strategy games generally tend to lean male.  When I was in college, the Chess Club was mostly male.

[SoulWeaver]

Can I say because some girls are busy doing actually important things with their lives? Most girls I know have better things to do than game - one of my coworkers manages to run a small gaming channel in her spare time, but it's often crowded by the fact that she works two jobs and still goes to school, while I have pretty much nothing in between me and the fabulous Nintendo.

[EricaofRenais]

Well I like FE because it has strong characters that are of both genders, of course I would like to add that none of the lords are my favorite characters.  I have seen an upswing in female players as a whole and when I go to GameStop there is normally at least one female employee, which is nice since I like seeing another female gamer when I buy my games.  I think that video games are still marketed to males, but it has lessened a bit since I started gaming 15 years ago.  I also think like several posters above have said in terms of dealing with other players online it is sometimes much easier to say you are a guy then deal with guys who will hit on you and think your views are worthless if you don't agree with them.  

[Florete]

4 minutes ago, SoulWeaver said:

Can I say because some girls are busy doing actually important things with their lives?

No, you can't.