Fortnite

[LudaChristine]

I'm sorry if this has either been discussed before or is a bit silly, but watching DS play Fortnite (played by the majority of teen boys, I think), this has occurred to me:

All (or at least most) characters are basically sexy women with nice arses. So when you play this game, you enter a nice, controllable world in which you are simultaneously watching an attractive woman's arse and also being that woman (because that's your avatar). I just wondered about it in relation to AGP...

Interesting.

I agree it's good that there are female characters, etc. I'm not "complaining", either. I just idly wondered about it in the context of AGP and the love of avatars amongst some trans activists. I wonder whether there are decent studies on how/whether people's sense of self/identity might bonds with avatars one plays with repeatedly...

I play fortnite with my teens (much to their embarassment!) I think the split of skins is about 50/50, there's lots of non human skins too. What I like is that lots of players just have skins on random so there is no correlation between the gender of the player and the skin.
As a result I think it counters some of the rife misogyny if you're perceived as a female gamer.

"Sweat", "neckbeard", "bot" and "default" are all terms in my house as is "grinding it out"

DS2 had an avatar that seemed to be a cat riding a unicycle motorbike.. now he's playing as she-hulk.

I actually thought that for a computer game, the female characters weren't that bad - some were chunkier, or musclier, they wear similarly silly costumes as the male ones (or cats).

On the whole, I don't actually mind Fortnite which seems to be an unpopular opinion in some sections of MN! Better than when I used to play World of Warcraft years ago and my armour choices mainly boiled down to metal, leather, or fur bikini.

Yay, an opportunity to post one of my favourite links:
Why boob breastplate armour would kill its wearer

(Actually possibly not the case - this article in turn spawned a whole industry discussing it... ah, geeks, gotta love 'em.)

Back in the 80s I used to play Mario Bros 2.
You could play as a fat plumber guy, a thin plumber guy, a princess or a mushroom. The princess was pretty cool coz she could fly. But the mushroom was stronger, and the thin plumber guy could jump higher. The fat plumber guy was just boring and average.

In other words, video games letting people impersonate characters which don't match their biology or appearance is hardly a new trend...
As far as I can tell this hasn't affected my "gender identity" (or lack thereof). Or if it did, it's more likely to have given me as sense of self based on inner ability rather than superficial appearance. So, quite the opposite to what gender identity seems to be all about...?

I usually play as a hot dog. maybe that means something actually, its pretty phallic autopeniphile? Is that a thing? Really I just think its a video game and wouldn't read too much into it. Theres an even split between male, female and other types of characters.

I have to say, I did find it a little unusual that men/people with male names would use female skins.
It does make sense if it gives a slight advantage.

I have a male-sounding user name so I don't get hassle but also often have a male skin, possibly for the same reason. Currently, I am groot.

It isnt a very sexual game. The last of us 2 skeeves me out more, I think. Which is a shame as I loved the first one.

I usually play as a hot dog. maybe that means something actually, its pretty phallic
I don't know, @FromEden, I reckon with the bun and the weiner you cover yonic and phallic....win win!

Transactivist Katelyn Burns discussed this very thing in a recent computer games exhibition at the V&A

Interesting, @KatVonlabonk. Sounds like a very useful outlet for some, then.

cara that link is brilliant

I don't play videogames, but I used to a little.
Back in the playstation days I used to play one of the Tekken games. There was a large roster of characters - men, women, a bear, a little dragon.
To complete the game you had to use all the characters. I didn't even consider I wasn't playing as female for some of the time, I and I suspect nobody else does either.
For kids these days, they probably think about the gender of their avatars even less, because they've grown up with it like this.

My DSs play Fortnite. They like to ring the changes so they seem to be using a different skin every time I walk into the room. I've noticed (just in passing, you understand) that the male characters also have very nice arses. (The banana not so much.)

@LudaChristine

Interesting, *@KatVonlabonk*. Sounds like a very useful outlet for some, then.

I think it varies with different styles of games.

Games where players become part of another world, adopt ongoing identities and build up a whole online community, are different to the games like Fortnite or Tekken - where 'skins' like are changed all the time, and don't really represent an individual character as such.

The former I think can be very empowering for people that struggle with real life interactions, and also people with disabilities that might restrict aspects of their social life. (I don't know if anyone has read or heard the story of Mats 'Ibelin' Steen, a young man with degenerative muscular dystrophy, and his amazing online life in World Of Warcraft....it is very moving www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/disability-47064773).
I guess if you feel disjointed with your world as it is, it would be very freeing to be able to be anything you wanted in a virtual world.

I do think in Fortnite, kids can get a sense of feeling empowered - my dd1(14) is very shy and socially awkward, and my ds (10) has learning disabilities and complex needs, he is also half the size of his peers....they are both really good at Fortnite, and it gives them kudos!

Seems very odd to have such a series of deletions 🧐

@LudaChristine

I'm sorry if this has either been discussed before or is a bit silly, but watching DS play Fortnite (played by the majority of teen boys, I think), this has occurred to me:

All (or at least most) characters are basically sexy women with nice arses. So when you play this game, you enter a nice, controllable world in which you are simultaneously watching an attractive woman's arse and also being that woman (because that's your avatar). I just wondered about it in relation to AGP...

I've often thought this about video games. Whether Lara Croft spawned more than the game developers ever intended.

I assume Spammers..

Coming back to Mats 'Ibelin' Steen though - I used to really enjoy logging onto Warcraft during New Year (real, or Warcraft event), or Christmas or whatever - the city squares would be full of people just hanging around, letting of fireworks/spells/whatever, it was very festive and sociable.

Recently we all joined to watch the Fortnight end of season event (well, not recently I suppose, a couple of months ago) - and it was fantastic for the kids, just 30 mins of a semi-guided bit of plot, everyone hanging around and shooting bits when required - it was just what we needed to feel a bit connected while in Covid lockdown - a bit like going and sitting at the park with everyone else.

Yeah, you are overthinking OP. It is a mark of being a sweat to use female skins, and they have cooler weapons, apparently.
Sweat/sweaty is like Geek/Geeky-it can be something to aspire to.

Only read OP.

Tbf the male characters are often hyper masculine in appearance.

What bothers me is

Games with sexual violence against women/ female characters around the place being prostitutes or hinted at

The abuse female players get

And stuff like

I was so excited about star Trek online (sadly it was crap)

But anyway. First level you have to meet someone in s bar. A bar which turns out to have pole dancing etc.

Fuck that.