What surprises me is that the OP apparently thinks that anybody proclaiming that they're female on the Internet is actually female

There are plenty of females. They're just not the same set as the set of people who say they are female. Sure there's some overlap, but you'll never know in any particular case.

As for the 12% or whatever it currently is on TESOCensus, I don't believe that's an accurate representation... has to be WAY more than that. Well documented that most (not all) internet forums have a strong male bias relative to the populations they represent, and I think that's reflected in the census numbers (since the only way anybody would find that site would be through a forum).

WAY more? By how much?

I do think MMO's have a higher ratio of females than other genres, but still a minority. I have no idea how accurate 12% is, but I'd be extremely shocked to find out the number anywhere near 25% or more. I have a hunch ~15% is a good guess though.

Last number I saw was 40%, but it wasn't MMO only. However, numbers of women in all genres go up every year. Hmm, let's see if we can find some actual statistics.

Edit:

All games: now 45% http://www.theesa.com/facts/gameplayer.asp

MMOs in 09: 40% female http://blog.rjmetrics.com/2009/06/24/who-plays-mmos-an-anolysis-of-mmorpg-player-demographics-and-mmorpg-player-stereotypes/

EQ2 in 08: 40% female http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7796482.stm

According to Wikipedia, a 2013 study done by Entertainment Software Association found that 45% of all game players were women. (Down from 47% in 2013). So I expect the final number for this game will be higher than 12%.

Damn. Yes, I realize the number goes up every year. Well nearly, considering Aeon's 2% difference reply

Although the term "gamer" is still vague. I mean I can totally see that 45% number when considering things like smartphone/facebook games just from the circle of people I know. But considering traditional (for lack of a better term) gaming, I don't come across as many real life examples.

Depends on the mmo I suspect.

In my Lotro kin I'd say just over a 3rd were female, many were partners of male players.

I'm talking real women as in pvssyd regularly in voice.

Plenty of men also played female characters and none in my kin tried to hide that they were male.

There is an entire tester group comprised of female gamers. Good bunch, they are.

BTW thanks for the links Sri.

Yupp i will be playing a Sorc and focus on healing.

I dont understand the reason to ask for female players tho we aint as rare as you think most of us just to go shout it in General/Zone chat. as a matter of fact i can assure you that you have played with a lot of Ggamers without knowing it.

Any single female players out there feel free to message me, I got a place for you in Canada with me.

... and now you know why those women aren't lining up to announce their gender Thus perpetuating the stereotype!

How many of the males were partners of female players?

This is another stereotype: women gamers get into it because of a man. It happens, but it's not the only way. Never was my motivation -- none of the guys I know IRL game (I'm in the older demographic). All my male gamer friends are people I met in games

BTW I'd agree it probably depends on the game, and on that basis I'd predict more women in ESO than average, just because women like single-player RPGs... I'd bet a high proportion of TES players are female (maybe more than 40%).

Losen
Loosen up, I have quite a few female friends here who are gamers, don't think any of them are going to be playing ESO, only one that would can't cause her computer is messed up.

Out of the 6 people i know irl 3 of them are women 4 with me so we are more Girls then guys in my gamergroup.
i have also talked to a lot of others on forums PM and Guild sites that will be playing and are long time fans of TES so ye i agree i think a lot of Ggamers will play ESO.

I think all this means is I'm getting old. Sometimes I don't realize that 2014 is, well, 14 years after year 2000

I was trying to find a good graph of female gamers over the years but no luck so far. I have seen graphs showing the sharp spike in internet social networking over the last decade, and I suspect the number of female gamers probably follow a similar trend. Or more specifically, just how technology has become mainstream and open to everyone.

So when can we finally drop this stereotype of being a gamer puts you in the nerd category?

I believe the higher number is partially because the majority of The Sims playerbase is female. Nothing to do with smartphone/facebook games.

(Well, to be fair, The Sims is not considered to be a game by many gamers)

Still, seeing how about 35~40% of GW2 playerbase is female, I think that 12% is nothing close to what the final number will be. We've come a long, long way. Back when I started playing, nobody would even believe that I was a girl ("there are no girls on the internet"). Now, you can find female gamers pretty much everywhere. It is pretty interesting.

Some guys will say that they "created" the female gamers by introducing their girlfriends to games, so that they would want to play to impress their boyfriends. That's a bit... Disrespectful. I think the ever increasing numbers of female gamers have nothing to do with "impressing their boyfriends", but maybe it is because the line between the gender stereotypes became blurry (and that's great!). We have guys watching My Little Pony (which is great, too) and we have girls shooting your face on videogames. Who would have imagined that 20 years ago? What a great time to be alive

+1

What's my little pony? lol

Yep just realized babies are now at least 14 years old...... holly crap....big ass babies... i'm old.

That stereotype's been dead for a while, since consoles and CoD and WoW became mainstream. These days being a (male) gamer doesn't make you a nerd, it makes you a man-child that is avoiding responsibility. At least, according to some ignorant people.

I treat every player as male.

Why did anyone respond to this thread. Why did i just respond to this thread.

WHYYYYYYYY

Ehh. Perhaps the "serious" part of it, but seems to be still alive and kicking in more of a "lol I'm a nerd!" joking sense. I haven't really watched television in a number of years, but isn't that the basic premise of The Big Bang Theory? Like "Ha look they like video games and science what nerds!" (Sincere question, I haven't seen the show)

Yeah... just realized I could technically have a teenage daughter in the household. I can't even fathom that idea... I'm not ready to get old.

http://webspace.ship.edu/jacamp/psyberpsych/Gaming/Social%20interaction_clip_image002.jpg an image of who is most likely behind that female character you see running around.

the guild i am in is almost 50% female. my wife will also be playing the game with me