Disclaimer: I know women play MMOs these days. I should know. My wife does. Both of my daughters play. Several of our female friends play online games too, and are avid players at that.

But how many will play Fallout Online? The genre doesn't seem to really draw women in. The issue that I've seen is a lack of customization. And by customization I mean the option to be pretty or just a little scarred, to be shallow or very mysteriously deep, to be charming but able to slap someone around with tonfa or sais.

I mentioned pretty and I know that'll be a sticking point. Lets face it, earlier Fallout games have definitely been aimed at the male audience. Mutants and zombies? Guys don't care much, but even my gamer wife & friends cringe after seeing them in the most recent Fallout.

Also, is there hope for women in Fallout? My wife has watched me play and said all she sees me doing is shooting stuff. I tried to explain that the chars do have depth, but is it true from their side? Women are generally hot or fracking ugly, no in-between. Crazy is the norm. Maybe that's to be expected from a wasteland, but crazy guys seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Bottom line, I want my wife and girls to want to play Fallout, not to watch a movie if I log on. This means, like it or not, it must have:
- Depth for female chars, both Player Char and Non Player Char
- Char Customization on the level of Champions Online (a tall order there, to be sure)

So, discuss.

"Womens are Hot or fracking ugly" ? I don't see in that way , what about exotic appeal ? Sometimes some defects looks good in some people.

About customization i'm very agree , we need something that let us make a full look and also ugly looks or in between. Fat girls and guys also (obviously according to the stats O.o )!
And there are some womens that like games "the way that we like"( i mark this because there isn't a uniform likeness for male people to video games or any other stuff)

Champions has decent customisation... AOC has really good customisation, especially for their female characters. Character customisation isn't That big an issue anymore. Yeah, it's a job of work for your artists and such, but not that hard to prog.

As for females wanting to play the game, you cite your wife not caring for the game, are you referring to her watching you playing FO or FO2? FO3 isn't FO, its Oblivion with a FO facade smeared over it. There were developed female characters in FO and FO2, she probably just didn't come around at the right times to see them.

I personally wouldn't allow My children to play FOO, at least not until they are 18 or so, simply because there are likely to be advlt themes, extreme violence (there better be massive amounts of gore and blood damn it), drug use, alcohol abuse and gambling. Are those things you want to expose your little girls to? This ain't WoW where things are all sweetness and light and you don't see blood on the walls after you smoke some asshole...

I was referring to the women I remember from Fallout games. With a few notable exceptions I don't remember many that were on the 4-7 range of the 1-10 scale.


Yeah I do wish Champions had expanded more on what they had in CoH, but they do have the lion's share of costume options. AoC had great customization of body structure, but when it came to clothes, there wasn't much. Then again I quit that one pretty early.


You're assuming my girls are little. I'm old, compared to most gamers. My eldest is 19, but yes, it will be some years before my youngest gets a chance at anything like Fallout.

I've noticed that women tend to steer clear of in-depth RPGs and Strategy games. Fallout 1 and 2 being an RPG and a turn based strategy game. While I'm sure there are superficial reasons for not enjoying some games, I don't think that's the main reason. It's just in games like these, there is a kind of risk-reward system. You set up your character a certain way, you decide to do this instead of that. Sometimes it doesn't pay off, sometimes it does. There's a certain level of calculation and thought that goes into your every move. I just don't think the ladies find that fun XD. Hell not even every male gamer can appreciate that kind of game.

It's simple to hop into a game like WoW, you have your character, you have obvious places to get good gear. It's easy to hop into a group and get going. If you mess up, you go back and try again. If you specialized your character wrong, you drop some money and make it right in a matter of minutes. You either DPS, tank, or heal. The choices are obvious in a game like this.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think making it like WoW would fix that, nor do I wish that. Please, don't even think about making it like any other MMO! I'm hoping for the same feeling of exploration, survival, and tactics on an updated platform. While it may not be something women appreciated in a single player format, perhaps it will be a different story when you have your friends. That is what makes any mmo really, and what keeps it together, the community.

Edit: Also, by the time this game comes out I imagine your other kid will be able to enjoy it, with your permission at least!

Ah, to customize or not to customize. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to tell your character apart from mine once we're both logged in -- be sure of that. Personally, I don't think looks are that important -- it's what makes you SPECIAL that counts (I thought that was a rather clever joke ).

If customization is the only thing that's important to your gaming female friends, I'm sure gamesas will bring them on-board. If that's all they have to offer, I'm sure we'll all drop it like a bad banana.

I don't think customisation is as important as you think, part of WoW's success is it doesn't ask you to make any serious decisions before you get started. Being asked a million choices before you have even tried the game is a good way to put people off.

Is this post a joke/troll? "What would your good do if evil didn't exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared?"

hope no! i dont want to see they here.. make the fallout online MAN's game as it was always before - brutal, scare, hope lost, and survive
all girls and womens want to play by cute person.. but CUTE in post appocaliptic future? here is no bath, Lipstick, beauty salon, they can't look beautiful, after all even tooth isn't present, except as in big cities for the elite among society!

Well maybe the female character, in all her cute glory, will be able to seduce and brainwash... Watch some Hello Kitty avatar end up on a throne of human skulls giggling manically as she gets crit after crit with her self-crafted Tubo Plasma Rifle. Scary stuff.

Seems like a premature topic to cover when we know so little about the game at this point.

Yes women will play Fallout Online. I understand that most women don't play Fallout but I do. I don't understand though how can a women only be hot or ugly. To me that is like saying men can only be strong or weak. You just think that all women are the same. there is more then one kind of person in this world never assume that everyone thinks the same. Most of my friends Play Fallout 3 and they are female. I love to play It too. Games are for fun for everyone not just for one gender.

consider I know girls who love gory splatter movies and guys who cringe at the thought of a action movie, I think gender isn′t the issue, it′s just a matter of preference. As long as gamesas does it′s best translating the wasteland feel I bet both men and women will enjoy it as long as they enjoy a post apoc setting.

As long as they put in hokers and I'm-a-40-year-old-guy-playing-female-chars-online-with-my-pet-chicken-lisbianism I'm not too worried. Frank "Not even cockroaches kill their own species Fred".
Fred "Well Frank, Cockroaches can't carry guns, now can they".

from what ive seen, a lot of girls that are into mmo's actually like playing tough male characters so i dont see any problem with not enough pretty ladies, too much brute, scarred guys and mutants... as long as the game is as sarcastic, funny and "fun" as original fallout's were it will be fine.. just sprinkle a litte mmo dust on top and youve got a virtual drug for all the addicts out there ^^

It already has "Fallout" how much more drug do you need? ) Frank "Not even cockroaches kill their own species Fred".
Fred "Well Frank, Cockroaches can't carry guns, now can they".

How are women gonna find the time to play an MMO game?

they are a gonna be to busy making my meals, cleaning the house and my truck, ironing my clothes, and bringing me Beers and snacks while I play FO online!!!!! MMO's... MMO's never change...

I should think so long as they are a woman that likes the idea of a dark-humored, gritty, post-apoc world, then yes.??????? Like your heart when you realize you're dying... but you're trying.

Excuse me, I need to register http://www.mostofthefisharedeadbuttherestillmightbehope.com and start a post apocalyptic dating website.

Sure - I'm really looking forward to playing, and I know many other girls who would probably would too. Though there won't be a lot of us, but there is bound to be some, and depending on the time-line and settings, the women might just have to wear similar heavy protection gear like men. Who knows.