@TheRageGod No one on god's green earth wanted to see that.

Keep your chin up, Carolyn. Some of us like your reviews.

@biggestnewb Oh noes, the game industry might change a bit! TEH HORRORS!

I loved this game. My only quibble is the price, but eh, I've paid more for movies that I enjoyed less. Well-reviewed.

I thought Divinity 2 was great, and couldn't understand why it got such dismal reviews. But then, Mr. VanOrd is a difficult man to please.

@CAIversen @Katrinya Civil disagreement does not make you a hater. Any argument that can be boiled down to STFU I HAVE A RIGHT TO MY OPINION BUT YOU DON'T *does* make you a hater. A lot of these comments are along the lines of "Quit crying/I'm tired of this subject so you shouldn't talk about it". If people are so sick of reading about gender issues in gaming, I wonder why so many of them chose to read the article and comment on it?

As for the rest of your argument... A) Plenty of women buy games; the 48% figure is indicative enough of that. It's hard for women to buy games that feature women because there just aren't that many games that meet that description. Of those that do, many of them are bad... I bought and played through Tomb Raider II (when it came out) and it was a nightmare of bad controls and shoddy level design. Still don't understand how the series got so popular.

B) I have more faith in men than that. It is not THAT hard to portray women without offending anyone. Just give your female characters the same thought and care you give your male characters and it will be fine. Nor do I believe that men can't relate to characters just because they're female. When I was reading through LOTR, I didn't think, "Wow, I can really empathize with Frodo's long struggle with own darker nature... oh wait, no I can't, because he's a dude." Game developers need to give guys some credit. They'll see themselves in well-rounded female protagonists just as lady gamers see themselves in male characters, from Chrono to Nathan Drake.

Merely bringing up the role of gender in gaming seems to bring out the worst in Teh Internets. Just wanted to say that for every person who says something asinine in the comments, there's another who appreciates the discussion. Don't let the haters bring you down, Carolyn. :)

@jurassic20045 I would probably find that offensive if it made more sense. Stream of consciousness posting is bad, mmmkay?

@noigel I have no problem identifying with a male protagonist. I don't understand why developers assume that male players will struggle to identify with a female protagonist. If the character is well-written and emotive, gender should be no obstacle in identifying with him/her.

Actually I thought the introduction in Dark Souls was great- the Undead Asylum conveyed a dangerous atmosphere without actually being very dangerous. That said, I don't think it will kill the game's appeal to explain the covenants or leveling system better. And frankly, parts of the game could be a little less aneurysm-inducing. The way the curse debuff stacked was just bull****.