Reaper9988: So what games have women been playing all these years, now that we know they haven't just been wasting time trying to get their Facebook friends to give them free lives on Candy Crush?
Piranjade: As a woman who plays computer games and whose female friends also all play computer games, the answer to that question is: Everything.
We have all different tastes and play all different kinds of games.
But we don't talk about it so much.
We're rarely members of clans that include people we don't know personally and if we are we often don't say that we're females. For that reason we also avoid team speak if possible.
There are some gamer girls who tout out their gender in the hope of an advantage but mostly gaming with dudes gets annoying pretty quickly if they know that you're a female gamer.
And when I read this thread... I feel a bit tired at times. And maybe a bit out of place in this forum.
Your opinion here is one that nearly every female games enthusiast shares, the feeling of having to prove yourself to be worthy of a "boys" club. The thing is, it is no longer a boys club, we are at a point in time where everyone games somehow. Men, women, children, adults, grandparents even, are gaming! It's a beautiful thing, and the difficult part is that, for a long time, gaming was something separate from the mainstream where people could go to enjoy a common interest, and now that it is becoming overwhelmingly mainstream, there is a huge storm between many of the major gaming demographics. Which is what you are seeing in the recent articles that are sweeping over the interwebs. Also remember that the industry is quite young, and while we will see a settling in this massive wave of crap sometime in the future, we can't be sure of when exactly. There has to be growing pains, but the problem lies with the fact that these growing pains are fueled by internet anonymity and uninformed, angry, intolerant people. Now more than ever everyone and anyone can express their opinions, no matter how vulgar or downright threatening.
EDIT: I also want to add to my point that just because more women play 'casual games or facebook games or whatever, and that it is those women who are pushing the female demographic to become larger than the male demographic, doesn't mean there is a larger demographic of female 'core' gamers as well. Though another issue about this is that it shouldn't matter what games you play, you are still contributing to the gaming community by playing games. Any games, and no one should have to prove their worth by anyone else's standards.
But know that you aren't alone, and don't stop enjoying your hobby just because some people can't share 'their' toys.