Main Character

[Howlin Coyote]

I've noticed that Mobsters 2 does the same thing that Overdrive does--it totally excludes females. You have female avatar art, and yet the storyline is 100% male. I realize that in the real world of the Italian Mafia a female would not get tapped, but this isn't the real Mafia, it's a game that is as popular with females as it is males. I'm not talking about the story itself, nor am I saying women can't get into a story like that. Obviously, we can and do or there wouldn't be so many of us playing Mobsters in the first place. What I'm talking about is the way the main character is consistently referred to as male. This excludes females and I think you'll lose some of your fan base from Mobsters Original with this choice the same why you would lose a lot of guys if the lead character is always stated to be female. This isn't a video game, it's an RPG and players need to be able to relate to the character on some level--or the format (the story told in second person) needs to change to reflect that the player is controlling a character who is not supposed to be themselves. It would not dumb down the story to leave the sex of the main character unspecified the way it is done in Bloodlines.

I'm pointing this out not as a complaint, but to draw your attention to the matter because I like Mobsters 2 and would like to see it do as well as Mobsters 1 and I think it's a major issue, especially since so much of your target market are teens. The developers are clearly males and thinking only in terms of male reception of the game, not what females are going to think when they play it.

Personally, I'm one of those women who will play the game anyway, although I'll enjoy it less than I would like. My friend is not. Although she's addicted to Mobsters (and Zynga Game Special Forces), she played Overdrive long enough to get kissed by Nicole and realize to what degree women were excluded, and she completely lost interest in the whole game. She's not unique in that. When you include a storyline and it excludes a large part of your target market, you give the game an issue it has to overcome, right out of the gate.

[N I G H T M A R E]

i never thought of that good point

[saratonga]

REALLY good point. I'm a Female and on the "Made MEN" list. LMAO!!!

Yep.I have noticed this too. It's ALL about Men in this game. I still play it, but would LOVE to see some Female recognition on here. :D

[hairydude4]

I guess i can see where you come from, but i can see where Mobsters comes from too, why they didnt have more female-content, i think its because how many women would beat a guy to death with a baseball bat, and things that are thought of as masculant? Like shooting a rival mob boss in the head, or stripping a car? Im just saying that a man beating a person sounds more accurate than a woman beating a person

[Jeffico Stapinski]

Aint going to happen, wayyyy too much coding, and its not even worth it.

If your friend loses interest in a game because she kissed another girl then idk what to tell ya...lol

[Howlin Coyote]

I guess i can see where you come from, but i can see where Mobsters comes from too, why they didnt have more female-content, i think its because how many women would beat a guy to death with a baseball bat, and things that are thought of as masculant? Like shooting a rival mob boss in the head, or stripping a car? Im just saying that a man beating a person sounds more accurate than a woman beating a person

I'm not talking about adding female content. Obviously that will turn a lot of guys off. I'm talking about going the way Bloodlines went and making the story gender neutral. Believe me, many women could see themselves beating a guy to death with a baseball bat or shooting a rival mob boss in the head. But they can't see themselves being told by a hot DJ chick that they're "not a bad looking guy". Places like this are where the story becomes exclusionary, not when the lead character hunts down some killer in a park and beats him nearly to death. I'm talking about rephrasing in specific places, not recoding the whole game or adding dual content to make a separate story line for women. I agree that such a project would be a colossal pain in the butt for coding.

I bring this issue up because the Godfather is running a business here. There's nothing wrong with making a game geared only to males, but his sales of favor points will be lower than if he didn't choose to exclude females from the story. Many women like myself will still play, but he will lose a significant section of his market and that equals money. Zynga has kept their games gender neutral, and if they shift gears and add storyline to compete with this latest release of Mobsters, that may very well give them a significant edge over Mobsters with the female market. It's an issue Playdom needs to at least be aware of.

[The Strange Hippie]

I'm not talking about adding female content. Obviously that will turn a lot of guys off. I'm talking about going the way Bloodlines went and making the story gender neutral. Believe me, many women could see themselves beating a guy to death with a baseball bat or shooting a rival mob boss in the head. But they can't see themselves being told by a hot DJ chick that they're "not a bad looking guy". Places like this are where the story becomes exclusionary, not when the lead character hunts down some killer in a park and beats him nearly to death. I'm talking about rephrasing in specific places, not recoding the whole game or adding dual content to make a separate story line for women. I agree that such a project would be a colossal pain in the butt for coding.

I bring this issue up because the Godfather is running a business here. There's nothing wrong with making a game geared only to males, but his sales of favor points will be lower than if he didn't choose to exclude females from the story. Many women like myself will still play, but he will lose a significant section of his market and that equals money. Zynga has kept their games gender neutral, and if they shift gears and add storyline to compete with this latest release of Mobsters, that may very well give them a significant edge over Mobsters with the female market. It's an issue Playdom needs to at least be aware of.

Amen... I agree.

[Hellome]

Honestly kids here's how I see it: About maybe.. 95% of games these days, the "main character" is a male, yet people still play it (Males and females alike), and games where the female is dominant (Take Tomb Raider for example), the males still play, and they don't whine about it. Males would be the more common choice for a "Mob/Mafia", for obvious reasons.
Thanks, Mike.

[Howlin Coyote]

Honestly kids here's how I see it: About maybe.. 95% of games these days, the "main character" is a male, yet people still play it (Males and females alike), and games where the female is dominant (Take Tomb Raider for example), the males still play, and they don't whine about it. Males would be the more common choice for a "Mob/Mafia", for obvious reasons.
Thanks, Mike.

And this isn't a video game. Which I specifically said in my post. It's an RPG game where the story is told in second person (using the word YOU). If they want to go in and do all the recoding to take it out of second person and give the main Character a name, like Lara Croft or Bugsy Sanchez, then it would be another situation. But that's a heck of a lot of work and it's not what I'm suggesting.

I find it interesting that most of the posts responding negatively to what I said make it clear by what they say, that they didn't actually read what I said and merely responded to their own assumptions about what I said.

[Jeffico Stapinski]

And this isn't a video game. Which I specifically said in my post. It's an RPG game where the story is told in second person (using the word YOU). If they want to go in and do all the recoding to take it out of second person and give the main Character a name, like Lara Croft or Bugsy Sanchez, then it would be another situation. But that's a heck of a lot of work and it's not what I'm suggesting.

I find it interesting that most of the posts responding negatively to what I said make it clear by what they say, that they didn't actually read what I said and merely responded to their own assumptions about what I said.

Just because its told in second person doesnt mean its an RPG...RPG means Role Playing Game...which is a game where the player can play as different characters throughout the game(and no...having 3 profiles within an acct doesnt qualify as an RPG)...Mobsters is not in any way an RPG :rolleyes:

Games like Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, etc... are RPG's

and technically, yes, mobsters is a video game, its a game thats viewed on a television or monitor(a.k.a. Video Device).

[Hellome]

And this isn't a video game. Which I specifically said in my post. It's an RPG game where the story is told in second person (using the word YOU). If they want to go in and do all the recoding to take it out of second person and give the main Character a name, like Lara Croft or Bugsy Sanchez, then it would be another situation. But that's a heck of a lot of work and it's not what I'm suggesting.

I find it interesting that most of the posts responding negatively to what I said make it clear by what they say, that they didn't actually read what I said and merely responded to their own assumptions about what I said.

I understand the tl;dr on this, I was simply stating that in this situation of ROLE PLAYING, it would be more of a male dominant role. Yes I understand females could see themselves doing this, but as I said, it'd be more male dominant. I was just giving my opinion, don't take it so personally.

Just because its told in second person doesnt mean its an RPG...RPG means Role Playing Game...which is a game where the player can play as different characters throughout the game(and no...having 3 profiles within an acct doesnt qualify as an RPG)...Mobsters is not in any way an RPG :rolleyes:

Games like Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, etc... are RPG's

and technically, yes, mobsters is a video game, its a game thats viewed on a television or monitor(a.k.a. Video Device).

Eh, it is considered a Text-base role playing game. But nonetheless it's still a VIDEO game. Only things like board games/D&D would be considered NOT VIDEO games.

[kwikdraw369]

why is it that when ever men make somthing women have to jump in and say its not femine enough. im noy a woman hater, and i dont have a problem with women doing anything they want. but why do they always have to do it at our expense. why do we always have to give up somthing. heres an idea, if you want a female oriented gangster game, go make one.

[N I G H T M A R E]

why is it that when ever men make somthing women have to jump in and say its not femine enough. im noy a woman hater, and i dont have a problem with women doing anything they want. but why do they always have to do it at our expense. why do we always have to give up somthing. heres an idea, if you want a female oriented gangster game, go make one.

well thats not very nice and jeffico or watever ur name is dont respond to this, anyways this is a world where women have rights and i dont see how making the text different would cost something at mens expense.she just wants to voice her opinion and if u dont like it then dont comment it. :)

[kwikdraw369]

im not suggesting that women dont have rights, but how many games, sports,, tv shows or what have you, have you seen or heard men complain that its not masculine enough. im just simply trying to express a point. this is a free country, there are plenty of things in this world that are catered to women and men never complain, we just go do somthimg or create it. it just seems to me that men always have to be concerned about omitting the opposit sex because they accuse us of excluding them purposly.

[kwikdraw369]

here an example to help u figure this out, ther is a game on myspace and facebook called sorority life. this game is clearly catered to women. how would i look as a man askin them to make more male charecters. clearly the guys at playdom have made a good effort to include women in this genre of gaming. even though the subject matter is clearly male. so like i said if u want a female gangster game, go make one.

[Hellome]

here an example to help u figure this out, ther is a game on myspace and facebook called sorority life. this game is clearly catered to women. how would i look as a man askin them to make more male charecters. clearly the guys at playdom have made a good effort to include women in this genre of gaming. even though the subject matter is clearly male. so like i said if u want a female gangster game, go make one.

/thread