A recent gender study of MMO players has produced some strange results. University of Delaware Prof. Scott Caplan has been working with Sony to study Everquest II players, where he found that 40% of them were female.
Women are apparently more dedicated than men when it comes to Sony’s MMO, spending more time on the game per day than their male counterparts. The most amusing part of the whole thing, however, is the statement that a high number of bisexuals are EQII fans. Freakishly high.
The survey revealed an unusually high level of bisexuality among the women who took part in the study – over five times higher than the general population.
“These are not people who are following strict gender stereotypes,” said Prof Caplan.
“I think that the game itself is right now a very non-traditional activity for women, and so I think what you would find in this population are going to be people who are in other ways less traditional than the majority population.”
Five times more likely. That’s ludicrous. Professor Caplan’s research also shows that EQII players are generally more healthy and social than other MMO fans.
The study is questionable at best, especially since it relied upon self-reported data. Let’s face it, how many female players of online games actually possess the required vagina? It’s also worth pointing out that only in the BBC report of Caplan’s work does the bisexuality angle come up. It wouldn’t surprise me if Her Majesty’s Broadcast Service was making stuff up. They do hate bisexuals … probably.
