Wraith is for WOMEN?
Robert Deutsch jr
Thanks to the efforts of several kind people, 'Wraith', the new rpg is
now available on several sites, including:
ftp.elf.stuba.sk in/pub/sdn/game/wraithv3.zip and
ftp.cdrom.com/pub/games/dos/rpg/wraith30.zip
Now the secret is out! Wraith is tailored for the ladies! Why? Because
of the
quests! Yes, the men will go into the fire-demon's dungeon hacking away,
but lo!, there is a better way - a way requiring INTUITION. The quests
are not typical. The Wraith is not logical. The dungeon itself is not
logical.
The quests come from the heart, not just the mind;
the spirit, not just the muscle. Thou shalt see.
I don't think a man can complete it! Women are SMARTER than men! And
Wraith shall prove it! <VBG>
'Tis a grande contest of the sexes! Who will win 'Wraith' first? Will
it be
a man...or a woman? We shall see. Until then, I remain yours,
-Dr.
Dungeon
-In
The Castle of
-
The Mach Gryphon
P.S. Of course, the fact that 90% of my registrations for Ultizurk 3
were
women helped the design along a bit. <G>
Jason Kapalka
This game is supposed to be some kind of groundbreaking "RPG for women"
and you're firing off comments like, "The dungeon itself isn't logical,"
implying that gals are silly creatures incapable of rational thought? I
seem to recall that Computer Gaming World's Scorpia is female, and has
somehow managed to muddle through EVERY SINGLE RPG released since,
apparently, the dawn of time.
And what's this with the "dove-like" eyes of the heroine? Birds have
beady little black eyes. "Cow-like," perhaps.
Your attempts at being a feminist actually come off as incredibly sexist,
and I ain't normally found defending feminism. Please stop trying to stir
up controversy with this issue and let the game stand or fall on its real
merits and flaws.
Jason
Robert Deutsch jr
Actually, Jason, I only mean to say that the quests involved are in
nature the kind of things a woman would like, while the primary character
comes off as a wise and kindly person even as a woman player, as opposed
to many rpgs which put the women in many classic stereotyped roles - like
the gals in the pub, etc. My game was made to honor women properly.
Of course women are capable of logic. My own sister is the best proof,
there. In fact, my sister was partially the inspiration for Wraith.
Myself, I tend to think in logical terms, but many a time Gayle has come
up with a highly intuitive solution to some problem stumping my logic,
and I was always amazed by this.
So I wanted to create an rpg which would deviate from the norm, so that
we would have something fresh and new. As the game built up, almost
effortlessly, it tended to lean more and more towards a woman's point of
view. This is especially evident seeing the abundance of jewlery in the
game, and especially what happens when you finally meet Milua on level 7.
Wraith is basically a LOVE story. How many men buy romance novels at
drugstores? How many women? Wraith is a romance novel.
I didn't want a typical hunt-down-the-evil-wizard game. You are saving
people and healing relationships in this one.
It comes mostly from women's feedback from Ultizurk III, and rest
assured that my comments are directly influenced by them.
I also noted a few other things that surprised me a bit from those who
registered UZ3 for Part 2. Almost all of them were college grads! Many of
the women were professionals and the like, and I didn't realize how much
they enjoyed rpg games until chatting with quite a few on the phone, plus
through letters.
Perhaps it isn't fair to say a man would have trouble solving Wraith.
But I think I could say a GENTLEMAN could solve it pretty easily. The
kind of guy who knows how to treat a lady properly. You may have noted I
put a friendly expression on the male character. He is supposed to be the
gentleman and the scholar. Well, at any rate, we'll see! Here is the
entire letter of a women professional who completed Ultizurk III and is
now working on Part 2: The Mobius Mind. Note where they are playing
this:
Dear Mr. Dungeon,
We spoke on the phone last week about a zip problem I was having with
a
download from America Online. I was very impressed with your willingness
to
help others with their technical problems. Thank you for your time and
patience, you didn't make me feel like my question was a stupid one.
Anyway, when we spoke you told me about a deal on a set of 4 disks
containing different games in the "Ultizurkian Collection" I am enclosing
a
check for $15.00. The cost for the registering and the free included
extras...
Let me say how much I've enjoyed your games. I can't tell you how many
times my boss has caught me playing one of your games instead of working.
My boss was so interested in what had me preoccupied that he asked if he
could try, needless to say he's hooked and now we all play. The whole
office
closes down every Friday for lunchtime and we all play Ultizurk, it's
great and it helps us all relax from an afternoon filled with
disagreeable
customers.
In closing, let me again thank you for some excellent gametime. I hope
to
hear about some new games soon! If I have any questions concerning any
problems I have or any tips I need I will post an E-mail note on AOL.
Good Luck in
the future,
LISA
"There's a joke...and I know it, very well;
it's one of those that I told you long ago...
take my word I'm a madman don't you know...?"
Robert v Luthardt jr
SZJ...@prodigy.com (Robert Deutsch jr) wrote:
>
>
> Actually, Jason, I only mean to say that the quests involved are in
>nature the kind of things a woman would like, while the primary character
>comes off as a wise and kindly person even as a woman player, as opposed
>to many rpgs which put the women in many classic stereotyped roles - like
>the gals in the pub, etc. My game was made to honor women properly.
So the game holds no similarity to reality, even in the sense that
"Fantasy rpg" stems from middle century Earth lore.
>
> Of course women are capable of logic. My own sister is the best proof,
>there. In fact, my sister was partially the inspiration for Wraith.
>Myself, I tend to think in logical terms, but many a time Gayle has come
>up with a highly intuitive solution to some problem stumping my logic,
>and I was always amazed by this.
>
> So I wanted to create an rpg which would deviate from the norm, so that
>we would have something fresh and new. As the game built up, almost
>effortlessly, it tended to lean more and more towards a woman's point of
>view. This is especially evident seeing the abundance of jewlery in the
>game, and especially what happens when you finally meet Milua on level 7.
>
>
> Wraith is basically a LOVE story. How many men buy romance novels at
>drugstores? How many women? Wraith is a romance novel.
"...his warm, hard chest rested against her cushioned, snow-white
bosoms, pressing them in a mamarial embrace of tenderness and
fortitude. Press CTR-D to continue..."
Jeffrey Vogel
> Actually, Jason, I only mean to say that the quests involved are in
>nature the kind of things a woman would like,
Blink.
>This is especially evident seeing the abundance of jewlery in the
>game,
Blink. Blink.
> Wraith is basically a LOVE story. How many men buy romance novels at
>drugstores? How many women? Wraith is a romance novel.
So I, being male, would not be interested in a love story?
> Perhaps it isn't fair to say a man would have trouble solving Wraith.
>But I think I could say a GENTLEMAN could solve it pretty easily. The
>kind of guy who knows how to treat a lady properly.
Uh huh. My wife and co-designer of my game, Exile, would laugh openly at me
if I called her a "Lady," but that's beside the point.
I too have tried my hardest to make my game appealing to women. I didn't
do it by adding lots of jewelry. I did it by having equal numbers of
male and female PC graphics, and by casting equal numbers of male and female
NPCs in important roles,
and, in general, by not assuming anything about the player's gender. I
fail to see how treating women condescendingly is preferable to ignoring
them.
(I still shake my head in disbelief when I recall how Heretic, when asking
people to register upon quitting, challenged them to "BE A MAN!")
At any rate, I have been gratified by the unusually large number of
female registrants I have received. I only wish more games tried to appeal
to members of both sexes not by pandering to them, but by simply creating
an entertaining game without relying on fixed, archaic ideas of what the
sex roles of the people involved (both inside and outside the game) should
be. (Roberta Willams, are you listening?)
- Jeff Vogel
Keeper of Exile
Just trying to provide constructive input
to a fellow designer.
DLRapp
>
>SZJ...@prodigy.com (Robert Deutsch jr) wrote:
<periodic snipping to save space. Responses are to Daniel Dejeu comments
<concerning a discussion with Robert Deutsch. I just stuck my nose in
<because I wanted to.>
>You were talking about stereotypes a few lines back,but you turn around
>and make one right now.Just because your sister is more intuitive than
>you,while you are more logical,doesn't mean that all women have more
>intuition than men and that all men are more logical than women.
Actually, he's correct. Research studies on left/right brain usage has
shown that males tend to use predominantly one side in many situations;
whereas females are more balanced. The logical and creative combine for
a solution which would not occur to a single-side thinker. Get your facts
before flaming at people. Any reasonably intelligent person knows that a
generalized statement means most of the subject, not every last living
one in existence.
>Aparently you don't read too often this newsgroup,otherwise you would
>have notice the cries about interactive idiotware and how all the later
>RPG are hack and slash with cool monsters and graphics,but no story,men
>and women alike.It's not us men RPG players who want these stupid cool
>graphics games,it's the companies who went berserk with doom clones
>and graphics pumped up games,because they sell
Had to leave all of this one. It's too perfect. Notice that you state
the players didn't want these games. It's the fault of the game companies
for selling them. Then you say they sell them because so many people want
them. What the hell is your point? The last I knew, businesses were in
existence with the intention of making money by giving people what they
want. Yeah, some of us don't like it; but obviously we are presently in
the minority of gamers with intelligence and good taste. Hopefully, this
fad will fade quickly.
>Well you definitely didn't sound that way in your first post.
>It apeared to me you were just using a political corect issue to atract
>customers actually.You made it sound such that the women will
>think:"Ah,finally a game for us"and get it,while themen will say"Give me
>that game,I'll show you".And you would have benefited from both
>situations.
>And you know?This world has enough trouble with racism and others without
>you stirring them more just so you could sell your game.
I'll partially concede this one since I didn't see the original post. I
do believe that maybe you are being a bit overly dramatic as to the level
of indiscretion he has committed. I've tried to piece things together
from previous posts. It seems that he is trying to promote the appeal of
the game to females; but not necessarily set them at odds with the
opposite sex. I've seen a lot worse ad campaigns from products that I'm
sure you and I both didn't hesitate to run out and buy, attend, etc.