Mercy image from https://goo.gl/CEA8nZ
As a psychologist investigating the negative impact of online gaming, especially among women, I found the following #Kotaku article very interesting: https://goo.gl/CEA8nZ . This article focuses on how changing the abilities of (the a hero named) Mercy in #Blizzard's #Overwatch game, decreased her selection rates, as she is no longer perceived as a superior healer compared to other heroes. What personally interests me most, however, is whether this will affect female players, and if so, how.
A recurring, frequent complain that I have seen from female gamers, is that they feel forced to play Mercy when no one else on the team will do so. At least anecdotally, this appears to be the case, and many female gamers are not happy about it. As Mercy appears to no longer be perceived as necessary in every game, I wonder how this will impact female gamers.
Specifically, I am curious whether feeling less harassed by their teammates, as well as experiencing an increased sense of agency, will increase their alignment with the game and the players--encouraging them to not only play more, but to experience their time played as more enjoyable. This is especially interesting to me, as my current research indicates that feeling betrayed by teammates following online gaming sexual harassment impacts women's mental well being.
Additionally, if the seemingly traditional gender role of the game--women play Mercy--is de facto obliterated along with her popularity, I wonder whether this will affect the egalitarian norms of the community, even if only a bit. It would be interesting if equalizing the healing heroes' appeal in the virtual world, will help reduce misogyny, and equalize players (at least to some extent) in the real world.
I hope that with the sacrifice of Mercy, so to speak, another shard of #gamer #gender #equality rises from the ashes. Only time and data will tell.
If you enjoyed this short article, please feel free to like it, share it, and let me know what you think.
