The second Multi.Player conference occurred in Muenster, Germany from Aug 13-15th, 2014. While there, I presented on the multiple levels of competing expectations for female play in online gaming, and how supportive communities, particularly female gaming communities, can support resiliency and bolster female play. I presented on various issues in game culture, including the lack of support, gatekeeping practices, and assumptions of inauthenticity (popularly coined, “the fake geek [or gamer] girl”), and other prevailing instances of marginalization for female players in game culture and in gaming blogs and press. I further discussed the history of major clans, and the backlash they have received, for supporting female play (particularly PMS Clan, whose motto is “play like a girl”). I also presented findings from my 4 year ethnography, interviews and surveys showing that female supportive communities created safe structures for female play.
