What's it like to be a girl who plays CSGO?

[Atlantis]

It is common knowledge that most of the player base in shooting games is made up of men. After almost 3 years of my first competitive match in Counter Strike Global Offensive, a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve Corporation, and reaching the GLOBAL ELITE rank (0.75% of players), I think I have the basis to comment on my opinion and my experiences as a girl during that time.
With no experience in games like CS, my first few months of gameplay boiled down to hours and hours of arms race, my favorite gamemode at the time. Even with problems like lag, small mousepad and low-quality headphones, I played pretty much every day and started to get more and more interested in how the game worked. CSGO is a game that you get better, not your character, muscle memory, smart thinking, strategy and team work are some of the qualities I find the most fascinating about it.
My first competitive match took place on the Dust2 map and it was a reality clash. It was horrible. And I was horrible. I was completely lost and and the only time I opened the microphone they called a child because of my voice. I was kicked out only after receiving many offenses about how bad and noob I was. I did not give up. After that, I used the microphone very little to avoid comments and when I did use it I always spoke in English. Even with all the negativity I continued my journey and my first rank was silver elite master.
The anger that I felt just made me want to get better. I discovered Youtubers like WarOwl and 3kliksphilip that were my biggest inspiration to move on and start a practice routine. After a while I started to improve and use the microphone more, it was then that the difference between the genres began to become more and more evident to me ... If I made a good move "You play well for a girl". When I made a mistake "Ofcorse it is a girl, all girls suck at CS". In conclusion, the worst thing about this game is it’s toxic and sexist community.
The truth is, being a girl in online games is a matter of patience. I do not consider myself a "pro" but I see a lot of prejudice against women who reach a higher level. The female scenario of cs is still undervalued and many girls give up because of the sexist community. It's not all like that, obviously, I also had several matches where the genre issue did not matter at all and we all worked together, the problem is that it only happens in 2 out of 10 matches …
After writing all this, I can only recommend this game for men, however, I still believe that the current situation can change, but support is needed!

When I wrote my review I expected this feedback or worse! There is a general stereotype that women that play video games only seek for money and attention.

Sadly that is true in some cases, but you can't generalize it!

I am not like that and many other girls aren't like that!

I care about the game and I care about the fact many women don't get to play it because it is seen as something only boys can do and because of the huge amount of offenses received.

The female pro scenario is weak.

That's only because of the little amount of girls playing the game compared to the amount of guys.
That's because women have no reason to become a pro if they are only recognized for their appearance.

It's disappointing at least for me to see how the few that actually play in a higher level suffer from all the sexism.

When you look at the comments of a pro female match most won't be talking about the gameplay, most will be talking about their bodies and how they are better then them.

But again, why does it happen? It happens because of the stereotype, it happens because women have no motivation to start playing a game that they will only be insulted or treated like some sex object.

Ofcorse I can't say the whole community is like that! THAT IS NOT TRUE.
Not every man on earth is a jerk. Not every man on video games is sexist.
But the majority is..

At the moment I am a student and Csgo is a hobbie for me. I hobbie that I truly love and don't want to stop playing.

Csgo really is a matter of patience, there were countless times where I just muted the whole team because of the insults I was receiving. I AM SIMPLY TIRED OF IGNORING IT!

It makes the whole experience a lot worse instead of fun! I am also TIRED of the fact the female pro scenario is so weak.

I AM TIRED OF THE STEREOTYPING.

In these years that I have been playing I have tried to make the girls I know start playing but as they started it didnt take too long until they gave up.
Either because of the toxic community or because of cheaters.

Talking about solutions
I would like to propose a change but I need help from more people! Whoever is interested to minimize this problematic, PLEASE contact me! I want to start something from this discussion unlike many false statements.. I would like to help making the game better for everyone.

The first step is to make people see and admit toxicity is a problem for girls and for every player, New or old. Girl or Male. I am against all kinds of toxicity, not only against girls but against males aswell. New players suffer and get yelled at just because they don't know how to play yet. Few people have the patience to teach and to help new players.

So even though my focus now are the obstacles that women go through to learn this game and keep on playing it. It's also my goal to prevent all kinds of toxicity.

I will be creating a group to reunite every single person willing to make some positive change.

So please add me on Steam if you would like to talk more abou it and propose real solutions.


-Juliana

[TBM AFK]

tldr: i have v*gina! attention plz

[Tedmouse]

Direct quote from my sister who plays.
As long as the game is fun and you know what your doing, you will have a fun time.

So op team up with a full que of friends and you should be golden.
Solo experience can lead you to be paired up with the most random people.

[.red <3]

I think toxic people just try to find a way they can bully you. They hear you are a girl, they talking ♥♥♥♥ about that. They hear an accent, they will talk ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about your accent. You make a mistake, they call you a noob. You have nice skins, they make jokes about the skins. You tell them how to get better, they scream and just teamkill you.

Do you have any ideas how to change the situation (for woman and generally) ?

[N°47]

I have to agree, it's a shame that this happens in a world game where you should pay attention to the game and not to machismo, everyone should have the free will to play the games they want, women are as capable as men.

[BrunetteBird]

Originally posted by Speed-o'-Sound Sonic best girl:

tldr: i have v*gina! attention plz

^

[BrunetteBird]

Originally posted by Co-op £3.50 Meal Deal:

“I’m a gamer girl, attention and skins please!”

^

[Irene ❤]

Originally posted by Juli!:

What's it like to be a girl who plays CSGO?
-Juliana

Either you conquer, or you don't.

I started with LAN games when the boys in college introduced me to the trend. It was truly a great princess experience as I easily became the center of attention. There were many who watch me play from behind and many commented that I'm cute. People cheered when I manage to win.

My other female friends will remind me everyday not to stick with the "gaming losers". They understood the importance of networking and they are trying to pursue their careers, so they hang out with high flyers if possible. I feel that this is the better life that I wanted. No more mind games or fake smiles with the high flyers. Eventually we went separate ways. I stick myself to gaming and balance it with a strong living income.

Before CSGO hits the market, CS is just a less popular mod, and there were more reputable games such as WoW. As a healer in WoW, I manage to join one of the best raid teams and got myself the realm's best epic gears to be a #3 item scorer in realm. Slowly, I was trained to be a raid leader who commands additional teams. There is a sense of belonging, I discovered a new self I had never dream of becoming. I discovered that I can be demanding and easily be angry on the boys when they made silly mistakes.

WoW slowly lost it's sense of belonging and I'm back to CSGO. I took the effort to build up a strong local team by myself, eventually made it to LEM from silver. At this point I realize that I've been a silver in the beginning, and playing with silvers back in the LAN days. At LEM, given that fast speed and stress level, I am able stay at a higher realm and play better than many guys. There were pros and cons. For example, I am now easily accused of cheating and Insults began to happen. A few eventually recognize me and talked about making a team together.

Eventually, things were caught up in life and I am no longer committed. I lacked that energy to find replacement when the other players slowly left the team. By playing casually, I secured a MG2 level as that sense of stress slowly fades away. As a casual, I have more time for people and other games. The experience is not as epic as I was being judged from time to time, and I'm not sure why. Hence, in my shoe, I believe it is simple. Either you conquer, or you don't. There is no gender preference.

[Schrödinger's Cat]

The internet in a nutshell...

[Orange Boi]

There have always been tons of girls playing with neutral profiles, ♥♥♥ this attention seeking gamer girl feminist wave, you aren't special

[Chicken]

What's it like to be a Mantis Shrimp who plays CSGO?

[1gnis]

Originally posted by Mantis Shrimp:

What's it like to be a Mantis Shrimp who plays CSGO?

You don't have enough limbs to control the keyboard and the mouse keeps slipping

[grogcito]

The same as being a normal human being playing counter-strike. You can't let people get into your head.
I always play with the mentality that "this is not a job, this is not an school project. I literally don't have to listen to anybody talking ♥♥♥♥ to me".
Being a girl only adds +1 reason to being insulted, imbeciles will always find more ways than that.
I don't like being yelled at or cursed at while playing my passtime videogame.

[Leonardo Da Pinchi]

I have a feeling this giant ramble of a post...was just made for OP to point out "omg I'm a gamer girl". We know what it's like for a girl to be in a FPS, we've seen a bunch of posts just like this one. We don't need to be informed.

[1gnis]

Sometimes I wish I was a girl...

[LittlePsychoCZ]

Wtf?