I recently saw an article stating women aren’t safe in PS3’s new Home service. The article showed female avatars being surrounded by dancing male avatars. I’m not sure from the video footage whether the women were being harassed but would totally believe it if they were.
I have never played online except for against my brother’s girlfriend. The main reason (apart from the fact I’m not that good even though I enjoy gaming) is the, I guess fear may be too strong a word but it’s close, idea/thoughts etc of how male gamers would react to a female in what is generally seen as a male dominated world. When I got an invite to PS3 Home I thought I’d give it a go, my brother was online trying it out so I could at least chat with him.
At first it was OK, I did get talking to a couple of people but then I noticed that, if not straight away, they’d eventually ask me if I really looked like my avatar or remark how nice I appeared.