The Economics Of Gender In Everquest

Obscure Economist writes "The Social Science Research Network has just posted a new paper of mine that follows up on some issues from a previous paper I wrote about MMORPG Everquest's economy. The new paper asks: If two equivalent avatars were being offered for sale, and the only difference was that one was male and the other female, which one would have the higher price? As it turns out, female avatars sell for about 10 percent less than male avatars, holding all other characteristics equal. Most gamers are men, so this seems to suggest that men do not like being treated like women. Of course, just why that is, and what it might mean in a broader context, is open to debate."

Comments

gender stats...

[bigbigbison]

According to , About 84% of EQ players are male, while 16% are female. So as others have pointed out, this would expain why male characters are more valuable, men want to play as men.

The same study says that nearly 48% of men have a character that is female, but nearly all of them spend most of their time playing as a male.