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Volume 12, Issue 2-3
  • ISSN: 2046-6692
  • E-ISSN: 2046-6706

Abstract

Since the mid-2010s, () actual play podcasts and web series have skyrocketed in popularity. At the same time, the gender gap between male and female players began to close with approximately 40 per cent of players identifying as women, according to the latest data from Wizards of the Coast. However, ’s androcentric history and roots have remained, albeit in new, less openly sexist ways. While female characters are no longer mechanically disadvantaged and female players are able to play strong and confident women in this collaborative storytelling game, the lingering strings of misogyny and sexism present in the earliest fan spaces still pervade modern-day gaming spaces as well as fan spaces for actual play series. Using thematic analysis, this article explores how discourse in fan communities on Reddit of two web series, and , continues to maintain spaces as male preserves through discourse about female players’ knowledge of mechanics, the narrative importance of female characters, and the perceived femininity of player and character actions.

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2024-12-20
2025-06-12
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/content/journals/10.1386/jfs_00097_1
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‘Reset the counter, guys!’: A thematic analysis of fan discourse about female players on Dungeons & Dragons actual play web series
Journal of Fandom Studies, The 12, 159 (2024); https://doi-org.bibliotheek.ehb.be/10.1386/jfs_00097_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jfs_00097_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jfs_00097_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Critical Role; Dimension 20; fan discourse; male preserve; online fandom; tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs); women in games

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