This post reads like someone who goes to a pool and intentionally sits poolside only to later complain about being splashed....

I've been playing this game since it was released. I'm what you would call a true "fan". I've rode the ride that is GTAV/O, since release and seen every update an evolution on gameplay since. From the mechanic who use to actually deliver cars, to jobs that paid base on flat rates, instead timers. I've done all jobs types many times, and seen a lot of cheaters and trolls, along with pro's and cons.

So just how much have I played? Well, I've logged a staggering 145 days worth of gameplay on GTA:O. That's approximately 3,500 hours. 84 of them with my primary character, and the rest with my secondary.

About 2 years ago this crazy thing called gamergate was occurring all over YT and message boards, and while I didn't get into it much, I did recall seeing a lot of talk about women being harassed in video games. Something I thought sounded a bit fishy consider the studies that exist that state exactly the opposite. That and I have several female friends who game all the time, and report nothing of the sort.

So I decided to see for myself, if the rumors were true. On one of the most toxic prepubescent filled consoles available (The Xbox 360) I created a female character and had my two teenage nieces voice it while either they played it, or I did.

At this point I switched back and fourth for the psan of nearly two years between them, noting each and every session's experiences. I took my primary to 613, and my secondary, the female all the way to 513. Comparing notes and experiences after it was all said and done. I found the claims of “woman being hated for being women” to be more myth than anything else. With my primary character I was gunned down with impunity. People rarely if ever stopped to offer a ride, and no one ever white-knighted on my behalf. I was just another disposable player trying to survive in the streets of Los Santo's.

In races, sore losers would drive the track backwards to troll me for being in first place. In contact missions, players would team kill me or blow up my car for doing better than them, or simply to waste my time. Nearly every facet of the game has at one time or another, losers who want to ruin the experience for others. A part of GTA one could say...

Now the same was true for the female character for the most part. With some interesting exceptions. I received far more friend requests with her than with my male character. I could go afk in a lobby (only pretending to) and players would sometimes guard my character (white-knighting), and the most noticeable thing. Everyone wanted to give me a ride in their personal vehicles. Either in a job or in free-roam. It was a big deal to have a female passenger. In the beginning I saw players actually throw their own games, to give up a win. Particularly with races.

Both of my character received a good deal of hate and harassment on their way to rank 500, but by an overwhelming % the female character had the least of it all. In fact, if I had to recommend a gender for new player I would say choose female. Because you'll be treated better for it.

I posted my data sets to the main GTAV sub, and you know what happened? I was shadowbanned by a moderator with an agenda, for dispelling the prevailing myth that females are harassed more in games. I guess they considered it an attack on woman or feminism, or something, to post my informal study and nearly 14 month experiment with others... a lot of people like to say women get more abuse online than men do. When nothing could be further from the truth.