As things go, this is a biggie. It's almost impossible to talk about JUST the professional scene and providing equal opportunities without discussing why just providing equal opportunities doesn't mean that people won't be prevented from having access to those opportunities due to factors outside of the provider's control, or factors that the provider is unaware of.

If I had to condense a hell of a lot of discussion down into one idea and area to improve on, it would be attitude. From the general public's attitude towards professional gaming, to the community's attitude towards women (in game representations and community members), and most importantly, our attitude as a whole (HiRez and community) towards negative behavior.

I'd like to see more people standing publicly, verbally and actively against toxicity and bullying that occurs regularly within the game, towards someone spewing casual misogyny in party chat, or making unwarranted, unpleasant and abusive comments towards other players. I want to see people tell the person who cries "OMG a girl, but there are no girls on the internet" that they're immature, unfunny and rude, and that their attitude is partially responsible for why female gamers appear to be so rare, or are reluctant to let people know their gender. Ultimately I'd like to see people treat female players as equals, and with the same respect they treat anyone else with, not depreciate their value or put them on a pedestal. People are people, yo.

But as I said, whilst I would consider an improvement in attitude the core of what would improve opportunities for female pro gamers, it's difficult to provide an answer as to how to implement this without discussing why it's needed, in what areas, and what causes it. And for that, I've got a post that I'm reluctant to post since it's sitting currently at reddit's comment character limit. If anyone would like to read it and discuss, public or HiRez, I'd be happy to fire it up. I fear I'd be stating a lot of obvious things that would be common sense to many people, but sometimes they need stating since they're not obvious to everyone.