Behold the Power of User-Generated Content
Find out how "Little Vixen" (and others like her) are shattering gamer stereotypes with Forza Motorsport 2.
By: Landin Williams with Che Chou
Videogames are growing up. Although you’ve no doubt been hearing this mantra for ages now, sometimes the concept is still a little hard to swallow. Between the deafening noise-to-content ratio on certain gaming forums and legions of potty-mouthed youngsters hanging out in your favorite online game, at times, gaming doesn’t feel more grown up – only more violent and over-the-top. And yet, the face of gaming has changed. Not only is the business of games now collectively bigger than any other form of pop-cultural entertainment in the U.S., on the whole, gaming is also attracting a wide spectrum of players from all walks of life.
Take an E-rated racing game like Forza Motorsport 2 for instance.
As a multi-faceted game designed to capture the hearts of different personality types, Forza 2 has developed a devoted community of players who shatter old perceptions of the gamer stereotype. While the big picture numbers may suggest otherwise (males ranging from age 18 to 34 still make up approximately 70% of Xbox LIVE), the community team here at Turn 10 who interact on the frontlines with Forza 2 players see a very different and evolving picture. It’s often a pleasant surprise to come face-to-face (sometimes even just over instant messenger) with a prominent name in the Forza community, only to discover that they’re way beyond your typical marketing outreach demographic.
Meet Robin "Little Vixen" Stockton, professional landscape designer by day, and Forza 2 community luminary by night.
In fact, we recently met one such Forza player we felt was important enough to feature in our first-ever article series on the faces behind-the-wheel and driving the Forza community: Introducing Robin Stockton, or Little Vixen, as she’s known on Forzamotorsport.net. For quite a while now, Stockton has been very involved with Forza 2’s painting and livery editor community, contributing on a regular basis to the creative output of the group. She’s gaming’s new wave of casual enthusiasts who, previous to her exposure to Forza 2, had zero interest in the racing genre.
At a glance, it’s pretty obvious to see why Stockton caught our eye and simultaneously decimated all sorts of Forza-player stereotypes. But the amazing part of Stockton’s existence within the Forza 2 car painting community is that, despite living in completely different worlds from many here at Forzamotorsport.net, Stockton fits right into the subculture. In the end, though, it really comes down to the collection of wonderfully-painted cars she’s produced since joining the Forza community, and Stockton’s body of work is impressive. In fact, she recently won the Turn 10 Magazine and Website car livery contest with an incredible design featuring some of the most popular characters in gaming culture.
You only need to look at Stockton’s catalog of car designs to see how involved she’s been with Forza 2 and the car-painting community. Despite such deep engagement, racing games were never her forte. Stockton’s gateway purchase into the Xbox 360 library was the free-roaming action-RPG Oblivion back in 2006. Over time and many unlocked achievements later, she got involved with games like Viva Pinata, and surprisingly (or not), fell in love with Chromehounds, a hardcore team-based online-only mech shooter with a modest painting tool for mech customization. Then one day, Stockton crossed paths with a copy of Forza Motorsport 2.
"Over this last year, this site and Forza 2 have been quite remarkable. I have never seen a game that could hold my interest like this one does. It also attracts people with such differing interests, and we are all important to the community." -- Robin "Little Vixen" Stockton
Knowing that she was very fond of her Chili Red MINI Cooper, Stockton’s friend gifted her a copy of Forza 2 so she could check out the virtual equivalent of her ride in the game. Stockton’s initial reaction was immediate skepticism; coming from more fantasy-based genres, a realistic racing sim like Forza seemed like an odd fit for her hobby. But whether it’s to the credit of Forza 2’s game design or Stockton’s own sense of adventurism, she dove headlong into racing and ignored the rearview mirror. Stockton found that Forza 2 piqued her interest not only in cars, but also in real-life motorsports.
"My hubby, Abner Ray Jay, used to actually race cars," she says. "He used to drive a 'Bug-Eyed Sprite' and a Triumph TR3. He also has a healthy love of the Indy 500 and I am required to watch that race every year. However, since I have started playing Forza 2, I actually have developed a love of racing. I understand the tracks better. I understand how hard it is to get that perfect arc on a curve. I see how much time is involved in getting cars ready for a race."
Stockton continues: "Since Forza features some real life tracks, I have caught myself actually watching races and marveling at it. I can identify the cars and some of the tough track corners. I understand something about the different car classes. And, being a Forza painter, I study the paints. This game has brought me a new understanding and appreciation for the real sport of racing. And, believe me, Abner is thrilled!"
Stockton's wild west bison design created as a gift to the community in the Big Guns 2 contest on the forums.
Along with an increased interest in real racing, Robin has also put her creativity to use with Forza’s robust layer-system livery editor. Given the quality of her Forza 2 car designs, it’s easy to see how Stockton could devote her career to being a landscape designer by trade. Being creative on a daily basis is just part of her day job and evidently that energy carries over into Forza 2. “Well, I have always been very creative” Stockton says. “I have been painting and making stuff since I can remember, and once I figured out the Forza livery editor, I became an avid car painter.”
Being an avid painter in the Forza community is as much commitment as a part-time job. You spend dozens of hours working with layers and coming up with innovative ways on how to create seamless and lifelike images with sets of fairly simple geometric shapes. “It is not just that my painting skills have improved over time” she says. “All of us (in the car-painting community) have improved and learned from each other. The bar just seems to go higher and higher, and It has been really fun to witness.”
"I have never been a regular part of any online community. But, one night I wandered into the auction house and I saw some of the cars that were for sale with the fantasy paints on them. I was amazed. I didn't realize what you could do with the livery editor." -- Robin "Little Vixen" Stockton
Since Stockton’s background was decidedly very un-Forza, it’s fascinating to hear her describe her experience with our community, from the perspective of an outsider coming into what could be considered a very niche fold. She admits being intimidated at first by the huge community and its special rules, codes of behavior and ethical standards that seem extrapolated from other pockets of forum culture, but with a unique Forza-esque twist. Stockton said it was difficult at first, but getting involved with the community – interacting with other painters on FM.net – really helped her get a grasp on how to unlock the livery editor’s full potential.
“I’ve had my share of trouble [in the painting-community], but I think it is a tribute to your game and your community that you have gotten me so involved on the forums,” she explains. “For a long time, I didn't let most people know I was a woman, but as people got to know me, it was okay. For the most part I have been welcomed, and it’s really nice because that doesn't occur [in a lot of other gaming communities].”
Although gender stereotypes and discrimination tends to run rampant in games culture, Stockton thinks that the Forza community has made headway into diversifying and breaking down barriers, whether it’s the notably large number of players who are well-over the age of 30, or the welcome presence of other women in the Forza space. “I have met some of the other ladies who play through the [FM.net] forums. We have a little support group, I guess. We encourage each other,” she says. “I am actually surprised at how many [women] there really are, and I know that I don't know all of them.”
A Guild Wars-inspired Elementalist design for the Guild Wars project group here at the Forzamotorsport.net forums.
Indeed, the painting community is tight knit, and players often work together to find better, more efficient ways to utilize the tools in Forza’s livery editor. You see people collaborating on cars while others post tutorials to help the newcomers – these are just the more obvious examples of how the subculture of a subculture becomes a support group for its members. “It is extremely helpful when artists share their work in progress” says Stockton. “It’s great to see how different artists approach different problems like creating hair, or eye lashes, or skin tones. It is a teaching tool, and the whole community benefits from it.”
But this sort of camaraderie also happens in other pockets of the Forza landscape. Along with the painters, we also have avid car tuners who help skilled hotlap drivers by providing them pre-tuned cars that can compete in the dynamic and relentless world of online racing. For someone like Stockton who spends most of her time with the livery editor, it really helps to have someplace to go for help. “I have never seen a game with so much replayability and so many different aspects, and what’s nice is that these little groups help each other out,” she says. “I know that having some tunes for the community has greatly increased my enjoyment for the racing part of Forza, and I hope I have spread a little enjoyment of the painting side of things.”
Stockton sums up the Forza community in this manner: "Over this last year, this site and Forza 2 have been quite remarkable. I have never seen a game that could hold my interest like this one does. It also attracts people with such differing interests. I find it quite amazing that there is a place for the photographers, the collectors, the real life and fantasy painters, the tuners, the drifters, the drivers, the fast time setters, and those that dabble in it all. And, more fascinating than that, we are all important to the community. The collectors support the painters with credits, the photographers make our paints look good, the tuners make the cars fun to drive, the drivers make our cars look great on the track. What other game can boast something like that? And, I don't think that this little chain is unlike the real race world. They all need pit crews, sponsors, tuners, drivers, photographers, and painters, too!"