Do you find playing a character of the other gender awkward?

[gazumped]

If it's a choice that isn't going to affect gameplay in any way I'll choose my own gender (female) just 'cause if I'm gonna make a choice based on nothing else I might as well base it on what I am already.

But otherwise, I'm as happy to choose a guy character as I am a gal character (like Playful Pony says, I'd be pretty screwed if I wasn't). Also, for games where it doesn't make a technical difference I'll also play a male on the second playthrough if it unlocks other things like variant romance options.

 

[DanielBrown]

Not awkward, but I definetly prefer playing male characters. If it's a choice I'll never go with female.
Through all my years of MMO gaming, with tons of them under my belt, I've only played female once. That was because my sister wanted us both to play elven characters when leveling togeather. Because I hate male elfs in LOTRO I had to go female.
Wasn't bad, and compared to male elves it was much better, but I still want to play as my own gender.

 

[Tazzman]

Doesn't bug me at all. Mainly, when I get to create my own character, I tend to always pick male first then choose my second character based on which will look cooler/will match the personality of the character I have in mind.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I've had no problems with playing a female character in the past but it was mostly with games where you had little choice like Resident Evil that gave you the choice of leon or Claire and obviously you had to play woth to finish the game and that was fine.

MMO's however and any other RPG I will always end up choosing a male character because I'm male and I better connect with my own gender.

My room mate however I have issues with because he will always choose playing a female character at any given moment, if every other game had an option to play female character he would most likely never play a male one ever again and that disturbs me slightly considering his only defence is "I like to look at the ass instead of a male one" which knowing him there is a more deeper reason since he tends to lie a lot for comedic effect that usually fails >.>.

Other then that I have no problems with anyone else playing the opposite gender as long as they be somewhat fair and play their own from time to time instead of flat out ignoring their own.

Also Male Argonians rule.

 

[Patrick Buck]

I normally play both, but my parents/sister/brother will always taunt me if they walk into my room and find me playing on the xbox as a female characters, which has kinda stopped me doing it. I didn't find it awkward until my brother started making "Playing with myself/her" jokes. -_-

 

[DementedSheep]

No but then I don't really project myself onto a character so much even in rpgs. Generally if given the option I play a female character (I'm female) but I play male on occasion too. Sometimes the customization/armour is better, sometimes the classes are gender locked and sometimes I just feel like playing a guy.
I don't really get it when people say they can't "relate" to a character of the opposite gender when its a fixed main. You can relate to a muscle bound super solider but not someone with a vagina?

 

[Little Gray]

Nope not at all. I dont really give a fuck what gender my character is since its completely irrelevant. In a game where you create your own character I generally go with which ever one has better customization or just looks cool. In Diablo 3 my sorcerer was female because the male looked stupid and my Barbarian was male because the female looked awful. In fallout 3 and new vegas I went female because the males generally looked horrible.

In games where your gender actually matters I will either try both or play with whichever one is harder. In demon's souls for example females have a fairly large advantage with having some extremely good armour available right near the start. In Dragons Dogma there are female/cross-dresser only quests so I had to go female.

I never have and doubt I ever will understand that projecting oneself onto the character bullshit.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Depends really. If it's an action game or a game that's meant to tell a story rather than be immersive then I don't mind. In RPGs where you make your own character I always try to make the character look as much like me as possible. I've never even considered playing a femshep or a female argonian in skyrim or anything like that so I don't really know if it would be awkward or not.

 

[Kingjackl]

As long as the character is good, I'm fine regardless of gender.

 

[NearLifeExperience]

Absolutely not! When given the choice, I tend to play as both. I like variation in my roleplaying, even when it's not an RPG. I can't imagine having a problem with it, quite frankly. A lot of guys play as a girlie-girl in rpgs because well, have you seen what they make heroines wear these days? I can sympathize with that, being a straight guy myself, but I like to mix it up a bit.

 

[Raikas]

No, either gender is fine with me. That said, in games where it's a choice though I generally go with a male though - not because a female is necessarily awkward though.

 

[Drauger]

Nope, as an example I only have Fem shepards and female grey wardens, but this applies to dragon age/mass effect because its the same gameplay no matter what, if it affects the gameplay style depending of the character ( like in fighting games?) then ill just choose the style that fits better for me.

 

[InfinityProject]

I constantly play female characters as a male. One main reason is, I dont want to stare at a chiseled @$$ of a 200lb space marine every time i want to kill some npc's. I have constantly found the models and voice acting of female roles, more compelling as well. Plus, if im going to be staring at someones backside for 50 lvls, i want it to look shapely.

 

[Sectan]

Not at all. I recently bought Skyrim and I haven't played as a male character yet. First playthrough of Mass Effect 2 I played a Femshep. It's the same as playing a male character, except I can stop and think "If this person were real I would totally have the hots for them because they are cool and doesn't afraid of anything."

 

[MrHide-Patten]

I never role play so I've never had the gender confusion, but I prefer to play as female characters because: A) nicer to look at, B) accessible stories from a different perspective, C) a majority of games have a male lead.
But yeah, if I was going to role play I'd choose someone of my own gender, but I don't, so no problem.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Nope. I suppose if someone approaches RPing as an exercise in overlaying their own personality on a given character it could seem awkward, but I've always been in the camp that views RP characters as separate entities with their own individual personalities to be acted out - not dictated - by the player.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

No, it's practically the same to me. I play probably two thirds male characters, because I am male, but female characters are just another kind of character, another way to differ from the others. I have no particular feelings about it.

 

[InsaneBurger]

I can be more immersed when playing as a male. If I'm playing as a female it feels more like a movie or story that I control.

 

[Chadwick Huntington III]

Nope. I much prefer playing as a female character. I don't understand why any straight male would want to watch a man run around for the duration of the game! It's eye candy, and I am a huge fan of strong women.