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

Vinterdraken

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Apr 4, 2009
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I have absolutely no awkwardness around playing a female character, in fact I often prefer a strong female protagonist when it comes to videogames. However when it comes to pen and paper RPGS I know several of my friends find it increadibly awkward If I play a female character, although I myself have no issue with it.
 

keniakittykat

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Aug 9, 2012
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I don't mind playing as a man xD
It's pretty much the default. But I'll usually go for the female character if I get the option. ^^
 

Deadpewl

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Jul 23, 2009
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Meh, the way I see it im usually playing as the non-human race anyway so playing as an alien midget isn't very far off from playing an alien midget with a vagina.
If its a game with only human characters then it depends on which looks cooler, which has better voice acting and on if the female armor looks retarded. It doesn't really feel awkward to me unless the female character is wearing like, a chainmail thong.
 
Jan 23, 2010
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the December King said:
As a DM, I had a game some time back that involved some veteran characters, all getting back together in their hometown after years of adventuring abroad.

A series of villains chose that time to retaliate in a surprise attack, that led to romantic/sexually charged individual confrontations - the male hero halfling (played by a male) had the major hots for a vicious sorceress in thrall to a vampire, but she was confused by his need to 'save her' from herself, even during imminent combat; the male warrior (played by a female) was being stalked by a shapeshifted female white dragon bard, who definitely wanted him and only might have killed him afterwards; and the male paladin (played by a male) was being hit upon by the vampire, himself quite enjoying making the knight blush, and causing the holy man no small ammount of discomfort.

I don't recall being uncomfortable- I don't even think it occured to me to be so, as a DM.

It was quite a night!
I bet it was! ;) *insert funky music*

I do believe that people can roleplay such roles and not get embarrassed or creeped out by it. I know me and my friends can, but I understand that not everyone will. That's all I'm saying, :)
 
Mar 19, 2010
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I do not care. Given the option I will play both like in ME or Fallout. In Fallout i use males sor strong melee fighters and women for long range sniper characters.

Also games where you have female character only are often really good like Syberia or Beyond good and evil. Also loved Bloodrayne mainly because of the main character with her sexy voice and body.
 

Dagda Mor

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Jun 23, 2011
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To be honest, I just find it much more difficult to relate with female characters in games than male ones. Gender in development isn't decided the same way as it is in real life. Devs don't flip a coin to decide if the PC is male or female. There are reasons to make characters male, and reasons to make characters female. And I personally can't get behind many 'female' motivations or character flaws.

In situations where I get to decide gender I pick male, pretty much because, again, it is easier to relate to, even when gender has no real impact on gameplay.
 

aguspal

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Aug 19, 2012
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Eh, I am okey with it.


But, by default I just go almost always male, with a few exceptions. That begin said, if theres multiple characters and they have different stuff in them (I dunno, powers or whatever, other than their genitals), then I will play whoeever the hell I think feels better.

Also, in FPS I ALWAYS play females if theres no difference between them and the males, because smaller hitboxes FTW.

So basically, TL;DR Almost always male default. Dont mind playing female but again, male default.
 
Feb 9, 2011
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Not really. I find that I have more problems playing male characters than female. If given the choice, I always pick female characters.
 

OutrunCam

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Oct 16, 2012
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In an RPG i would opt for being a male but if the protagonist just so happened to be a woman i would be fine with it. Mirrors edge for example.
 

BleedingPride

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No not really, it can add a new perspective to the story, especially in RPGs, given how certain situations change. Plus if I were uncomfortable playing a female character, I wouldn't get to play the new Tomb Raider! and that just won't do. Plus Female Hawke's voice from Dragon Age 2 is just the most fantastic female british accent i've heard in a while, i could non-creepily listen to that all day.
 

Yuuki

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Given the option I've always picked a female character because copying what others have already said, I'd rather be staring at a female ass for countless hours than a male one. But if I HAD to play a male it wouldn't really bother me either, whatever does the job right?

Especially if the game is in first person, then it literally doesn't matter to me lol.

Occasionally things will make less sense though, like when I played as femshep in ME2 and she almost knocked out a Krogan with an aggressive head-butt and I was like "errrr wut?". Serves me for going Renegade :p

Epic head-butt at 0:48

aguspal said:
Also, in FPS I ALWAYS play females if theres no difference between them and the males, because smaller hitboxes FTW.
Is there really a competitive FPS which offers female models and gives them smaller hitboxes? Because that sounds like a pretty serious balance issue -_-
 

Batou667

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Oct 5, 2011
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No, not at all. In many games the gender of the protagonist barely matters, and when the characters are actually, y'know, characterised, sometimes playing as a female can be a nice bit of variety.

I don't really see the big deal when it comes to "identifying" - I'm not female but I'll happily play as one in games - even if it's a campfest like Space Channel 5. I'm not black but that doesn't prevent me from enjoying The Walking Dead. I'm not a blue hedgehog but that's never once spoiled my enjoyment of Sonic The Hedgehog. And so on and so forth.

I will however admit that as a white male I'm rather spoiled for choice if I ever *did* want to play as a character of my own gender/race, and I can see how for a female or minority the opportunity to play as "somebody like them" would be a welcome prospect once in a while.
 

Hugga_Bear

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May 13, 2010
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Don't care at all for video games, given the choice and a game I like my second character will normally be female, I like to see different perspectives and feel no discomfort about rping a female.

However I've never played a female in a tabletop rpg. Me and my friends recently discovered DnD was a thing and we've become really invested in a couple of campaigns and the core group of us love to plan characters. While I have no problem playing a female NPC when I DM a part of me feels detached from playing a female PC for a campaign, possibly because my first DM was a bit of a douche and said we HAD to be the same sex...
I dunno, thinking about it it's totally viable but I just never got the inclination to. I'm currently a genderless Warforged and I did have a Changeling who was utterly insane and had long since lost his original identity, refer to him as a male but he could have been a woman and often appeared as one, I played him essentially gender neutral.
 

kamay

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Nov 9, 2010
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I almost exclusively play female characters given a choice in most rpgs/mmorpgs much to the teasing I get from my guildies. There's no real reason for it; I don't get boners from CG girls in armour. I don't place myself into the character I am playing. I view video games more as I am reading about a character's experience, not being them - that is the immersion I get.
 

itsthesheppy

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Mar 28, 2012
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Nope. In fact, I'm often told by my fellow players (in MMOs) that they forget that I'm a guy because I do such a good job. Must be in touch with my feminine side.
 

GamerAddict7796

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Jun 2, 2010
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It really depends. If I'm forced to play as a lady then I won't mind but I always choose a bloke when I can create my own character. Don't know why, I just prefer it.
 

MightyRabbit

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Feb 16, 2011
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In videogames? Not in the slightest. When it comes to roleplaying games and such, it depends if it's set in a historical period where women were treated and/or expected to act/dress in certain ways that I've little or no knowledge of. But then again, I feel that same discomfort when asked to roleplay a male character in a situation I don't feel I know enough about.

So, I guess still no.
 

Lt._nefarious

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Apr 11, 2012
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No, in fact, given the opportunity I will always play as a female character. Not that I don't like male characters, I do, but if its a create your own character deal I always prefer women. That said I will buy a game I'm on the fence about if it has a female protagonist.

Also, best part about playing as a female role? Long hair, higher pitched voice. It's easier for me to project onto someone with long hair and a high voice.
 

aguspal

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Aug 19, 2012
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Yuuki said:
Given the option I've always picked a female character because copying what others have already said, I'd rather be staring at a female ass for countless hours than a male one. But if I HAD to play a male it wouldn't really bother me either, whatever does the job right?

Especially if the game is in first person, then it literally doesn't matter to me lol.

Occasionally things will make less sense though, like when I played as femshep in ME2 and she almost knocked out a Krogan with an aggressive head-butt and I was like "errrr wut?". Serves me for going Renegade :p

Epic head-butt at 0:48

aguspal said:
Also, in FPS I ALWAYS play females if theres no difference between them and the males, because smaller hitboxes FTW.
Is there really a competitive FPS which offers female models and gives them smaller hitboxes? Because that sounds like a pretty serious balance issue -_-

Well, you see, it may or may not be an actual hitbox issue...

However, female are generally smaller than men in any kind of videogame (Ya just like real life xD), and thus, their models are smaller as well. This obviously also applies usually to any kind of FPS, also including competitive ones.

So, even if the hitboxes actually ARE the same for the male model and the female model, well, its pretty hard to hit a hitbox you dont see, right?

A good (bad, if you will) example for this is Combat Arms. In that game, theres certain stuff that you can crouch behind to cover yourself. When the larger males do it, you are actually able to see their head, when females do it, you barely see anything at all. Sure, the hitbox its the same, but you wil probably take a lot more time to try to hit it since you dont have a visual representation. Time that, you know, the enemy can use to kill you.

Also another example would be Left 4 dead (maybe not an actual competitive FPS but my point still stands) survivor Zoey. Her hitbox is also smaller, and this isnt even a supposition, its a fact thats been proven by the very console in the game (I dont remember the command right now, but it showed the hitboxes around each char, and hers DEFINITIVLY was smaller than the other 3).


Sure, for most people this kind of stuff dosnt make that much difference, but dening their existence is just flat out wrong. I also guess that it dosnt NEEDS to be a female character but they are often smaller than the guys so... there you have it.

So TL;DR There may or may be not competitive FPS with hitbox issues, but theres DEFINITIVLY smaller model "issues" that may cause someone who uses small characters to have the adventage.