Do you hate playing as female charaters?

[Ryan Minns]

If I hated playing as a female character I'd be missing out on a fuckload of games I rather enjoyed so thankfully not.

 

[agent9]

Personally I don't mind provided the game is actually good like Bayonetta or metroid. I've selected the female option in some games that allow me to pick a gender such as titanfall or pokemon (just to mix things up).

At the end of the day it's a non issue for me. If it plays good I don't care if the protag is trans or has a mangina I'll probably play it.

 

[Libra]

Not at all. In fact, in RPGs (which is the genre I play most often) I usually have an all-female party during my first playthrough, whenever possible.

I also main Peach in Super Smash Bros Melee and Brawl. Don't get in the way of that frying pan, people.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

"Diesel-"'s sounding very much like a parody of some of most eyeroll inducing aspects of modern gaming, so, yeah...

I'm playing through ME with Ms Shepard at the moment and I love her but it would be cool to see more female characters as the main protagonist when it isn't just a custom character.

^ this needs to happen more - players not getting a choice to be one gender or t'other.

I used to think it was enough, but someone around here kinda changed my mind (Rebel Raven/Raven Rebel, perhaps?). Essentially having a genderless avatar where you get to decide gender, race, etc, is great, sure, and it can work superbly in all kinds of games (an obvious example being those featuring mute PC's). Preferable, however, would be to have more leads written as distinct female characters.

It's not just having more XX's that's needed, though. An interactive medium can put you in the shoes of another, any person - another gender, race, background, age, and so on. We do need more female only leads, but we also need greater age ranges being explored, ethnicities, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and so on. Playing as a child or someone in their 50's should change the tonality, the character narrative, and thus the gameplay - generally nudging the medium forward into new areas.

As for the actual 'topic'? First of all, the H word really needs to be dropped. No one should really 'hate' anything about gaming. Like it, dislike it, engage with something, ignore something - but don't 'hate'. It's a remarkably immature and unhelpful word to throw around so casually, surely? *insert Yoda quote*

I'm a guy but I tend to almost always bias towards picking female characters when there's a choice. Maybe it's a hangover from Buffy, but I particularly prefer my various world savin' RPG heroes/antiheroes to be heroines/antiheroines. I never really play as 'me' in a game (the closest I got was in Human Nature Simulator Season 1 The Walking Dead Season 1), so there's no issue about not being able to relate to whatever character I roll with.

 

[smithy_2045]

If given the choice, I almost always pick a female character.

 

[CatLafitte]

So my friends, do you dislike games where we play as female characters? i dont play games where we play as female characters. i refuse to play such games. Prefer playing as male characters.

what about you?

So you are missing out on games like Tomb Raider, Beyond Good & Evil, Alien: Isolation and The Longest Journey, simply because the MC is female? Are you serious? That's so sad...

 

[Lieju]

Ew, no.

I play ladies at every opportunity.

I'm trying to figure out if, by chance, this is a not-so-well-disguised troll topic.

Let me put it this way: male privilege. If you don't want to play as a female character in videogames, you can do so. If I don't want to play as a male character in videogames, I might as well change hobby.

I don't mind playing as men. Pretty much all women who play games don't, because they kind of have to a lot of the time. However, I'd like more set lady protagonists. And whenever it's a game with any kind of personalisation/customisation of character, I generally go female for my first playthrough.

This, basically.

Although I'd like to see more non-binary and non-human characters too.

 

[The Harkinator]

In games where you can create a character (Skyrim, Dragon Age) or at least pick their gender (Fable, Mass Effect since the character is already partially fleshed out) I play as a male character, at least on my first playthrough. When I create a character I tend to go into it with an idea of who they are and how I want that character to develop. I choose a male character mostly because of my gender and therefore my idea for the character is also male.

However, in the subsequent playthrough I will play the opposite character to the one I constructed, therefore this second character will be female and will make the decisions I didn't make in the first playthrough. This does have the unfortunate consequence that most female characters I create are more shifted towards the evil/renegade choices so I can experience everything the game has to offer. It also turns up some odd decisions, my second Dragon Age character was a female City Elf that spared Loghain despite him selling elves into slavery (made him kill the Archdemon), annulled the Circle, helped the werewolves slaughter the Dalish and preserved the Anvil. Despite this she didn't destroy the ashes, since the City Elves worshipped Andraste I throught this would be a step way too far (in 5 playthroughs I've never actually defiled the ashes, just one choice I couldn't agree with, whether it was due to the character or because of what the ashes meant to some of the companions) so that made a bit of a messy character but it was primarily created to experience the other results and experiences the game could offer, whether that be due to choices or gender of the protagonist.

Games like TWD2 or Portal where the character IS female I have no problem with. Playing a game as a female character isn't something I've ever had an issue with before. Granted I didn't know Chell was female until I shot two portals in a corner to see if I could see the character model, this didn't stop me buying Portal 2. As for TWD2 I bought that because of the quality of the first one. I'll admit I much preferred playing as Lee but I think this is because I didn't enjoy the writing and pacing of Season 2 as much and because Clem is a child which meant she was often ignored and I got a bit annoyed at some of the sections where Clem got made to do stuff that was more appropriate for an adult to be doing.

 

[Lieju]

why do I care that samus is female?
why do I care Chell from portal is female?

same thing...I just do, I just [i/]know[/i] that character is female and it matters...I can;t really explain why

mabye it taps into why people like masterchef or Gordon Freeman

Well, I care because it's a character that could just as well be male, or a robot, or a duck.
But they just happen to be female, without it being any big deal.

Think of all the characters where their sex or gender makes no difference.
And then think how many of those characters happen to end up male because it's considered the default.

 

[Erttheking]

I don't mind playing as men. Pretty much all women who play games don't, because they kind of have to a lot of the time. However, I'd like more set lady protagonists. And whenever it's a game with any kind of personalisation/customisation of character, I generally go female for my first playthrough.

Its because majority of Real Hardcore games have badass male protagonists. most of Girly games like JRPGs have female protagonists.

Yeah, you keep using that word. But you've yet to convince or explain to anyone how girly is bad. *goes to watch my little pony*

 

[NoX 9]

I feel terrible when I have to play a male character because it makes me feel insecure about my femininity, and only play games where the protagonist gender is not defined, or female. ... But seriously, of course I play male characters. If I didn't that would exclude the vast majority of the games I've played.

I nearly always go with a female character if I can create my own or have a choice between characters, but it doesn't really have a huge impact on me enjoying a game or not. Often I will chose not to play as a female if the outfits are simply too silly for my taste. When I play as a male character it is nice to sometimes get a break from the buff, white, brown-haired grizzled guy in his mid-30s.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I tend play as women when I get the chance, especially if it's a 3rd person perspective. This is for the incredibly shallow and not feminist reasoning that if I'm going to be staring at someone's ass for 20 hours, it might as well be a digitally created lady rather than a man. Bonus points if I can play as a lesbian, so I can see not one, but two pretty women gettin' it on. I have the same attitude when it comes to pornography due to my general distaste at looking at man parts. Shit, what were we talking about again? Oh, games. I'll pick a man over a woman if the character's attributes are such that it poses an advantage, like in Streets of Rage 2 (Axel!) or Mortal Kombat (Sonya is terrible). If I can't pick, then I tend just to be okay with whatever artistic direction the game is choosing. In those cases, I generally just don't care, but it's fun to have an option sometimes.

 

[Zakarath]

I tend to play as female when I can (MMOs, RPGs, etc.). Half because I like to mix things up be someone different than myself, and half for aesthetic purposes.

Also OP, gosh you're being needlessly provocative and dismissive to many genres and types of games in favor of what many would say are among the blandest games around.

Also, you seem to disregard that some gamers actually are female.

 

[Artaneius]

I'm fine playing as female characters, I'm not fine with people feeling entitled to having the gaming industry and it's community to be "politically correct".

 

[bificommander]

I have no problems playing female characters. In games where you can pick your gender, I sometimes pick male and sometimes female. (Though I will admit, if the game lets you customize appearance, I do tend to make any female characters I create attractive.)

I don't see why I should have a problem with playing as a different gender. Still, I agree with some of the posters that if you feel differently, it's only a problem if you are female. Male gamers who want to play only male characters can strike about 10 non-indie games per year of their list of games they could play. Female gamers who feel the same can pick those 10 titles, plus those where the player doesn't have a human avatar and those that let you pick your gender. So I'm not sure why the OP asked specifically how men felt about playing other genders, unless he/she is baiting.

BTW, what's with people saying that JRPGs are girly games with female protagonists? In the mayority of those, you're playing a young man who gets the girl in the end (and odds are the game will ensure you he could've had many other girls too if he wanted). Female leads are a minority in JRPGs as far as I can tell. The Final Fantasy series had female leads in (arguably) VI, X-2, and XIII plus sequels. All the others have male characters or no clear lead. Most other JRPGs I can think of also have a male lead. The only thing is that the male leads tend not to be muscular testostrone-factories with a massive 5 'o clock shadow.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Ah Diesel, you're always hilarious in your attempts to start flamewars, I'll give you that. Bit predictable now like, but still, entertaining. Like watching a favourite show over and over again.

The most harmless flamewars in existence, since he's trying to start them in a place that is already thoroughly burned to cinders.

 

[Ariseishirou]

If they are a "warrior", "soldier", "knight", or "archer" then yes, I find it hard to take the game seriously (To be fair I have the same opinion of any skinny and/or effeminate man in the same role)

Otherwise I'm completely fine with them as long as they are tolerable characters in the first place.

What even is this comment.

"Soldier" or "archer"? You don't even think women can shoot a bow or a gun? Damn, son, that's beyond even your usual garden variety sexism.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

I don't care about the gender of the protagonist. However if there's a character creator then I'll always choose to play as a male.

So my friends, do you dislike games where we play as female characters? i dont play games where we play as female characters. i refuse to play such games. Prefer playing as male characters.

what about you?

Care to elaborate? I'm interested in knowing why.

 

[Godhead]

I dislike playing as female characters if the character itself is shit. Same as male characters.

 

[IceForce]

So my friends, do you dislike games where we play as female characters? i dont play games where we play as female characters. i refuse to play such games. Prefer playing as male characters.

what about you?

Care to elaborate? I'm interested in knowing why.

Read his posts on page 1. He says something about games with female protagonists being too "girly" for him, and how he only likes "Real Hardcore" games (none of which have female protagonists, apparently).

No, it doesn't make sense to me either.