Guys That Play Girls In Games. Why?
- Thread starter Chairman Miaow
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In WoW I have about an equal ratio of male to female characters. Some races just look better as females than males or vice versa. I don't do it just to stare at the ass (which seems to be a common answer) I just do it because it feels more right I guess.
I play multi player games as well as my standard flavour of shooty kick stuff. When playing a pre-designed character I can slip into most characters comfortably except where they seem like a um... How strong is the swear filter on this thing anyway? a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person, esp. a woman. / Amer.Eng. slang sense of "contemptible person" attested by 1967.
When making my own characters (I play City of Heroes... Yep)I like to give my characters thick back story and character even if I don't write it down, sometimes the concept that pops into my head is a weakling lad who becomes invulnerable and deadly when he closes his eyes but no longer in control of his actions, other times it will be the heiress of a mega corp who does nothing out of right or wrong but merely because it was done by her parents for PR and is the way of the world. I play girl because the character feels like a girl and has always been a girl, I play boy because the character is a boy and has always felt like a boy.
EDIT: Forgot conclusion as I got distracted by concepts
When making my own characters (I play City of Heroes... Yep)I like to give my characters thick back story and character even if I don't write it down, sometimes the concept that pops into my head is a weakling lad who becomes invulnerable and deadly when he closes his eyes but no longer in control of his actions, other times it will be the heiress of a mega corp who does nothing out of right or wrong but merely because it was done by her parents for PR and is the way of the world. I play girl because the character feels like a girl and has always been a girl, I play boy because the character is a boy and has always felt like a boy.
EDIT: Forgot conclusion as I got distracted by concepts
Most of the time I play as a guy, but sometimes I will play as a girl for a couple reasons.
1. In Mass Effect I played as a girl on my second playthrough to see if you could actually still romance Liara as a girl. I was surprised when it turned out to be true.
2. In several of my KOTOR 2 runs I play as a girl just because it's "canon." Most times I still play as a guy though.
1. In Mass Effect I played as a girl on my second playthrough to see if you could actually still romance Liara as a girl. I was surprised when it turned out to be true.
2. In several of my KOTOR 2 runs I play as a girl just because it's "canon." Most times I still play as a guy though.
How is that sad? I play games according to my own moral compass most of the time and it brings me into the world much more than distancing myself from my character.LeonLethality said:
OT: I've heard a lot of arguments for playing as the opposite gender, but my reasoning is that it's often just a nice change of pace. With all the Marcus Fenix's out there, once and a while it's just a lot of fun to play a woman who can kick some ass, yet also be taken seriously (Cate Archer anyone?)
I usually have about 3 Male Characters and 3 Female Characters on each game, especially the likes of Fable. Why? I like to explore EVERYTHING. One character won't let you explore everything, neither will just using a few characters who are the same except for one being a Dick, the other being a Statue, and the last being an Angel.
A lot of extra paths open up, even if you do something small like change your character's Gender.
A lot of extra paths open up, even if you do something small like change your character's Gender.
Well really, why not? In MMOs there's no character class that represents regular people. It's all werewolves and pointy ears and magic and cybernetic parts. Even in something less fantasy like TF2 you can still play as a French or Russian or Australian guy with skills you'll never have. Since games are a departure from reality in the first place I don't really get why it would matter to cross that particular boundary given that we've blown through all the others.DTWolfwood said:
Last I checked, the "RP" in "RPG" meant "role-playing", as in "you play a role". Ergo, I choose to play the role as a woman for a unique twist to the story - I'm not seeing the game through my eyes, I'm seeing it through her eyes, and am acting how she would act in a given situation.
Take one of my girls in the ME series, Erika. A good girl, but impatient and has a nasty habit of occasionally letting her fists talk for her amidst a sea of obscenities. As such, sometimes the situation calls for her to, say, slap a few bitches in order to get something or somewhere. I'd never do that myself unless I was heavily provoked, and thus can enjoy the game that much more.
Or maybe I'm just weird like that.
Take one of my girls in the ME series, Erika. A good girl, but impatient and has a nasty habit of occasionally letting her fists talk for her amidst a sea of obscenities. As such, sometimes the situation calls for her to, say, slap a few bitches in order to get something or somewhere. I'd never do that myself unless I was heavily provoked, and thus can enjoy the game that much more.
Or maybe I'm just weird like that.
lets face it, in 3rd person you have to stare at a lot of bobbing arse as you control your hero. if you want to play as a man you just failed the "gay test" by actually wanting to spend days watching a dudes butt.
seriously tho, games are about escapism, and feisty kick-ass female protaganists are more fun if not in any way real. is that sexist? No, just realist. name one female explorer, arceologist, martial arts champion, assassin, soldier, thief, racing driver etc. in real life....
can't think of one?
that's cos there aren't any. Sadly, in an attempt not to be sexist we've objectiifed and imagined this uber-female and created a whole imaginary sterotype. are the male charcters any better not really, but at least the girl one's have cute butts to watch running round endless mazes and so on
seriously tho, games are about escapism, and feisty kick-ass female protaganists are more fun if not in any way real. is that sexist? No, just realist. name one female explorer, arceologist, martial arts champion, assassin, soldier, thief, racing driver etc. in real life....
can't think of one?
that's cos there aren't any. Sadly, in an attempt not to be sexist we've objectiifed and imagined this uber-female and created a whole imaginary sterotype. are the male charcters any better not really, but at least the girl one's have cute butts to watch running round endless mazes and so on
There are a few reasons why a guy would play as a girl in a game. First off, it's a freakin' game, and you can do whatever the fuck you want. Second, as several people have said, if you're going to stare at an ass all day, it might as well be attractive. And third, you have to take into account what the character ability differences are, if any.
Take Ape Escape 3 for example. It's more advantageous to play as Yumi rather than Kei because, while they are equal in physical abilities, some of the monkeys will go into a lovestruck daze when Yumi shows up, making capturing them as easy as pie.
Take Ape Escape 3 for example. It's more advantageous to play as Yumi rather than Kei because, while they are equal in physical abilities, some of the monkeys will go into a lovestruck daze when Yumi shows up, making capturing them as easy as pie.
I like your brother play almost exclusively as female, and these are my reasons;
A) Because I can.
B) Because almost every protagonist with a fixed gender is a boring grizzled brown haired guy with the emotional depth of a cardboard cut-out.
C) I usually prefere the female voice actors, with Mass Effect as the supreme example; Jennifer Hale is so much better than Mark Meer.
D) In un-modded Fallout 3 there is a clear advantage of playing female, namely the Black Widow perk, most hostile npcs are male.
E) As for Diablo 1&2 and Torchlight the classes I prefer are female; Scoreress, Rogue and Vanquisher.
F) It's a habbit, I just pick female without thinking.
G) I find it absolutely hilarious when some random dude starts hitting on you thinking you're a woman IRL.
H) And because it's so rare with good female protagonists I find it more appealing to do one myself.
A) Because I can.
B) Because almost every protagonist with a fixed gender is a boring grizzled brown haired guy with the emotional depth of a cardboard cut-out.
C) I usually prefere the female voice actors, with Mass Effect as the supreme example; Jennifer Hale is so much better than Mark Meer.
D) In un-modded Fallout 3 there is a clear advantage of playing female, namely the Black Widow perk, most hostile npcs are male.
E) As for Diablo 1&2 and Torchlight the classes I prefer are female; Scoreress, Rogue and Vanquisher.
F) It's a habbit, I just pick female without thinking.
G) I find it absolutely hilarious when some random dude starts hitting on you thinking you're a woman IRL.
H) And because it's so rare with good female protagonists I find it more appealing to do one myself.
I usually play as a male so as to identify with my character, but in the case of games like Vindictus, which have very little narrative aspects, I play as a female character because if I'm going to be staring at the back of my character for hour after hour, it might as well be the back of a beautiful woman.
I play both male and female characters.
When I design and play a character, I'm not playing myself. I'm playing the role of the character that I have designed. That's why it's called roleplaying.
When I design and play a character, I'm not playing myself. I'm playing the role of the character that I have designed. That's why it's called roleplaying.
I believe in the idea that games are a way to escape from reality for a short while, and what better way to distance yourself from reality than a gender swap! I personally will keep multiple characters for games (like Oblivion) of each sex, but I do find that the female ones provide a greater sense of fantastical immersion because of the fact that in reality, I am indeed a male.
And I forgot: sometimes it's canon and I'd like to play the game properly at least once ie KOTOR2.