Sometimes I play as a woman because of eyecandy, sometimes I play as a woman because all the male characters are uncool, and sometimes I play as a woman because it might make the npc interactions more interesting. (Always hilarious to use the 'You just think that because I'm a woman!' dialog options.)
Guys That Play Girls In Games. Why?
- Thread starter Chairman Miaow
- Start date
*puts on smart-ass glasses* well one could argue that elves and orks and the like have different skill sets and stats from a human mich more different from playing a female character (there are exeptions of course but this is my experiance from games i've played) so there is a valid reason for it other than escapismMarik Bentusi said:
As opposed to girls playing male characters in game (since they mostly are forced to do that).EHKOS said:
So if you think guys playing female characters is odd do you think the same way for girls playing male characters.
Also do you play games then where the main characters is not your gender?
Ironically, i find it HARDER to relate to male characters than female characters when playing them in games.
In Mass Effect for example, the way Shephard talks (speed, tone of voice etc.) just doesn't fit a Galaxy-saving asskicking man in my mind. Male Shephard simply doesn't feel as hardcore as he should be. A female Shephard fits the acting and script much better, and it doesn't matter whether you're Paragon/Renegade since I'm talking of the general "aura" that i feel the character emits based on their acting performance and body language, and that doesn't change even if your alignment changes. Male Shephard just seems too much of a "prettyboy" to me. He doesn't feel natural. Maybe if you could pick a different voice for him this would be different...
In World of Warcraft, i prefer to select gender based on class/race. My Main is a Druid, which makes her Night Elf (pre-cata btw.) and i will NEVER play a Night Elf Male. On the other hand, i couldn't imagine myself playing a female Orc, so if i ever made an Orc it would definitely be male.
Then there are games like Baldur's Gate. In Baldur's Gate, there is no voice acting, and the visual difference between characters is minimal since you see it from a top-down 2D perspective zoomed very far out (at least if you play on high resolutions, which i do). In that case, the gender is dictated by the roleplaying aspect of the game, in this case who i wish to romance for example. Same applies to Mass Effect as well, where i despite the dislike for Male Shephard mentioned above, i still play the game as male if i want to romance anyone besides Liara. Roleplaying a female romancing a male just doesn't fit with how i want to play the game, so my female Shephard either picks an Kelly Chambers/an Asari or she stays single.
In Mass Effect for example, the way Shephard talks (speed, tone of voice etc.) just doesn't fit a Galaxy-saving asskicking man in my mind. Male Shephard simply doesn't feel as hardcore as he should be. A female Shephard fits the acting and script much better, and it doesn't matter whether you're Paragon/Renegade since I'm talking of the general "aura" that i feel the character emits based on their acting performance and body language, and that doesn't change even if your alignment changes. Male Shephard just seems too much of a "prettyboy" to me. He doesn't feel natural. Maybe if you could pick a different voice for him this would be different...
In World of Warcraft, i prefer to select gender based on class/race. My Main is a Druid, which makes her Night Elf (pre-cata btw.) and i will NEVER play a Night Elf Male. On the other hand, i couldn't imagine myself playing a female Orc, so if i ever made an Orc it would definitely be male.
Then there are games like Baldur's Gate. In Baldur's Gate, there is no voice acting, and the visual difference between characters is minimal since you see it from a top-down 2D perspective zoomed very far out (at least if you play on high resolutions, which i do). In that case, the gender is dictated by the roleplaying aspect of the game, in this case who i wish to romance for example. Same applies to Mass Effect as well, where i despite the dislike for Male Shephard mentioned above, i still play the game as male if i want to romance anyone besides Liara. Roleplaying a female romancing a male just doesn't fit with how i want to play the game, so my female Shephard either picks an Kelly Chambers/an Asari or she stays single.
Mostly I'm about constructing a character whom I can channel some personality into. I started Monster Hunter Tri and made a female character and basically I do what I feel like doing in the game, and don't bother to listen to advice like, "Your armor sucks". I know it sucks, but it looks awesome the way it is and you don't need protection if you don't get hit.
My reason however is escapism, so what you said is irrelevant because it's simply not my reason for playing elves, orks, what have you.tjcross said:
I'm female and if I have a choice I always pick female on my first playthrough cause I try to make myself in the game and do what I would really do.
Also the guys hit on you instead of more then the girls and thanks to JRPGs randomly throwing dating sims 20hours into the game (I'm looking at you thousand arms >_<) I have more then enough of that for a lifetime.
Also the guys hit on you instead of more then the girls and thanks to JRPGs randomly throwing dating sims 20hours into the game (I'm looking at you thousand arms >_<) I have more then enough of that for a lifetime.
1) I don't play a character to make myself in a video game. I make a character to be someone ELSE.
2) I'd rather not be staring as some dude's ass.
3) In certain games with moral choices, I generally prefer to be an angelic 'good girl' character and be the 'bad boy'. I find moral choices are easier to make when my characters happen to be specific genders.
4) Most importantly, aesthetically, sometimes the female characters have a hair style or armor piece that looks like what I want my character to have or wear.
5) People treat a female character with white skin better than a black man with dark skin. It's been proven statistically that people will help out someone whose pale at random than someone who is not.
2) I'd rather not be staring as some dude's ass.
3) In certain games with moral choices, I generally prefer to be an angelic 'good girl' character and be the 'bad boy'. I find moral choices are easier to make when my characters happen to be specific genders.
4) Most importantly, aesthetically, sometimes the female characters have a hair style or armor piece that looks like what I want my character to have or wear.
5) People treat a female character with white skin better than a black man with dark skin. It's been proven statistically that people will help out someone whose pale at random than someone who is not.
I really did like Male Sheepheard and i only play as female for my "evil" playthroughs
It's impossible for me to take a female pontagonist seriously (Since I can't roleplay proberly as female)
It's impossible for me to take a female pontagonist seriously (Since I can't roleplay proberly as female)
Why do games have to be about immersion? I prefer Pac-Man to Call of Duty so playing a female character helps create that feeling that I'm playing a game.Chairman Miaow said:
Also, a lot of the male characters in games are over the top and macho - Gears of War, God of War - and I'm not that sort of guy. Most of the girls in games are written by guys - Lara Croft, Commander Shepard, Jill Valentine - so they're fairly masculine kind of females anyway. Even though it's not my gender it comes closer to my personality than a beefy meat head like Marcus Phoenix.
I don't mind Gordon Freeman because he shuts up and lets me be me. I've just realised that if they made female protagonists for GTA I might go back to playing that series.
It might've been said already but my reason for making female characters is that I don't make myself, I make a character for a story, much like J.K. Rowling made Harry Potter or J.R.R Tolkien made Arwen. Well, not much like, it's not like I'm writing a story or something. But yeah, not since I was a child have I ever made any character close to me except maybe for actions in game. I do tend to stick mostly to females when I can, because most games have a male protagonist and well, eye candy. Unless the female models or voices suck, then I go for male.
I see that I'm not the only one who uses female characters for their "evil" playthroughs... I'm beginning to think this is a reflection of an unhealthy relationship with that gender.
Chairman Miaow said:
I've played both genders in both games and PnP RPGs. I think the issue generally comes down to the people asking questions about it in confusion being insecure more than anything. It's a matter of them going "OMG, I could never do that" and trying to project something being wrong with the other, guy rather than it being an issue with them more or less.
Truthfully I don't think there is any real reason for it, which is the problem. It's not like guys playing girl characters typically run around acting like girls IRL, or even claiming to be girls IRL in those games. I think the reasons vary from game to game and from individual to individual.
To be entirely honest though I think the artwork might have a lot to do with it. If you've ever noticed the guys doing artwork for MMORPGs and the like put a LOT more effort into the female models. This especially includes equipment and such in games like "World Of Warcraft". My character in WoW is a male mage named "Therumancer" (Surprise!) I only have one character I play seriously oddly enough due to doing other games. At any rate, back in classic when we were doing AQ 20, we started getting what was one of the better robes in the game for our casters called "Vestments Of The Shifting Sands". On a female character it appeared as a pretty hawt looking harem girl outfit and was a neat costume overall. On a male character the thing was a giant pink Mumu, it didn't even really have any ornamenttion or anything, it just looked absolutly terrible. It lead to a lot of jokes at the time, especially seeing as casters in that general bracket of play pretty much had to use it or else they would gimp themselves stat wise.
I also don't know if you've paid much attention, but there is also the whole "I don't want to look at man butt" thing which is a surprisingly valid complaint in third person games. Sometime take a look at the back of the character models in pretty much any game from "Knights Of The Old Republic" to the fairly recent "Divinity 2". You'll notice that rather than wearing normal seeming pants or looking like armor, pretty much every outfit is inevitably form-fitting to the umpteenth degree around the butt. Even a lot of otherwise bulky armor suits seems to involve soap-bubble thin spandex around the butt. It's something talked about in a lot of gaming circles, and once you see it, and start looking for it, you'll never be able to un-see it when it occurs. A lot of guys literally figure that if they are going to spend hours upon hours of a butt (many times with an obvious crack) flexing in front of them, it's going to be the butt of a hot girl.
On the matter of such artwork I will leave you to the man who probably said it best (and if your posting this, you really need to see this video).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z29Rk8814w
I think that pretty much says it all, even if it's pre "Vestments Of The Shifting Sands".
personally i only do it to mix things up, if i do a second playthrough on a game like mass effect, i'll play as the opposite gender of that i first used. what gender i play as in the first playthrough is a toss up though.
None of the games you mentioned (bar Half-life 2) are known for being heavily story driven though are they? they aren't about immersion like a game where you create your own character.floppylobster said:
I like to play as female characters. And yes, I'm a dude.
Mainly just becauseI'm into dominatrix bitches who can chain me up and fuck me however which way they want with a giant strap on dildo think its funny to see predominately male badguys/goons get their asses handed to them by someone who they'd most likely guffaw at.
Mainly just because
I can't honestly say. Half the time it's usually because all the others are male characters (even most of the girl players) so I'm like "bored now...I'ma grow some BEWBZ!" And yeah, the train of thought more or less sounds just like that.
Aside from that I seem to have more fun playing the female than the male. Moral ambiguity feels more entertaining as a female character than a male. I've already ripped through the hordes as a 'roided up superman. What's this? A not-quite-as-'roided female option? You have my attention.
I think that my attachment to the female character options is mostly that I've already done all I wanna do with males, using a female makes me feel like I'm playing a whole new game. I also do an ok job at immersing myself in most situations, that gets kind of awkward for me whenever I'm playing a game and any kind of romantic or sexual portion to it. Usually I get over it by either making that situation awkward for the characters or just finding a funny way to reach that point.
Aside from that I seem to have more fun playing the female than the male. Moral ambiguity feels more entertaining as a female character than a male. I've already ripped through the hordes as a 'roided up superman. What's this? A not-quite-as-'roided female option? You have my attention.
I think that my attachment to the female character options is mostly that I've already done all I wanna do with males, using a female makes me feel like I'm playing a whole new game. I also do an ok job at immersing myself in most situations, that gets kind of awkward for me whenever I'm playing a game and any kind of romantic or sexual portion to it. Usually I get over it by either making that situation awkward for the characters or just finding a funny way to reach that point.
I can't honestly say. Half the time it's usually because all the others are male characters (even most of the girl players) so I'm like "bored now...I'ma grow some BEWBZ!" And yeah, the train of thought more or less sounds just like that.
Aside from that I seem to have more fun playing the female than the male. Moral ambiguity feels more entertaining as a female character than a male. I've already ripped through the hordes as a 'roided up superman. What's this? A not-quite-as-'roided female option? You have my attention.
I think that my attachment to the female character options is mostly that I've already done all I wanna do with males, using a female makes me feel like I'm playing a whole new game. I also do an ok job at immersing myself in most situations, that gets kind of awkward for me whenever I'm playing a game and any kind of romantic or sexual portion to it. Usually I get over it by either making that situation awkward for the characters or just finding a funny way to reach that point.
Aside from that I seem to have more fun playing the female than the male. Moral ambiguity feels more entertaining as a female character than a male. I've already ripped through the hordes as a 'roided up superman. What's this? A not-quite-as-'roided female option? You have my attention.
I think that my attachment to the female character options is mostly that I've already done all I wanna do with males, using a female makes me feel like I'm playing a whole new game. I also do an ok job at immersing myself in most situations, that gets kind of awkward for me whenever I'm playing a game and any kind of romantic or sexual portion to it. Usually I get over it by either making that situation awkward for the characters or just finding a funny way to reach that point.
The answer "Because I don't want to look at a guy's arse" is usually a cop out, but I'll try to explain....
Not everyone tries to put themselves into the role of their character, not everyone projects their own personality and feelings onto their character. Some people play female Night Elves in WoW because Huntresses in Warcraft III were pretty cool, not because they want to project their feminine traits.
I'm one of the people who like to project myself onto my character, usually for depth and immersion, my Warcraft character looks like me if I was a Dwarf with a bloodhound and a gun. But some people just want to play a cool looking character for different reasons.
Not everyone tries to put themselves into the role of their character, not everyone projects their own personality and feelings onto their character. Some people play female Night Elves in WoW because Huntresses in Warcraft III were pretty cool, not because they want to project their feminine traits.
I'm one of the people who like to project myself onto my character, usually for depth and immersion, my Warcraft character looks like me if I was a Dwarf with a bloodhound and a gun. But some people just want to play a cool looking character for different reasons.