I am a male, but always make a female player-character.

[ReservoirAngel]

Wait... tell a lie. I did create a female character once. During my 2nd playthrough of Saint's Row 2 I made the most petite, effeminate female character I could manage. Just cause it was funny to see a slim, bleach-blonde woman in a fancy evening gown swearing like a fucking sailor and killing guys indiscriminately.

Temporarily taking down Maero was funny as a girl. This tiny woman running up to a giant hulking tattoo monster and managing to knock him over. Hilarity, I tell you.

 

[UmJammerSully]

It doesn't come across at all like a shared answer, seems to me like a bunch of people quoting something they read just so they look funny for the internet whilst avoiding giving a significant answer.

But that's just what it seems like to me.

I think you're spot on. I've seen this exact same thread with virtually the same responses on a different forum.

 

[The Random One]

Not only do I always play as a female if the option is available, in my mind it's always the same, unaging female, living for hundred of years, stealing the identity of people along the way.

Her name is Custom Skater Shepard.

I think it means I like girls. Which is do, girls are cool.

 

[Moontouched-Moogle]

Ever since beating THE BOSS on MGS3, I've tried to create her spirit when I get the chance. She was such an awesome character to me. So when I get the chance I try to recreate THE BOSS.

That's actually a pretty unique and interesting reason. I tip my hat to you sir/ma'am.

Just try not to misinterpret her will. We saw how well that worked out for Big Boss and Major Zero...

(I'm also amused by imagining you shouting "THE BOSS" in a deep, epic voice every time you say it. I should try that sometime.)

 

[Kyouki1980]

I always make female characters if the game gives me the option of Gender.
In my case I identify more with female characters, in fact I've been thinking alot about changing my gender. Though I'm still not sure.
Also I don't really like men. They make me feel very uncomfortable and uneasy. I avoid being around men in real life as much as I can get away with. Their just so.... ICK! >_<
And I AM male! How do you think I feel towards my own body!?

Side note: My family is almost entirely male, my mother is more male than female in her attitude and manner so it's almost like having a second dad. So maybe my life was over saturated with maleness from a young age and now I'm over compensating?
I have no idea. Either way, I don't like men, I want to change my gender and I'm heterosexual. ^_^
Read into all that what you will. Heh. Cause if you guys can figure it out then good for you cause I sure as hell can't.

 

[Darius Brogan]

I always make lady characters.

I like looking at women.

I know it's sexist, but fuck it. My fine ass is gonna rule New Vegas.

It's not sexist at all, really.

It's generally accepted that, if you're a male, you like women. While this is not the case 100% of the time, as I know several homosexuals, one of whom is fucking awesome, that's usually the way it is.

Male/Female relationships ARE how babies are made.

 

[The_Decoy]

Female character, kinda because of a book I read and I liked the heroine, so now she's the heroine of Ferelden, space, Amn, Neverwinter, Ice Wind Dale and wherever the the hell KotoR is set. Oh and New Vegas and Fallouts 1-3 and tactics, plus wherever else gives you the opportunity to play as a female.

Actually a fairly consistent personality throughout the universes of being a kleptomaniac who nevertheless tries to help out people she encounters. Except in Fallout 3, there she sold child slaves and murdered everyone she could.

Oh and I always play the equivalent of rogue

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

If I can help it I make a female character in any game that gives the option, I find something deeply appealing about a capable woman who can kick ass.

And when I'm roleplaying, well, I must say that when I'm writing characters that for some reason female leads come more easily and natural to me, somehow.

 

[GaryH]

Not really it's just a shared answer.
I'm gay so I'm not really a pervert because of this x3
I just play male all the time ;3

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that it's not a valid reason. It's entirely natural to enjoy looking at an attractive person.

I just find it depressing because the "ass" comment seems to just be the automatic defence that people use so that people don't think that they are gay for playing a female character. I don't see why it's not just ok to play a female character because you want to, without having to justify it to everyone.

 

[Lim3]

I'm a guy and I always make a chick character. I also make her as different as possible - bright pink or purple hair, face tattoos, that sort of thing.

Dragon age, oblivion, etc. always have a chick when theres a choice, except in Mass Effect 2, I didn't like my chick from ME 1 so I went male for all my play throughs.

 

[Darius Brogan]

It doesn't come across at all like a shared answer, seems to me like a bunch of people quoting something they read just so they look funny for the internet whilst avoiding giving a significant answer.

But that's just what it seems like to me.

I think you're spot on. I've seen this exact same thread with virtually the same responses on a different forum.

That's because there are quite a few guys who find it strange to see muscle-y man parts, combined with vaguely sexual grunting Every. Single. Time. they get hurt.

I play male characters as well, I just prefer females. Another of my reasons is this: The guy's in video games are usually FAR too ripped to be very stealthy, whilst the female characters are almost always lithe and graceful, perfect for stealth, and I vastly prefer a stealthy approach to games that allow such.

The ass answer was just the first that came to mind.

 

[Gomi500]

Ever since beating THE BOSS on MGS3, I've tried to create her spirit when I get the chance. She was such an awesome character to me. So when I get the chance I try to recreate THE BOSS.

That's actually a pretty unique and interesting reason. I tip my hat to you sir/ma'am.

Just try not to misinterpret her will. We saw how well that worked out for Big Boss and Major Zero...

(I'm also amused by imagining you shouting "THE BOSS" in a deep, epic voice every time you say it. I should try that sometime.)

Thanks for tiping your hat. BTW its sir.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I always play both genders when I have the chance because I think that it allows me to see things through different perspectives. When I play female characters (I'm a male) I tend to do things differently than I would as a male character, even if both of my characters are good or evil.

Also, some of the voice acting for female characters is better (see Mass Effect, but I'm sure there are other examples) for the games where you actually get to hear your character's voice. I also play female characters if it makes more sense for the story. I challenged a friend of mine to play a female character, and to create a whole backstory for her, and play her according to how she would act given the choices of the game (Fallout: New Vegas for thi challenge) and he was shocked to find that yes, you could in fact still have full karma and have everyone like you without restarting from your last save every time you lose karma for something stupid or a mistake.

 

[baddog117]

I have always found this odd, not only in video games, but also in tabletop RPGs. It's like nobody bats an eye if you are playing a completely different species than your own (such as dwarf, elf, twi'lek, whatever) but if you play a different gender, suddenly the "gender bender" stigma seems to fall like a blanket on the player - it's like you've crossed some invisible line, and it's stupid. Even players that have RP-gamed for a long time still seem to keep that bug in their nose for some reason.

I make female to male characters on a ratio of about 30/40% male to 60/70% female. Some of it is asthetics, not the whole looking a woman's ass the whole time, but game designers just somehow seem to make the female side of PCs just that much better looking. Plus, certain character types, particularly the type I often like to play just fit better when applied to a female character than a male.

 

[Katana314]

I don't blame any guy for playing as a female character; I used to do that too. Not so much anymore...Main reasoning; in a big bash-up like Fallout 3, where you haul around miniguns and kill dozens of people for breakfast, the game just starts to feel weird when your character does all that, then turns to the camera, winks, and goes "teehee".

Let's be honest, maybe a number of women find enormous, musclebound men attractive, but not many men find enormous, musclebound women attractive.

Actually, I notice the games that have a canonical female protagonist tend not to have a brute-force violence approach to their gameplay. Tomb Raider was always better at solving puzzles, Mirror's Edge has you run on walls, etc. It just seems a little more fitting for the character. You certainly couldn't have recast God of War with "Kratess".

 

[Frostbite3789]

Given the option, I will almost always play a woman. Why? Because I like my game characters to look pretty and wear fancy dresses.

I am male, or... so I think. I'm not too sure actually.

No, this really does kind of make sense. As a fellow member of the male gender, it can be slightly frustrating by how truly limited we are when compared to females when it comes to clothes.

We can wear long pants or shorts. A button up shirt or a t-shirt. We don't have options. Meanwhile they have all kinds of fancity options and what like.

I think I just won the award for the most homosexual post on this topic.

 

[Twilight.falls]

It's usually a mixture for me.

Half women, half men.

For example, in WoW, you can only have 10 characters per realm. I usually have 5 female and 5 male.

 

[UmJammerSully]

It doesn't come across at all like a shared answer, seems to me like a bunch of people quoting something they read just so they look funny for the internet whilst avoiding giving a significant answer.

But that's just what it seems like to me.

I think you're spot on. I've seen this exact same thread with virtually the same responses on a different forum.

That's because there are quite a few guys who find it strange to see muscle-y man parts, combined with vaguely sexual grunting Every. Single. Time. they get hurt.

...This just poses so many more questions.

It really sounds like you are turning grunts from pain into a sexual thing when it really doesn't need to be. Do you find watching tennis uncomfortable by any chance? Oh, unless it's women's tennis of course, right?

Again, I'm pretty certain this must be an age thing. Like when I was 15 and I'd shout "ARRGGH NO HOMO!" at so much as touching another guy's hand.

There's also many, many, many games where you have to play a male protagonist. Are you guys not uncomfortable with that? Do you get weirded out seeing Batman's "muscle-y man parts" in Arkham Asylum?

EDIT: For the record, I'm not questioning people playing as female characters. I do that all the time, it really doesn't need to be justified, it's the same as selecting a different race or age.

What I'm questioning is people's refusal to play as male characters, and why people automatically make their character selection a sexual thing. E.G. "Well I gotta stare at her ass all the time!"

 

[Prvt.Church]

I will say this, I almost always choose a female character when I can. For me it's that I find that the female voice actors are often better (Fem. Shepard) and despite being Bi, if I'm gonna stare at someone's ass for 20+ hours I'd rather it be a woman.

 

[Headsprouter]

I am male and always make male player characters because I find it hard to take a female character seriously and put as much work and effort as I would if I was to create a male. In otherwords, it always makes me feel like I'm messing around. I like to be able to say "...my character looks awesome..." and not be poked by someone for "checking out" a female.

....oh, gee I hope I didn't offend anyone....specifically women.