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

[Ice Car]

I frequently make female characters in my games. I can't justify it either. I never make male characters in the pokemon games, and I've mostly played female in Fallout 3 and New Vegas.

I'm male. Is something wrong with me?

Edit: Fallout 3, not Ballout 3. o.o

 

[Slader04]

I am also a guy who often plays with a female character/avatar.

I feel it has less to do with sexuality/orientation than it has to do with one's approach to role playing and whether or not they want to identify personally with the character or experience new points of view. In terms of role playing I often see two camps. One views their character as an extension of themselves and chooses to immerse themselves in that character completely. This camp will usually create characters who are similar to themselves in gender, appearance and demeanor. The second camp takes a more passive approach to their interaction with a character. This camp is more flexible creating characters of different genders, races, species. In doing so they take on the detached viewpoint of an observer of events (read into that whatever voyeuristic intent you wish.) By being detached from the events, though they do control them, the player can experiment with choices and experiences which would normally make them uncomfortable.

tl;dr version: It has less to do with your orientation than it has to do with the way that you view your relation to the character.

 

[PatSilverFox]

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.

Okay, I'm gay why would I ever want to play as a female character???
That makes no sense.

 

[SketchyFK]

played a dnd style game a while back, but always went male. in pokemon always male. in mmorpgs, normally female (except male taurens for the awesomeness).

My general belief is: if you're going to be leveling a character from 1 - 20, or 1 - 50, or 1 - 80, i'd rather be watching a girls ass for god-knows-how-many-hours than a guys.

 

[Harkonnen64]

I make female characters a lot. It really depends on what I have in mind when I decide what I want out of the character I make. I think some people think it's weird because they like to place themselves in the role of their character. A lot of my friends name their characters after themselves. I never do that. I always distance myself and see it as a person I happen to be shepherding along. The idea of putting myself into the game is weird to me.

Lol, I never play myself in a game because my real self would get turned into a prison ***** so fast my ass wouldn't know what hit it.

My character is smart.

My character knows of walkthroughs...

 

[gamer_parent]

you're justification is "who cares?". Games should be a safe environment for us to play out different roles as we feel like. Even IF it is driven by some unconscious desire for one thing or another... WHO CARES?

You probably also play games where you assume the role of an ultra-violent killer too. Doesn't mean you secretly want to do that in real life.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I make both female and male characters. There is nothing wrong with making a female character as a guy and there never will be anything wrong with it. It can get quite boring always playing the same sex in games and it's a good thing to mix it up a little.

 

[GaryH]

Because it's a simple line of reasoning? It's not really a perverted kind of thing. It's just that I don't really care, so might as well make it somewhat more comfortable to play

Not really because it's a simple line of reasoning, or because I think it's perverted (I don't think it's perverted, it's perfectly normal to enjoy looking at attractive people).

It's depressing for me for several reasons:

1: It's specifically designed to deflect the argument that playing a female character implies that you are gay by bringing you down to the level of your antagonists. You're basically saying "I am rubber, you are glue..." and it's no less childish.

2: The sheer volume of people who simply quote it without thinking. My point is emphasised by the fact that even more "ass" posts have been added since this discussion began by people who, without reading the thread, could not help but share their incredible wit with us.

The fact of it is that the "ass" post comes off as childish, sexist and insecure. It doesn't matter if it wasn't intended like that, as yourself and several others who I quoted have pointed out, you chose to word it such that it made it seem that it was.

I'm not attacking anyone here, I'm attacking the "ass post" itself. I just think that it'd pay for more people to think about what they are saying rather than just spouting a meme because it's the accepted response.

As always, just fuelling an interesting discussion. I certainly don't think any less of you for your post or anything like that.

 

[mireko]

I'm male and I make female characters whenever I can. That includes first-person games and games where I have literally no hope of making anyone attractive in the character creator (I try the same if I make a male alt, won't work then either).

People can attach all sorts of meaning to this, but there's way too much noise to point to a specific cause. Some may do it for ass-staring purposes, others for densely psychological reasons. I have none of those. I just prefer it.

Have to admit I really don't get the "if I'm going to be staring at an ass for(...)" gag. You aren't staring at an ass unless you're playing a game that lets you do that [small](in which case turn up the difficulty! The setting is there for a reason!)[/small]. Even then, how would it matter after an hour? Five hours? Ten hours? Does that part of your character's body even register as anatomy anymore?

 

[GaryH]

I'm male and I make female characters whenever I can. That includes first-person games and games where I have literally no hope of making anyone attractive in the character creator (I try the same if I make a male alt, won't work then either).

People can attach all sorts of meaning to this, but there's way too much noise to point to a specific cause. Some may do it for ass-staring purposes, others for densely psychological reasons. I have none of those. I just prefer it.

Have to admit I really don't get the "if I'm going to be staring at an ass for(...)" gag. You aren't staring at an ass unless you're playing a game that lets you do that [small](in which case turn up the difficulty! The setting is there for a reason!)[/small]. Even then, how would it matter after an hour? Five hours? Ten hours? Does that part of your character's body even register as anatomy anymore?

I'm glad that someone gets it.

 

[Charli]

I'm female, I like making Male characters. What of it :\
Heck someone bought me Fable 3, I could not play as a female to save my life, just felt so wrong. WoW? So much more comfortable as a Male character. (I have a female with a fun little item for insta sexchange for a few mins, I use it alot)

There's no deep mystical reason behind it, we just like what we like.

 

[drh1975]

I alternate between the two. In Mass Effect 1, my first Shepard was a woman. So were my characters in my first playthroughs of Saints Row 2 and Fallout 3. I don't have any reason for it, but I like what some of you said about looking a ladybutt, so I'll go with that.

 

[UmJammerSully]

Because it's a simple line of reasoning? It's not really a perverted kind of thing. It's just that I don't really care, so might as well make it somewhat more comfortable to play

Not really because it's a simple line of reasoning, or because I think it's perverted (I don't think it's perverted, it's perfectly normal to enjoy looking at attractive people).

It's depressing for me for several reasons:

1: It's specifically designed to deflect the argument that playing a female character implies that you are gay by bringing you down to the level of your antagonists. You're basically saying "I am rubber, you are glue..." and it's no less childish.

2: The sheer volume of people who simply quote it without thinking. My point is emphasised by the fact that even more "ass" posts have been added since this discussion began by people who, without reading the thread, could not help but share their incredible wit with us.

I laughed so damn hard. Thank you for putting it in words that I couldn't.

EDIT: The funny thing is, these messages are going to get buried and more people are going to pop in and "share their incredible wit with us". XD

 

[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.

Okay, I'm gay why would I ever want to play as a female character???
That makes no sense.

Ok, I think we're getting our wires crossed here. I'd hate to have an argument with you over a misunderstand about something that we actually agree on.

What is it that you didn't understand about my post?

EDIT: Ok, I think I know where the sticking point is here.

When I said "I don't see why it's not just ok to play a female character..." I was referring to the overall topic of conversion in this thread (males playing female characters) and my sub-topic (the "ass" excuse as a flimsy defence for the sexually insecure), not you specifically. As an openly gay male who plays as male characters, you don't fall into either of the above categories and my previous post was a ham-fisted attempt to tell you that and steer the thread back to my point.

Apologies for any confusion or offence, I can assure you that was not my intention. It's late, I should avoid internet debates at 3am...

 

[Idsertian]

As a kid, it never really occurred to me to play as anything other than male. As I got older, this attitude changed and now when the option is there I play through as female most of the time, though I generally give the male character a run through first. Exception to this is Fable II where I just created a female straight away.

Dunno why, but I just really like the idea of a powerful female character, particularly if she's badass (Female Revan/Shepard ftw).

EDIT: Am male btw.

 

[Lazier Than Thou]

I do the same thing, but I do it for different reasons. Most of the time it's because I believe in gender roles and I believe that the different sexes are better able(in real life, this is) to do specific jobs. Healers are females, tanks are males, casters are generally females, physical damage is generally male, that kind of thing. This isn't to say that I've never had a female tank or a male healer, just that that is the way I normally arrange things.

Also, if there's a chance for chain-mail bikinis, there's a distinct possibility I'll roll female. No, I'm not proud of that.

 

[dex-dex]

if I can customise the person then I just make myself male and just do it how I would want my character to dress.
it's fun being a dude. considering I am a lady also it throws people off when they don't hear a man's voice.

 

[Blackout62]

I don't know. I had a phase where I always played as a female character but I'm slowly easing back to a good 50/50 fem/masc split. That being said FemShep GO!

 

[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.

...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!"

If I have a choice, I choose female much of the time, because I don't enjoy staring at a male ass all day.

I'll play a specifically male player when the game calls for it, and it doesn't weird me out at all. In fact, I've got no problem with male character models in general... except that they're usually REALLY buff...

I'm not 'turning' anything sexual, it just sounds like the grunt of pain is needlessly sexual. It doesn't need to sound like the guy's getting a rough blowjob when he gets hit by an arrow

I don't know ANYBODY that sounds even remotely like that when they get injured.

I've got nothing against playing as a male character, I just prefer a female character for a variety of reasons. The ass comment just came to mind first.

Another reason is this: Male builds are usually heavily muscled and large, I prefer stealth in a video-game and female builds are almost always lithe and graceful perfect for stealth.

Yet another reason would be: It's easy to role-play as someone close to yourself. When you have to play as an entirely different gender, it's much harder.

I don't always adopt the role of the character I play, but when I do, I would prefer that it be as different from me as humanly possible, because that takes skill that basically 'being yourself' doesn't.

Any less confused by this point? Or is there something else in my post that requires the services of a psychiatrist?

 

[Mitchell Smith]

I play as female charaters... I like to have something nice to look at while i play