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

[ChaoticJ]

I often always go with the female character... why? Plethora of reasons I suppose, but I guess the big one is that they're more appealing to the eye to look at, and... well, Hell, maybe this plays into some stuff I create too, but there's more than enough male leads out there, I guess I like to give the ladies a chance to kick the holy spitfire out of whatever I'm up against.

 

[AshtonF]

I am not one the people who does this but i completely understand why you do. When you put your character out of what is normal for you (in this case a different gender) you can make your game play experience far deeper and more engaging. For example I always make my characters look like myself, but when i play HUGE open- world RPGs (Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc.) I imagine them as gay, even when there is no option to do so it can make every piece of dialogue you choose have a completely different meaning. I am sure, however, the same comes from making your character a different race, gender, or any other possible choice.

 

[Bocaj2000]

Never created a female character. It always felt weird. Immersion never happens. It brings me back to the fact that I'm playing a game and not engaging in a story. I'm sorry, but I cannot role-play as a woman, let alone get immersed in a story as one. The closest I have gotten is Silent Hill 3.

It's easy. You're a human being, playing a human being no matter the gender. Keep that in mind and I don't see why trouble relating would ever be an issue again.

Do not condescend me. Men and women are different in brain function. This has been scientifically proven. I can give my interpretation of a woman through RP, or I could play myself with a woman's body. Either way, it's not an accurate RP and doesn't immerse me.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I usually make my character female based on this quote from Rooster Teeth (they were playing Skate 3)

"Why did you make a Girl?"

"Well, Because I'm going to be looking at the this person's ass for X-hours so....might as well be a girl's"

thats why

Pretty much that. Yes it's pixels, but it's still more aesthetically interesting to look at an animated woman than an animated man. Especially when they usually make the men look completely ridiculous.

Sometimes, though, it actually makes the story much better, particularly Mass Effect and Saints Row 2.

For me it depends on the perspective. With a game like SR2 where it?s third person (and I?ll be playing it for a while), I prefer looking at a curvy female body.
When it?s more of a first person experience, I?ll pick a male sometimes and a female sometimes.
I?ve said it before and I?ll say it again: San Andreas would?ve been so much better if you got to play as Catlina. Not just for looks but that ***** crazy, with the way I play gta, it would?ve made more sense.

 

[WendelI]

I always play female characters too but unlike some of the reasons some men here have listed im gay and i do prefer the male sex. Its probably the fact that females are more graceful than men and their animations tend to be more eye catching.

 

[FallenRainbows]

I do on occasion, just for RPing sake. Only on singleplayer RPG's as for MMO's I stay true and go male, partly to avoid the harassment and potentially awkward conversations.

I don't see how RPing a female in an MMO could lead to awkward conversations. In my experience (and my sister's), you don't get asked after your real gender by roleplayers encountering your character for the first time.

And in the nearly four years that I've been roleplaying females in an MMO environment I've only been harassed through tells/whispers ~once~.

Well experience from WoW RP servers teaches me that people act funny to guys who play female characters, you either get questioned about why or you're assumed to be a little off and before they figure that out you just get weird cyber flirting at every turn, I don't mind a little for RP sake but they mean it in a real life sense, which is creepy. In my experiences at least, I'm happy you seem to have shared that. Lucky sod.

 

[winginson]

Games where the PC doesn't talk (Fallout, Oblivon etc.) I tend to be male, because I tend to have them say what I want in my head and my inner voice is male.

Games where they do talk (Mass Effect) I tend to be female as I usually find the female voice acting better. Female Shepards just sound better, pick any line in mass effect ans you know it to be true.

 

[Charles Warrington]

I prefer to play woman in MMORPGs cause I can ask questions about stuff while phrasing it like a first time gamer-girl and will typically get someone to help me out. I personally prefer the look the default Shepherd in ME but have played all of the non-dwarf DA-O backstories as either a male of female (Male Noble, Female City Elf, Female Wizard, Male Dalish) and have played Hawke as a male and female in DA2.

In Tabletop or Online RPGs I'll typically pick a gender based on what interesting back story I have for them in my mind and which one works the best.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

I usually make my character female based on this quote from Rooster Teeth (they were playing Skate 3)

"Why did you make a Girl?"

"Well, Because I'm going to be looking at the this person's ass for X-hours so....might as well be a girl's"

thats why

Pretty much that. Yes it's pixels, but it's still more aesthetically interesting to look at an animated woman than an animated man. Especially when they usually make the men look completely ridiculous.

Sometimes, though, it actually makes the story much better, particularly Mass Effect and Saints Row 2.

For me it depends on the perspective. With a game like SR2 where it?s third person (and I?ll be playing it for a while), I prefer looking at a curvy female body.
When it?s more of a first person experience, I?ll pick a male sometimes and a female sometimes.
I?ve said it before and I?ll say it again: San Andreas would?ve been so much better if you got to play as Catlina. Not just for looks but that ***** crazy, with the way I play gta, it would?ve made more sense.

I can only think of one FPS where you can be one gender or another (not counting Oblivion or FO3/NV, since you can switch to third-person in those); Borderlands. And in that game, it's way more about the characters' abilities than gender anyway.

 

[p00ber]

For me it depends on the quality of story. If the characters are engaging I play as a man because I feel I wouldn't be as immersed otherwise.
However for something like Oblivion or Fallout, where most of the character development is imagined by the player, I play as a woman because it's a-typical for that kind of story generally.

 

[kurupt87]

I'm a male.

I make my women evil.

I do that!

No idea why, but I often make a "good" male and an "evil" female. Not always, but often. 'tis weird.

I tend to do the opposite yet I too am a male. Straight to boot.

Canon character is always a chap though.

/shrugs at self and the fact that this response is on page 9.

 

[LiudvikasT]

This was the most fun part of fallout new vegas. I just loved blackwidowing benny And that was only possible because I made female character.

 

[let's rock]

I make female characters, just because I am tired of all the male badass characters dominating FPS games, playing as a female sometimes is a good break

 

[SageRuffin]

I'm one of those players that plays a game from my character's perspective, not my own. I like to experience the story in their shoes; I more or less what I'm gonna do in the situation. It's far more entertaining to see what happens when they have the reigns.
SNIP

So does that mean you play whatever the character looks like in the box art? Because I have to say, after playing Fem Shep, Male Shep's voice acting is physically painful.

You forgot the second part of my post:

And I think a women who can fight is the sexiest thing in the world. Add to that I don't have too many males who can be inserted in the various roles of, say, Mass Effect (where two of my female were actually Marines).

I admit, I could've worded the whole thing better, but there you go.

And to answer your question, no - I flat out refuse to play MaleShep or even the infamous "Sheploo". The bad thing is that Mark Meer is actually a damn good voice actor.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I usually make my character female based on this quote from Rooster Teeth (they were playing Skate 3)

"Why did you make a Girl?"

"Well, Because I'm going to be looking at the this person's ass for X-hours so....might as well be a girl's"

thats why

Pretty much that. Yes it's pixels, but it's still more aesthetically interesting to look at an animated woman than an animated man. Especially when they usually make the men look completely ridiculous.

Sometimes, though, it actually makes the story much better, particularly Mass Effect and Saints Row 2.

For me it depends on the perspective. With a game like SR2 where it?s third person (and I?ll be playing it for a while), I prefer looking at a curvy female body.
When it?s more of a first person experience, I?ll pick a male sometimes and a female sometimes.
I?ve said it before and I?ll say it again: San Andreas would?ve been so much better if you got to play as Catlina. Not just for looks but that ***** crazy, with the way I play gta, it would?ve made more sense.

I can only think of one FPS where you can be one gender or another (not counting Oblivion or FO3/NV, since you can switch to third-person in those); Borderlands. And in that game, it's way more about the characters' abilities than gender anyway.

I was actually thinking of the Bethesda games. Sure they have a TPP setting but it's totally pants. The cool thing is that the outfits (non-armor) have male and female versions. Other than checking them out and making save files, I never use the TP perspective in those games.
Lilith was definitely the best character in Borderlands though; especially for taking down Crawmax and stuff like that.

 

[Darius Brogan]

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?

And now I'm laughing my ass off again, not even in a sarcastic way. This is now my favourite thread today and I never thought I would be saying that after coming across Japan creates the poop burger, solves world hunger [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.291809-Japan-creates-the-poop-burger-solves-world-hunger?page=5#11600417]

In response to your question: No, I am not any less confused and no, you don't need a psychiatrist. You are just delightfully odd, let's leave it at that.

But how are you not less confused after I stated two different reasons for female characters?

Also delightfully odd is a family trait, so I come by it naturally.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

Well experience from WoW RP servers teaches me that people act funny to guys who play female characters, you either get questioned about why or you're assumed to be a little off and before they figure that out you just get weird cyber flirting at every turn, I don't mind a little for RP sake but they mean it in a real life sense, which is creepy. In my experiences at least, I'm happy you seem to have shared that. Lucky sod.

Well, I've heard tales from friends of mine who did RP in WoW alongside the MMOs I RP(ed) in and the general consensus seems to be that as far as RP environments go, WoW has one of the worst communities. You'd fair much better elsewhere I reckon.

 

[FallenRainbows]

Well experience from WoW RP servers teaches me that people act funny to guys who play female characters, you either get questioned about why or you're assumed to be a little off and before they figure that out you just get weird cyber flirting at every turn, I don't mind a little for RP sake but they mean it in a real life sense, which is creepy. In my experiences at least, I'm happy you seem to have shared that. Lucky sod.

Well, I've heard tales from friends of mine who did RP in WoW alongside the MMOs I RP(ed) in and the general consensus seems to be that as far as RP environments go, WoW has one of the worst communities. You'd fair much better elsewhere I reckon.

Probably but since I left WoW I may go on the Star Wars one esp if there is a trial, also I definitely want to play Dark Millennium.

 

[mionic]

I´m male and straight, and i usually do play as girls. Don´t know why either tho.

 

[AlAaraaf74]

I'm a male and have played as both male and female before. It doesn't mean anything. And people who say you're gay for that are stupid.