Playing as a Different Gender

[putowtin]

If it's an RPG with romantic options I usually play as female, they tend to have more interesting love interests (Dragon Age- Alistair, Mass Effect 2- Garrus and Thane)

Then again that's not playing as a different gender!

 

[Bvenged]

A family member pesters the crap outta' me when they see me playing as a female character, to the point where it really pisses me off; they're not homophobic (I think) but damn do they not stop relenting when they sees me playing as the opposite gender with some of my characters.

[small]No I'm not gay. Stop continually accusing me, even if it is in jest. I'm not "dressing up to play as a girl to reflect on something", I'm playing as a girl because I find it more of a unique, unorthodox experience. It's called a personal preference. In the case of WoW, it's because I find it more appealing to look at a female blood elf for the hundreds of hours I put into the game than the male orc/undead; and my character list reflects that I play as males too, just not as often. With Mass Effect, it's because the story is more interesting and the voice actress' better. For more modern RPGs the gameplay can be much more different than as the default male and it's just more entertaining for me. For the last time, I'm not gay, bi or transsexual. I'm perfectly straight, so shoo. Here, how about I call a stripper?[footnote]I've used this line the last time I got accused, works like a dream.[/footnote] It's not inappropriate, I'm straight and 19. No? thought not, now shuffle along.[/small]

There's nothing wrong with playing as a different gender, no more so than choosing a different race, species, sentience or hair colour. It's down to entertainment value of the individual as well as personal preference. Besides, the more modern RPGs offer greater game changes based on these options, along with decisions and actions in-game.

 

[KrossBillNye]

When I played NwN I played both male and female avatars on a server I played regularly on. The 'vets' as we called each other who always played on the server knew my real gender but the new folks that would join the server and see my female character would always hit on my female Elf Cleric.

Yet it turned out that they all "aside from the vet" was absolutely certain I was a female in real life and stopped at no end to try to learn more about myself, demanding pics and such.

I can see how female gamers feel when they play MMOs.

It was a laugh though with the vets and I when they found out I was a man all along.

 

[RJ 17]

Immature answer: The reason I often play a female in RPG's where gender is a choice can be summed up in a pvponline comic from wwwwaaaaaaayyyyyy way back. I would have posted it were it not so far back that it would take hours to find. Quite simply, when one character is asked why he's playing a female character, he responds with "Hey, if I'm going to be staring at someone's ass for hours on end, I'd much rather it be a chick's ass!"

True answer: Personally I just like playing a female character when given the choice because it seems to go against the norm. Growing up there's nothing but games filled with macho men performing badass action and taking no prisoners. Personally I like the thought of a woman being able to step into those roles and be a true badass herself. That's why the vast majority of my Mass Effect playthroughs are with FemShep, it's one thing to be a space marine going around punching reporters and shooting terrorists and renegade Krogan and what not...but for some reason if said space marine is female I just think that spices up the story just that much more. Kinda a "Ha-Ha! You got your ass kicked by a girl!" type of thing. So yeah, I just find a game's story to be more exciting if it features a strong female character rather than just another meat-headed male space marine. Well, that and I admit I wanted to see a lesbian scene with Liara in ME 1 :3

But before you start saying that my tastes are based on sexual deviancy (which I'd have to hope you wouldn't given as how most of us seem to agree that playing as a different gender is no big deal ), keep in mind that I even made my Spartan in Halo Reach a female...and in that game the females are almost identical to the males other than being a little bit slimmer.

 

[Frostbite3789]

For most guys? It's because they're pervs.

How is the weather way up there in your ivory tower?

OT: MMO's I tend to do 75% male, 25% female.

Single player RPGs, probably 50/50 depends on the class I'm playing, what type of character I'm going for, and the overall story of the game.

Like in Dragon Age: Origins, a human noble female just felt...off to me. Meanwhile playing the male knight in shining armor male noble fit perfectly.

 

[Yureina]

I overwhelmingly play Female characters in games I play, but sometimes I do male characters. In other words... I don't have any real problems with playing either gender. I've never understood the whole "I only play as my real gender" thing, personally.

 

[regalphantom]

99% of the time I play male characters in games. I don't have anything against players who play characters of other genders, nor do I have anything against playing a game which as a female protagonist. I've just never felt the desire to play a female role.

 

[Necroid_Neko]

I like my rpg characters to be an extension of myself within the game world, and since I'm female I wouldn't want my character to be a guy because that's not who I am...

I'm too lazy to articulate my point further :L

 

[Lunar Templar]

I find the concept of a woman kicking ass so much more appealing than a man kicking ass. Men kick ass (and get their asses kicked) all the time...it is rather boring.

part this

Well, as it was said to me by one guy:

"If I'm going to be staring at a characters ass for hours on end, might as well make it a nice ass"

and part this, but mostly the first one

 

[Launcelot111]

Really don't understand why people complain about gender, insecurities of their own?

I quite fondly recall getting verbal abuse from other players I'd be smashing in a couple of competitive FPS from yesteryear; rude enquiries into why would I pick a female model? Was I a flaming homosexual? The truth is I quite enjoyed the slightly smaller models but the main reason was preferring to hear a female grunting and moaning in my ear whilst bunny hopping for hours on end and sustaining damage, instead of a male one. Who was the supposed gay one again, not that it really matters?

Never really understood why most recent FPS games only allow male models, and in many cases you don't choose any aspects of how it looks either.

One theory is that most of them revolve around the US military and while females are allowed to serve they ARE NOT permitted to serve as frontline soldiers. Fun fact a lot of people don't know about. Sounds sexist at first glance but I have heard very compelling arguments from men and women why this is actually a good thing. Not sure how I feel about it honestly.

THe only thing you need to think about is POW and youll quickly agree that woman in that situation is going to have a much worse time than a man.

As much as it is hard to imagine how one POW can have a shittier time than others I have to agree with you. Women would definitely be more vulnerable to sexual abuse due to the fact that their captures would likely be >90% male and not bound by international laws regarding torture. [Insert quip about Guantanamo here].

The best argument I have heard is that a female comrade going down in a combat situation would be more damaging to a male soldier's composure than would a male comrade going down. It makes a lot of sense when you think about our (America's) culture. Protecting women/keep them safe and all that. I am not saying its fair, but its impossible to deny that is how our society works here in the US.

I don't want to be stating the obvious here, but isn't the reason women aren't frontline soldiers because a fit man will almost always be faster/stronger than a fit woman, and the US army wants to have the most capable soldiers on the frontline? I really don't mean to be sexist, but assuming that all soldiers are roughly equal in terms of firing accuracy and knowledge of what to do in a gunfight and other learned soldiering skills, wouldn't an all male squad be expected to be most successful due to advantages in moving between locations, carrying any extra necessary supplies, or whatever other advantages that would be conferred by better fitness?

If being a pilot or intel officer or whatnot could be done better by one gender, then I'd assume (and for the good of our country expect) that the military would only take that gender for that role. However, those jobs require intelligence or dexterity which are distributed evenly between genders. Male benefits from different body structure are the only differences between genders that matter to the military, and that difference is being exploited where it is most important, which is the frontline.

I don't mean to say that woman POWs would not be treated worse (I wholeheartedly agree with that view) or that male soldiers would not be upset at the death of a female soldier in their troop, but I think women accept all inherent risks of the military when they enlist, and I think the army will put out the most effective unit in any branch of the military without being too emotional on the matter.

 

[Launcelot111]

Really don't understand why people complain about gender, insecurities of their own?

I quite fondly recall getting verbal abuse from other players I'd be smashing in a couple of competitive FPS from yesteryear; rude enquiries into why would I pick a female model? Was I a flaming homosexual? The truth is I quite enjoyed the slightly smaller models but the main reason was preferring to hear a female grunting and moaning in my ear whilst bunny hopping for hours on end and sustaining damage, instead of a male one. Who was the supposed gay one again, not that it really matters?

Never really understood why most recent FPS games only allow male models, and in many cases you don't choose any aspects of how it looks either.

One theory is that most of them revolve around the US military and while females are allowed to serve they ARE NOT permitted to serve as frontline soldiers. Fun fact a lot of people don't know about. Sounds sexist at first glance but I have heard very compelling arguments from men and women why this is actually a good thing. Not sure how I feel about it honestly.

THe only thing you need to think about is POW and youll quickly agree that woman in that situation is going to have a much worse time than a man.

As much as it is hard to imagine how one POW can have a shittier time than others I have to agree with you. Women would definitely be more vulnerable to sexual abuse due to the fact that their captures would likely be >90% male and not bound by international laws regarding torture. [Insert quip about Guantanamo here].

The best argument I have heard is that a female comrade going down in a combat situation would be more damaging to a male soldier's composure than would a male comrade going down. It makes a lot of sense when you think about our (America's) culture. Protecting women/keep them safe and all that. I am not saying its fair, but its impossible to deny that is how our society works here in the US.

I don't want to be stating the obvious here, but isn't the reason women aren't frontline soldiers because a fit man will almost always be faster/stronger than a fit woman, and the US army wants to have the most capable soldiers on the frontline? I really don't mean to be sexist, but assuming that all soldiers are roughly equal in terms of firing accuracy and knowledge of what to do in a gunfight and other learned soldiering skills, wouldn't an all male squad be expected to be most successful due to advantages in moving between locations, carrying any extra necessary supplies, or whatever other advantages that would be conferred by better fitness?

If being a pilot or intel officer or whatnot could be done better by one gender, then I'd assume (and for the good of our country expect) that the military would only take that gender for that role. However, those jobs require intelligence or dexterity which are distributed evenly between genders. Male benefits from different body structure are the only differences between genders that matter to the military, and that difference is being exploited where it is most important, which is the frontline.

I don't mean to say that woman POWs would not be treated worse (I wholeheartedly agree with that view) or that male soldiers would not be upset at the death of a female soldier in their troop, but I think women accept all inherent risks of the military when they enlist, and I think the army will put out the most effective unit possible in any branch of the military without being too emotional on the matter.

 

[Launcelot111]

I apologize for the double post, fellow members of the board

 

[Robert Ewing]

I usually opt to play Generic McGenericson if there is a given character creator.

White male, brown hair, blue eyes, quite tall, slightly muscular physique.

That's on my first proper playthrough anyway. After I finished the game and go into exploring the game in more depth, that's when I shake the characters up a bit. And play as a black ginger with red eyes and a chest asset that would put most of Miami to shame.

I dunno why I do that, perhaps it's just a habit. But I find it easier to take the story on board if it's my aforementioned archetype.

 

[Scrustle]

I think it has something to do with the "role playing" aspect of an RPG. I have no problem playing as Faith in Mirror's Edge (actually I really love that the character is female) but there's something disturbing to me about assuming the persona of myself as a female, which is how I usually tend to play RPGs (as myself that is, not a female). It's kind of like digital transvestitism in a way. I don't personally object to transvestites, but I don't want to be one. Also there's the tendency for female characters in games to be sexualized, which is something I don't want to play as. That's another reason why I really like Faith, she's not sexualized at all. She's not being used for eye candy in any way shape or form.

 

[Wolfram23]

I think it has something to do with the "role playing" aspect of an RPG. I have no problem playing as Faith in Mirror's Edge (actually I really love that the character is female) but there's something disturbing to me about assuming the persona of a female. It's kind of like digital transvestitism in a way. I don't personally object to transvestites, but I don't want to be one. Also there's the tendency for female characters in games to be sexualized, which is something I don't want to play as. That's another reason why I really like Faith, she's not sexualized at all. She's not being used for eye candy in any way shape or form.

I'll say that's all well and good, and I realize you aren't projecting this view onto others. But for example when I play an RPG I do not get into the role as if it were me. I play it like I'm reading a book, I'm just a puppet master. If my puppet is a good looking girl or a beefy meatbag of a guy (War from Darksiders lol) I don't really care. But if I have a choice I sometimes pick one, sometimes the other. I might feel awkward having to do very feminine things, like if the game made you do your makeup (I don't know what kind of game that would be...). Fortunately most games do not care if you are a guy or girl besides maybe a different perk here and there like in Skyrim. Which, btw, I played as a male mage first then a female sneak.

 

[Luke3184]

I soon learned on Runescape that playing as a female character resulted in a lot of free stuff from a fun and wide variety of creeper and the socially awkward. I just kind of got into the habit after that.... However on single player rpgs I'll generally play a guy, my main Shepard being a no nonsense fellow who does what's right in the end. Plus tell the council to F*ck off every time they phone you is a lot of fun.

 

[hazabaza1]

I generally only played as a male, but then I discovered that female voice 1 in Saints Row 3 is Laura Bailey.
Welp, looks like my Saint is a chick.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Given a choice, I usually play as female characters myself. In stuff like Fallout, it doesn't make much difference though.

In Saints Row, it's kinda hilarious and awesome since the dialogue always seems to be written with a heavy dose of testosterone.

For Saints Row I always try and recreate Dr Girlfriend so a little of both there. Also, I kind of think of SR as Dr Girlfriend's prequel.

But, as a heterosexual male, if I'm going to be looking at the backside of a character for a long while, I would prefer it be a female. I'm not saying that guys who play guys are homos...
well...
yes I am.
Just kidding.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

My sex and race are unimportant to me. Heck my entire body is unimportant i'd be fine "switching it out" for a better one (go augmentations.) So as I don't care if i'm male or female, I don't care if i'm playing a male or female. I play the one I feel like playing at the time.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

**snip**

I think it is the (silly and outdated) concept that you the player MUST see the video game character you are playing as some sort of avatar for yourself.

I've always found that odd. Why would I want to be myself? I already am myself. I want to play someone else in a video game.

I still mostly play female characters (I am female) but that's because being a female protagonist is still sort of a novelty (most games still favoring male player characters).