I have no problem playing as either, it's usually 50/50 if I have an option. If I feel like playing as a female character then I will do, just to break the monotony of the male protagonist I guess...
Playing as a Different Gender
- Thread starter Fappy
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I totally respect that. I know lots of people play games in the way you do, in that they want to role play someone completely different from themselves in a game. But when I play a game I prefer to play as how I would like myself to be within the game world. Sometimes I mix it up with a different race or something like that, but I can't imagine myself as a female. That's just not something that appeals to me.Wolfram01 said:
What few MMOs I've played, I've exclusively played male characters. I get enough skeevy guys in real life, I can do without them in virtual world as well.
Offline RPGs, though... if I like an RPG, I'll almost always play it through multiple times, and have characters of both genders. I tend to start with a male character, though. I blame MMOs for conditioning me to think of "my RPG protaganist" as male. And I've never quite gotten why people think that a create-your-own RPG character should be an avatar of the person playing them: I'd find that rather boring.
Offline RPGs, though... if I like an RPG, I'll almost always play it through multiple times, and have characters of both genders. I tend to start with a male character, though. I blame MMOs for conditioning me to think of "my RPG protaganist" as male. And I've never quite gotten why people think that a create-your-own RPG character should be an avatar of the person playing them: I'd find that rather boring.
I stick to mostly girls, when given the choice, but I feel like it's because I've been plenty of guys when I didn't have a choice, so I'm balancing the sheet of character gender over years and years of being a girl gamer.
I do, sometimes, play a guy when given the option just to get another side of things or do other romances or whatever if that's built in. I don't know why some guys get creeped out by the very idea of playing a girl (again, only when given a choice, I've never heard anyone whine about having to be Laura Croft) and other guys don't seem at all put off by it. I guess it's just a personal thing, some of us might find it easier to empathize with the other gender, some of us not so much?
I do, sometimes, play a guy when given the option just to get another side of things or do other romances or whatever if that's built in. I don't know why some guys get creeped out by the very idea of playing a girl (again, only when given a choice, I've never heard anyone whine about having to be Laura Croft) and other guys don't seem at all put off by it. I guess it's just a personal thing, some of us might find it easier to empathize with the other gender, some of us not so much?
I've dabbled a couple times; once I leveled a female undead rogue in WoW, and I recently started a female character in Saints Row the Third, complete with badass russian accent.
While i understand why it should be a problem to play as the opposite gender, i always find it weird when people do, i don't care in games where there's no or limited choice, but when people play as opposite genders in games it just makes me a bit uncomfortable, although i could probably explain this to myself from experience, from the people i know of that play exclusively transgendered, one was my maths teacher in high school who exclusively as females in order to flirt and get free stuff... and the other was a creep who always made their characters female in skimpy armour and really didn't stop playing games, i know a few people who occasionally play cross-gendered in order to simply experience the game in a different light after playing as a guy, but the idea just seems weird to me. But i've always played as characters as close to myself as possible in appearance to feel like i'm in the game, the game-play side of things tends to get skewed by the design of the game pushing decisions.
So maybe its a thing i've developed but i tend to dislike it when people play as the opposite gender role, especially in mmos when it feels somewhat deceitful or perverted, even if that isn't the case.
Also with the fantasy side of things you tend to play as you wish you were, so playing opposite genders kinda is a bit... discomforting.
To sum up:
In my opinion its not weird if:
Theres no choice.
Theres limited choice.
The gender makes a fundamental gameplay difference (outside of interaction with other players)
The gender makes a difference to the story elements.
You are a transexual and you are playing your former self.
im my opinion it is weird if:
The gender is being used for person-person interactions with weirdos on the internet.
You made the character for aesthetic pursposes.
You interact with children on a professional level.
You've never spoken to a real world girl.
So maybe its a thing i've developed but i tend to dislike it when people play as the opposite gender role, especially in mmos when it feels somewhat deceitful or perverted, even if that isn't the case.
Also with the fantasy side of things you tend to play as you wish you were, so playing opposite genders kinda is a bit... discomforting.
To sum up:
In my opinion its not weird if:
Theres no choice.
Theres limited choice.
The gender makes a fundamental gameplay difference (outside of interaction with other players)
The gender makes a difference to the story elements.
You are a transexual and you are playing your former self.
im my opinion it is weird if:
The gender is being used for person-person interactions with weirdos on the internet.
You made the character for aesthetic pursposes.
You interact with children on a professional level.
You've never spoken to a real world girl.
Only in MMOs do I feel like my character is a representation of me. It feels way too much like I'm wearing a dress when I play a female.
In other games she's more like my partner than an extension of me, so I don't feel weird at all.
If others want to play the opposite gender I don't care.
In other games she's more like my partner than an extension of me, so I don't feel weird at all.
If others want to play the opposite gender I don't care.
I pretty much always roll a female toon, given the choice. I don't roleplay or otherwise attempt to "whore" myself out to people for freebies. It's just personal preference.
Only on few occasions will my avatar be male, and not because of "immersion" or some other abstract concept, but because it's just more conducive to the character I want to create at the time.
As for the why..? Well, I make no attempt to hide the fact that I'm a pervert on the internet, so that's a fairly big part of it.
Also, I seem to have a knack for coming up with more feminine names... it's happened several times on both single-player and mmorpg's that I make a guy, but ultimately scrap him because I can't conjure a decent name. :/
(Another part of the above point is I refuse to utilize silly/stupid names... not for immersion's sake, per se, but to remove myself from the "durn kid" crowd of incredibly annoying and asinine monikers that permeate online gaming.)
Only on few occasions will my avatar be male, and not because of "immersion" or some other abstract concept, but because it's just more conducive to the character I want to create at the time.
As for the why..? Well, I make no attempt to hide the fact that I'm a pervert on the internet, so that's a fairly big part of it.
Also, I seem to have a knack for coming up with more feminine names... it's happened several times on both single-player and mmorpg's that I make a guy, but ultimately scrap him because I can't conjure a decent name. :/(Another part of the above point is I refuse to utilize silly/stupid names... not for immersion's sake, per se, but to remove myself from the "durn kid" crowd of incredibly annoying and asinine monikers that permeate online gaming.)
There are many good reasons to play the opposite gender - because of stats[sup]1[/sup] in a fighting game, because of the story you want to tell[sup]2[/sup] in an RPG, or because you enjoy the aesthetics.[sup]3[/sup]
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[sup]1[/sup]: By which I mean breasts.
[sup]2[/sup]: By which I mean breasts.
[sup]3[/sup]: Which, of course, refers to breasts.
Yes, I know that's biased against straight girls and gay guys. But let's face it, who cares about them?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[sup]1[/sup]: By which I mean breasts.
[sup]2[/sup]: By which I mean breasts.
[sup]3[/sup]: Which, of course, refers to breasts.
Yes, I know that's biased against straight girls and gay guys. But let's face it, who cares about them?
I'm a guy and I'll admit I'm a bit of a pervert so that's probably part of why I usually play as a female.
The bigger reasons are more likely the fact that the female character models just plain look better.
I never role-play my games in single or multiplayer. To be honest I tend to pick a character as far AWAY from my real self as possible (when I briefly played WoW I had a Dranei warrior, Troll Hunter, and an Undead Mage. Oblivion and Skyrim I play Argonians) because frankly I don't play games for realism. I get enough of that in my REAL life.
The one game I DID role-play as a female (if you can call it a game in the traditional sense) was Second Life. I started with a male avatar and I was bored as hell. I couldn't find any decent clothes that didn't cost an arm or a leg, I wasn't meeting anyone interesting and I had the same mild social issues in the game as in real life (kinda awkward when meeting new people).
The one good friend I'd made suggested trying a female avatar (she was legitimately transgender IRL). I figured why not. I made my avi, which admittedly looked like a swimsuit model, and suddenly had a LOT more fun. I didn't set out to role-play but everyone treated me as a female and frankly I kinda found it flattering so I never corrected them. I got a job as a stripper at a dance club and I never payed a single real world cent into the game.
Was this deceptive? Maybe but I would've been honest if anyone had asked, and I wouldn't have been surprised if half the girls I met in sl were really guys. But I didn't care and neither did they. Because there's enough reality in the real world.
The bigger reasons are more likely the fact that the female character models just plain look better.
I never role-play my games in single or multiplayer. To be honest I tend to pick a character as far AWAY from my real self as possible (when I briefly played WoW I had a Dranei warrior, Troll Hunter, and an Undead Mage. Oblivion and Skyrim I play Argonians) because frankly I don't play games for realism. I get enough of that in my REAL life.
The one game I DID role-play as a female (if you can call it a game in the traditional sense) was Second Life. I started with a male avatar and I was bored as hell. I couldn't find any decent clothes that didn't cost an arm or a leg, I wasn't meeting anyone interesting and I had the same mild social issues in the game as in real life (kinda awkward when meeting new people).
The one good friend I'd made suggested trying a female avatar (she was legitimately transgender IRL). I figured why not. I made my avi, which admittedly looked like a swimsuit model, and suddenly had a LOT more fun. I didn't set out to role-play but everyone treated me as a female and frankly I kinda found it flattering so I never corrected them. I got a job as a stripper at a dance club and I never payed a single real world cent into the game.
Was this deceptive? Maybe but I would've been honest if anyone had asked, and I wouldn't have been surprised if half the girls I met in sl were really guys. But I didn't care and neither did they. Because there's enough reality in the real world.
Have you seen male character models? They are, more often than not, beefcakes who've been hit in the face with a frying pan one too many times. Female avatars just look better on average. The stereotypical male power fantasy is just confusing to me, because I find mountains of muscle to be disgusting.
I play as male characters in choice-motivated RPGs and stories as i feel it's more relatable for me.
However, in certain games that are third person, the general rule is "If i'm going to be staring at the back of the character most of the game, the view better be good" and thus, i play as a female. Like in Saints Row 3.
However, in certain games that are third person, the general rule is "If i'm going to be staring at the back of the character most of the game, the view better be good" and thus, i play as a female. Like in Saints Row 3.
I usually play female characters, even though I'm a guy. I also use female avatars a lot, etc. Dunno why, probably has something to do with being Bi. I usually do act kind of girly on games and stuff, but it someone asks me "are you a girl or a guy" I will answer truthfully....
...usually.
...usually.
I always tend to play as a female character first (where the choice is given). For later playthroughs, I'll see how things look from a male perspective. Take Dragon Age: Origins, for example. First play was a woman romancing Alistair. Once I'd finished, I went back and rolled a chap, so I could see how he got on with Morrigan. Mass Effect was the same.
On EverQuest I played as a female. Because an MMO isn't quite the same as a single-player story campaign - your gender doesn't affect anything - for some reason I felt weird playing a male toon. I tried. Created one, started levelling him up. But it just didn't gel. I have... No real explanation for this.
I've found though that certain games tend to lend themselves to a certain gender, at least in my head. I played DA:O, and found the story was better with a female Warden. But in DA2, a male Hawke sat better. I always think of Shepard in terms of FemShep, though this may have something to do with Jennifer Hale's superb VA.
It's strange really, how we work. Plonk me infront of Uncharted and I have no qualms whatsoever about playing the male Nathan Drake. Hand me an RPG where I can create my own character, and I'll default to a lady without even thinking about it.
On EverQuest I played as a female. Because an MMO isn't quite the same as a single-player story campaign - your gender doesn't affect anything - for some reason I felt weird playing a male toon. I tried. Created one, started levelling him up. But it just didn't gel. I have... No real explanation for this.
I've found though that certain games tend to lend themselves to a certain gender, at least in my head. I played DA:O, and found the story was better with a female Warden. But in DA2, a male Hawke sat better. I always think of Shepard in terms of FemShep, though this may have something to do with Jennifer Hale's superb VA.
It's strange really, how we work. Plonk me infront of Uncharted and I have no qualms whatsoever about playing the male Nathan Drake. Hand me an RPG where I can create my own character, and I'll default to a lady without even thinking about it.
But you don't RP "a man" or a "a woman".SurfinTaxt said:
You RP "a mage". Or "a sneaky rogue". Or "a curmudgeon with a stick up their ass". Or "a kind if slightly obnoxious old bard". See what I mean? Every character you actually roleplay...well suffice to say it's irrelevant what they have between their legs as long as the character itself is fleshed out and consistent.
After all, we could use your argument that if you never were a soldier, never saw things from a soldier's perspective, you're going to SUCK at rping a soldier forever (in most cases). Much less are you going to be good at rping a mage, cause I can say for a fact that you were not born one and you never were one. Yet people still do a good job rping mages.
SurfinTaxt said:
im a guy and i wouldnt say any of those thigns if i was asked.. i want equal rights for all...peace...all that jazz.. but honestly i can rp a female role to the point where you wouldnt know i was a guy in real life and yet you would never tell from how i act IRL... for the most part everything is subjective on a person by person basis...
OT: i have a female character ins fallout 3 because the theme of chasing after your father fits a female far more than a male..yet new vegas i play a guy because the theme of revenge fits a guy far better.. i guess it depends on the game.. my personal interpretation of the environment and setting and my own personal preference at the time.. in contrast shepherd from mass effect fits a guy more do to everything he/she is placed against yet i play as a female because i like the option.. i guess thats one of the major reasons for me..im always stuck playing a guy.. no choice or anything..ever..even in some of the best rpg's i am given a role to play... which isnt exactly a role playing game since i feel that should be about your choice in everything from looks to gender.. on the other hand i couldnt see female characters in tf2, COD or anything because of the excessive violence...yet womens rights people or whatever would complain about it.. yeah so much for wanting equal treatment... anyways i play females because..as i stated before i choose the female option when given the choice to break up the monotony of playing male characters constantly then go back and play the gender i feel fit the story.