Playing as a Different Gender

[AppleShrapnel]

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.)

 

[applesandoranges]

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[Zen Toombs]

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?

 

[darkcalling]

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.

 

[wintercoat]

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.

 

[Jekken6]

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.

 

[Sandjube]

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.

 

[LittleBlondeGoth]

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.

 

[Vegosiux]

The disconnect comes when you try to role play a gender that you arent. Its goes fundamentally against the grain of roleplaying, because you grew up a man, with a mans perspective, which means you are going to SUCK at rping a lady forever (in most cases).

But you don't RP "a man" or a "a woman".

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.

 

[Anthony Wells]

I know this has been discussed on every video game related message board since the dawn of time but I haven't seen it discussed here before, so... here we go!

Playing the opposite sex. Why do people find it strange? Usually people don't pay any mind to playing another gender when the game forces you to, but in RPGs especially (both video game and table top) many people have stigmas against men plays as women and vice versa.

Just the other night my step dad saw me playing TOR and asked, "Why are you a girl?"

I responded with, "I don't know. Just cause?"

Here's what I don't understand about the stigma: In most cases this is most prevalent in RPGs, games in which you take on a role. The most commonly relatable protagonist to role play for most men is a male who is a generally nice guy. It makes sense that most people would play that character as it is easy to get into and understand the character. The part that doesn't make sense is when men roleplay as male characters, DON'T go that path or another similar to their own ideas/personality/morals,etc. and actually role play an entirely different kind of person than themselves how does gender really make that much of a difference? Yes I can relate to a male more than a female since I am male, but I can relate to a female with similar convictions than I could a male sociopath.

Anyway I think I tired out my introduction, discuss!

It makes a huge difference. When you role play in your own gender, the set of goals and standards are the same for you in the real world as in the game world. Men generally want strength, power, suaveness, women, coin, etc etc etc, you ask a random man what he wants, these answers will come up more often than not. What do women generally want? They want to attract a man who can take care of them, listen to them, and by transistive property, they want things like cute clothes, cute bags, makeup, sexual satisfaction, etc. Now don't get me wrong, this isnt the be all end all of a womans desires, In fact as a man, I dont really know what women are thinking all the time, but I get the idea.

The disconnect comes when you try to role play a gender that you arent. Its goes fundamentally against the grain of roleplaying, because you grew up a man, with a mans perspective, which means you are going to SUCK at rping a lady forever (in most cases).

When I see people playing an opposite gender (usually males as females, Ive never seen it the other way around), they almost always tell me its because they dont want to look at a guys ass for days or whatever. These people arent rping, theyre multiplayering, honestly these people couldnt give less of a shit about roleplaying.

So if you roleplay another gender, thats your prerogative, honestly I think youre a rarity if what you say is true. Just dont get lost in the female role, or society will have a whole new batch of obstacles ready for you

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.

 

[Flames66]

Playing the opposite sex. Why do people find it strange? Usually people don't pay any mind to playing another gender when the game forces you to, but in RPGs especially (both video game and table top) many people have stigmas against men plays as women and vice versa.

If it is a single player game, then I see no problem at all. I have tried (and failed) to do it myself. I personally only ever play as myself when in a game world. I have tried to role-play as someone else, but I always come back to me.

In MMORPGs the problem for me is that I see every character that I meet as being a digital representation of the person playing. If I found out that someone I had been talking to in game was playing as a different gender to their real self, it would be like discovering that someone I was talking to in a bar was a transvestite. After that, I don't know what I would do, but I suspect that I would cut off ties with them as I would find it extremely awkward.

 

[RuralGamer]

To be honest, I don't know; meh, maybe because I'd prefer to look at a character that doesn't look like a freak most of the time (I am of course referring to the fact that a lot of games with character creators always seem to make freakish males every. single. time. I. try.)

Using Skyrim as an example, I only think the male Khajiit and Argonians look not as weird, compared to the females.

 

[Deathmageddon]

G.I.R.L.= Guy In Real Life

 

[Vegosiux]

that doesnt really hold water, gender is nothing like profession, we dont choose to be males or females, fate decides this and we live it. The classes, mage, bard, soldier, whatever is open for interpretation much more than gender. Thats what differentiates people within a gender, their personality differences, chosen profession, etc.

I still don't see why you're so hell bent on keeping a distinction between genders/make gender the defining characteristic that makes or breaks the credibility of a roleplay(er). But okay, we do not choose our genders, while we can choose our professions. But we also don't choose to be human, should that disqualify us from RP'ing elves or demons, make our RP'ing thereof "less credible"?

I mean, a night elf female and a dwarf female hardly have anything in common if you look purely at statistics...except a pair of boobs and a vagina.

Youre right about one thing, rping isnt about being 100% "you" in the game world, however acting as your own gender will lend credibility to your rogue, mage, what have you, which in turn breeds immersion, which is the goal of any roleplayer.

No, it doesn't have anything to do with credibility. But I do believe it has something to do with the reason why some "naked mods" for roleplaying games include the "boobs yes, penises no" option.

I've roleplayed characters of both genders, across many races, settings and with plenty of different people. Gender is the least important thing unless you force it into the spotlight.

 

[gregitaly]

The first time I play a game, I'm usually male and I play it like I would in real life. Basically as a good guy, even in games like Skyrim, with no morale choice system; the first time I played it I abstained from most daedric shrine quests and thieves guild etc. Then the second time I play a game I roll as a female character and cut loose, from Renegade Femshep to my sociopathical Female Wood elf in Skyrim.
Idk it's just something I do.

 

[Hasido]

Usually, if the game plays differently for a gender (as in significant gameplay changes, story changes, or simply the voice actor for one is better than the other) i will choose the better one for this game.

other wise i have no rhyme or reason, and select it at random.