Poll: Guys playing girl characters

[Spider Expert]

Only if it's on single player.

Sex appeal :3

 

[hem dazon 90]

sometimesim currently playing as a girl in fallout 3 for instance


also my yahoo answeres hiimryan66 is a lie

 

[S.H.A.R.P.]

In some games I've played, a female character opens up new conversational items, and actually expands the gameplay as opposed to only male characters. I don't play MMO's, so I can't really comment on that, but I can imagine that I'd play a lady too there eventually, since it might better suit a specific idea behind a character (a female sorcerer enchantress, or a drow cleric).

And as others have mentioned, it's sometimes more pleasurable to watch a lady's rump instead of a blokes'.

 

[uhgungawa]

With 3rd person POV you betcha I choose a female. I'm not staring at a guys ass for hours LOL

 

[Kell478]

I do only when it is beneficial to the character. I let people know right away that I'm a male so not to create any confusion.

 

[ScorpionClaw]

I've noticed that if there are guys playing as girl characters, it is usually for one of three reasons.
1) They want to mooch off of the guy populace that want to supply the "girl" with stuff to make "her" life easier and to steal the one "girl" off the internet from the other female-starved men of the gaming nation.
2) They don't want to stare at a man's derriere for the entire duration of their play-time.
3) Sometimes playing a girl character is more fun (i.e games where the class the player wants is strictly female).

Always played a guy character (As I'm a guy) until I tried a game called 'Last Chaos' at which point number 3 applied as I wanted to play a mage. Have a look at the mage characters in that game (A muslim friend would not play as he considered them pornographic) and number 2 applies very strongly!

In a game where I can play a guy and there are no advantages or restrictions that dictate I need to play a female character I will pick male every time.

 

[Blizzinam]

Female undead warriors do frontflips while doing most moves in WoW, so i went with that.

 

[HaruHearts]

If I get really bored i play as a female char well I only do that in age of conan gets me some attention.

 

[Dorian Cornelius Jasper]

I'd always thought that playing games with only the intention of playing an idealized version of oneself to be more creepy than the idea of just playing any character for the heck of it.

Guys who absolutely refuse to play female characters creep me out. It's as though they actually project themselves into the game. Something I find a bit off, especially since I prefer either games that star a character with a personality other than something I define myself (usually, pre-existing characters are more interesting and easy to give a damn about than nameless, faceless player avatars) or games that put me in a position detached from the action, my input reserved for the moments when I send an order or two to my troops.

The idea that one should only play idealized versions of oneself in games feels strange, to say the least. People who think poorly of people who play characters of different genders are also plenty creepy; these are the kinds of people who either read way too much into things or are trying to find actual women on the internet to hit on (and get suddenly defensive when revealed that they're hitting on a guy).

But honestly? I don't care what gender my avatar is if it's in first-person. I have a gun, and I'm there to use it. Not to fiddle around with gender issues or address male gender insecurity.

And does "Genderless deathbot" count as a character of a gender other than one's own? Much rather play a deathbot than a fellow or lady, anyday.

Mmm. Deathbots.

EDIT: Though "lousy voice acting" is also a good reason to choose a character of a gender not one's own, too. Mass Effect was cringe-inducing when playing as male Shepard, but really engaging and immersive when playing as female Shepard. This is because it's a dialogue-heavy game, and if you have to listen to your character talk all the time, it better be voiced by an actor who can act.

 

[scaryt]

I somehow tend to play female characters, be it online or offline. The reasons why vary. In WoW its simple... I'd rather stare on a female Bloodelfs behind all day instead of some Orc Guys
In L4D I usually play Zoey. Online I do that because it seems people pay more attention to her *g* When I play LAN with friends I play her because my friends tend to pick the guys
Then theres Shaun White Snowboarding... well my girlfriend found out that her snowboarding outfit is implemented in the game so she created the character (and probably dreams about pulling out tricks like that)

 

[McMo0^]

The only time I did that was in KotOr 2, because there were significant changes to the game for different genders, including a different party member (Disciple or Handmaiden), and some funny dialogue with Atton
EDIT:Oh, crap, you said online. My bad.

pretty much what i was gonna say lol. I'm guessing it has advantages because hormone driven 15 year olds will happily give anything to any female gamer for the potential e-girlfriend factor. I've also seen people do it to mess with peoples heads as well.

 

[Cryofthewolf]

Eh, I'll play whoever I feel like playing at the time. In RPG's I tend to play as both at least one time around to see how the story changes.

 

[Kais86]

I've noticed that if there are guys playing as girl characters, it is usually for one of three reasons.
1) They want to mooch off of the guy populace that want to supply the "girl" with stuff to make "her" life easier and to steal the one "girl" off the internet from the other female-starved men of the gaming nation.
2) They don't want to stare at a man's derriere for the entire duration of their play-time.
3) Sometimes playing a girl character is more fun (i.e games where the class the player wants is strictly female).

Number 2. Also using the protective instincts a man (or at least I) hold towards women, meaning I will do everything in my power to keep her alive, as opposed to male character in which my thoughts are: meh, less competition.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

Aesthetics. Female avatars sometimes look better than males one, at least, that's how I feel in most of the MMORPGs or oRPGs I play. -Cough- Guild Wars Female Avatars!

Lol I agree!
Male avatars on GW suck, unless you're a Derv, then it's pretty much the same either way.

 

[KaiusCormere]

I'm a guy, my main character in WoW was a guy for 3 years. However, I found that when I saw a female character wearing the same armor as my main, I thought they looked so much better, so I made most of my alts female.

In other games (Warhammer, Conan, LOTRO) I've generally made females, but I'm leaning towards making my main a guy again in the next game I play cause too many weird/awkward social interaction issues playing a female online. It's fine to look at, but it gets tiresome having to explain.

 

[Skeleon]

I prefer to play as my own gender (male), no matter whether online or offline.
I just can't identify very well with, say, Lara Croft or other girl characters. That's especially the case with chars that you have to play with for a long time and develop (like, as you mentioned, RPGs and MMORPGs).
I dunno why some males choose to play female and vice-versa, I only know that I don't feel "in-character" playing as a chick.
Also, I'm probably not smart enough to emulate a female convincingly.

EDIT: Of course, I'll play a female where forced to (for example, the Diablo 2 Assassin was my favorite char) because of lack of choice, but if possible I'll play as male.

 

[ganpondorodf]

When I'm making a character in Fallout or Mass Effect or whatever, I generally make the most hideous concoction possible, almost always male. I spent about an hour on the character creation screen in Oblivion (my brother's; I don't own it myself) and ended up with a green freak.

And my guy in Fable II ended up looking like a fat, pirate Daniel Day-Lewis.

 

[IamQ]

Whatever looks best. If the male character of whatever I choose has bad movement and combat animations and generaly looks bad, then I'd rather take the female character.