Poll: Why do you play as opposite gender characters?

[antipunt]

Sometimes, male avatars are plain ugly/nasty.

Yeah, I'm somewhat superficial in these aspects

 

[RelexCryo]

When playing a rpg, fighter, shooter, etc. why would you rather play as the opposite gender, rather than your own gender?

When I play a game I usually choose the female characters, though I am male. I've done this for as long as I can remember. For example, when Street Fighter II came out I remember instantly falling in love with Chun Li. I would play her all the time, and became quite skilled with her. More recently, I've been playing a lot of RPGs, such as Mass Effect, Oblivion and Fallout 3, and all my created characters are women. And most of them are loosely based on my wife's appearance/personality. People have sometimes asked me why I do this. Here are my answers.

1) Women are attractive: If the game is in the 3rd person that means I get to look at a woman the whole time I am playing the game (i.e. Tomb Raider).

2) It's a different experience: I already know what it's like to be a man, and most games out there only feature men as playable characters, so getting to play as a woman is a nice change of pace.

3) I don't like a lot of male characters in games: A lot of men in games are typically written a macho idiots (i.e. Marcus Fenix; Kratos; Chris Redfield). I prefer the more agile, intelligent characters, and often those are female.

The only real downside to playing the opposite gender is the romance part of some RPGs. It can get a little awkward trying to talk a man into having sex with you. Regardless of this awkwardness, my FemShep got it on with Garrus. Ohh yeah!

In Response to 2): games are often written by men, so you aren't experiencing life from a women's point of view, you are experiencing it from a male writer's imaginary girlfriend's point of view.

In Response to 3): Marcus fenix is macho but fairly intelligent, while Chris Redfield was often carrying the idiot ball. However, Chris wasn't really macho, just muscular. So Marcus Fenix was macho but decently intelligent, While Chris Redfield was somewhat dim but not macho, though he was muscular.

In response to 1): I actually agree with this. If you are going to grind for 500 hours in an MMORPG, you are going to be staring at a butt for 500 hours. It might as well be a butt that you are attracted to.

 

[McMarbles]

Mostly because it's not expected of me.

 

[Miumaru]

If it is simply an avatar, I use a female one. For RPs, I just like making interesting characters. My best one I ever made was rather masculine, and nothing like me. Closest one to being me was an underappreciated druid/shifter girl who escaped from Hell.

 

[digipinky75910]

I usually don't, but another reason is that in MMO's, female characters are often hit on or flirted with more often, despite the fact that they may be played by men.

 

[Nuke_em_05]

I disagree, point by point:

1) Women are attractive: If the game is in the 3rd person that means I get to look at a woman the whole time I am playing the game (i.e. Tomb Raider).

Okay, damn, not off to a good start here because quite frankly the argument "I think men look better" just isn't going to fly for me, so touche. Except, of course, they're digital... so... "mmm... nice- ... uh... polygons?"

2) It's a different experience: I already know what it's like to be a man, and most games out there only feature men as playable characters, so getting to play as a woman is a nice change of pace.

Yeah... except generally speaking if gender is a toggle, it doesn't make a difference.

3) I don't like a lot of male characters in games: A lot of men in games are typically written a macho idiots (i.e. Marcus Fenix; Kratos; Chris Redfield). I prefer the more agile, intelligent characters, and often those are female.

Same as above, the only time it generally makes a difference is in the fighting games, and at that point they are less "character" and more "combat style".

The only real downside to playing the opposite gender is the romance part of some RPGs. It can get a little awkward trying to talk a man into having sex with you. Regardless of this awkwardness, my FemShep got it on with Garrus. Ohh yeah!

This would be the only difference when it is a toggle in an RPG, which does feel kind-of weird. Though the asari... anyway.

Also... about you and Garrus...

Nevermind.

Personally, I can see the "girls look better" to a point. I can also see "it's role-playing, I'm not actually a cow who can shoot lightning out of its fingers, so why not a woman?".

Do these apply to childhood action figures? I mean, I don't remember playing with Barbies over G.I. Joes because I didn't want to be grabbing guys all day...

... what would Freud say about that? Strike that, I don't want to know.

I also take issue with the fact that no matter what species; the females have an hourglass shape. I mean, speaking of the anthropomorphic cows in warcraft, they have fuzzy boobs, not udders. Bluga-wa? No matter how bad a case of scoliosis the males have in a race, the women all stand straight and rest with a hip out, all smexy-like. It's just sexist anyway, and I'm not sexist.

In all seriousness, I've just never really thought to, or been interested. Meh.

Also, I'm pretty sure my wife would get ticked.

To each their own.

 

[crudus]

I just have certain archetypes in my head (to use D&D classes) a sorc, and rogue are female whereas a wizard, ranger, fighter are male. The weird thing is my favorite classes usually end up getting a female achetype. You will never find me playing a female fighter or a male sorc. Although, in games like Mass Effect I hate the male voice so I will be playing a female character no matter the class.

 

[Bryan Jue]

Mostly because if it's a third-person view game I don't want to be looking at the backside of a guy the whole time.

 

[Moonmover]

In online games, I always play as men, since if I play as a woman people (quite reasonably) assume that I really am one, and that's annoying.

In single-player games, I pick whichever I can make look cooler. For instance, I always play as a man in Mount & Blade, because there's no way you can make a woman in that game not look like some deformed homonculous. Conversely, I only play as a woman in Knights of the Old Republic because the face options for the men are all plain.

And of course sometimes I'll play through as both genders to check out different story paths. And sometimes different genders have different gameplay attributes, so I'll choose based on that.

As for anyone who thinks it's wierd to play as a woman when you are really a man: Well, I'm not really a warrior or a mage or a thief either. Should I never play as one?

 

[Devin Parker]

If it's a fighting game, I'll usually pick the female character because they're often faster. I prefer speed over strength.

If it's an RPG or MMO, I'll almost always go with a male the first time around, partially because being a male is what I'm most familiar with, and I very much enjoy the catharsis of experiencing the game's story from the male perspective (is catharsis the right word here? I'm male, so I'm living out the fantasy fulfillment angle). This is especially true if I know there's going to be a romantic subplot.

After that, though, I'll usually make a female character, just to experience something new: to design a female character's appearance, see how it changes the story, and so on.

After *that*, whether I go with a male or female depends on what my character concept is. Some character ideas appear in my mind as specifically male or female, and some could be either. Back when I was playing WoW, I had lots of male and female characters, with their own personalities, backstories, and so on that I liked to have as my "lens" into the game world. The play experiences were subtly different, and I enjoyed that. I GM tabletop RPGs all the time, so I don't have an issue playing either gender (in fact, to limit myself to one seems unnecessarily, um, limiting).

And, yeah, I'll admit the "attractive butt" reasoning is sound.

 

[Snotnarok]

Well as a guy you can play as a guy and stare at the guy while you play...or...you can just make a girl character and enjoy looking at what you're playing. Same goes for the girl ...except you know the opposite.

 

[TehCookie]

Personally, I can see the "girls look better" to a point. I can also see "it's role-playing, I'm not actually a cow who can shoot lightning out of its fingers, so why not a woman?".

Do these apply to childhood action figures? I mean, I don't remember playing with Barbies over G.I. Joes because I didn't want to be grabbing guys all day...

7 year olds don't have a sex drive, so they don't think of who's hotter but more of who they want to play as. I played whoever I thought would suite the role better, when I was playing with my dolls something seemed off when I was having barbie fight a T-Rex. My Duke Nukem action figure fit the scene much better. When I was roleplaying as a vet, I used barbie because Duke Nukem doesn't seem the kind of person to nurse a sick animal.

I still do that too, if I'm playing as a tank I usually play a guy. When I play as a mage or gander-neutral role I play as a female. If I don't have a choice it doesn't bother me, since gender rarely matters. However in one game I had to hit on women, and it was kind of odd hitting on my own gender even if it was just virtual. Still is the best game I've ever played though.

 

[-Samurai-]

Various reasons. In a game where you basically pick your class, some look better as female. As in, the animations look odd with a male character.

In a game like Fallout 3, I played a female to get the experience of the female perks and see how things changed.

Sometimes, I like to see a woman whoop ass with a sledgehammer.

 

[Yureina]

I play both in games, so I naturally do alot of "playing opposite" when I am playing. I'm sure i've replied to this topic on these forums before, but i'll go ahead and say what I said then. The simple truth is that I play a character and roll with it. If it happens to be a different biological sex than my own (It usually is, actually), that's just how it turned out. Its what I want to play, and the character I choose is, in my opinion, the best reflection of what I was looking for in an appearance for the character that I had in mind.

 

[Zhukov]

Combination of "women look better" and "I don't much care for how men are portrayed".

First one is pretty self-explanitory. If I'm going to be staring at someone's pixelated backside for many hours, said backside might as well be a female one etc.

Secondly, male characters in games tend to be grumpy "badasses" who are 7 feet tall, built like the Terminator and fuelled by pure testosterone. It's not like I have any more in common with them then I do with a female character.

Also, Liara. (Hey, I'm only human. Don't judge me!)

EDIT: Also also...

However in one game I had to hit on women, and it was kind of odd hitting on my own gender even if it was just virtual. Still is the best game I've ever played though.

Yeah, that can be kinda weird. I played a female in Dragon Age and it felt pretty odd having to tell practically every male in the party that, no, really, I just want to be friends.

 

[Imp Erection]

Sure girls can be really hot, but that doesn't influence my choosing gender. It depends.

1) I just like guys better. I usually think they're cooler.

2) If I have to choose between a male and female, and I know both characters, I'll pick the dude if I think he's better.

I guess that's it. Oh, and guys tend to look cooler while the females usually just look hotter. If I wanna' look at hot girls I'll go watch porn with hot girls or somethin'. Same with guys too, I guess.

Whelp, those are my reasons.

 

[Lunar Templar]

a combination of options 1,2,an,3
i already know what is like being a guy, and we're idiots (you know we are, don't try an argue) so i roll female characters, almost exclusively, cause if i'm gonna be playing it i'd rather it be nice to look at.
also, i like strong women, i call it a 'Red Sonya' complex, ( assuming you reading this is even old enough to get that) as most the female characters i roll are, heavy melee types, least their the ones i stay most interested in playing

 

[bushwhacker2k]

Just cuz I'm in the mood, I don't really have any particular reason. Is only playing as one gender better?

 

[AvsJoe]

I only play as women in fighting games because I'm generally better with faster, smaller characters rather than the big, slow brutes. Women are rarely the latter (Mary from Tobal is one of the few exceptions that proves the rule).

 

[Broken Boy]

That's a tough one I'm transgender MtF & I play only females if I have the choice. I would have to say I play & make females in games to help cope with being in the wrong gender in this world.
It's more like the real me is playing I guess.