Poll: Why do you play as opposite gender characters?

[Swny Nerdgasm]

Only time I ever played a female character was in WoW cause after 10 levels of looking at the male draenei's animations i decided it had to go

 

[AwesomeNinjaPowers]

I only rarely play as the opposite gender and it's usually cause there are options only avaliable to that gender like in Mass Effect or Dragon Age =D

Then again in MMOs even when I play as a female character people seem to think I'm a guy ^^;

 

[Jezzascmezza]

I'll be honest- I like to oogle them.
My Guitar Hero world Tour character is so freaking hot... *Wipes drool off keyboard.*
Sorry, that was uncalled for...

 

[herio]

i think it be cool to be a be a guy so i role play or pick the guy allso girl avis are normally ugly

 

[Slenn]

Meh, it depends. On WoW my main is a gargantuan Male Tauren Warrior. And for caster types like the mage and druid, I switch to a female. It's a nice change of pace, and that's what the game is for.

 

[Lucifron]

Why? Because it's a nice change.

..and because of DAT ASS of course.

 

[VulakAerr]

One reason is voice acting, but as far as I can think, that will only extend to my Shepard. I played through ME1 with Mark Meer but since I was gonna always try it again I went with Jen Hale, who was awesome. I since used both again for ME2 and have gone back to ME1 once to create my "perfect" character and used Jen Hale for that, too.

Another reason is that in RPGs I like to create a character. I don't treat my toon like a version of me, I create a character I would be interested to follow through a story and probably about 2/3 of the time that character happens to be female. I want to create a character I can be proud of...



... is that odd?

P.S. In non-RPG games I play as a dude because that dude is actually "me".

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

I like to invert gender roles: female tanks or barbarians/soldiers, male healers or mesmers/enchanters. I tend towards females, though, because they're rarer as a protagonist. That goes for both games and my writing.

It's funny in MMOs though, because some people assume you're a girl, and start giving you all this special attention and help. It's happened a couple times. I never do it on purpose, but when it happens I tend to sort of lead them on with ambiguous, vaguely flirtatious remarks.

...
Does that make me gay?

 

[Kermi]

The only time I have willingly played as a female was in Saint's Row 2, and while I mainly did that because I didn't like any of the male voices during character creation, I certainly didn't object to watching a pert female ass running around my screen in purple and black spandex for 30 or so hours.

If it's an RPG I might play female on my second playthrough just to do something different, but usually I'm bored with the game by then and never follow through. Never finished my evil ***** playthrough of Mass Effect, or my female lone wanderer in Fallout 3.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

I dont ever choose one and only gender in RPGs, I usually play through it atleast twice. Each time as both genders. But I usually do my first play through as a woman. I dont really have a reason I just do, its more interesting.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Because if I play a game with a long time-commitment, I would rather watch a chick's ass bouncing around in front of me for the next 20 - 200 hours. I normally play more than once though so, I do have a male Shepard, Revan, Jedi Exile, Vault exile, etc...

 

[Eliam_Dar]

To quote a very wise friend of mine, if you are going to be staring at someone's derriere for an hour or more, at least make sure that derriere is attractive to you. =)

On a more serious note, I think it is a combination of aesthetic and the chance to see the world from the eyes of the opposite gender.

 

[ohgodalex]

The female Pokemon trainers usually dress less stupid.

 

[Nuke_em_05]

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.

Touche, touche. I suppose sex isn't an issue for 7-year olds. Most of my post was tongue-in-cheek until maybe the last two lines anyway. Much like:

I was always upset that "pre-historic game-warden Barbie" never really caught on. I can also tell you that the Duke wuvs to snuggle wuggle whittle kittys and patch up their boo-boo's just as much as the- ahem. I mean... he'd rather crush them under his little, and by little I mean size 13(US-M), boots.

Clearly, in claiming that women are unfit to fight dinosaurs, and men are incapable of loving and caring for fluffy whittle bunny-boos... ahem; and presuming that girls can't take a few hits, you must be sexist. It's okay, though, it isn't your fault, from the sounds of it, Mattel is to blame. Probably run by chauvinist bastards...

/tongue in cheek.

Yeah, I guess I do that a little too, but generally I don't care and go for my own gender just because.

Though, when my friend who got me into WoW, bastard, noticed that I had only made male characters (he was big on the "I don't want to look at a dude's ass all day" platform), insisted I make a female character; I made her a hunter, because it was the only class I didn't have yet, actually had an interest to play, and wasn't "masculine exclusive". And she was a blood elf. What? If I am going to look at a female ass all-day, she might as well not have tusks, horns, or what else have you... and be hot.

No joke, I paid for the sex change feature as soon as it became available; because it just felt awkward for me.

... he still has a nice ass, though.

Again, to each their own.

 

[Vivace-Vivian]

I usually play female when I can since I don't get to hear a lady voice coming from 'my' character very often. I do find them easier to connect to since I am a woman myself but I've gone with males in other games, however usually that's after playing female just to see different outcomes.

 

[The Hero Killer]

I've beaten RE5 about 10 times and still only play with Sheva. I'm not a fan of the big stocky male leads seen in most western games, so I play as a female every chance I get.

I always main females on fighting games and when given the choice on RPGs/MMOs I create a female, prefably an evil one. When I do play as male character I prefer them look more along the lines of Sephiroth/Noctis rather than Marcus Fenix/Kratos.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

The last time I did was in Borderlands and after already having a level 61 hunter, the siren seemed like the best character out of the remaining 3...

 

[Ashhearth]

I always generally do a normal male playthrough first and on my second playthrough it's a screw around character so I make it a chick because you can't really get much more opposite than that.

 

[stygN]

You missed an option in the poll.. You should have one saying "I only rarely ..."

That's what I do.. 95% of the time I'm male, but sometimes I make a female one.. Why? Well in some games male and female characters have slightly different skills/attributes/perks/so on, so the female gender might be better for my character build.

Like in Morrowind, some builds work best as female, others work best as male, and most of them don't really favor any gender.

EDIT: Oh, and why I don't play as opposite is simply because it's not natural to me.. I'm a guy in real life so I should be a guy in the game as well ; )

You may be a man in real life. But I doubt you are a space-marine. So since you're role playing one in a game, it may as well be a female space-marine.

Well, space marine don't really float my boat anyways..

But, I still don't get your point.. So.. Next Halloween, should I dress up as a witch? Since I'm neither a wizard or witch, I might as well dress up as the female version.. Kind of weird with a 5 inch long beard though.. But I guess witches can have beards..

I don't find it natural to dress female, either in day to day life or when I put on a costume.. I mean.. it has happened.. Like 5% of the times I've put a costume on it has been female.. Just like with my characters.

So, since I don't dress female, act female or am female; why should I play female?

I don't have anything against people who do, and I don't have anything against people who don't.

So, if your one of Freud's apostles you'd read this as "I feel like a girl trapped in a mans body and are only trying to deny it to suppress my dark, dark secret."

 

[Daedalus1942]

I guess I'm unhappy with my current gender? I don't really know...