So, how many dudes here roll a female character? Also vice versa?

[Sheo_Dagana]

I alternate back and forth because I don't care about the gender of my avatar. I consider making it more balanced towards the females, since I'm a dude in literally every other video game where you can't choose your avatar's gender, so ya know, more balance and all that. But again, I don't usually care as long as whatever is up on screen is aesthetically pleasing to the eye in terms of gear and such.

Of course there are other instances, like Battleborn, where I end up playing a female character most of the time, usually because I like their move sets better.

 

[Beliyal]

But that's your experience. Women and men are different, otherwise transgender people must be wasting their time and energy, fretting over nothing at all. And frankly, in a tabletop situation, I don't believe that I can act convincingly like a woman in certain scenarios, and suspect that I would come off as foolish if I tried. I mean I could just role up a fighter who happens to be a woman, and just not speak or interact beyond dropping dice and attacking enemies, but there's no role play in that.

You know, I hear this a lot and, as a woman, it's really strange to me. Men and women are different because they are different individuals and because we impose heavy gender norms on all individuals based on their gender. But there's nothing inherently gendered about personalities, interests, tastes and hobbies.

I am a woman, yes, but I am also my own person and what an average woman likes or behaves as isn't important when you're dealing with me specifically. So when you're playing a game, or roleplaying, try not to act as a convincing woman, but as a convincing character that you have created. And you can create literally any type of a character. You want a female character to cuss, be assertive, play rugby and make dick jokes? There's nothing stopping you. You want to roleplay a man who is into knitting, cooking, is soft spoken and works in a kindergarten? There is nothing in the world that is preventing you from creating and roleplaying this character. There's no right and wrong when it comes to gender. I'm sure if you tried to roleplay me, you'd probably think you're not roleplaying a "convincing woman," but that doesn't remove the fact that I'm a woman and that you'd be roleplaying me correctly.

Sorry for dragging you back into the thread, but I think this is valuable advice for any character creation and roleplaying and writing. Just focus on making a character their own person, instead of making a character "convincing [insert gender]." There's no one golden standard for being a convincing representative of your gender.

Also, transgender people aren't wasting their time and energy. They do not have to conform to gender norms either. A person can be a trans man and still love to wear pink dresses. It doesn't erase his identity as a trans man, or his identity as a man, nor should it. He wouldn't be wasting his time and energy trying to transition or convince people that he's a man if he continued to like traditionally feminine things. Men can do that.

OT: I always first play as a woman (if I have a choice) and then choose male characters on any subsequent play or, in MMOs for example, when making a new character.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

This whole thread isn't "constructive". Might as well ask if guys like porn. I don't see how you could possibly think playing wank bait makes you weird or special with how often this sentiment pops up

It doesn't make you special, the question is intended to gauge player preference. I don't see the conflation between "porn" and "visually appealing", either. What does it matter why people choose this sex or the other? If it's not aesthetics it will be mechanics. If it's not mechanics it will be some other form of gameplay perk. In cases that the two sexes are practically interchangeable, the choice is legitimately meaningless anyway, since it has no effect on either the game or the player and essentially comes down to either projection or a coin-flip.

 

[Something Amyss]

Sorry for dragging you back into the thread, but I think this is valuable advice for any character creation and roleplaying and writing. Just focus on making a character their own person, instead of making a character "convincing [insert gender]." There's no one golden standard for being a convincing representative of your gender.

Sort of depends.

I used to joke about the fact that CSI had technical and science advisors, then I found out that on shows like that, they were frequently overruled because people wouldn't think reality was realistic enough. In fact, CSI and similar shows have impacted court proceedings because they end up reaffirming unrealistic notions about science. This is how we end up in situations where time travel or fire-breathing dragons are okay, but a female protagonist somehow trips peoples' bullshit meter. A woman who can kick ass in a fight--something that actually happens at a rate higher than 0%--is still incredible in a world where giant lizards can fly and produce usually unlimited supplies of fire somehow. Magic, in a sense, is more real than the real world.

My favourite pizza joint is one that serves "authentic Greek food." I've had Greek food. This is more marketing than anything else. But a good number of people believe it's authentic because there isn't much in the way of other Greek cuisine around here. And on some level, that's fine by me. I'm not really into authentic Greek food, while the Americanised versions do appeal to me (hence me frequenting the place). But the thing is, this is an actual Greek family (like, immigrants) who have very likely had to adapt their food to the American standards of authenticity. This is apparently super common with Chinese food, and is probably why the truly authentic Asian restaurants in my area don't do anywhere near the business of the ones that essentially make Chef Boyardee.

I think this is especially fitting for this thread, because we're talking about a predominantly white, American audience judging the authenticity of another culture's food.

Popular culture is sort of self-reinforcing. There is a fuss right now about a black cowboy in the new version of the Magnificent Seven because it's not historically accurate, because most people get their history from TV. In fact, a good chunk of "cowboys" weren't white. They were either black or of Hispanic/Latinx descent.

But, I mean, that's why I say it depends. If you want to make a black cowboy, it had better be a comedy with people going "a-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" and "up yours, [N-word]!" or people will balk. Women in media are fantasy creatures. You can point to how women act in the real world, but in most people's minds, "Women" reads like an entry in a D&D Monster Manual:

Always Chaotic Evil. Travel to bathrooms in packs of 2d4+1. Easily distracted by shoes and Sephora.

I suspect if you're a guy trying to convince other guys, that this is the way to "properly" play a woman, because otherwise, it breaks suspension of disbelief. Similarly, if you want to sell a woman to a mass of dudes, well...look no further than this thread as to why you might want to go that route.

I mean, I don't give a crap about that, but I'm pretty sure my writing is too terrible to publish anyway. >.>

 

[elvor0]

Sorry for dragging you back into the thread, but I think this is valuable advice for any character creation and roleplaying and writing. Just focus on making a character their own person, instead of making a character "convincing [insert gender]." There's no one golden standard for being a convincing representative of your gender.

Sort of depends.

This is how we end up in situations where time travel or fire-breathing dragons are okay, but a female protagonist somehow trips peoples' bullshit meter. A woman who can kick ass in a fight--something that actually happens at a rate higher than 0%--is still incredible in a world where giant lizards can fly and produce usually unlimited supplies of fire somehow. Magic, in a sense, is more real than the real world.

Is this something that actually happens? Because I don't buy it. I don't think I've ever seen anyone shitting on the idea of a game having a female protagonist because she would be incapable. Do you not remember how fucked off people were about Other M? It's part of the reason TR2013 rubs me up the wrong way because the marketing and the game to some extent feels the need to bang me over the head about how capable she is "for a girl" despite original Lara kicking so much arse without need to prove herself that her shoes smelled permanently of shit.

I'm pretty sure this is just something the publishers of Bioshock Infinite told us was something that happens and people making up boogymen without it actually happening. Okay maybe Return of Kings, but those guys are absolute cunts in such a small minority as to not actually matter.

 

[visiblenoise]

Yea I couldn't care less about male vs. female protagonist. But given the choice in an RPG, I pick the one that is more thematically fitting, if such a distinction can be made. For example, when I played World of Warcraft, I usually made my rogue female because of the lithe figure I'd expect a stealthy assassin to have.

 

[JayRPG]

I usually roll a female character, they always seem to have way cooler animations, and usually more customisation options.

Overall, I just think that in create-a-character games, the female characters always look cooler/always get cooler options.

Fire Emblem being the most recent, I uncharacteristically rolled a Male when I first started and he looks downright lame compared to some of the female characters I've seen in other people's castles.

 

[the December King]

You know, I hear this a lot and, as a woman, it's really strange to me. Men and women are different because they are different individuals and because we impose heavy gender norms on all individuals based on their gender. But there's nothing inherently gendered about personalities, interests, tastes and hobbies.

I am a woman, yes, but I am also my own person and what an average woman likes or behaves as isn't important when you're dealing with me specifically. So when you're playing a game, or roleplaying, try not to act as a convincing woman, but as a convincing character that you have created. And you can create literally any type of a character. You want a female character to cuss, be assertive, play rugby and make dick jokes? There's nothing stopping you. You want to roleplay a man who is into knitting, cooking, is soft spoken and works in a kindergarten? There is nothing in the world that is preventing you from creating and roleplaying this character. There's no right and wrong when it comes to gender. I'm sure if you tried to roleplay me, you'd probably think you're not roleplaying a "convincing woman," but that doesn't remove the fact that I'm a woman and that you'd be roleplaying me correctly.

Sorry for dragging you back into the thread, but I think this is valuable advice for any character creation and roleplaying and writing. Just focus on making a character their own person, instead of making a character "convincing [insert gender]." There's no one golden standard for being a convincing representative of your gender.

Also, transgender people aren't wasting their time and energy. They do not have to conform to gender norms either. A person can be a trans man and still love to wear pink dresses. It doesn't erase his identity as a trans man, or his identity as a man, nor should it. He wouldn't be wasting his time and energy trying to transition or convince people that he's a man if he continued to like traditionally feminine things. Men can do that.

I think it might be the 'imposed heavy gender norms' thing. I guess I just can't get past this in deciding on how to act in roleplaying a female character.

As I think on it, I think context might come into play here, and fitting the narrative that the DM is trying to tell. Rolling up and roleplaying a musclebound female ninja champion is perfectly valid, if the DM feels it fits the tone of the story, of course. Some might not want their characters quite so liberated during a period- based gothic campaign set in Whitechapel, London in the 1880s. Or a man, in a campaign focused around Amazons.

(Also, I hope you don't actually think that I believe transgender people are wasting their time- I assure you that I don't, and that was not the point.)

 

[Creator002]

Almost always female. Male is usually an alt. playthrough. I've done 4 playthroughs with Fallout 4 and not once have I been male.
With ME, I just fine renegade FemShep to be awesome.

I don't know why. Partially mods and partially I like women probably.

 

[the December King]

Popular culture is sort of self-reinforcing. There is a fuss right now about a black cowboy in the new version of the Magnificent Seven because it's not historically accurate, because most people get their history from TV. In fact, a good chunk of "cowboys" weren't white. They were either black or of Hispanic/Latinx descent.

But, I mean, that's why I say it depends. If you want to make a black cowboy, it had better be a comedy with people going "a-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" and "up yours, [N-word]!" or people will balk.

The fuss I'd kick up about remaking The Magnificient Seven is that there can not possibly be any Yul Brenner, and thus... what's the tossing point?

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Kinda feel like one of these threads should just be a sticky...

Mostly play as a female, and I tend to RP a fair bit, too. I'm a bloke in everyday life - why would I choose to project as the same gender in a gameworld? I'm not playing 'me', I'm creating characters with stories.

 

[DementedSheep]

This whole thread isn't "constructive". Might as well ask if guys like porn. I don't see how you could possibly think playing wank bait makes you weird or special with how often this sentiment pops up

It doesn't make you special, the question is intended to gauge player preference. I don't see the conflation between "porn" and "visually appealing", either. What does it matter why people choose this sex or the other? If it's not aesthetics it will be mechanics. If it's not mechanics it will be some other form of gameplay perk. In cases that the two sexes are practically interchangeable, the choice is legitimately meaningless anyway, since it has no effect on either the game or the player and essentially comes down to either projection or a coin-flip.

"I'm staring at their ass because it visually appealing, this totality doesn't relate to my cock at all."

 

[Stewie Plisken]

"I'm staring at their ass because it visually appealing, his totality doesn't relate to my cock at all."

Yeah, because the nuances of one's sexuality, something that's innate in the person and part of his/her psyche, is like jerking off to porn. It's exactly the same thing.

 

[DementedSheep]

"I'm staring at their ass because it visually appealing, his totality doesn't relate to my cock at all."

Yeah, because the nuances of one's sexuality, something that's innate in the person and part of his/her psyche, is like jerking off to porn. It's exactly the same thing.

Never said it was exactly the same, it's toned down but it's same vein. It's not even a side thing, we're talking about bringing their "assets" as the primary reason for playing them. 'Guy wants woman around specifically to feed his libido' is not a headline.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

Never said it was exactly the same, it's toned down but it's same vein. It's not even side thing, we're talking about bringing their "assets" as the primary reason for playing them. 'Guy wants woman around specifically to feed his libido' is not a headline.

But it's NOT in the same vein, because it's not indicative of anything outside of the fact that straight men are attracted to women. It's not necessarily the reason why one picks a female character and even if it is, it's not necessarily the only reason.

 

[McElroy]

It's all fine really. I played through ME with the default cover dude, because all the other models looked weird (in the first game's creator). On the other hand I had some fun torturing the new Lara Croft in TR. Drake just doesn't have that special *crunch* in him.

 

[Beliyal]

Sort of depends... snipage

Yeah, that's true. Unfortunately. We receive so much of our "knowledge" from popular culture and outdated material that it's legitimately strange to people when something is actually historically correct. I mean, we should look no further than dinosaurs. No one will risk making a movie with feathered dinosaurs. We learned they are giant dragon-like lizards and that's it.

I do think it's valuable to try and fight stuff like that. As my field is about history, I often do my best to fix people's perceptions about certain stuff. I guess someone who has enough money and can afford the risks could actually make stuff like that work and fight back the often wrong perceptions people have of history. One of the things that irk me professionally are movies about antiquity where everything is white. Not just the people, but the surroundings. Listen fellas, antiquity was rainbow colored. Everything was painted. Everything. With the worst color combinations imaginable (to us). But I guess a Roman statue looking like this [https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d6/69/a4/d669a4f6319e62388e676d8223cd2b42.jpg] would literally make people's heads spin. However, if we train ourselves to begin seeing this as a historically accurate norm, maybe in several decades no one will care.

Same goes for everything else, like race and gender. It will certainly change with time, but we have to keep pushing it. I'll gladly be the one to push, even though my writing is also probably too terrible to publish. But I will believe, goddammit!

I think it might be the 'imposed heavy gender norms' thing. I guess I just can't get past this in deciding on how to act in roleplaying a female character.

As I think on it, I think context might come into play here, and fitting the narrative that the DM is trying to tell. Rolling up and roleplaying a musclebound female ninja champion is perfectly valid, if the DM feels it fits the tone of the story, of course. Some might not want their characters quite so liberated during a period- based gothic campaign set in Whitechapel, London in the 1880s. Or a man, in a campaign focused around Amazons.

That's true. The tone of the setting matters. I mean, you can still put any type of a character anywhere, but it might screw up the tone of the roleplay if you really want to play an anachronistic character. At least, other players and NPCs would react negatively to certain things. There's also an option to actually focus on a character who feels out of place in a certain setting; someone who's far ahead of their time and feels trapped in a conservative and restrictive society. There were many people throughout history who felt like that; some acted on it, some haven't; some received a lot of shit for it, some haven't. But when it comes to roleplay, it's important to work with fellow players. Not everyone wants to roleplay exploring of societal restrictions in 19th century London.

Either way, the best advice I can offer is not to focus so much on your character's gender. You're not trying to roleplay an average woman, you're trying to roleplay a specific character. Many of the issues can, I suppose, be solved by that. It might take some time though. If you're doing roleplay in some historical period, you could do a short research about women in the era and location, there's always some cool example of a real person who did extraordinary things. If you're roleplaying fantasy or SciFi, pretty much anything goes. Even if the fantasy is very old fashioned and restrictive, I think a character who isn't entirely bound by society tends to be a more interesting character to roleplay. Also, even if you choose to play someone who conforms to those norms, they can still have an interesting personality that you can roleplay; a medieval matron who tends the house doesn't have to be entirely submissive and motherly. It's a very good exercise for honing your roleplay skills actually. (I love tabletop roleplay)

(Also, I hope you don't actually think that I believe transgender people are wasting their time- I assure you that I don't, and that was not the point.)

Of course, it's fine. I just added it because it's very common to hold transgender people to some higher standard of comformity; like, I as a cis woman can dress like a man and people won't really comment, but if a trans woman does the same (because she prefers such clothing, just like me), someone comments "Why are you trans then?" Clothing has nothing to do with gender identity, but we learned this and we react when someone breaks the norms, especially when someone already broke more norms. Unlearning this is actually a good start for tackling other issues.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

It's about half and half I think, although in the case of Dark Souls they tend to be randomised monstrosities who look like gone-off fruit.

 

[Rattja]

Chalk another one up for dudes that play female characters.
Other than my monk in WoW, which was male tauren because I had a very specific look in mind, I can honestly not remember last time I made a male character.

Most of it comes from the idea that I like to play a character that does not really look all that threatening, but still fully capable to kick ass and take names. I usually go the way of "I am going to help and save EVERYONE!" which just seems a bit weird doing with a pile of muscles running around growling at people.
Another thing I tend to like about female characters is that the female movement is just generally more elegant and far less clumsy looking.
They also just straight up look better, but I do try to put my characters in decent clothing/armor as much as possible. If it's armor, it better be able to protect, and if it is clothing then I'd like something that would at least be comfortable and practical to wear.

That and voices like Courtenay Taylor and Jennifer Hale is just too good to give up.

 

[Level 7 Dragon]

For the most part, yes.

My female to male avatar ratio is about 70:30. I probably started out with the typical waifu archetypes, but as I got older I tried to develop actual interesting characters with backstories and that don't look like twenty-something white collage students with brightly coloured hair.

I wonder what it tells me about me.