Do Black people choose the black characters in games?

[Deshin]

I try to identify with my characters.

Typically I always pick a white male; if I can give them glasses I usually do. But in Resident Evil Outbreak I chose the Black cop because his name is the same as mine; Mark. So in that instance I felt greater immersion hearing the NPCs calling out my actual name than I did by having a white nerd running around.

In Guild Wars I tried to create a venerable cluster of different races but that was more for the role playing angle and for immersion. Why the hell would I make a WHITE Paragon/Dervish in Elona? That would have made no sense at all. And likewise what would a black Assassin/Ritualist be doing in Cantha?

I guess I just recognise 'race' for what it is, a genetic disposition to a specific region or culture due to humanity's natural evolutionary method (mutation, adaption, reproduction) that manifests in various distinguishing physical traits.

If you try to put blinkers on and think race doesn't exist or isn't even important on a basic and fundamental level of the human psyche it doesn't make you open minded or tolerant, it makes you a f***in moron.

 

[Woodsey]

If we ignore race, than race will stop mattering. Ignore race!

Um, why does it matter about race? WHY DOES IT MATTER!!!

Have either of you even read the OP or topic title? Its a fair question - especially when you consider that most default character looks are set to white guys, so we don't even have to think about it.

OT: I would imagine more do than don't.

 

[PettingZOOPONY]

It all depends on the character model some games the different race models are more pleasing to the eye than others because of the amount of work put into them. In fallout i play a hispanic guy because the model looked better than the wonky honky models they had.

 

[Linkassassin360]

The whole glory of a video game is you can pretend to be whatever you want. I know people who always choose to be female in MMOs (but arent in real life), because its just what they do. So it would just vary from person to person

 

[MrJoyless]

I used to always play black avatars in MMOs only because no one else did, you wouldnt believe the racist comments i got from literally hundreds of people for just playing a different skin color!

 

[Syphous]

It would seem logical to me, most of the time I play as a white male, because I am a white male.

Same here. Not that I'm against playing something else, but given the option I usually pick something similar to me.

 

[PettingZOOPONY]

I used to always play black avatars in MMOs only because no one else did, you wouldnt believe the racist comments i got from literally hundreds of people for just playing a different skin color!

Isn't that so much fun, I played a black female in WOW for a bit and got random PM's all the time, I eventually started having people sending me free stuff because I would pretend to be a girl in chat.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I don't care. I like to play as a mix usually. Although on Guild Wars I have 1 white female warrior, 1 white female necromancer, 1 white female elementalist, 1 white male elementalist, 1 black female dervish, 1 black female paragon, 1 kinda hispanic female assassin, 1 white female monk, 1 white female mesmer and 1 hispanic female ranger so aside from a gender bias to opposite gender. I like to mix it up to a degree. People are always raving about this role playing aspect to role playing video games I though I would give it a try. Aside from dynamic stats there is a role play asepct to them.

As a lot of people have said they pick what they are as it is to easier project themselves into games helping to melt that 4th wall. Given that, yes black people might tend to play as black people.

 

[Ris]

Um, why does it matter about race? WHY DOES IT MATTER!!!

It matters to the individual involved, because it's part of their identity. I actually think it's important to "see" race as it's a way of learning to understand different viewpoints and lifestyles. Rather than taking an ultra PC route and pretending that race doesn't matter, I kinda wish everyone would just learn to make a distinction between acknowledging difference, and discriminating *because* of difference... but anyway, that's off-topic.

To answer the original question: I'm mixed race (white british/Jamaican) and female, and in an RPG I always play a mixed race female in the first playthrough. However, if I make a male character I will rarely make him mixed race; I can't identify with him because he's male, skin tone isn't gonna change that.

 

[ABLb0y]

i don't really mind what race my character is. but, i usually have an asian character.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

I always play as a white guy because all black (or whatever you want to call them) guys look the same to me (not because of their skin but because they all have similar hairstyles and facial structure). Also I am caucasian

 

[SageRuffin]

As a black gamer, I select people who pique my interest. That can be several factors, but ethnicity is certainly not one of them.

AFGNCAAP [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AFGNCAAP] RPGs, same thing. I stopped playing as "me" in those games since KotOR, and I've been rolling with it since. I select/create people who I want to play as. If they happen to have to have dark skin like myself, cool. But like I said, that's not a deciding factor in choosing who I want to play as.

 

[Cavan]

I'm not racist 'but'

I pick X race because I think it's better and they are cooler and I see Y race looking all smug on the streets, X race also has better women and likes the things I like.

Sometimes when the enemies in a game are of X nationality I feel better about killing them.

 

[Worgen]

If Im stuck playing as a human then I will usually either go very pale or very dark skin, like as black or as white as I can

 

[MasterChief892039]

I always choose the black guy because I reckon they are bad ass.

I'm not racist, infact, I love black people

[link]http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/[/link]

Benevolent racism is still racism.

Anyway, I'm not black, but whenever I get the option to play as a female I always take it because it's so incredibly difficult to find games that allow you that option. I imagine many black people feel the same way about black characters, though it's not as if they always have to play as a black character, just like I don't always have to play as a female one.

 

[SageRuffin]

If you play NBA 2k11 more than 85% of the rooster is black and the comes the mixed rqace(half black/white or half black/Hispanic) and Hispanic and white folks(American/European white). You only got like 3 Asian players.

I'm not knocking you for this, but it's kind of a bad example simply because basketball is now a black-dominated sport. The game is just a reflection of the current times.

Hell, in another 10 or so years, it may be Latino-dominated. Or Oriental. Or... uh... Scandinavian, or something. And, assuming basketball games still exist at that point, it will be reflected as such within the game.

 

[Vern5]

I'm mostly Filipino so, in terms of Fallout, I usually end up making a character by starting with a Hispanic facial origin. Sure, it's not Asian but the Hispanic faces look closer to mine than the Asian ones do.

Being mixed races and having been confused for every race imaginable (white, hispanic, asian, and even black once) race doesn't become as much of an issue as likeness. My character will always look like me so I can project properly; race becomes a non-issue.

When it comes to race relations, well, it all depends on what you define as 'race'. Some people think that a propensity for enjoying rap music is integral to being black. Race is, primarily, physical attributes. Treated as physical attributes, I don't think taking race into consideration becomes racist.

However, assuming black guys are always badasses holds a bit of stereotyping and its a slippery slope of blundering into racial remarks from there. No, not everyone who has one preconception about a race is racist.

 

[JaysonM]

I'm not racist 'but'

I pick X race because I think it's better and they are cooler and I see Y race looking all smug on the streets, X race also has better women and likes the things I like.

Which would be an incredibly sad depiction of life if that were the case... and perhaps that is the case!!! But that doesn't lead me to believe this thread is racist!

Infact, this thread is perhaps the beginning of something beautiful, a world where there is no difference between races in society. Perhaps this thread will lead someone to think a little bit differently when choosing a character in their game