Ladies, how about you?

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Well since it seems to be another wave of discussion about us lady players washing through and it seems to be popping up in every thread, maybe this is a good time for me to post a thought I had awhile back.

This is a question for the female game playing members of the Escapist honestly, and I'm not foolish enough to ask gentlemen not to answer (because that will just provoke all sorts of crap) but the design of the question is directed at my gender so, if you're giving it a go, please stay on topic as much as possible. For the record - this is a question of personal exploration, not a commentary on the industry.

So here's my question: Do you find yourself not feeling a desire to play games that do not offer a male or female protagonist choice, the way others do i.e. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3/NV, Skyrim and so forth?

I am finding myself feeling this recently. Having been a player of video games for more than 20 years now, I've played and enjoyed plenty of games that had male only protagonists on offer, but recently I am finding I don't desire to give a title a chance if I can't make... well, myself I guess - or a version of me I choose and I am more comfortable playing a female me in game worlds.

I've speculated that maybe this is simply because I gravitate towards RPGs and that requires a certain amount of immersion to get the most out of as a genre. JRPGs I'm not really counting against that, because you play half a dozen people in those usually and are more of a director of people than inserted into any one of them - kinda like the personal demi-god/dess of whatever party you're rolling around the game world.

Still - people have been saying how good the Witcher is - and this is what brought it to my attention probably a month or so ago, talking about that series with a friend - and I found I have no desire at all to play it. It sounds like a great game, but my turn-off is being a grizzled older man for the entire experience and how I don't think I could get into it in that mode.

Even with little two-player games me and my fiancé play together - one's where there is only the option of picking among dudes I can't really get enthusiastic about, I'm just playing them with him to pass the time together, not for the game itself, and I get indignant that they couldn't throw one sprite in there that represents half the population's sexual characteristics.

Maybe I've just reached a point where, now that it's possible and moving towards more standard, I'm unwilling to settle for less than a choice to play my gender and make my character's face/hair/etc. up to my liking. Maybe I'm just in a bit of a rut playing the same games over and over that offer me that immersion other's don't.

I'm not sure if the old sprite stuff would bother me, it's been ages since I went retro. I'm pretty sure I still love Zelda games even as Link and would enjoy a mario 3 pizza party with friends easily enough, but like I said, it's been forever.


So what's your take? Where are you at? I'm sure I'm not "alone" in this (no one ever is) but I'm having trouble identifying when exactly this shift in my gaming philosophy took place and maybe hearing some perspectives on it might help me identify an "ah-ha" moment.

 

[jehk]

Do you find yourself not feeling a desire to play games that do not offer a male or female protagonist choice, the way others do i.e. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3/NV, Skyrim and so forth?

It's really depends. Some male protagonists are nothing but surrogates for the male power fantasy. So sick of it. The Witcher is a perfect example.

It's all about finding someone I can relate to regardless of gender.

The Walking Dead is a great counter example. Lee was a great male protagonist.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Do you find yourself not feeling a desire to play games that do not offer a male or female protagonist choice, the way others do i.e. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3/NV, Skyrim and so forth?

It's really depends. Some male protagonists are nothing but surrogates for the male power fantasy. So sick of it. The Witcher is a perfect example.

It's all about finding someone I can relate to regardless of gender.

The Walking Dead is a great counter example. Lee was a great male protagonist.

Hm. I've been hearing good things about that one too - I just got disenchanted with the TV series (and the last, oh, say 20 pages of the Compendium I of the graphic novel) so I wasn't totally keen, but maybe I could look into it. Change of pace anyway.

 

[Voulan]

It hasn't always turned me off a game where there are no female options, but if there are female options, I'll far more readily buy those games, and always play as female characters only. I have several games with only male characters, so I can't say that it effects me badly if the game is actually good - several of my favourite games ever are male characters only.

Maybe it's because there aren't many options, or because I tend to gravitate towards RPGS where there are almost always female characters. The only games I've ever truly wished I could play as a female was in the Deus Ex, COD and Far Cry franchises. Mostly for story, and also so I don't have to play as generic American soldier dude (this directed at COD only).

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Sure - sure, I mean I did Assassin's Creed III recently and that was fine enough (stupid for other reasons) and I knew what I was getting into - but again, that's more a game where I'm less the protagonist and more the deity moving the protagonist about to my whim.

It seems only that games requiring (or where I would desire) an insertion play method are just... not appealing to me if that vessel doesn't have my form.

 

[jehk]

Do you find yourself not feeling a desire to play games that do not offer a male or female protagonist choice, the way others do i.e. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3/NV, Skyrim and so forth?

It's really depends. Some male protagonists are nothing but surrogates for the male power fantasy. So sick of it. The Witcher is a perfect example.

It's all about finding someone I can relate to regardless of gender.

The Walking Dead is a great counter example. Lee was a great male protagonist.

Hm. I've been hearing good things about that one too - I just got disenchanted with the TV series (and the last, oh, say 20 pages of the Compendium I of the graphic novel) so I wasn't totally keen, but maybe I could look into it. Change of pace anyway.

Haha. I can't blame you on the TV show. While there's some good parts, it has issues.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Do you find yourself not feeling a desire to play games that do not offer a male or female protagonist choice, the way others do i.e. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3/NV, Skyrim and so forth?

It's really depends. Some male protagonists are nothing but surrogates for the male power fantasy. So sick of it. The Witcher is a perfect example.

It's all about finding someone I can relate to regardless of gender.

The Walking Dead is a great counter example. Lee was a great male protagonist.

Hm. I've been hearing good things about that one too - I just got disenchanted with the TV series (and the last, oh, say 20 pages of the Compendium I of the graphic novel) so I wasn't totally keen, but maybe I could look into it. Change of pace anyway.

Haha. I can't blame you on the TV show. While there's some good parts, it has issues.

Not to derail my own thread (oh what the hell lol) but I lost a lot of the zeal for it even in Season I (though I kept watching as the family did) when

Spoiler

Lori did not have an adult conversation with her man like, the MORNING AFTER he came back, explaining to him that when the world ended and she thought he was dead she got down with the guy who saved her ass and her kid's ass and the dynamic was going to have to either shift accordingly since the world has essentially ended and rules should probably get flexible fast OR the three of them should hash it out like grown ups before doing anything else. Seriously. She was such a problem and continues to be such a problem and I wished every episode that she would just die already - the earlier the better - so that shit could stop being drama at the end of the world. Drama. At the end of the world. So ridiculous. She's still causing problems I hear (have a night class, stopped watching) even dead! /sigh Also... they've proved to me multiple times that they don't deserve to have survived the zombie apocalypse; most of them (most, not all, but the majority) are too stupid to live and the fact that they are the survivors rankles me to no end for that fact alone

 

[darth.pixie]

Not really...I mean, it depends if the RPG in question is intended at showing a story or actually allow deep role-play.

The Witcher for example, is not about role-play but the about Geralt, who already has a fixed personality that doesn't even belong to CD Projekt, but the author of the Witcher books. He is his own man and you're just moving him from place to place. I'd extend the same discussion to Mass Effect or DA2, in which it hardly matters what you pick, both Shepard and Hawke will do something to break you out of role-play. They're their own people there and you picking green or blue doesn't change that much...

In other role-playing games, though, like DA:O or NWN, yes I would be bothered by the non-female character, not because of anything other than limited options. Same with how you can't play a tiefling, drow or halfling in a D&D game. If you are intent on role-play you should have as many options at character customization as possible. That includes but is not limited to female. If I want an avatar me, a moon princess exiled on the earth or a barbarian orc who likes fire, I damn well want to be able to create them.

 

[putowtin]

No,
I don't avoid games that don't give you a female protagonist to play as (I'd miss out on so many great games).
But I do think that (with some games) the studio's have missed out on great opportunities by not including a female choice.

 

[Gypsyssilver]

So here's my question: Do you find yourself not feeling a desire to play games that do not offer a male or female protagonist choice, the way others do i.e. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout 3/NV, Skyrim and so forth?

I've been thinking about male vs female character choice on-and-off for the last few years now.

The two most recent games that made me ponder it were Dragon Age II and the Mass Effect series.

In those two it was really hard for me to play as a female character. If I was playing as Hawke, then I just HAD to leave it at the default male character. Playing as Shepard in Mass Effect? I played as the default male Shepard. When I did eventually try them as the female versions - it didn't feel right. I couldn't believe them in the role.

At the time it really made me think. Why wasn't I choosing female characters in my games? Was I biased against my own gender in some way?

I then realised that it wasn't games in general - it was those specific types of games. The games that have a detailed choice system to help you sculpt your own perfect character - but where the game developers have already come up with their own version of an ideal.

All of the box art, reviews and videos had shown the standard male default character models. As such, those default models BECAME the characters for me.

It wasn't the fact that I was playing a girl character that was weirding me out - it was that I was playing off-model. It was just as weird when I tried to play a male character with different hair or facial features. A blonde Hawke? No way!

I realised that in every game I'd played before where there wasn't one 'representative' character model - I'd always chosen female characters - without even thinking about it.

I remembered the Female Breton I'd played in Morrowind, the Golden-Elf Female I'd played in Oblivion, the fact that I'd always choose female when playing any of the Fable games, the large amount of time I'd spent mucking around choosing different hairstyles on my female character in Kingdoms of Amalur... I'd even exclusively played as female characters in the first Dragon Age game, no matter the race I chose.

So I guess that I don't mind playing male characters - even prefer it if I feel that the male version now represents a particular character for me.

But otherwise - I'd much rather be playing as a girl.

I don't know if it's down to the whole guilty pleasure of loving to dress up my character like a Barbie doll (because I really do love that - especially when I can change the hairstyle as well)

Or if it's just that I can better relate to a female character.

I'm not sure, I just know that I do.

 

[piinyouri]

Nope, I'm not really bothered or persuaded by protagonists of either gender.
I'll pretty much play (as) anything.

 

[sweetylnumb]

I personally never really cared much about my gender being reppressed and all that jazz. i play games i like, end of story. i dont take offense at games about guys, it was never really a girls world until recently. i dont find i need strong female role models to look up to, i can find male ones and real, alive females. Maybe im desensitised to feminine and the "patriachy" and all that, but other than my ability and the expectation of me to one day give birth to a screaming pile of flesh, im fine with being female and a gamer and playing skyrim and assassins creed alike.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I will play games where there are male protagonists but like you OP I really love playing as a woman. I think it's obvious from the female fanbases of the games you mentioned that it's obviously a significant factor for female gamers.

The recent Tomb Raider game just feels amazing to me. I have always loved the Tomb Raider games but this one just lets me put myself in the shoes of the badass protagonist. It's just a feeling I haven't experienced in this gen and with the improved graphics its just great.

I really can't bring myself to play The Witcher but I'm hoping I can experience CDProjekts work more comfortably in Cyberpunk 2077.

It annoys me when little games don't have a female character from the beginning like Awesomenauts or Magicka. Mostly because they are literally just avatars and there is no excuse. I usually go on twitter and shout at whichever company makes them

On the other side of this we have to consider that it kind of justifies games developers making male protagonists to an extent as of course your own gender will appeal to you more. However, since the percentage of female gamers is increasing (and I have heard they are basically keeping the 3DS afloat) gender swap characters are really something they should consider more.

I'm personally hoping the success of Tomb Raider will encourage more devs to choose ladies as their protags.

 

[Dr. Doomsduck]

Yes! Absolutely! it's something that I've been bothered by recently. It might have something to do with coming off a streak of Oblivion, Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Mass Effect 2, Fallout New Vegas, Skyrim and Mass effect 3, only to go right back to Skyrim. Then I decided what the hell, that Dishonored thing sounds awesome, let's try it, only to be completely weirded out by everyone in the game refering to me as a 'he'. I did play the game through, so it's not like I won't play a game if they can't designate me as a female.

But yeah, it's a bit of a nag.

 

[josemlopes]

Im a dude but playing as Lara Croft didnt bothered me or anything, so... yeah. Even playing as a female in SR3 for a particular achievment didnt bothered me either.

 

[Kaymish]

i prefer games with the option not to say i would not buy a game that does not let me play as a female but it seems i don't enjoy them as much for some reason its one of the reasons i prefer saints row to GTA however there is the batman he was different i played heaps of arkham asylum and am getting into arkham city now too and didnt get turned off as much as other games do
i wish there more games that had the sole PC as a female and that are not morons

 

[BartyMae]

Male: No, I don't really care either way - whether I'm forced to play a female, male, or my own choice. Actually, I think I prefer if they don't give me a choice a little over being able to choose, simply because I'm bad at creating things, especially artistic representations.

And anyways, I prefer first person games for personal adventure games, (S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Mirror's Edge, etc.), so it generally matters little to me. Can't see myself, anyways.

 

[Starik20X6]

I can only imagine that it must be incredibly alienating to be so under represented in games. As a budding game designer, one of my aims is to have customisable characters wherever possible. I'm more a 'gameplay over story' type, so the gender/appearance of the main character is often irrelevant in the concepts I come up with.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I don't think this is specifically a gender thing. Some people like to play games with an avatar that represents them, that lets them directly interact with the world. Gordon Freeman is a mute, blank slate - no-one "identifies" with Gordon Freeman, rather, they fill his shoes. You are Gordon Freeman in Half-Life and its sequels. You do not play as Gordon Freeman.

Conversely, I am not Riddick. I do identify with Riddick. So when I play Chronicles of Riddick, I do not associate with the character, I'm not taking over for the character, I am merely controlling the character. This is usually the case with most games that have a written protagonist though. And like I said, it isn't a gender thing - I can fill in the character of Samus in Metroid Prime, because she's a mute vessel for the player to project upon. But I sure as hell can't associate or fill in Lara Croft, or Samus in Metroid: Other M.

Now, I don't have to play as an avatar representing me, or a blank slate, or what have you. But for many people that's what gaming is for - to interact personally with a virtual world. It is definitely not just because they're male and you're not. Probably. I'm making severe assumptions about what you play videogames for. I might have missed the mark completely. I'm not qualified to say these things, I mean. I'm just a dude on the internet. If I've said anything out of turn... assume I have zero intelligence.