Playing as a Different Gender

[Carl The Manicorn]

I usually play as a guy when I play an RPG or if there is a create your character. When I play games that have that mechanic in it, I just try to create myself. When choices pop up, I go with the ones that I know that, if I were in that situation, I would go with. It makes me sink myself into the game or experience just that much more.

I have plenty of friends that play as girls online. My friend Dom plays MMOs as a girl, just because he can. And my stepdad plays online as girl because he likes it when people think they get beat by a woman. Also, because everyone will underestimate him because of his sex. He gets a good kick out of it when they end up getting their ass kicked.

Has anyone read "Ready Player One" in here? When I read this thread, all that came to mind was the part when you find out that a certain character is actually the opposite sex. The reaction the main character has is how I would feel. I won't spoil it for anyone who is currently reading the book.

And if you haven't read it yet, please go and purchase it. It is a great piece of gaming art that will bring about some great senses of nostalgia. Great fucking book.

 

[Matthew Dunn]

I play female characters because if im going to stare at an ass in an mmo all day
i might as well enjoy it

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I play as both genders, with a slight inclination towards my own (male)

I personally see no problem with it. I'm comfortable with my sexual and gender orientation, and no one has really given me a hard time about it.

 

[Fappy]

Wow, this thread apparently exploded since I last logged on yesterday afternoon. 9 quotes in my inbox

Keep it coming guys. Also, I wouldn't mind seeing someone through up a discussion in the Offtopic forums for our sub-conversation about women in the military. Interesting stuff.

 

[everythingbeeps]

Two very simple reasons:

1. much nicer to look at.
2. I'm not one of those people who imagines I'm in the video game. I don't play "me".

 

[kasperbbs]

In rpgs i usually play both, so see if there is a difference in some quests or dialogue, right now i'm playing with a stealthy female archer in skyrim and there is no difference whatsoever except for some npc calling me 'lass' in thieves guild..

 

[waj9876]

I'll usually play as a guy in any game that gives me the option...But the rare instance when I either can't change an ugly character to look better, or am set with an ugly character automatically, I'll probably switch to a girl. Those guys who make video games do spend a lot longer making sure the female characters look unrealistically sexy/not that muscular for the time period/location. Why not enjoy it sometimes?

 

[SAMAS]

What's weird about me is not that I tend to play as the opposite sex, but I actually play a specific girl. I may change details later, but she almost always starts as a dark-skinned girl with blue hair. I even use the same name, as she started as a secondary character in a forum-based RPG I played. If I make a character after that, it's usually male, but I always start with her.

 

[Fappy]

Now, if only Bioware will add a patch that lets me romance Mako....

I felt that way at first but after about the halfway mark I felt, "Nah, she's like a sister to me now." It would feel wrong to romance Mako as a female, even if she was a lesbian imo.

 

[westcoast1313]

Since i have to play an RPG that gives me the opportunity to create a character and choose its gender only once, yes i have. Some of my favourite gaming experiences are playing as an butt kicking Renegade female Shepard in the Mass Effect Series and the adventures of my female character in Fallout 2 who slept her way through the entire game basically. Ahhhh to be 10 again

Anyways yes i do play as a female character (male here) but only after i have played the males story/version/whatever

 

[michael87cn]

I know this has been discussed on every video game related message board since the dawn of time but I haven't seen it discussed here before, so... here we go!

Playing the opposite sex. Why do people find it strange? Usually people don't pay any mind to playing another gender when the game forces you to, but in RPGs especially (both video game and table top) many people have stigmas against men plays as women and vice versa.

Just the other night my step dad saw me playing TOR and asked, "Why are you a girl?"

I responded with, "I don't know. Just cause?"

Here's what I don't understand about the stigma: In most cases this is most prevalent in RPGs, games in which you take on a role. The most commonly relatable protagonist to role play for most men is a male who is a generally nice guy. It makes sense that most people would play that character as it is easy to get into and understand the character. The part that doesn't make sense is when men roleplay as male characters, DON'T go that path or another similar to their own ideas/personality/morals,etc. and actually role play an entirely different kind of person than themselves how does gender really make that much of a difference? Yes I can relate to a male more than a female since I am male, but I can relate to a female with similar convictions than I could a male sociopath.

Anyway I think I tired out my introduction, discuss!

I've seen this thread at least a hundred times over the course of a decade or so... it all stems from poorly developed cultural flaws in our societies.

My father too, said that to me when I was like, 12, playing EverQuest. I had made a 'High Elf' Wizard. I picked female because wizards wore robes, and I thought the males looked like silly old men. I didn't want to play an old man, so I only had one other option. Okay, I had two options, quit the game and delete it, but what the crap kind of option is that? I wanted to play the game.

Anyway, I make characters based on how interesting I find them. If the game doesn't provide interesting male characters, I don't play them, if they don't provide interesting female ones either, I just pick the best appearance I can (male or female) and deal with it. It's not a big deal to me.

Anyway, in my opinion its no different than getting immersed into a movie or book with a female main character. You aren't supposed to be projecting YOURSELF into your character, you're PLAYING the ROLE in a GAME of a character. Of course, you CAN make yourself a character, and some people do that. Nothing wrong with that either. I've never had a problem playing a game like, The Longest Journey, or Tomb Raider, games with female characters. Because I don't try to project myself into the character. Nobody else does, either. But in MMORPGs....(continued below)

I find that a main source of frustration from those who protest men playing women or women playing men in games, mainly mmos... is because they are actively seeking or hoping for the possibility of an e-relationship with someone that could lead to a real one. When they make a friend and find out they're actually a man, they get frustrated because they were using the game as a means to replace or fill in for, real life socialization. So naturally, they're frustrated. But unfortunately don't realize that they are in error to behave like that, and that very rarely does anything positive come from investing in internet friends. You hear about it, sure, but its like winning the lottery, finding a decent human being online. Its even rarer to find and KEEP a friend over any decent course of time. E-friendships evaporate like water. Its better to NOT project yourself into your video games and just play them for fun, and find socialization in real life. That doesn't mean you CAN'T or SHOULDN'T socialize online, but don't replace real life with it.

Now, all this said, there are people who maliciously pretend to be the other gender for e-profit or "lulz". They are bastards.

 

[quysspe]

I'm a guy who doesn't mind playing female characters, and the reason is simple: If you're gonna watch the back end of a video game character 2 to 4 to 16 hours a day, it might as well be nice-looking. No one has really ever mistook me for a girl, so who cares?

 

[quysspe]

Double post I guess. The rules page came up twice.

 

[darksuccubus]

I'm a female gamer and I rarely play as men. The only male character I have is Tude from Rusty Hearts and that's only I like his style of fighting the most. Don't really feel like playing as a guy

 

[KingHodor]

Does playing as a different sexual orientation count? I recently found myself playing a gay guy in Dragon Age 2 and New Vegas, and a lesbian in Dragon Age 1.

Now, being a homosexual male in FO:NV is actually kind of awesome, because you get a 10% damage bonus against other males (i.e. everyone in Caesar's Legion and most fighters of the other factions), but in Dragon Age 2... I guess I went with Anders because his whiny Justice-infused persona kind of reminded me of myself, and none of the females seemed particularly interesting.

 

[Fappy]

I've noticed a funny trend of most males commenting in the thread admitting to playing female characters while very few (if any) females have admitted to playing a male, given the choice. I do actually know a few females IRL that have played males (particularly in DnD strangely enough). I also noticed a lot of girls I know love playing male Khajiits XP

Might be due to the fact that female Khajiits in Skyrim look more like a race of feminine Master Splinters [http://laraandthereelboy.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/splinter.jpg] (albeit without the rat snout) and the male Khajiits look like standard adorable kitty-people.

 

[DarthPrefect]

I'll often choose to play a female character in an RPG, going all the way back to the original Fallout. Why? Well, it depends. Sometimes I feel like playing a male character, sometimes I'd rather play a female. If the game has romance options, that's also going to affect my decision - in Baldur's Gate 2 (without mods, anyway), I'll usually play as a male, because each of the three romance options you have as a male are more interesting than the one option you have as a female. In Dragon Age: Origins, Leliana and Zevran are available as romance options, so the male/female choice boils down to Alistair or Morrigan for me (in which case, Alistair is going to win ten times out of ten, leading to most my DA:O characters being female). Dragon Age 2 'fixed' this by making all romances (except Sebastian, but I never cared about him at all) available to both genders, but I really don't like MaleHawke's voice actor at all, so I generally play FemHawke in that game. Finally, I remember playing mostly males in KotOR 2 because I liked the Handmaiden and hated Disciple, so playing a female character didn't appeal as much to me in that one. So, so far, romance options, voice actors, and NPCs have affected my decisions here.

In games where neither of these are an issue, like Skyrim or Fallout 3, I'd say I play men and women equally. In both those games, I'll constantly be using first person anyway, so I'll hardly ever actually see my own character once I leave character creation. Either way, it feels less strange to play a female character than it does playing a walking lizard or a cat-person...

 

[LilithSlave]

Because it seems kinda transgender to many people to identify yourself as a character of a gender you are not. And macho douchebags have a problem with that.

The type of guys who like to play video games to feel "manly" and "badass" instead of going out to the gym.

I think players and developers like that help contribute to the fact most video games are about guys.

Funny, I don't have people jumping down my throat about playing a male character as a woman. Hmmm.

 

[Fappy]

Funny, I don't have people jumping down my throat about playing a male character as a woman. Hmmm.

Women who play male characters are suffering from Freudian Penis-envy! >

 

[Anthony Wells]

im a guy and i wouldnt say any of those thigns if i was asked.. i want equal rights for all...peace...all that jazz.. but honestly i can rp a female role to the point where you wouldnt know i was a guy in real life and yet you would never tell from how i act IRL... for the most part everything is subjective on a person by person basis...

Yes people want different things, I want to say that everyone at least wants freedom and independence, the power to control their own life, but upon reflection that isnt right. Some people would rather have others decide whats best for them and their life.

Do get your rocks off tricking people into thinking your a girl? Because to me, that isnt cool at all. I say be whoever you want to be, but be yourself at the same time. Seems paradoxical but it isnt if you really think about it.

i dont play online multiplayer games. and when i do i make it a point to ignore any person i come across because they are always scum...sometimes i make friends..i never lead them wrong with my gender if im playing a female character.. I am male..i let them know it..they start prying as to why im playing a female i give a short answer than if they dont stop bugging me i go away and ignore them. on that note however let me reiterate that i dont play mmo's or anything like that anymore because they got really damn boring to me.