Playing as a Different Gender

[AdmiralMemo]

In any RPG, MMO or otherwise, I always go through the first go as "me" so as a male first. Then, any alternates, they'll usually end up about 75/25 as women/men. In my second and subsequent play-throughs, I'm looking for something "different" and playing a female character would do that.

In most games, gender is immaterial to the game mechanics anyway, and it's only a visual difference.

 

[teh_Canape]

really, it just boils down to personal preference
why do you play races other than humans? why do you play genders other than yours? simply because you want to or it's more in tune with your preferences (be it character stats or aesthetics)
except for Mass Effect, in which I could not bare male shepard's voice XD

but I think it could also be related to Yahtzee's column on Dragon Age 2 and his homosexual romance, that while he himself isn't homosexual, he went that route because he saw his character as one, and that's what it is, you're not yourself in those games, you're Role-Playing as someone else, sure you can create/modify that character to be like yourself and stuff like that, but it's still not you =P

 

[Anthony Wells]

haha i feel you, i quit WOW back in '06 and never looked back. Once the illusion of "massive game world" is gone, all thats left is a really boring, SUPERslow rpg

i quit after getting to level 8..it just got so boring...

 

[JdaS]

I do it a lot, actually. My Shepard is female, I've played females in Pokémon of all places and at some point I developed an intrest towards playing female characters in fighting games. Juri, Vice, Mature...

My friend says "it's gay" and one guy on stream once said that guys who do this have "latent homosexual tendencies" but then again they're just typical insecure beta males so what do they know?

 

[kenu12345]

The only reason it bothers me is because there are people who get off soo much when played as the opposite sex

 

[LiL'Tic]

it really doesnt matter, plus most female characters have datass

 

[rigabear]

For me, role playing games are more fun the more invested I am in the character (as with films, books, whatever).
The more I can relate (surely projecting is the ultimate form of relating, no?) the more invested I am.
I probably project WAAAAY to much when I play games. Oh well...

Its also the reason I find it hard to be an irrationally evil character in games - kills the immersion if I'm thinking 'what would this character do?' as opposed to 'what would I do?'


Also was it just my bug, or did the Fallout New Vegas character always make female noises regardless of sex?

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

I do it because I don't want to stare at manase all the time.

 

[tetron]

I'd say I don't know why I play female characters in games. It's not something I really think about. The games where it holds a practical reason, such as a smaller hitbox or something to that effect, are so uncommon I can't even think of any, although I know I've come across them, and then you have the games that gender lock classes.

Most of the time I like playing as chicks because I think they just look cooler. For example I've been playing Wakfu recently. There's an assassin class and the male had this whole skullboy thing going on which I thought looked very stupid, so I went with the female. Then there's the sacrier class and the male for that class I felt looked way cooler than the female.

I somewhat stereotype my characters but not really in the traditional way. My female characters will be warriors, tanks, and agility based and my male characters will be healers, mages, paladins, and leaders.

In games like Fable my female characters tend to be kinda evil, or at least not very nice. My male characters are pretty much always heroic defenders of all life types.

 

[Ddgafd]

I play both if given the choice. Male first, then female. That's how I've always done it and that's how I'm going to keep on doing it.

There's nothing wrong in playing as the opposite gender. I think that it gives a new view of the game, regardless of changes or lack thereof. And, I have to admit, it is nice to look at dat ass.

 

[GameMaNiAC]

I usually play as a male in RPGs because I like to think that's me in the game, it helps me immerse myself into the universe. But I have nothing against playing as a female character, I just like more immersion.

 

[Lieju]

I'm female myself.

Since most video-game characters are male anyway, I tend to play as a woman if I get a choice. But I can play as a guy as well, especially if I roleplay as a someone who has a very different personality than mine.

And often I have chosen to play as a character because their design looks cool.
In Saint's Row 2 I played as a guy because I liked one of the male voice actors.

In general, I tend to identify with scientist/philosopher type characters.

If I get a choice between female warrior and male mad scientist, I'm most likely going to identify more with the scientist.

 

[NorthernStar]

If playing as someone of the opposite sex would cause problems then I might just give up gaming altogether. In general, there are more male leads than female leads around anyway.

Interestingly enough, I play with a male shepard in ME2 (and I'm female), while my male colleagues play with a Femshep.

But honestly, I could not care less if the sex of the character corresponds with my own. As long as the characters are well written, I don't mind. Besides, there's no saying I'll automatically connect to the character if she just happens to be of the same sex as I am.

That being said, when I can pick a character, I usually pick the female option.

 

[boag]

What was the last conflict that required the Canada, Italy or New Zealand to use Frontline combatants?

I don't know, I've heard there may be these little pockets of problems in the Middle East but I'm not so sure. Probably rumours or something. My sister in law may or may not have been on the streets of Iraq, it might've been something I've eaten causing hallucinations though.

Also, the flying thing was a real threat, until the advancements of Cabin Pressurization and Flight Suits.

Sexist misinformation, have a read of this instead: Fast Women (.pdf) [http://warriordoc.com/Fast%20Women.pdf]

Look up Subchorionic Hemorrhage

About as relevant as saying "Look up Varicocele". Quick 'n dirty C&P from a medical information website; There is no known cause for a SCH but many researchers speculate that during egg implantation, the egg slightly separates or tears from the uterus causing a bleed. There is nothing a woman did or could have done to cause or prevent them. SCH occurs to pregnant women of all ages and races.

So yeah, maybe there is bleed over (pardon the unintentional pun) from American society and their views on women in their games?

Your study says they are more susceptible to decompression and motion sickness, Like I said, until cabin pressurization and flight suits were developed it was a real problem, not a made up fantasy.

 

[Jfswift]

Sometimes I'll play a female character in a game. Usually if they have attractive models or interesting personalities. It's just a game and I like the idea of experiencing a world through a different viewpoint. I was just reading an above post about online flirting (that's a good idea )

 

[lowkey_jotunn]

For me at least, it's not terribly "strange" to play a female character, it just won't be my first choice.

If the game is an MMO or something with a gender select option, I'll pick a male. If the game has preset characters (League of Legends for example) I won't hesitate to play one of the females, if they look fun.


Back to RPGs: if I'm trying to actually Role Play a character, I find it easier to role play a male who is evil (I tend to consider myself non-evil in person) than a female with the same basic human qualities as me irl.

 

[CrystalShadow]

I used to always play male characters in online games, since I was creeped on a lot.

I just generally enjoy the escapism of it. Though I'm finding in MMO's these days, people don't assume you are the same gender as your screen character.

Interesting you'd say that, because I still seem to notice people behaviour in a lot of cases still depends on them thinking you're the same sex as your avatar.

Although I guess it's possibly more obvious in some cases than others...

There's jokes around about men playing female characters and then doing things that an actual woman probably wouldn't do...

But then you're no longer reacting to just the avatar, but also how a person behaves...

 

[modernRecluse]

Mostly for me it depends on the game, given that I'm male I'm more likely to pick male for my character if I'm given a choice in that matter. But as has been oft-repeated in this thread if I'm gonna be staring at an ass for hours on end, might as well make it a nice ass.

I think the one game that I will play exclusively female would have to be Mass Effect. I played a few campaigns male, but after trying Fem!Shep, I won't go back. She is leaps and bounds better than Man!Shep. Then there's the thing that the over-muscled, grizzled, space marine kicking loads of ass has been done to death. And then there is THE PRIIIIIIIIZE. Nah, I'm kidding. Jacob's a cool guy, but it's all about Garrus.