Poll: Avatar Gender Question...

[kidragakash]

I've encountered this a fair bit as a female game player, and it ticks me of a tad.

If I have a female avatar on a MMORPG, every idiot I run into immediately asks me if I am really a girl If I am hot, and would I use my mic to cyber... *sigh*

My queastion is, are there really that many guys who play as female avatars, and why do you do it? Curiousity about the motivation...

 

[Celestialum]

Same. I played WoW for a few years and went from a male dwarf to a male belf (what's the difference though?). In Age of Conan, I had a female avatar and a male one. And finally, in EVE, another male. At the end of the day, I'm right there with Idealist; if a character or persona looks cool, don't mind the gender. Has anyone ever stopped you from rolling a Barbarian, saying, "Dude, you're not some superhuman death machine. Why are you playing one?" Just look at the articles posted on this site a week or two ago: westerners are a lot less accepting of gender bending in any form than other cultures.

That's the fun of video games, you get to do things you can't do in real life. As far as cyber sex goes, there will always be teenage boys desperate for some ta-tas. Just move on from it.

 

[seventy7l]

If i like the models on the characters then whatever mood i am in that is the gender i choose.

 

[dreadedcandiru99]

I've only played a few MMOs, but when I was in an extra-jerkish mood, I'd create a female avatar and then dupe some horny idiots into throwing cash and weapons at me. And then I'd give it all away to some random passerby, tell the idiots that no, I wasn't actually a chick, and delete the character. Hopefully, some of those guys learned a valuable lesson.

 

[MrSnugglesworth]

Either assume its a guy, or don't care.


The reason I have a girl avatar is because if I'm gonna be following her around for all those hours, I better be looking at something nice.

 

[Venatio]

Assume its a guy, especially in an MMO.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

Hey babe, come here often?


On a serious note, I make no assumptions either way, but for some reason it's particularly noticeable to me when a girl completely kicks ass (be it an FPS, MMO, whatever). Not because "girls aren't as good" or anything stupid like that, but because I just see it happen less frequently.

Plus the dicks who ask you to cyber are just taking advantage of interweb anonymity. They'd probably piss themselves if they had to talk to you face to face.

To answer your question, no I don't use female avatars. But I have played as a chick in certain RPGs (Mass Effect, Fable, etc.) to see the different voicework/storylines/what have you.

 

[Kimarous]

Personally, I don't really assume either way. More often than not, I tend to solo things anyway; I've never stuck with an MMO long enough to require full-blown party assistance.

 

[APPCRASH]

Short answer: boobs.
My opinion: I prefer to stick to my own gender. I prefer more realistic games, and usually in newer games if you have a female avatar and you equip the "Full Plate Armor of Invincibility" you find that it is a chain mail bra and nothing else, but if you are a male character you are fully encased.

 

[Paragon Fury]

It depends on how I want to character to be. Sometimes the female option just sounds or looks cooler.

 

[Ph33nix]

I do it sometimes because hell i don't want to be staring at a guy's ass for the dozens hours it takes to get to the level cap. Sometimes though its also that the female models look less retarded than the male ones IE Rappelz

often though I will just make a male character because w/e normally the female character is my alt.

 

[Ultress]

I've never really played a game like an MMO so I really can't say but most of the time I play as a girl to live out my random fantasies. Take from that what you will.

 

[ix_tab]

I tend to pick female characters over males in games, because as a lady who likes ladies, I am just shallow enough to want to watch something I enjoy sashay their way though the pixelated world.

But I don't assume anyone is any gender based on an avatar or character they are playing.

 

[God's Clown]

I make both female and male avatars. Final Fantasy 11 I was a mithra, because cat chicks make awesome melee fighters. World of Warcraft I was a Blood Elf male. More often then not female models are better then male ones.

 

[dalek sec]

Assume its a guy, especially in an MMO.

Pretty much this for the most part.

 

[Mordwyl]

I found it to be a learning experience. Seeing how a female character/player gets treated by the general populace made me realise how hard real girl gamers have it when playing in multiplayer communities.

But to answer the question, whichever race looks less like ass or more badass, I play it. In World of Warcraft this would essentially make me play the female blood elves and draenei, otherwise play the male tauren, trolls, dwarves, gnomes, orcs and night elves. Humans and undead are both too squick.

 

[Chicago Ted]

I generally assume it's a guy, but I could care less.

 

[YurdleTheTurtle]

I pretty much don't care. Often times I don't assume their gender (because you actually don't know), so if I refer to them, I use phrases like "he/she". Usually people will then say their actual gender, but I usually don't ask them directly right away.