Poll: Do you ever play as your opposite gender in RPG's?

[Ren_Li]

Yup, I usually play through at least twice- once as male and once as female. That way I can find a character that sits right with me and with the other characters, story, etc. A few games I specifically prefer a female, for whatever reason- plus, we don't see enough women saving the country/planet/galaxy. Women kicking ass are awesome.

The only games I've played where I couldn't play all the way through as a woman were Skyrim and Dragon Age 2 (the second one, not for the reason most people will assume.) Skyrim I was really bothered by the armour design for female characters- and let's face it, how they look is really the only reason to decide gender for Skyrim, the Dragonborn is hardly a fleshed out character- and in Dragon Age 2, a female Hawke had so many things which just bugged the shit out of me. I'm able to enjoy the game despite it's flaws, but it took me one conversation with a female Hawke for me to decide I hated her voice and the way she ran and the appearance options and just... Argh. Couldn't get past the intro bit with her.

 

[Tahaneira]

Fairly often, yeah. My first playthrough is as my own gender, but if I go back and do other runthroughs, at least one of them will usually be a female. Usually for no particular reason other than seeing how it changes the game, if at all.

 

[Weresquirrel]

Almost exclusively. Usually because of the aesthetics. I usually prefer rogues/magic users, and since the default male body is typically a burly muscle builder shape, it just looks a little odd for them to be running around in robes.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Yep. Like the idea of a woman kicking ass and saving the world. Plus they seem more interesting. Look at ME series, fem shep was better. Especially if they are well written.

 

[lacktheknack]

More often than not. I play RPGs to role play, not emulate real life.

When I want to do that, I'll play action games.

Besides, women usually fit into my "I want to roleplay as something bizarre" playtype. If I'm going to play a wizard, I'll usually make a buff male with a high strength. If I'm going to play the sneaky rogue, I'll typically play a fat woman. Etc.

 

[Frankster]

It depends but for my first playthrough in an rpg i need to to be as close to the character as possible so as to be immersed, to this end i usually opt for the same gender to give some common ground.
Once i know the gameworld better then i can make the role playing challenge a bit more difficult by playing the opposite gender, this is assuming of course the game does a half decent job of making the gender matter if not i wont bother.
In all honesty though female playthroughs tend to be disappointing due to it being just cosmetic or a couple of "eugh men...*rolls eyes*" type responses here and there, but you occasionally get decent ones.


Regarding the "if im gonna play a long rpg id rather stare at the ass of the opposite gender " stance (notice ive worded it to be gender neutral ), this would be reflective of if the person considers themself to be the avatar or if they are merely directing it, if you're immersed into the character then you kind don't think of the ass since it's your own.

 

[Axzarious]

Depends on the options for the genders and all.

Mechanical benefit or superior armours of the kickass variety for one gender? That has weight.

To give an example - In world of warcraft I can't really stand the way most of the males are structured in terms of body shape. This leaves the bulk of the males only open for Warrior or Death knight. With the exception of the blood elf male (Which had a body type I actually found tolerable and believable enough to fit into any role), the other ones like the Undead male lost to the female in terms of combat animations. Undead female acrobatic flips ftw!

Then there was the troll female and the horrible, stiff, animations that looked like she was some kind of marionette operated by a partially calcified human.

The Blood Elf Female I also had issue with, as the weapons they wielded were horribly undersized a lot of the time, which I kind of found ridiculous. Mainly for things like swords and stuff.

Human and Draenai males? They look like firetrucks.

 

[lacktheknack]

I do, but a lot of it depends on the character creation. I play whatever gender looks better, and for human races that usually means if I can make a bishounen I'm going to play male. If I can't I play female. In TES I'll never play a female argonian because they look off to me for some reason.

But then you'll never recreate the Lusty Argonian Maid. D:

 

[A3sir]

I pretty much only play females, as a male, in RPGs. I like strong female characters, a la Buffy, Sam Carter, etc. I find males are all pretty samesy whereas females have a lot more under the surface to uncover.

 

[hermes]

Yes, except when the character creator is not very good. For example, after I realized that I couldn't make a woman in ME 1 that didn't look like a hunchbacked giraffe, I decided to use the standard male character instead.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I tend to play males more or less 80% in my gaming unless it's a game where you have to play as the opposite gender which I'm perfectly fine with, however I strongly identify with being male so it feels right for me to play as one with the one exception of playing as a female Pandaren in WoW because I liked the jokes and how the armour suited on them compared to their Male counterparts.

Shame for my room mate though he only seems to play as females any chance he gets and he never gives any good reasons let alone reasons to not play a male which he is.

 

[go-10]

first playthrough almost always go with a good male

second time I play and evil female > mostly because I already understand the game and it's layouts so I can make the most of it

 

[DarkhoIlow]

If there is an option, then yes. This of course depends if the game is worth replaying.

I tend to usually start with a male character, but in some cases like Shadowrun Returns I started and finished it with an Elf female. This happens very rarely however.

 

[Cannibal Johnson]

I always play male when given a choice. I just helps for immersion and the fact that I'm not a huge fan of female main characters. I don't hate female main characters I just like male main characters more. They are easier to relate to for me

 

[Sabitsuki]

Very rarely do I opt for playing the opposite gender, since I tend to be a bit more relived when presented with the option to be able to play a female character in a story driven environment.

The only really notable example would be Mass Effect which I went through the entire series playing female then male. I initially created a male character for the sole purpose of being able to romance Tali, because she is just too adorable and straight as an arrow *fist shake*. Though I ended up being pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed my male Shepard. I was honestly probably more completely satisfied with how my male Shepard looked compared to my female Shepard, and at many times usually ended up more satisfied with my choices (Though that's likely because I knew all the choices by the time I rolled out my Male Shepard).

Otherwise, I tend to stick with characters that have lady parts.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I take it you mean if theres a choice here and that all classes and races are available to all sexes equally because unless one looks really frikkin cool gender is irrelevant to me well actually in most cases gender is irrelavant to me in RPGs as all other things equal I just choose the one I think looks the most awesome sometimes thats a male and other times a female.

So yeah I have and will play female RPG characters quite happily in most RPGs or at least as happily as I play males anyway.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Nope, never did. Maybe it's an immersion thing. Most female characters are designed to be stripperific bombshells, which I have a hard time relating to. Even if I were a woman that would be a bit of a turn off, I think. At least it is for my sister, who used to choose the male option in RPGs.

 

[AidoZonkey]

I do it all the time in RPG's to get a broader range of the mechanics of the game. I love it when there is a difference in stats depending on the who you picked in a game and the different resonances from the characters. For instance the in mass effect 2


Now MMORPGs are a different story, I just cant be asked to deal with people messing around thinking im a woman player, its just to much hassle for something not all that important.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Most times, yes. Why? Because I want to look pretty sometimes.