Poll: do you prefer to play as male or female character ?

[Reaper195]

It depends on the game. If it makes no difference with the exception of a half-assed voice actor like Halo Reach, I usually stick with Male simply because it's a default. With the Fallout games, I pick Female because the Black Widow perk has some awesome conversation lines, and there are more male enemies than female enemies. TES games...it never really mattered to me. Gender make hardly any difference. Mass Effect....I chose FemShep simply because I was tired of the male space marine figure in military sci-fi games, and I wanted to change things up a notch. When I romanced Garrus in ME2...that was possibly the best character relationship I've ever seen since it was so utterly different to the norm. Female lead with completely alien looking male...it's not done enough.

Really, it comes down to whether the gender affects anything in the game with the exception of people saying he or she in conversations.

 

[TK421]

I prefer a male character, as it is more familiar to me. Sometimes I play a female, such as my Elementalist in GW2, but that's just because Sylvari seem more feminine to me and being a male one would feel odd.

 

[Krantos]

Depends entirely on the game.

Historically though, female.

Most generic, player-defined characters who are male are boring as hell. Making them female makes the game that much more interesting.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Either. If it's just the one main character and I'm forced, I don't really care. If I get to choose, I generally will have both represented in my multiple playthroughs. That said, Shepard was a brick while male and a decent character while female, which may seem counter-intuitive, but that's the impression I got.

 

[DeltaWolfson]

I'm a dude so I feel like playing as a dude. I have nothing against women but just feel weird playing a female, so I wont if I don't need too. If I could have the same ability's like if was playing as a male if I could a female so why make myself uncomfortable. I know that's a lame reason but whatever you wanted a reason and I gave it.

 

[Servallier]

I've always preferred female characters to male ones, generally slender ones with ridiculously long hair when that's an option.
My main reason is, it's more entertaining to watch a skinny girl kick someone's ass all over the place than a burly bloke.

 

[EboMan7x]

It's easier for me to roleplay as a male, being one myself. It's easier for me to figure out my character's personality if I can assume that up until the beginning of the game my character has more or less been myself.

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

If given the choice, I tend to choose a female character, just because the main characters on a lot of games are male and I like a bit of variety.

 

[Vertigo4321]

Sometimes male, sometimes female. Depends on what the game is.
With Skyrim, I played as a female Breton, but in Fallout: New Vegas I played as a male character. I play as a male character if I feel like projecting myself, like in Fallout. Other times I play as a female, just to for fun, like in Mass Effect. Seriously, it's refreshing to see an actual strong and cool female character in a game.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

I have to play as a 30 year old white Caucasian male in everything else, so I like to mix it up playing as a chick... and I'm going to be very blunt in saying that I'd rather stare a woman for hours as opposed to a man, but I also find it easier to connect with female protagonists.

 

[DeltaEdge]

I generally will play as a guy, simply because I am a male. It depends on the game as well. If it is a game where the character is basically a blank slate, then I will pretty much play as a dude 100% of the time. If the game has multiple gender options and they all come with their own personalities (which tends to be pretty rare in most of the games that I play), then I may play both because they are not the same character, and their experiences will be slightly different.
In things like MMORPGs, unless there are gender-locks on classes, I will 100% always play as a male mainly because I feel that the avatar is a representation of your self to an extent, not that I'd really have anything against someone who plays as the opposite gender.

 

[Kiyeri]

Being a guy in games just doesn't really interest me if given the option to choose a lady. I can relate more to a female since I am one, and since good female protagonists are usually few and far between, I try to show support when I can. We need more ladies in games that aren't just for ass-staring.

 

[purf]

I muck around with the character generator. What sticks, I'll choose.

From the games I've been playing recently, from the top of my head:
♀ Fallout New Vegas[footnote]Just started the game, prone to change/reset[/footnote], Skyrim[footnote]Destructionist Brawler. She's awesome. Might update with a screenshot[/footnote], Guild Wars 2[footnote]first character made - a thief that I don't really care about[/footnote]
♂ 2x Guild Wars 2[footnote]the warrior is very neglected. I love my Sylvari ranger, I AM my Sylvari ranger![/footnote], Torchlight 2[footnote]Some beserker. will not finish[/footnote]

So. Yeah. But outside of this sample I've probably made slightly more female characters.
edit after thinking about it for a while: Actually, I do prefer female characters - for two possibly contradicting reasons: 1.) is the old "If I stare at some person's ass for possibly 100+ hours it might as well be an ass that I enjoy looking at", while, mind you, I'll never pick the short pants + breast plate armour and 2.) for reasons that are tltr; and slightly off-topic I find an asskicking hero saving the world who happens to be a woman much more appealing.

Sylvari seem more feminine to me and being a male one would feel odd.

for me, being a female one felt too much

 

[Tahaneira]

I usually try to do a playthrough as each, but I start with male, and my main is usually male. Sometimes, it transpires that I prefer the chick, like when I play Knights of the Old Republic.

 

[FrostyChick]

If given the choice, I'll always play a female character in a video game. I just find it easier to associate with the character.
That and if given the choice, I'd rather stare at a girls ass than a guys for X number of hours.

For pen and paper gaming, I match gender to the concept. Though I probably do play more female characters.

 

[SidheKnight]

I'm male and choose male because of immersion.

 

[ecoho]

female for RPGs like Dragon Age and male for games like Mass Effect. why you may ask? because games like DA have better/ more likible romances when you play a woman and games like ME i kinda see it as playing myself.

 

[Saulkar]

I prefer to play as females given that it is different and I love to deal with sexism issues in games violently.

 

[C4tt4nn4]

As a woman, I identify more with female characters and whenever given the option choose a female. Second playthroughs are usually done with a male character.

me too. for immersion purposes: when i play as a male character, i feel more like someone calling the shots (a spectator of sorts), where as when i play as a girl, i can immerse myself more easily in the character.

 

[Lev The Red]

when i roleplay, i play male (my gender).

when i go back and replay, i play as a woman because women sometimes have better gender-specific perks.