Poll: Playing Characters of the Opposite Sex

[Brandon237]

I prefer to play female characters cause if im going to have to stare at someone`s arse the whole game i`d rather it be someone with 2 X chromosomes

Ninjas... I was honestly wondering when someone was going to bring that one up.

If it is deep roleplaying, I play as a male because that's what I know and it influences decisions a lot. If it ain't so problematic then I usually play as a female character.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Truly, its to see how the game comes together as a whole with a female protagonist. Since gaming in general is unable to create its own female characters who don't fall into easy pigeon holing (I love Bayonetta and Heavenly Sword's Nariko but they are stereotypes), allowing the player to characterise her (or him) is a neat way of avoiding those issues.


Mass Effect is about the king of this, MaleShep is pretty generic as shooter protagonists go, but FemShep, holy shit, a league all of her own. Jennifer Hale took the role and made it her own and now my personal canon is that of FemShep.

 

[Spark Ignition]

Not really but I usually choose not to do it. Games that allow you to chose sex are often RPGs and when im playing an RPG I make decisions based upon what I would do in that situation and I cant do so if im not playing a male character (my thought process could be different therfore Im not making my decision).

interesting, I sometimes pick a female character for the exact opposite reason. When playing a male character I have a tendency to make him look as much like me as possible and then make act like the hero I would aspire to be in that situation, whereas in say Fallout 3, which isn't that interesting when played by a dumbly heroic completionist, I felt the need to make a female character in order to distance myself from her and play her as a sneaky, manipulative scavenger who only occasionally gets pulled up by her conscience on the big choices (practically I needed an excuse to have her side with Megaton, as the luxury of tenpenny tower would not suit her scavvy lifestyle!). The game makes sooo much more sense that way! Until you start working with the brotherhood that is. Oh and I wanted to promie that creep in girdershade a threeesome and laugh when he got himself killed, hehe

 

[Kermi]

I don't have a problem with playing as a female if that's the gender of the game's protagonist anyway. I will sometimes elect to play as a female in some games though I often elect to play as a male by default. This goes for video games and went for table-top RPGs like Vampire: the Masquerade and D&D as well, back when I still played those.
You're playing a role regardless, gender is another switch you can flip either way. It's just a game.
My wife recently asked me to switch to a female model in Halo Reach to accomodate her because in some gametypes where you're using the sprint ability you're huffing and puffing - because she's used to only hearing female breathing it sometimes threw her off if I was sprinting in splitscreen because she'd think an enemy was running towards her.
Changing gender in Halo has not affected my gameplay one bit.

interesting, I sometimes pick a female character for the exact opposite reason. When playing a male character I have a tendency to make him look as much like me as possible and then make act like the hero I would aspire to be in that situation, whereas in say Fallout 3, which isn't that interesting when played by a dumbly heroic completionist, I felt the need to make a female character in order to distance myself from her and play her as a sneaky, manipulative scavenger who only occasionally gets pulled up by her conscience on the big choices (practically I needed an excuse to have her side with Megaton, as the luxury of tenpenny tower would not suit her scavvy lifestyle!). The game makes sooo much more sense that way! Until you start working with the brotherhood that is. Oh and I wanted to promie that creep in girdershade a threeesome and laugh when he got himself killed, hehe

Interestingly if I play an RPG through as a male, I also tend to play the blindly heroic do-gooder as well. Then when I do my second playthrough, doing my darndest to be a bastard, I play female. It's gotten to the point that all my female characters are evil - I'm sure a psychoanalyst would have something to say about me only committing atrocities against people when I'm being female, but it's just happenstance.
The only exclusion I can think of is Saint's Row 2. Two playthroughs, two female characters. Both malevolent psychopaths.

 

[Yegargeburble]

If the game gives me a choice, I end up playing both genders, just to see if there are any differences in the game. Really, I don't see an issue with playing the opposite gender.

 

[Vrach]

I'm fine with it, often roll female characters myself, though I would never claim to be of the opposite sex, that's a whole other matter.

It's odd though, it's a bit weird to see a girl playing a male character, but it's perfectly normal seeing a guy playing a female character. The statistics are also like that, more guys play female chars (am sure you heard the Many Men Online Role Playing Girls joke) than girls playing male ones.

It's a bit like guys usually love the idea of lesbians but girls usually find the idea of gays repulsive (am talking finding the idea sexually alluring, not being prejudiced against the homosexuals). And while most women are ok with guys enjoying the lesbian fantasy, most guys would be kinda surprised/repulsed at the idea of a girl having a fantasy about two guys.

 

[Zetacross]

I used to play as a male character all the time in games~
Then one day chatting with my friend he said:
"I'd rather stare at a girl's ass when I play"

After realizing that I had been staring at men's asses bobbing up and down for hours in games, from then on I played a female character- except for MMORPGs

 

[Mistermixmaster]

I don't mind it at all. A couple of my best online friends have been playing the opposite gender (both male and female) in MMOs. I've also done it a few times, though I prefer my main character in MMOs to be male. In singleplayer games however, I go with what I feel like would be best for me. In both Mass Effect games I play as female Shepard, but in Fallout 3/New Vegas I play as a male. It really is dependant on the game.

 

[Voltar3n]

It is called the "Tomb Raider" effect ~ when you find preference in a female character above a male one, simply for aestethical reasons.

My very first char on vanilla WoW was a human female warrior. I chose this because I decided that, if I were to play a a toon for an extended period of time, then I would at least let it be female.

This is from a completely Non-Rp perspective.

As an afterthought: "How can choosing a female character to play with make you less "manly" than playing a male?"

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

I played Dragon Age with a female because i wanted to play Mage..... and guy-mages look super Gay in that game. I don't have anything against Homosexuality, but i'm not one, so.
but anyway, i first wanted my character to hook up with Leliana, cause I'm all pro-gay and all Ahem!!.....But, I uhh... i mean my character...fell in Love with Alistair. I ...I mean SHE couldn't resist how funny and charming he was.... My character did it... not me......no homo.

 

[mekashiyu]

I'm like a lot of people who've responded here already. I don't mind playing characters of either sex, it's just usually I'll start off with female for the sheer familiarity of it, then once I've got game basics down I'll start up another round with a male character if I feel like going through it again. Though I will say that I feel awkward playing really beefy, manly characters, so I tend to stay away from them and/or customize my male character to be a little less of that and little more slender and lean in the physical build department. 'Cause, well...they kind of end up getting played the same way anyway. I just can't be a douche to anyone, even in an RPG, so I always end up taking the high and mighty road most times, which means all my characters' stories run together.

Uh, though I will say I find myself a little more comfortable around other female characters in MMO's, so if I find out one's being controlled by a guy it just seems a little odd. I have the tendency to assume he's in for the ass shots, especially if you can be the same class with the same abilities in different sexes (unlike Diablo where there's no real choice, just "this class = this sex, deal with it"). I know it's probably not true most of the time, but there's gotta be some guy out there who is. And it's not like I voice this thought to them at all and berate them on their gameplay choices, it's a game. But...yeah. Rant concluded. 8/

 

[captaincabbage]

Nah, there's nothing wrong with it. Most, if not all people have had ideas of fantasies about what it would be like to be the opposite sex, games just give you a way to explore it.

I'll always play through a game my first time as a guy if I have the choice, just because I feel that games are supposed to immerse you and I get that immersion mostly by pretending I'm the character.
As for the second time, it's fun to play as a girl. Granted I'll mostly run around naked, just for the sheer pleasure of lopping off someone's head as the scantily-clad teen viking babe Bruhilda the Boobelicious.

 

[smithy_2045]

Depends on how me-like I want to play. Being a woman is rather unlike me.

 

[AppleShrapnel]

Given the choice, I'll always play as a female... not AS a female, but just the avatar. You know what I mean. As to why; I'm a hetero male, and I have a sweet tooth for eye candy. :3

Though I must confess, when I got into mmo's waaaay back when City of Heroes and WoW were relatively new, I would've been much like your friend. Not sure what caused the transistion, really...

Anyhoo, I've never used my curvy avatar as a tool to get gold or items from others, and frankly, I don't mind the people who do... why? The guys that shell out shiny bits to alledged ladies in games are the ones that are way too desparate. It's THESE guys that end up with egg on their face. Chances are the con-artists are just getting a sinister kick out of it... not slogging through personal issues regarding their sexuality.

 

[Arawn.Chernobog]

Sometimes stories are enhanced by using a certain gender, I tend to pick the gender most meaningful to the story I'm building.

 

[BENZOOKA]

If I have an option to choose, I always play as a male. It doesn't bother me that much to play a female character, if I have no choice, but in no ways can I relate to that.

 

[BENZOOKA]

You'd have to be pretty uncertain of your own sexuality to be bothered by having a game avatar that happened to be of the opposite sex.

As well as, you'd have to be pretty uncertain of your own sexuality to be bothered by having a game avatar that happened to be of the same sex.

 

[Skarovich]

In the case of MMOs, or even most RPGs infact, I typically choose whichever gender would go best with the class/play-style I plan to play. Warrior? Almost always male. Rogue? Prefer female. Mage? Depends, but usually female; unless I'm going battle-mage.

Of course, there are always some exceptions; like If I'm giving the character a story and it just happens to work out better for the warrior to be a female, and so on.

Something I've found interesting is that in games where you have classes but can't choose the gender (Diablo 2, Vindictus, Sacred 2), there are some people who flat-out won't play the class simply because the gender isn't theirs.

I never knew this to happen until I went onto the Vindictus forums and saw a topic asking people if they would play such and such class. There were a surprising number of people saying they wouldn't, because of the gender-lock. Regardless if the class was superior and/or more fitting to their play style in other games.

 

[Ruffythepirate]

Some game-designers make games based on the idea that you project your personality onto the protagonist. This can be seen for example in Saints Row 1, where your character never says a word and is utterly without personality. In other games (most games), the protagonist does have a personality, does say things, and I my opinion is much easier to relate to. In games like Mass Effect, you can choose between a few predefined personalities by choosing your characters words and actions. In others again, like GTA4, the personality of the main character is pretty much set in stone.
I have always found it hard to project my own personality onto a character that doesn't have one, and I've definitely found it hard to relate to those characters. However, if you are one of those that can and often do project your own personality onto an in-game character, then I can see how you might find it odd if you are of two different genders. Games (usually) tell you a story through what goes on with the protagonist, and if somebody has a problem with playing a female character that has her own personality, that has no need for you to mix your own into the game, then I really can't see the reasoning behind that. Very few among us will find it hard to watch the movie Alien because the main character is a woman.
A whole other discussion is the one about MMO's. When you choose not to play as your actual gender in an MMO it is no longer just about having a relatable character, because in MMO's there is actual interaction with other human beings through your chosen avatar. One argument is that you send false signals when not playing your gender, giving others the impression that you aren't actually your gender. Another argument is that in an MMO your gender doesn't really matter at all. It certainly has no impact on the game-play, and chances are you'll never meet the other people you are playing with in real life. I am male, and for me to play a female character in an MMO would kind off be cross-dressing. Albeit much more socially acceptable than actual cross-dressing. I personally have no problem with somebody having a character with a different gender than themselves, as long as they are honest about it when asked.