Poll: Why do you play as opposite gender characters?

[War Penguin]

Even if I had the choice to play as a girl, I always pick a guy character, especially is RPGs. I feel more like my character if it's a guy. He'll have the same characteristics as me. It helps me get into the game.

However, that's what I thought. I only just started playing as a girl in KotOR 2 and I really see no difference than playing as a guy. Oh, and the reason why I decided to choose a girl is because the story can change depending on your gender in that game.

 

[Mirrored Jigsaw]

I played FemShep in Mass Effect 1 and got it on with Carth... I mean... what's his name again?

Kaidan Alenko

 

[Slaanax]

Honestly it depends on the race, my Dwarves always dudes. I just go for what looks better.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Well, it's a new experience, and well, what would you pick

The chick, or the emo voiced by Yuri Lowenthal?

To be honest, based solely on that picture alone, I would have picked the male character. Especially since the game originally only had the male campaign and I would have wanted to experience that first the first time around. But I am not very familiar with Persona or the Shin Megami Tensei series in general, so...for all I know, the female campaign is a work of art while the male campaign is utter bollocks.

Anyway, while I do sometimes choose to play as characters of the opposite gender (in my case, female), I don't actually have any particular reason for doing so. I simply feel like playing a character of the opposite gender at that specific time. Plus, in certain games (like Mass Effect), I simply find the female character a lot better than their male counterparts.

However, I don't exclusively play as characters of the opposite gender and will sometimes choose male characters even when given a choice.

 

[demoman_chaos]

I start off with a dude character, but usually have a female as my second character to see what the differences are.

 

[Adzma]

The closest option you had in my case was never playing as the opposite gender. I rarely play as a female, but I do on the odd occasion. The main reason I avoid creating female characters is that it feels like I'm furthering the stereotype that gamers a sexually frustrated and giggle at boobs from their parents' basement... I don't know, it just feels wrong sometimes.

 

[megs1120]

As a girl, I usually play as males simply because I don't have any choice in the matter. It doesn't really bother me, especially in multiplayer games, since people don't automatically treat you like a slutty idiot if you play as a male character.

 

[Juven Ignus]

Other: I choose random until I get a funny looking one, then make it funnier.

 

[masher]

Half of the time, like in Mass Effect 2, it's to "try something new"

But for other times, like in RPG's or JRPG's, I simply like to name my characters after pre-existing characters, and most of the characters I think of are female. It there's character customization, I try to model the character after a pre-existing one for the heck of it, and if it looks close enough, I'll stick with the name, too.

 

[daemon37]

The closest option you had in my case was never playing as the opposite gender. I rarely play as a female, but I do on the odd occasion. The main reason I avoid creating female characters is that it feels like I'm furthering the stereotype that gamers a sexually frustrated and giggle at boobs from their parents' basement... I don't know, it just feels wrong sometimes.

I'm married and have my own place with my wife. Yet I still enjoy looking at hot girls in games and on the net while "giggling at their boobs". And sometimes my wife will join in on the "giggling".

I think it's all about understanding who you are and what you want. I am a straight man, and I want to look at attractive women. It's that simple. And since my wife doesn't have a problem with it, then why not?

 

[Schwerganoik]

Whenever I play as a female, I tend to play a seductive, heartless ***** that I find myself unable to roleplay when using a male charcter (with the exception of Deus Ex: Invisible War and Fable II). So, the the explanation behind my choosing "other" is that I often roleplay personalities with each gender that I cannot also roleplay with the other gender.

 

[Adzma]

I'm married and have my own place with my wife. Yet I still enjoy looking at hot girls in games and on the net while "giggling at their boobs". And sometimes my wife will join in on the "giggling".

I think it's all about understanding who you are and what you want. I am a straight man, and I want to look at attractive women. It's that simple. And since my wife doesn't have a problem with it, then why not?

Then sir you are a better man than I. (Not sarcasm by the way.)

As I said I'm not totally opposed to the idea, I just prefer to play as male because I know how a male thinks, and it feels more correct.

 

[Therumancer]

I just answered "other" because my reasons vary considerably, I don't always play female characters or anything like that. Over the years it's varied from questions of graphics, and not always for reasons of sex appeal, but because in some games I'd think the male characters always looked like dorks. In other cases certain characters are female only, like for example if you want to play as a mage in say "Diablo 2" or "Sacred 2" you pretty much have to select a female character, you can't be a dude and focus on roasting enemies with fire and lightning and such. Then again there are cases where it might be the eye candy, or for something differant, like for example I've already played "Persona 3" but on my PSP version I'm playing the game with a girl because it changes things around and adds differant social links.

I've played both genders in PnP RPG games as well, to be honest I don't think playing a female character is any worse than writing about one or whatever. I think some people simply analyze it too much.

Over a period of years I've come to the conclusion that people who constantly question this are insecure in their own sexuality for whatever reason. Unless a guy is say hiding behind a mask or "blind" and trying to convince people he's a girl IRL in an MMORPG or whatever there doesn't seem to be an issue. Pretty much everyone I've met who has a female character or avatar is generally self confident enough where they don't think much about it, and are actually (like me) more confused about what other people think the big deal is.

I'll also say flat out that girls DO play male characters and with some frequency, and yet people tend to overlook this or pretend it doesn't exist. Probably because it's mostly guys who wonder about it due to their own insecurities. One of the better shamans in my guild in WoW for example was a lady playing a male Draenai with those "sweet muscles", has since retired for a while though.

 

[Gigaguy64]

I choose other.
In RPGs ill stick to my own Gender.
But in games like Fighting Games, i don't really think much about the Gender.
If they are fun to play as, i play as them.

 

[RN7]

The only time I play a female (If I have the choice) is when:

A. The voice acting is better, in my opinon.

B. The character is designed much better.

C. There is a special event involving a character's gender.

 

[franzieperez]

In one online shooter, I played as a girl because the female character had all the functionality of the male, but was significantly smaller.

 

[natster43]

I do create female characters in games where you can create the characters appearance because I like to create different characters each time. While in other games I play as them because I like they're play style more.

 

[Marble Dragon]

Well, in most shooters I play as a dude because I haven't got a choice about it.

In RPGs I tend to play women more -- I like badass, intelligent, competent woman characters, and they tend to be in short supply as protagonists, so I like to make up for it when I can.

That being said, I like playing men as well -- in RPGs I tend to come up with a backstory and personality traits beyond what the game gives you, and playing a man gives me even more variables to mess with.

The one RPG where I haven't bothered rolling up a male character is Mass Effect -- sorry Mark Meer, I'm sure you're a lovely person, but your voice acting makes me sad.

I also make up backstories and personality traits. Good fun, although perhaps making up ingame dialogue between the character and the summoned minion is going a bit too far. (Volker and his Liche King slave are constantly arguing. It's kind of irritating.)

In MMOs, I don't like being hit on, so I play as a male character and get a lot less crap. I'm aware that not all games have this, but I like to play it safe. In other games, I alternate between the two. From the listed options, I'd say I play male characters because I like a change of pace. Not because they're attractive though. I find that in a lot of games, the male characters are huge slabs of muscle with a teeny tiny head on top, and I find that disgusting. The only time they look okay are when they're suffocating under layers of the same armor that both genders would be wearing anyway. If I wanted to look at a pretty thing, I'd pick female, thanks.