Poll: Why do you play as opposite gender characters?

[Ken Sapp]

A) Different perspective, B) Cuz I am a roleplayer and some of my more memorable characters have been women, and finally C) if I am going to be spending many tens or hundreds of hours staring at an ass I would prefer it to be one I find attractive.

 

[JoJoKitty]

I'm female and gay, so I love to play female characters because I like to both look at them and relate to them. But if I really like the game, I always play through again as male for a slightly different experience.

Example: (possible spoiler for romance options in Mass Effect 2)

I couldn't get the Tali romance option as a femshep in Mass Effect 2, so I played through again as male faster than you can say "Commander Shepard is a bosh'tet!" just to get her story line.

I also get tired of all the generic brown haired guys that star in every other game that doesn't have character customization. Nice for a change sometimes.

 

[Frontastic]

In the spirit of Zen, when I create a character, I make one that I find enjoyable to look on.

This.

OP: Even though I chose the option, I don't like that it says 'pretty', I prefere the term 'aesthetically pleasing', I now bid you good day sir (or madame).

 

[Fr]anc[is]

Sometimes I just like playing the sexy badass. I am comfortable roleplaying a female. I don't see what makes people so uncomfortable, I understand if someone is over your shoulder making fun of you though.

 

[Naheal]

Generally to try something new. In fighters, I've found that female characters tend to have a more speed bend to them than most male characters, so I gravitate towards that. However, if there's no gameplay difference, I'll choose male.

 

[The Procrastinated End]

Unless its a fighting game or the female character is different gameplay wise I usually don't and just mute out any macho bullshit my character may say. (I'm so glad a lot of games make them silent)

 

[Quaxar]

Well, when I played Guild Wars my two main characters were female, just because I preferred some of the female armors (the non-slutty ones that is). I'm a collector.
Also, some of the male versions are awful. Like a closet with arms and feet.

 

[el_kabong]

I usually play an opposite gender character (female, in my case) when it suits the stupid nickname I've decided to come up with. For instance, my ranger/hunter classes are usually called Twangelina Bowlie. Doesn't really make much sense if the avatar was a guy. Twangus Young doesn't register as high on the stupid pun meter, a requirement for most of my characters.

 

[Jacob Montgomery]

whenever i play an opposite gender character, its just to see how the npc's react differently. The most dissapointing one was in star wars: jedi academy, and they didnt even change the girls name, im guessing so they could use the same dialog from the npc's

 

[Doinstuffman38]

Mainly, it's just to see the changes in the story (in the case of RPGs such as Mass Effect).

 

[Chefodeath]

Well, typically when given the choice, I'll play through as male first and then go for a female character. Its all about different experience I suppose, wringing as much fun out of the game. I had my play as the masculine hero with big muscles, now I want to try the sexy heroine with big...dresses.

 

[Mr. Omega]

I tend not to, because most games I play that give you the choice have silent protagonists, so gender has nothing to do with it. To add personality, I make them as close to me as possible. In other cases, the only time I did, I played female and she sounded and acted completely masculine. Now I like a girl who can relate to guys, but I draw the line somewhere.

Of course, I haven't played a game where character customization actualy affected story like ME, so I might give it another go.

 

[Korten12]

Well, in most cases, I always act that my second character (Which is the girl character) is either a sibling of my main guy character or married to them. Kind of odd, I don't roleplay or anything on games but I always had that in my mind. Its wierd but it works.

 

[Mirrored Jigsaw]

Only time I have is in Mass Effect 2, and that was to fuck Garrus, so to try something new I guess.

 

[manythings]

Only time I have is in Mass Effect 2, and that was to fuck Garrus, so to try something new I guess.

Alien space lizard dong would certainly be new.

OT: I pick both. For pretty much any RPG that lets me make a character I play as both genders at least once (In the case of a BioWare probably at least 4 times).

 

[Totenkopf]

Very simple: Because they are pretty.
Example: The Blazblue-girls

 

[Internet Kraken]

In some games I feel an urge to play as a female, while in others I do not even if the option presents itself. For example, I have done multiple playthroughs of Fallout 3 as characters of both genders. Yet in Oblivion, I will always be a male Argonian.

I've determined that the reason for me to doing so is that in a game like [Fallout 3 you can actually roleplay. You can imagine a certain type of personality for your character, and then define it through dialogue and actions. So playing as a different gender can actually alter the experience. In a game like Oblivion, you don't get to define the personality of your character. Trying to roleplay in that game is pointless. So when I'm creating my character, all I care about is stats rather than appearance. Which is why I'll always be a male Argonian and be perfectly fine with it.

Of course, this extends to other games that allow roleplaying and vice versa.

 

[Omnific One]

1) Women are attractive: If the game is in the 3rd person that means I get to look at a woman the whole time I am playing the game (i.e. Tomb Raider).

2) It's a different experience: I already know what it's like to be a man, and most games out there only feature men as playable characters, so getting to play as a woman is a nice change of pace.

3) I don't like a lot of male characters in games: A lot of men in games are typically written a macho idiots (i.e. Marcus Fenix; Kratos; Chris Redfield). I prefer the more agile, intelligent characters, and often those are female.

The only real downside to playing the opposite gender is the romance part of some RPGs. It can get a little awkward trying to talk a man into having sex with you. Regardless of this awkwardness, my FemShep got it on with Garrus. Ohh yeah!

I agree with 1 and 2. A lot of games make men look ridiculous (see: Guild Wars) so I'd rather stare at a woman, who are always better designed. I only play as a woman on FO3, Mass Effect 1/2, and DA:O for the additional content. With Bioware RPG's as a woman, I will always go with Liara or Leliana just because doing a romance while playing as a female doesn't feel right. However, I always play as a woman in Oblivion.

 

[Montycarlo]

Looking at the way Blizzard portrayed blood elves in WoW, you can easily tell how retarded and gay the male version looks. That's why I play female ones instead, they look much cuter in all that armour and yeah it's something different I guess.

Same goes for Dragon Age, I chose to play as a female human mage and generally I think females look more suitable as spellcasters.

 

[Moriarty]

To quote someone way smarter than me (and probably, way more horny too):

"If I'm going to spend 30+ hours looking at some character's ass, it might as well be a nice ass."

edit:

Looking at the way Blizzard portrayed blood elves in WoW, you can easily tell how retarded and gay the male version looks. That's why I play female ones instead, they look much cuter in all that armour and yeah it's something different I guess.

do not mock the male bloodelf rogues! They do friggin shoryukens as a finisher!