So, how many dudes here roll a female character? Also vice versa?

[PureChaos]

I usually go with a male character first but then for subsiquent play through I'll go with a female just to have a bit of variation.

 

[K12]

Of my most recent games with character creation most of the characters I've made have been female. My first DS3 character was a bulky black woman. My Inquisitor was a female Qunari and my commander Shepard was female... they were also both lesbians.

...my Saints Row 4 character was a big fat red-headed guy covered in tattoos... he looks surprisingly like Ron Jeremy with a cockney accent which I found funny the whole way through the game.

I basically never make characters who look like me in character creation (except somehow in DS2 I didn't realise that the young, white, male, blonde, blue eyed, baby-faced character I'd made looked a lot like me. Fortunately there was no glasses option in that game so he couldn't look exactly like me. I'm not quite sure how I managed to do that by accident). I also never make generically handsome short-brown haired guys either because... that's the main character in most other games anyway.

 

[MHR]

Male characters, because I find the idea of men always wanting to play as women weird.

 

[flying_whimsy]

Hmm, not sure why that link didn't work.

Since that part of the sentence was in parentheses, the end parenthesis immediately after the address got counted as part of the address. Edit the post and delete that parenthesis from the source part of the hyperlink text.

OT: I always play female characters (I'm male, by the way). And I usually make the excuse that if I have to look at an ass for 30 hours straight, it should be an attractive one.

But that's not actually the real reason, I find that's the easiest one to use because I don't have to explain anything. I prefer female characters because I don't relate well to my own gender and I find it both more interesting to play as a female but also more immersive because I fall pretty far outside the range of typical macho mentality. Also, I tend to favor small, fast characters and that stereotype gets applied to women characters more often than males. Also, I really enjoy the dress-up aspect of rpgs and the like, and it's way more fun and there's more options for costumes for female characters. And I don't mind bikini armor and boob plate: if I wanted realism my female character would remain at home, uneducated and pregnant. There's other reasons, too, but it basically just all reverts back to it's both easier for me to relate and more compelling for me to play as a female character.

But yeah, officially it's because if I have to stare at a backside for hours it's going to be one I'm attracted to. See, much easier to lie about it.

(On an unrelated note: I was playing minecraft the other day (female character), and some dude totally started creeping on me. I hardly play online, so it was the first time that ever happened to me. It was...not pleasant.)

 

[Michel Henzel]

The issue of character gender choice came up recently in relation to the upcoming game The Technomancer; apparently although it's an RPG, you can only play as a male, and the devs said that due to the tremendous cost of hiring voice actors, they couldn't afford to do male and female VO recording, so the PC is male only [link]http://segmentnext.com/2015/08/25/the-technomancer-interview-with-spiders-ceo-combat-customization-and-more/[/link] While the cost factor is probably not so much of a deal breaker for big studios with AAA budgets, it's a limiting factor for smaller studios.

There is also still the perception (real or imagined) that having a female protagonist will result in lost sales. I think games like Assassin's Creed Syndicate's approach of dual protagonists is a good way of bridging this divide, assuming the game's budget can take the added expense of more voice actors.

That link you put in is a dead one.
I'm aware that some smaller studios may have trouble with that sort of thing, and while I'd question it a little, fine. I'm not hounding anyone about it.
I'm well aware of the long long list of reasons and excuses, some of which I'm like "Okay, fine" and others make me raise an eyebrow a little. I've been playing games for over 20 years, and wanting more ladies this whole time. I'm up to date with all the arguments against.

Hmm, not sure why that link didn't work. If you google "the Technomancer female character", the article pops up as the first result and the link works from there. Weird.

As for the excuses, I'm certainly not defending their validity or lack thereof, just making an observation about what has been said.

Your link works, it just has two unnecessary characters at the end, namely ). Fixed.
[link]http://segmentnext.com/2015/08/25/the-technomancer-interview-with-spiders-ceo-combat-customization-and-more/[/link]

 

[Fhqwhgod]

Whatever I feel like. Usually female but since femfreq became a thing I pick male a lot more.

 

[Evonisia]

Usually female if there's an option. Not really sure why, exactly. Sometimes I'll alternate if I'm doing a replay of a game.

In RPGs I tend to role assassin/thief types or mages/clerics, so I tend to role women more than men for that because I like the idea of immense damage happening quickly from a smaller frame who can move faster. That probably says something about my attitudes to women but I'm not sure what so meh.

 

[GestaltEsper]

Depends on the game/my mood. In Dragon Age Origins I was female, but in Inquisition I was male. My Robin was male, but I prefer my Corrin female. In FFXIV my main avatar's female, but I have several alt templates of both genders and varying races (no Lalafells, though). So, yeah, comes down to whim basically.

 

[Ryan Minns]

I've never been one to put myself into a character so I often make female characters as it is often random unless it's an MMO where I'll go my real life sex. My 17 play throughs of Mass Effect 1 though had me ALWAYS going the same looking femshep since the whole thing kind of felt more right that way and I doubt I could go male in Fallout 4 because his voice annoys the absolute fuck out of me more so than the female one.

 

[Captain Marvelous_v1legacy]

Hmm, not sure why that link didn't work. If you google "the Technomancer female character", the article pops up as the first result and the link works from there. Weird.

As for the excuses, I'm certainly not defending their validity or lack thereof, just making an observation about what has been said.

The link doesn't work because the parentheses on the right of the link is too close. Because of that it is deemed part of the link, along with the period, and messes it up.

[Original] (Ref: http://segmentnext.com/2015/08/25/the-technomancer-interview-with-spiders-ceo-combat-customization-and-more/).
vs
[new] (Ref: http://segmentnext.com/2015/08/25/the-technomancer-interview-with-spiders-ceo-combat-customization-and-more/ ).

The one on the bottom should work fine.

That's kind of why my warrior-tank was a female undead. I liked the idea of this tiny little barely held-together bag of bones holding off waves of monsters.

Just started a new game of DA:I with a Two-handed Elf Warrior soon to be Reaver.

[small]An'rielle[/small]

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

*snippety*

Man, that chart just irritates me. I recognize some of those arguments from various online articles from companies too. I remember the Remember Me guys saying how hard it was for them to get the publisher to sign off on a female led because "The market's not ready for it / no one likes playing a girl" and axed a potential romance scene because "It'd make the player feel gay". Gah.

What cheeses me on a personal level though, is "I don't understand how girls think". It's not that freakin' hard to make a good female character. If a 28 year old dude making hobby games in RPGmaker (coughMecough) can do a decent job of making female characters, you'd think a AAA writer would be able to.

Seriously, Imma just expose my big secret here. Just write them like people. Outside of motherhood, and a few here-and-there social cases (oh, and menstruation, but that's not really something essential to cover in games), women and men aren't all that different. Most of the time for me, it's just another character trait that I decide based on "what gender is more interesting here?" or "Do I have a cooler male sprite or female sprite for this character type?"

So far, it's served me pretty well. I don't know why people keep claiming it's hard to do.

 

[the December King]

What cheeses me on a personal level though, is "I don't understand how girls think". It's not that freakin' hard to make a good female character. If a 28 year old dude making hobby games in RPGmaker (coughMecough) can do a decent job of making female characters, you'd think a AAA writer would be able to.

Seriously, Imma just expose my big secret here. Just write them like people. Outside of motherhood, and a few here-and-there social cases (oh, and menstruation, but that's not really something essential to cover in games), women and men aren't all that different. Most of the time for me, it's just another character trait that I decide based on "what gender is more interesting here?" or "Do I have a cooler male sprite or female sprite for this character type?"

So far, it's served me pretty well. I don't know why people keep claiming it's hard to do.

But that's your experience. Women and men are different, otherwise transgender people must be wasting their time and energy, fretting over nothing at all. And frankly, in a tabletop situation, I don't believe that I can act convincingly like a woman in certain scenarios, and suspect that I would come off as foolish if I tried. I mean I could just role up a fighter who happens to be a woman, and just not speak or interact beyond dropping dice and attacking enemies, but there's no role play in that.

EDIT: Admittedly I'm talking more about role playing. Writing for games would likely be a different process, so if you feel I missed the point, fair cop.

 

[shrekfan246]

Que a bunch comments about how they play play female characters so they can perv on their ass.

Yeah, I'll admit I used to make that excuse myself, but like, nowadays I just think, "who cares?"

I prefer playing women in games. Many games don't let me play as a woman.

On second playthroughs, or when I want to make a big tanky damage-absorbing character, I'll use a male. Females just seem more interesting in the roles that I use them usually - long range sniper, sneaky assassin, mage, hi-dex ranger.

Dude.

Women can be tanks, too.

Especially when we're talking about fantasy settings.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

But that's your experience. Women and men are different, otherwise transgender people must be wasting their time and energy, fretting over nothing at all. And frankly, in a tabletop situation, I don't believe that I can act convincingly like a woman in certain scenarios, and suspect that I would come off as foolish if I tried. I mean I could just role up a fighter who happens to be a woman, and just not speak or interact beyond dropping dice and attacking enemies, but there's no role play in that.

I'll definitely agree that Tabletops and LARPs are much much harder to gender-swap convincingly. I doubt I'd be able to pull it off under most circumstances. I can do it decently in video games, as the rules and interactions are all streamlined right into the game, but with full RP freedom, I think it would be a lot trickier to do well.

I was mostly talking about creating female characters for video games which is what that chart Phasmal posted was about. Role playing a woman is a lot harder than just writing a woman, I find. Still, this IS just my own personal experience.

 

[the December King]

I'll definitely agree that Tabletops and LARPs are much much harder to gender-swap convincingly. I doubt I'd be able to pull it off under most circumstances. I can do it decently in video games, as the rules and interactions are all streamlined right into the game, but with full RP freedom, I think it would be a lot trickier to do well.

I was mostly talking about creating female characters for video games which is what that chart Phasmal posted was about. Role playing a woman is a lot harder than just writing a woman, I find. Still, this IS just my own personal experience.

Crap, you know, I regret commenting. I keep coming to this thread, thinking the emphasis is on role playing. Games are totally a different bag. Good chatting with you, though!

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Crap, you know, I regret commenting. I keep coming to this thread, thinking the emphasis is on role playing. Games are totally a different bag. Good chatting with you, though!

Ahahahaha, such is the wonders of the internet. XD

Nice replying to you too!

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

The Technomancer; http://segmentnext.com/2015/08/25/the-technomancer-interview-with-spiders-ceo-combat-customization-and-more

Wait wait wait that link.

SPIDERS made that game?! THE Spiders?!

As in "Of Orcs and Men" Spiders?!

I knew that game was giving me "Of orcs and Men" vibes! Their games generally have a sort of "endearingly clunky, but ambitious" feel to them!

 

[Ishigami]

I usually play a female.
For MMOs this is usually because I might as well enjoy the view.
For single player games because a lot of mods are usually geared for female characters and I have a fetish for lesbians.

The thing for SP games is: If the protagonist happens to be female, so be it. However if the marketing campaign tries to exploit it as progressive then I will not touch the game even with a 10 foot stick.

 

[Liljumpman]

Pretty much the same for me. I'll almost always roll female in games with a third-person view and if I can make them sexy. TERA and WoW are two good examples.

Que a bunch comments about how they play play female characters so they can perv on their ass.

*sigh*

First of all, several posts already effectively said this before you made your comment, so your comment is a bit "late to the party", so to speak. Second of all, who cares if that's why people play female characters? Are there "right" or "wrong" reasons for people to play what they play?

Your comment comes off as arrogant and unconstructive, and adds absolutely nothing to this discussion.

Oh, by the way, the word you want is "cue", not "que". That's Spanish for "what".

This whole thread isn't "constructive". Might as well ask if guys like porn. I don't see how you could possibly think playing wank bait makes you weird or special with how often this sentiment pops up

Write an essay on the topic man, I'm sure it would be fantastic.