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[Disagree Guy]

I was playing Final Fantasy 14 a while back and someone I know in RL joined our guild. Girl character, fair enough.

Then started talking about some seriously creepy and weird stuff and when the guild leader said 'You need to cool that shit when the girl gamers come on' he went full retard and said 'I am a girl gamer'

It's all fun and games until someone actually pretends to be a girl. I always make characters look like my avatar if I can.

 

[Vyrance]

Guys play female characters in MMOs because other dudes will give them free stuff

 

[jacobeid]

I don't know why but I always play as a female character in fighting games. I hate the sexualization though. I play Rose in SSFIV, her design isn't too edgy.

 

[Portugeezer]

I'm a man who plays a man in Video Games, usually with some effort to try and make them resemble me.

 

[Freeman]

If its a story driven game it doesn't bother me the gender or race of the character I'm playing, I actually prefer when they are different because it usually make for a more interesting story. If I can make my own or chose its always male.

 

[UrbanRats]

I'd say, when given a choice, 40% (out of my ass percentage, but it must be around there) of my characters are females.
And not because i want to stare "at an ass" either (kind of a weird reason, btw) but mostly because when i create a character, i start with a general idea in mind, with appearances, character, build and so on.
Sometimes that idea features a woman, sometimes a man, but it's not really a "thing" for me, and i can't say i alter my play style significantly one way or the other.


EDIT: I should add, this is mostly for offline games, but it's not like i hide my identity or whatever, if there is online interaction, though i generally don't play online.

 

[Synless]

Word. I don't want to stare at a dude's ass for 100+ hours.

This, why stare at a dude for countless hours when I can create my own hot ass female to stare at?

 

[drgambit]

Male players were real gullible back in the UO/EQ1 days. If you played as a girl, and acted like one, you normally got more help/items/gold/etc.

 

[lifeexpectancy]

If it's a semi-realistic looking game and I can see the character (3rd person) I tend to pick female if given the option because the male characters are ugly as sin and I don't want to look at that for dozens of hours.

If it's first-person perspective and given the option I go male because I don't have to look at him.

Interestingly in WoW back in the day all of my toons were male though. Probably because that game isn't nearly as realistic looking. I think I eventually rolled a female dark elf or something but never levelled it past like 25ish (this was when the level cap was still 60).

 

[Dega]

I make my main male and all my mules/alts female. I wonder what a study would say about me. D: lol

"He objectifies women and only sees them as tools or beings he can boss around."

Not true though

 

[Always-honest]

Sure... No reason to be dramatic about that.

 

[Currygan]

I guess it's something we all knew it happened, expecially in MMORPGs. Nothing controversial or weird about it

given the choice, I always play as male though, and I'm a male

 

[Milennia]

I exclusively play female characters in world of warcraft (I find the models better), except for male troll, whom I find to be superior.


Also i would be lying if I said that there wasn't some odd superiority complex behind the decision as well, can't explain it really.
Many of the players in my guild as well (top raiders like myself) also play female characters.

We are mostly male, but the females also play female characters.

 

[Puru]

Depends of my mood but i'll generally play as a female, only exception is if it's a 3D game and i decide to role some kind of mage or a priest (as long as they stay in the backline), especially if i can give them an afro.
I also pick up male if it's not an human looking race, they tend to look far better imo.

Female + Cute clothes = Win

 

[J'aime Fils-Aime]

Guys play female characters in MMOs because other dudes will give them free stuff

That's definitely one of the perks of being a "woman" in an MMO.

I don't know why but I always play as a female character in fighting games. I hate the sexualization though. I play Rose in SSFIV, her design isn't too edgy.

I always prefer the female characters in fighting games as well. I find their styles more interesting, such as Karen in SFA3 or Lili in Tekken.

 

[bunbun777]

Just checking in. In MMO's where countless hours are spent I find the female choice to be more pleasing on the eye and usually more gratifying when it comes to playing dress up. Do I identify myself as a female though? Nope. To be honest it would be more like one small aspect of an ideal woman I could fantasize of, while as male characters I play in games tend to actually take on my own personality and are often named the same as me, though not always.

 

[C4Lukins]

Yeah I also choose to play a female character when given the choice. I never knew I was up for hanging on a cross for my forward thinking ways.

 

[Shiina]

I just want to be the little girl

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

If it's character story driven with some kind of relationship system (Mass Effect, Persona...), I usually choose a male character, and if it has character creator I try to make myself. I maybe choose after my canon walkthrough (the choices I do in those are usually what I would do in real life), a female character, but in our days I have little time for second walktroughs.
If not, I usually play as female. I also usually pick females and quirky fighters in fighting games.
Games like Pokemon, Saints Row, etc...

 

[Ferr986]

Guys play female characters in MMOs because other dudes will give them free stuff

I played FFXIV as a female character (first MMO doing it) and I always stated clear that I was a male (not like I had to clarify it, I guess it was pretty obvious lol)

 

[Felessan]

I was playing Final Fantasy 14 a while back

I bet that 80+% of catgirls there are males IRL. Actual girls prefer little lalafels for some reason.

Guys play female characters in MMOs because other dudes will give them free stuff

It doesn't really work in modern theme park mmo, so ppl just pay much less attention to character gender there.

 

[Majukun]

only time i played as a woman was in dragon age origins because i didn't like male face models.

 

[Chaos17]

I prefer to play a woman because they're more detailed than the man in term of aesthetics.

 

[Into]

Never play female characters, unless i have to (Resident Evil)

 

[Reishiki]

Roughly a 75:25 female:male split for me.

It used to be closer to 50:50 before I came to terms with being transgender. Although, if you included characters from Pen and Paper games, then that would bring it back closer to 50:50, I generally don't mind RPing characters of any gender identity these days.

I've seen the "nice ass" excuse go both ways. My old FFXI RP Linkshell leadership was made up of women playing male characters.

 

[1000 Branches]

I do too, in many games that offer the option. Mostly I have found that I will only play as the female character in games with a little more- I don't want to use the word, but I honestly can't think of any other- casual bend, like Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Persona, or The Sims, however.

 

[Dr_Boris_Goltz]

I always play as women since I really enjoy the idea of a incredibly powerful female hero.

I'm not projecting myself on to the character, but rather I am conjuring a story for the character.

The male perspective often feels like a story already told.

 

[ReBurn]

I go with default or random. I find character customization to be tedious.

 

[Stone Ocean]

I always play as women since I really enjoy the idea of a incredibly powerful female hero.

I'm not projecting myself on to the character, but rather I am conjuring a story for the character.

The male perspective often feels like a story already told.

Pretty much the same way I feel.

 

[The Great Dave]

I usually play as a qt manic pixie dream girl if I have the choice because I like to feel lonely

 

[KHlover]

Playing a women in Saints Row's is totally worth it for the female Russian accent alone.

YES!!!
Female russian boss = best boss!

 

[Havel]

Male. I just play the damn game and not let my sexual preference get in the way of gameplay which seems to be the case with a lot of people.

To all the people saying "I don't want to stare at a guys ass", why are you staring at it in the first place and not just playing the game? It's fine if you want to play as a female, but that argument has always been quite amusing to me.

 

[cormack12]

I think my choice depends on what character I am building. For instance mage and rogue I generally roll fem. For warlock and shadow priest I rolled butch.

I think we all have some weird subconscious thing at play. Generally if I'm playing a magic oriented or speed oriented player that I think is inherently 'pure' I'll usually make it female. If I'm making a darker, moodier character then I usually go male.

Having said that though, I also rolled female Dwarf warrior as they were sparse on my realm. I made her much more uglier and then I had a camp male Night Elf Priest. Very flamboyant. I'm glad males do it though because I would much rather see a diverse sexed avatar community than a hugely dominated male or female one.

 

[mutatedwombat]

Interesting coincidence. A poll in Star Citizen at the moment is yielding the following results from 619 votes:

I'm male and plan to play a male character 77.71%
I'm male and plan to play a female character 17.93%
I'm female and plan to play a male character 1.13%
I'm female and plan to play a female character 3.23%

 

[Fudgepuppy]

I think there's not enough women in games, so in most cases I will play one if I'm able to.

 

[Maintenance]

I am a male and I play with male characters unless I can't (Tomb Raider, No One Lives Forever, etc).

Also, if in the game you can recruit minions I usually get one and name him after myself, so that I can play with myself. I don't really like to name protagonists after myself, though, I like to see the creators vision.

 

[Data West]

I play a female orc in WoW because they don't look like ridiculous bodybuilders. I'll never understand why WoW goes for complete over the topness on their males but all their females stand, mostly, like normal women.

 

[Zukuu]

I miss the times when games were about... games.

I don't think it has a deeper reason as to why people play m/w in a MMO.

 

[Ommadawnyawn]

The men in the World of Warcraft study failed miserably, however, when it came to movement and other less easily monitored/altered habits.

Failed how?

 

[Kabuki Quantum Lover]

If the choice is there, I'll always pick a female character over a male. Maybe my love of Xena and Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman has something to do with it.

I especially like when they offer different scenarios depending on the gender (I.e. Fallout New Vegas, Persona 3 Portable).

 

[Toxi]

I usually flip a coin.

For some reason I find it pretty funny that men jump twice as much as women in games. If I get given a jump button and it doesn't slow me down I'll press the damn thing all the time for no reason. Why don't women feel the same way?

Study confirms that women are inherently better at Street Fighter.

 

[Prototype]

Depends on the game. Mostly I play a male character, I'd say about 70 percent of the time. When I do choose to play a female character it's mostly to see how their armor/loot looks or if the file is a role play of some kind.

For instance,in oblivion and Skyrim I like to do "Red Sonja" runs where I don't wear any armor and only use weapons, all offense little to no defense.

The other game I'm using a female in is final fantasy 14, but this is mostly due to they male characters all looking like either little pretty boys or ugly behemoths with little in between. If you ever see Celes Geraldine online just know that behind that pretty face is a dude lol.

All that said, I've noticed that female characters get treated both better and worse. Better insofar as some people will help you out more based on nothing but the fact that they find your character model attractive. Worse in that there is definitely sexual remarks and perverted comments that will come your way.

If it's to my advantage im not opposed to playing the role and lying about my gender if it means I can get help with a dungeon or find a party faster lol.

 

[Salz01]

Word. I don't want to stare at a dude's ass for 100+ hours.

This. And I name them after my wife.

 

[Wyndstryker]

1: Don't want to stare at a guy char all the time
2: More character customization usually on the female chars
3: People tend to give you free stuff and let mistakes fly more often.
4: Usually less female characters in the MMO so if I want to stick out you pick a female.

After the many years of playing MMO's, there's more advantages picking a female.

 

[Dictator93]

I am of the male sex and tend to play characters of the male sex in video games.

Does this mean I am really a woman?

Spoiler

unsurprising study results tbh

 

[Red Mage]

I play both genders, though I don't play MMOs. It depends on the class/job of the character. If possible, I like my Red Mage / Ninja to be male, and my Wizard / Monk to be female.

 

[adamsapple]

No you're not alone Kotaku.

I (dude) also play as a women in most RPG's that allow character customization. I'm a dude, it's good to get a changed perspective (I dont know what im saying) in a virtual world.

 

[Gustav]

Play females in Everybody's Milf, sorry Golf. That's it.

 

[ieptbarakat]

Female characters in games always get the better and more varied clothing options, especially when it comes to korean mmos where I don't want to spend most of my time looking like Justin Bieber in a leather tunic.

 

[jesu]

Word. I don't want to stare at a dude's ass for 100+ hours.

Why would you stare at the ass for any length of time?
Is there more important things you should be doing like, like saving the galaxy or something.