Support NeoGAF

[Abylim]

I'm already seeing a pattern that people playing as women in games also have a female as their avatar in this thread

Heeey, My avatar isnt feminine, or at least I hope it isnt!

 

[lefantome]

I play as female if there is a good character creator but it's just a visual preference. So far I did it in the mass effect and saint's row sagas

I don't remember if I've ever played a game where I could have choosen between predefined and well characterized male and female protagonists. (not counting fighting games)

For mmorpg and other games where the character is supposed to represent yourself i'd play as a male.

 

[The Technomancer]

Its honestly a coin flip on a particular game for me. Pokemon character is always a guy. Played three Mass effect games as female Shepard. Skyrim character is a male elf. Arcanum character on a playthrough last year was female.

I think it has to do with their role in the story. If they're blatantly a self insert avatar, I make them male. If they're more of an independent character, or at least a character and not a blank slate, I skew female

 

[ComputerMKII]

Well, I can't blame them. Women are pretty.

 

[lucebuce12]

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.

If you play as a female, you can be saving the galaxy and staring at a nice ass at the same time. Win-Win.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

I roll female maybe 1/2 the time....reason being i just associate some classes and roles as a woman ( usually magic users)... Sometimes women character are better designed as well for that class.

 

[njean777]

I usually always play as a woman in 3 rd person games like mmo's or ones where they let you create characters. Even in titanfall all my load outs are women. My big reason is that if I am going to be looking at a backside for 100+ hours it may as well be a woman's (no offense). Also female models tend to always look more cool in their armor IMO.

 

[zerokoolpsx]

If there is an option to play a female in a game, would roll it most of the time. Especially if its eye candy. People I group with know I'm a dude. Rogue female elves look awesome!

 

[Infinite_Daremo]

I always roll male characters and i'll always give them a big bushy beard. The only time I create female characters is in party RPG's like Dragon Age, Baldurs Gate etc... and I always assign them to Mage/Healer roles.

 

[Xilium]

I typically only play as a female in MMOs and not because I'm trying to identify with my inner woman (or whatever this article is claiming) but for a far more shameless reason, I'd just rather play dress up with a female avatar (they typically have better/more fantastical/non-realistic armor anyway).

In single player games where I'm typically more invested in the narrative, I'll roll a dude to better "roleplay" the character.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Badass Women > Badass dude.

Should goes without saying.

 

[Menome]

I veer towards female characters these days, as despite being a hairy-chested heterosexual male, I just identify more with a female avatar. I tend to like the more fabulous clothes too, as evidenced by my Mesmer picture to the left of this post.

I guess it also feels like if you're "the guy" in a game, you're expected to follow the gruff, macho hero personality route. With a woman it feels more like you can be whoever you want to be.

But that's just me.

 

[nonnocere]

I never used to have female avatars, but then I had two daughters.

 

[Roxas]

If I was going to stare at the arse of my mmo character for the next 1000 hours then I'd rather it were a female avatar than a male one

 

[JetBlackPanda]

I play mostly female characters. I don't really know the reason? I find most male models are boring and their armor is usually not as cool looking? The wife laughs sometimes but whatever. I guess I enjoy pretty princess dress up.

I'm starting Pokemon Black 2 right now GAF help me pick a trainer? Boy or girl?

 

[vagabondarts]

I would say 2/3 of the time in games where I'm given the choice, I will make a girl main character.

*shrugs*

I do what I like.

 

[Davey Cakes]

I generally enjoy electing the female option every now and then. I went that route with RPGs like Fallout 3 and Pokemon White.

Games where you play as female by default are great, too. Metroid series, Mirror's Edge, etc.

I'm a male and I don't see how you couldn't get tired of playing...males all the time.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

YES!!!
Female russian boss = best boss!

I like Laura Bailey Boss.

 

[Cygnus]

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

Why would you even care? Are you supposed to find your character sexually appealing?

 

[Eiolon]

After playing WoW since 2004, I'll say I've played predominantly as a female. The models just looked better in my opinion. I've had a male human and undead but that's about it. No other reason really drew me to choosing the opposite sex.

 

[WiiredShawn]

Well, if men in those games could be decently attractive, there might be some merit to playing as them. It is extremely difficult to make a custom ManShep or ManHawke attractive, for instance, whereas its relatively easier to make a decent-looking female iteration.

And in games with good character customization systems, like Dragon's Dogma, few people utilize the potential, at least for pawns. Men are hulking, scarred-up mule creatures with no neck and women are nearly naked and sound like a preteen. My girlfriend has some of the only male pawns I've seen that even try to be more reasonably built and easy on the eyes. In that sense, there's something to be said about the idealized stereotyping that occurs.

 

[SneakyStephan]

I play both.
If people are worried about what playing a female char might say about them (loltaku seems worried) then what do they think about the fact that most char creators and cosmetics in games etc are the video game equivalent of playing dress up with dolls

 

[Matt Attack]

I usually play as a male when given the option, as they feel more immediately relatable to me. Sometimes though, I will roll as a girl. It really just depends on the mood I'm in.

 

[Crimsonsky]

All my WoW characters are female. Just look better than male characters

This, except my Orc warrior, he's male, but it fits the theme. I normally roll females in MMO's. The only exception to this was SWTOR. Where I played it like a typical Bioware game for the romances.

 

[MegaMelon]

Female characters tend to have better armor/clothing options, no not the skimpy exposing stuff lol. Take Pokemon XY for example. The female player character has a much greater variety of clothes to wear and they look a lot nicer then the bland stuff the male player character gets.

 

[VibratingDonkey]

Interesting.
I don't play MMO's, so the social aspect has nill impact on my choices.

I've started and continued playing as my own gender in games as it feels like it makes it easier to use the character as an avatar. I tend to roleplay as an idealized version of myself, because if you roleplay a character then story elements might feel emotionally subdued or detached. And the character being the opposite gender is just too radical a physical change, there will always be that sense that I'm making choices for the character rather than for myself.

Ultimately everything's inherently dependent on the quality of the writing. If that's shit then nothing else matters.

 

[molnizzle]

I make female characters because, as a straight man, they are more appealing for me to look at.

Absolute worst excuse I've ever heard.

Huh?

Why does he need an "excuse" in the first place?

Why would you even care? Are you supposed to find your character sexually appealing?

You're supposed to find whatever you want in your character. It's your character. Why is it so offensive to you that some people might like for their characters to be sexually appealing to them?

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.

This is still the case, and it's pretty creepy. I only recently started playing as female characters in MMO's and I was shocked at how prevalent this is. Guys sending me PM's calling me gorgeous or asking if I need help. Weirdos. I figured that by 2014 most MMO players realized that having a female character doesn't automatically mean you're a real, human female.

 

[JumpJeff84]

There are so few games starring female protagonists that I always play as a woman when given the option.

It's a way of artificially adding some diversity to gaming. If I wanna play the story of a dude, there are hundreds of games out that let me do just that.

 

[EdibleKnife]

90% of the time when given the option to create a character, I create a black male just as a way to insert myself into the fiction.

 

[ArkkAngel007]

I play both, though most are as male due to it mostly not affecting the story so much and I can put myself into it easier (Pokemon, Fallout, TES), or just found it to be the best personal option (Mass Effect). However, I really enjoy Jill as a character in REmake more than Chris, and FemHawk was just the better route for the little time I spent with Dragon Age 2.

 

[Nikodemos]

Guys sending me PM's calling me gorgeous or asking if I need help. Weirdos. I figured that by 2014 most MMO players realized that having a female character doesn't automatically mean you're a real, human female.

Yeah, that's dumb. I mean, there's a saying dating back about a decade ago, which goes something like "welcome to the internet, where the men are men, the women are men, and the children are FBI agents". You'd think people would've stopped making ass-umptions by now.

 

[Epcott]

At first I played as male in Final Fantasy 14, but when I was given the opportunity to change my character's look (after transfer from PS3 to PS4) I changed my character to a woman. There was no real reason, I just wanted a change.

Now when my family watched me play, they curiously asked me "Why a woman", followed by jeers from my older brothers. I told them women receive more stuff from males in the game.

But the REAL reason why is because I don't equate the character as a reflection of myself. I play as though I'm watching any female character from the third person in a narrative like Red Sonja, Dorothy from the OZ books, or Motoko Kusinagi of GITS. That explanation would have gone over the heads of my brothers, so I didn't bother telling them.

 

[Kocolino67]

I can't even imagine male Shepard.

 

[Spider_Jerusalem]

My Dana Shepard says hi.

However it depends on games: I never played as a female in TOS games (is there even the option to do so? Don't remember), my Guitar Hero characters are male and my Live avatar is too.

 

[Suzushiiro]

I generally go with female avatars for the aforementioned "want to look pretty" reason, with the exception being games with actual role-playing elements like Mass Effect, as I tend to want to be "myself" in those sorts of games.

 

[LouisaFerre]

Disregarding gameplay differences between genders, I used to gravitate towards playing as females when I was younger. However, it's been the opposite more recently when I can create my own character. I prefer to play as a reasonably attractive male now.

 

[Ryuuga]

I wouldn't mind if we got more options outside human(oid) male or females so we could get more situations like this:

 

[Semblance]

My female gnome warrior with pink pigtails in WoW was the coolest character I ever created. Loved smashing orcs and taurens as a pink ball of rage, shit was always funny.

 

[Zelias]

Given the choice I nearly always play female. The few times I play a male it's either because the female designs are awful or it's an alt/second playthrough and I'm never as invested in that character as I would be in my female main.

Before I came out as trans, I rationalized it as simply preferring the aesthetic of female characters. That's still true, but, honestly, the online/video gaming space does give rise to interesting opportunities to explore gender. The whole 'I play a girl so horny nerds can give me free stuff' thing notwithstanding.

 

[Reishiki]

That's still true, but, honestly, the online/video gaming space does give rise to interesting opportunities to explore gender.

This, totally.

Spoiler

Fantasia potion plz

 

[Major B.S.]

The main reason I usually make female characters in games that allow it is because I find most designers are better at conveying the female features and bodice. Many RPGs and MMOs I've played have very bland options for creating male avatars as opposed to the female templates. Maybe my preference is purely from an underlying attractiveness to the form on a chemical level but I do wonder if designers are just better at capturing the beauty and range of the female form. Thoughts?

 

[Alucrid]

depends on the armor options. female in dark souls had the brass set so i always went with that.

 

[ChronotriggerJM]

I always roll a female character when given the option. However, I'm fairly lucky in that I massively prefer short hair over long on a female, and it seems to drop subtle hints that I'm male.

That said, I do notice that it affects the way I talk, act, and move (I'll actually use the walk toggle if they've got an attractive gait).

Interesting studies, I suppose it's subconscious acting for me.

 

[oneida]

I usually play as guy characters

idk now I feel like the minority but I guess I identify more with them

 

[Quasar]

I do too at least some of the time. In part because guys frequently look like giant steroid abusers, but also because I enjoy dress up more with female avatars.

Of course I've also played ladies in tabletop games even.

 

[MacNille]

More often then not, I will play a male protagonist. As I like to give my MC a beard or a mustache. It just feels better to me.

 

[rezn0r]

besides mass effect i've made a female in literally every single game that gives the option that i've ever played. i've always blamed this on Alis in Phantasy Star, the first real story driven game I ever played and have loved since. plus there's the whole dude's ass thing

 

[-MD-]

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

People still use this as the excuse to play as a female character? Why are you staring at your character's ass while you're playing video games?

 

[Rayis]

I always choose the cutest characters when playing a game, and they almost always are female so that's my main reason for choosing female characters.

 

[LouisaFerre]

People still use this as the excuse to play as a female character? Why are you staring at your character's ass while you're playing video games?

Considering that's the exact excuse that's usually made fun of, somehow I get the impression that what he said was tongue-in-cheek.