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[Kaleinc]

It's ok. Kaz shared his thoughts on the issue.

 

[Moon Presence]

It doesn't matter to me. Give me genuine, intriguing and well written characters.

 

[Zakalwe]

No, you are just totally missing the point that not all games are a story to gamers about "other people". You are overlooking a huge swath of gamers that quite literally don't care whatsoever and are playing games as an interactive power trip version of themselves.

There are sexist assholes who don't want to play as women because they hold poor views on women in general. That isn't an accurate representation of all gamers who like to play as their own sex.

Sorry, but you haven't convinced me with your argument. You're hand-waving away the psychological complexities inherent to this discussion and that doesn't sit well with me.

I remain fairly convinced that preference to play the same gender comes from a sexist place, even if it's a subconscious or incredibly small one. And /everyone/ on this planet harbors some kind of prejudice or bias. It's impossible not to.

I'm not calling these people sexist, you're missing the nuance here.

I remain /fully/ convinced that men who refuse to /ever/ play a female protag and skip games because of it /definitely/ harbor some form of sexist thinking.

 

[Koozek]

It's the latter for them since that's the strength of video games as it regards to stories. You shouldn't be treating games like you're watching a movie or reading a book. That's missing out on the strongest aspect of storytelling in video games, and in that case you might be better off just reading a book or watching a movie.

Why do you think there are so many silent protagonists? It seems that you're not understanding the point of a lot of games.

So I've been playing hundreds of games (mostly RPGs) in the last 22 years of my life wrong?�� I didn't need to "feel like I am" Gerald in TW3 to be engrossed in the world, the lore, empathize with the characters etc. Maybe we're both talking about the same type of feeling when we say that we are engrossed in a game, but I don't attribute that to the ability of thinking I literally am the protagonist, but rather to my feeling invested and interested in the fictional characters' lives and the story itself. I'm controlling the protagonist, yes, and I'm sometimes making dialog choices, but I still feel like it's the fictional character carrying out the decision, not me in the body of the character (or however you feel while playing), if that makes sense. I'm just molding an existing character a bit, but it's still some version of Gerald I'm playing as.

I'm curious, are you only able to play with characters that look like you, or under what condition can you "relate" to someone? And do you exclusively play story-heavy games with silent protagonists and many dialog choices?

[...]

And again, I think whether that translates well to a book or not is probably more up to the reader's approach. For me, pressing the buttons in a scripted game isn't much different from turning a page in that I'm simply progressing the story. In both games and books, I rarely (maybe never? not sure) feel like I am pretending to be that character but more that I'm along for the ride. I want to be able to empathize, which doesn't require me to feel like I *am* that person, but I want the character well-written enough to make their actions understandable even if I would ultimately act & respond differently. [...]

Exactly my thoughts too.

 

[HeavenlyStriker]

im a guy playin mass effect atm and enjoyin the shit out of my playthru as sarah rydar.

coudnt care less at all about the brother. generic space guy #21

i want more female protagonist /antagonist in mah games please

 

[A-V-B]

I can relate to anything, if it's a good character.

Yup! The strength of good writing. You can relate to a sheet of paper blowing in the wind if you internalize its thoughts well enough. If the author makes it alive, we're probably gonna feel for it because we're alive too.

 

[Goliath]

Sorry, but you haven't convinced me with your argument. You're hand-waving away the psychological complexities inherent to this discussion and that doesn't sit well with me.

I remain fairly convinced that preference to play the same gender comes from a sexist place, even if it's a subconscious or incredibly small one. And /everyone/ on this planet harbors some kind of prejudice or bias. It's impossible not to.

I'm not calling these people sexist, you're missing the nuance here.

I remain /fully/ convinced that men who refuse to /ever/ play a female protag and skip games because of it /definitely/ harbor some form of sexist thinking.

I think you are brushing a group of people with broad strokes. You justify why women can prefer to play a women but you can't see why men may want to play as men protagonists?

As it has been repeated, some gamers just want to play power fantasies and men and women power fantasies aren't the same. If a guy wants to play a game where he feels he is the most powerful character in the game and wants to hack, slash and lust over women (because that is his gender preference) then which game do you think he would want to play, God of War or Tomb Raider? Video games are entertainment and entertainment is often times escapism. Some want to escape into an elaborate world with a narrative and some people just want pretend they are the strongest and sexiest thing alive. Neither are wrong.

Gaming habits are different for everyone. Some people just wanna play FPS while other prefer sports games or puzzles, etc. If you play to be an active participant in your power fantasy then picking a character of your same gender is the way to go.

 

[Heigic]

I don't feel like I ever really relate to video game character I'm playing as. Like I see the Halo5 thread about Master Chief and I really couldn't care less who I play as. I usually choose female when given the option to.

 

[Nosgotham]

so I guess he can't watch a movie with a female protag?

 

[atpbx]

I think you probably have wider issues that need addressing if the thought of playing as a female bothers you in any way.

"I can't relate to a female character" is even more absurd if you play anything other than a male of equivalent skin colour living an entirely unremarkable life.

Because you know, you can't empathise with these super heroes, special agents, pilots, martial arts masters etc, because you aren't one.

So you are stuck playing plastics factory middle manager simulator unfortunately.

 

[PSqueak]

If a game lets me play as a woman, i choose that option (see: Mass Effect), in fact it can be the superior experience (see: Persona 3 Portable).

I have no problem relating to female characters at all.

 

[Zakalwe]

I think you are brushing a group of people with broad strokes. You justify why women can prefer to play a women but you can't see why men may want to play as men protagonists?

I didn't say that, I said there's more complexity to this than saying "it's just a preference".

I was also talking about those who cannot bring themselves to even consider playing the opposite gender, not simply those who have a preference.

This is the exact opposite of brushing in broad strokes.

As it has been repeated, some gamers just want to play power fantasies and men and women power fantasies aren't the same. If a guy wants to play a game where he feels he is the most powerful character in the game and wants to hack, slash and lust over women (because that is his gender preference) then which game do you think he would want to play, God of War or Tomb Raider? Video games are entertainment and entertainment is often times escapism. Some want to escape into an elaborate world with a narrative and some people just want pretend they are the strongest and sexiest thing alive. Neither are wrong.

Gaming habits are different for everyone. Some people just wanna play FPS while other prefer sports games or puzzles, etc. If you play to be an active participant in your power fantasy then picking a character of your same gender is the way to go.

Again, you're missing the psychological complexity here.

Every single preference you have has a root to it, and if that preference involves denying something entirely like being able to enjoy playing a game as another gender, it is probably going to be beneficial to you to explore the reasons why.

In fact, I'm doing the exact opposite of what you claim I am. I'm not making generalisations, I'm literally saying things are far more complex than that.

Ironically, you /are/ talking in broad strokes.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

If a game lets me play as a woman, i choose that option (see: Mass Effect), in fact it can be the superior experience (see: Persona 3 Portable).

I have no problem relating to female characters at all.

P3P is just good if you've played vanilla P3 or FES first, since you can really appreciate the changes made to the core game. If not, P3P is probably underwhelming. And none of it is exactly related to the inclusion of a female protagonist.

 

[FallenGrace]

Good characters are good characters.

Nailed it.

Couldn't care less what gender, colour or sexuality they are as long as they are well written/acted.

 

[Lothar]

So I've been playing hundreds of games (mostly RPGs) in the last 22 years of my life wrong?�� I didn't need to "feel like I am" Gerald in TW3 to be engrossed in the world, the lore, empathize with the characters etc. Maybe we're both talking about the same type of feeling when we say that we are engrossed in a game, but I don't attribute that to the ability of thinking I literally am the protagonist, but rather to my feeling invested and interested in the fictional characters' lives and the story itself. I'm controlling the protagonist, yes, and I'm sometimes making dialog choices, but I still feel like it's the fictional character carrying out the decision, not me in the body of the character (or however you feel while playing), if that makes sense. I'm just molding an existing character a bit, but it's still some version of Gerald I'm playing as.

I'm curious, are you only able to play with characters that look like you, or under what condition can you "relate" to someone? And do you exclusively play story-heavy games with silent protagonists and many dialog choices?

If you're playing a role playing game and you're not role playing, I have to say you are playing role playing games wrong. How could you not be? You're not getting the full experience. This is why so many RPGs have silent protagonists. Dragon Quest, Earthbound, Suikoden, Chrono Trigger, South Park, Persona, and so on. Trey Parker said in a interview about making South Park that he was even bothered by games like Mass Effect where you're given choices and the character speaks the one you pick because he wouldn't say it that voice. It took him out of it.

I don't need to characters to look like me. I prefer characters to look as far from me as possible because it's fun to pretend to be other characters. But I can understand why everyone might not want to do that.

 

[____]

My mom saw me playing Horizon and asked: "Why are you playing as a girl?"

I basically just said: "That's how they made the game lol" and she was like "oh "

 

[InsaneTiger]

I can't relate to Lara Croft stabbing dudes in the neck, but I can empathize with her struggle to stab more dudes in the neck.

But seriously, empathy is severely lacking in today's world. We may not understand a person's situation but we have to empathize with that person and what they are going through.

 

[JZA]

It's so funny that of all the extraordinary aspects of HZD such as the post-apocalyptic wilderness setting and the hunting of robotic dinosaurs, the one thing that is an obstacle for people to relate to is the gender of the main character. But everything else about the series? Totally relatable to a present day gamer.

 

[Nabbis]

Again, you're missing the psychological complexity here.

Every single preference you have has a root to it, and if that preference involves denying something entirely like being able to enjoy playing a game as another gender, it is probably going to be beneficial to you to explore the reasons why.

In fact, I'm doing the exact opposite of what you claim I am. I'm not making generalisations, I'm literally saying things are far more complex than that.

Ironically, you /are/ talking in broad strokes.

Unless the root cause is some political or ideological view of the world, it's not really all that worthwhile to explore the reasons. Seeing a difference between things and having a preference is not a "...ism", it's normal human behavior.

 

[RAWi]

I kind of get your friend, but just kind of. This happens to me with books. When searching for something to read, I usually search for male protagonists. Which makes it kind of interesting for me, as I have read books with male and female protagonists or lead or duos, but haven't read a book that focuses only on a female protagonist. Although I am not against of reading a book with a female lead, perhaps just haven't find one that gets my attention (story-wise and genre). Would love to get some good recommendations. Some of the books I have read are... "The Vampire Chronicles (Anne Rice)", "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (Michael Scott)", among others. Tried reading "Hunger Games", but didn't like the writing, although loved the movie and the lead.

However, love playing as a female protagonist on a videogame. If the game gives me the option to choose between male and female, I usually choose female (whichever looks the most awesome to me). Like with Pokemon, I directly go and choose the girl. Same goes for series and movies, it doesn't matter to me if the protagonist is male or female, as long as the character is good (and acting obviously).

 

[Foxy the Fox]

Being peruvian is to play as literally everyone except people like me.

That being said, I don't have a problem playing as male or female in the story mode.

If the game asks you to create a character is like this: Occidental as a male. Japanese anime game as female. Being kawaii is important.

 

[old manatee]

I'm a man, and if there is a character creator I always make a woman. One reason I like playing video games is that I don't have to be me for a little while.

 

[HStallion]

It's so funny that of all the extraordinary aspects of HZD such as the post-apocalyptic wilderness setting and the hunting of robotic dinosaurs, the one thing that is an obstacle for people to relate to is the gender of the main character. But everything else about the series? Totally relatable to a present day gamer.

Hey I don't know about you but getting past the Thunderjaws to get to work is a daily struggle.

 

[NullPointer]

"I can't relate to a woman. I can, however, relate to Kratos, son of a God, General of the Spartan army, who killed his own wife and child, became a god himself, and literally crawled out of hell before killing the entire Greek God Pantheon.

Having a vagina though? Too far, man. Too far."

As a power fantasy how many people fantasize about being a bad-ass of the opposite sex? I'm sure some do, but I wouldn't imagine it to be the most common thing.

I get why people may not relate, or may find it difficult to project. I don't have that problem, but I can understand where it comes from.

 

[Days like these...]

I really don't understand this whole relating to protagonist thing. I never thought about relating to Sonic or Mario or Donkey Kong or any character. I just play games that I think I'll like. Thinking about protagonists and whether or not I can relate to them is just so foreign to me.

 

[Brad Grenz]

Weird way to learn your friend is a sociopath. Sorry bout that.

 

[Taker34]

I can relate to a male or female character but there are only a few games with a female lead. Looking at my games collection I almost never have the chance of playing female characters. Oddly enough, when presented with a choice I do tend to play a male character just because the character creation tools are so poor that a bog standard male model looks better than what I'm trying to do with the female option. It's quite frustrating, so I enjoy and definitely can relate to an opposite sex protagonist. There shouldn't be a problem with it since most male characters are written so incredibly badly that I'm convinced no one can relate to those weird twonks in the first place.

Regarding your friend OP. Is that a kind of "I'm not a sexist, I have a sister" type of guy? :}

 

[tearsintherain]

I don't have a problem playing a girl in story games, and I really enjoyed tomb raider and horizon zero dawn (plat'd both) and I think I played FemShep in my ME2 playthrough (male in ME1 & 3). However, I generally dislike violence being done to women in all entertainment and won't play a girl in an extremely violent game. There were a lot of very uncomfortable moments in the TR reboot (less in the sequel) where I thought about stopping playing.

I wouldn't play a female in any multiplayer FPS game like call of duty or battlefield where you regularly get gibbed, QTE murdered, etc.

I don't think there is anything wrong with not wanting to play a female character, and its part of the marketing research a company has to do about the audience for their game.

 

[acheron_xl]

Reminds me of a dude I was in a band with who refused to cover a Breeders song because they had a woman singer.

There are some games I always play a woman if given the choice. If I played a Saints Row game as a guy, it would feel really weird to me.

 

[Zakalwe]

Unless the root cause is some political or ideological view of the world, it's not really all that worthwhile to explore the reasons. Seeing a difference between things and having a preference is not a "...ism", it's normal human behavior.

You don't know if it's the root cause of anything /until/ you explore it, which is the entire point, so I'm not quite sure what you're saying here.

 

[zombieshavebrains]

I watched the Alien series recently and it really made me realize how much I like Ripley as a character. She's something I'd like to see more of as "how to do a female character".

 

[LordKasual]

i don't see how relating to the opposite sex is any different from relating to a character of another race, culture, world, reality, height, anything

relating to having a vagina isn't all that weird when i'm intended to relate to double jumping or killing zombies for days without ever taking a bath

 

[JusDoIt]

As a guy who happens to be a blue hedgehog with dope red sneakers, there are only a handful of games these days that I can personally relate to, and all the ones I can relate to have been trash since 1993. Relating to main characters is just a privilege that most of us do not have.

 

[SoRuffShoNuff]

If there is sex in a game I don't want to play as a female.