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[King Gilga]

I'd like to think I'm pretty unbiased in character creation games.

In Mass Effect I was femshep, manshep, femshep for 1, 2, and 3.

In dragon age I've been all male for the warden, hawk, and inquisitor.

I played firegirl and void girl in borderlands 1 and 2.

In WoW I'm 7 female characters to 4 male characters (though a few characters started out the opposite gender.)

But I think in general I lean towards male characters if I can make them how I like them because I have a vague image of how every one of my male characters look.

But if I do play through a game twice for whatever reason the 2nd character will always be the opposite gender of the first.

I tend to lean more female when you can make badass ones and not omg im so sexy in bikini plate or uguuu kawai ones.

But voice acting is more likely to effect me than gender, in DAI I initially made a female quinari but didn't like either of the voices (and the fact that everone else looked like a dwarf in comparison) and rerolled a human male (whos voices I still don't live but prefer).

In premade characters games I could not give less of shit about gender if I like the character.

 

[BriareosGAF]

I have two daughters who always want to design my characters so I'm pretty much consigned to playing ladies whenever available. I don't mind, and it's cute to see my children so absorbed in the character creators.

 

[InvertedComposer]

Always girl when possible, and also never human when possible.

Still mad I can't be a goblin paladin to this day in WoW.

I don't have anything against playing a dude, but usually just not interested in their design most of the time.

It's not something that will stop me from playing a game, however. That said, Demons's'sss Souls is the only game where I played a dude for strict gameplay reasons (some armor set i REALLY liked was male only). I'd hop into vindictus again if there was a 2h sword girl character that played like the male dude, but I highly doubt that's happening.

I would too.
Except her dash looks...awful. Animations are important to me.

 

[The Victorian]

In RPGs, I used to play as a male character without exception, as the notion of playing as a woman seemed rather odd to me.

But when I played Dragon Age: Origins, I felt that the game did not have any female characters that I actually liked, so I figured I'd have to make one myself. So now it's typically a 50/50 split between male and female characters, although it depends a bit on the game. In Mass Effect, for instance, I always use MaleShep for Renegade play-throughs, since Mark Meer's Renegade voice acting is superior to Hale's.

Of course, my reason for playing as a female character is usually a shallow one - I like playing as characters who are attractive, and as a male it's easier for me to create an attractive female character than a male one. I also loathe and despise the "gritty hyper-macho badass anti-hero" that's so common in games ("Geraltsayswhat?"), and I prefer to play as anything but that.

 

[Skyfireblaze]

I usually play as female characters too because I don't like that most of the time playing male characters comes with alot of masculinity which I don't really like and female characters are oftentimes better designed outside from overly skimpy designs just to be skimpy for the heck of it. To list a few games and characters where I liked playing as a male character:

Persona 3 Portable
Persona 4
Devil May Cry 4 (Nero and Dante were nice)
Super Smash Bros. (Captain Falcon is my main, which is masculine yes but if I think of the anime I like his character)
Uncharted (to a lesser extend, Drake was bit too... dumb? for my taste)
Diablo III (Male Witchhunter was nice to play as)
Dynasty and Samurai Warriors (Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, Liu Bei, Motonari Mōri etc.)
Witcher III (Gerald was okay)
Fire Emblem Awakening
Pokémon (I tend to alternate between genders from version to version)

Yet in most MMOs and when I'm given the choice I tend to play as female characters because I rather identify as a calm and thoughtful male person and I usually find this better represented on the female side of characters as I have a hard time making a male character I actually like in most character-creators. An exception would be Xenoblade X for example where I felt comfortable with the male character I could create. It might be limited observation by myself but I find that the majority of games, especially on the western side of things tend to push quite alot into a very masculine character type and I dislike that.

To bring another example since I watched Star Wars yesterday, I hugely enjoyed Finn as a character. He wasn't a brute or some cocky male but rather a believable person with emotions who still wasn't whiny or angsty in my opinion and I wish western media especially and games as a whole would try to meet more of a middleground or at the very least expand male characters a bit more beyond the usual tropes.

 

[wuth]

Huge Baiken fan.

If there's one thing I really enjoy about her design it's that cleavage aside, she's basically the opposite of the traditional "sexy" character/swordswoman. All her mannerisms in-game are rugged, and she's missing an eye AND an arm... With no "cute" attempts to cover either up.

...damn I love that character. I need her to show up in Xrd, ASAP :'(

I can't wait...

 

[petran79]

Ironically one of the best male characters ever is Kaz, the brother of Eko in Arcana Heart 3, a game dominated by female characters. I feel as if he's in the wrong game!

 

[Host Samurai]

Nope. Always male. The only time I'll play as a female is in a fighting game but they're never my mains.

 

[Pusherman]

One thing I've noticed is that in games where you can create your character or choose one of many I always have a harder time playing as a white male than anything else. Like, I either play as a black/light skin dude meant to represent me or I play as someone entirely unlike me, be it Asian/female/Indian or whatever. Despite being half-white I never pick the white male if I have the choice. If I pick a female or an Asian character they don't really represent me at all whereas if I pick a white male I feel like I'm trying to represent myself through something I'm not. Weird, right?

 

[roknin]

I can't wait...

Noiice! That's dedication right there.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I generally do not care what gender I play as as long as the game is enjoyable to me, but I will admit that I typically find female characters a little more interesting in games. Also, sometimes I even find their designs and personalities more interesting. Besides, most games feature similar looking and acting male protagonists, imo there is nothing wrong with switching it up and playing a female character whenever you want to.

 

[KaoteK]

I always play as a female character given the choice, and have done for as long as I can remember. I have no idea why other than I really like the idea of playing as a kick arse woman who, um, kicks all kinds of arse.

 

[elitewillie1]

I always play as a male since I am a man. I've never really understood why guys want to play as females. After reading all of the comments on here I still don't get it. Oh well to each their own.

 

[Crzy1]

I'll typically always use female characters, but if I'm not given a choice it doesn't have much bearing on the game or my enjoyment of it, except for Mass Effect since Jennifer Hale killed it throughout the series. I think I'm going to have difficulty enjoying Andromeda since she won't have a leading role (that I know of).

 

[QisTopTier]

I always play as a male since I am a man. I've never really understood why guys want to play as females. After reading all of the comments on here I still don't get it. Oh well to each their own.

elitewillie1
Junior Member
(Today, 04:01 PM)

 

[Vex_]

I always play as a male since I am a man. I've never really understood why guys want to play as females. After reading all of the comments on here I still don't get it. Oh well to each their own.

It would help if you explained what you aren't getting.

Maybe we can solve this mystery for you one day...

 

[petghost]

I think this is a really common thing. Like in fighting games I know a bunch of folks who only pick females.

I'm not very picky personally.

 

[TastyOreoFriend]

Nope. Always male. The only time I'll play as a female is in a fighting game but they're never my mains.

And to add to this I always default to the minority if I can especially if they aren't a walking stereotype. Unfortunately that can be hard to find. I wish character creators were also better than this. They are getting better like DA:O and MGSV, but some like FFXIV you can really only make an off-tan white dude still.

 

[Lothar]

I always play as a male since I am a man. I've never really understood why guys want to play as females. After reading all of the comments on here I still don't get it. Oh well to each their own.

The character is not you. You're playing a character. So why does it have to be a man? That doesn't make any sense.

 

[Nova Bovington]

Whenever there is a romance sub-plot I usually pick a female character, because girls' making out is one of the few things I enjoy more than games.

Spoiler

It made me feel less awkward about making sweet, sweet love to Garrus as well.

Other than that I usually just pick whatever I think looks cooler. Male designs quite often end up being either too generic or trying too hard to look cool (Look at all these scars all over my face!).
Armour and stuff is often more modest on female models as well.

 

[petghost]

The character is not you. You're playing a character. So why does it have to be a man? That doesn't make any sense.

I don't have this hang up but I figure a lot of folks can't relate to an avatar that they feel doesn't represent them in that kinda way. It's one of the arguments I heard for more diverse chars in gaming so I think it might be pretty common.

 

[Rayis]

I like playing the cutest characters and they almost always tend to be female

 

[M0nochromatic]

In games where I'll play through it with multiple characters with a lesser focus on player personality and choice, I'll switch up between male and female at will. IE: Souls games.

If It's a one run type situation that emphasizes personal investment and decision making, I'll put more consideration into character creation, and the split becomes more 75% male 25% female depending on what I feel like role playing as at the time.

 

[TastyOreoFriend]

The character is not you. You're playing a character. So why does it have to be a man? That doesn't make any sense.

Not necessarily. The concept of self-inserting isn't some new thing, and people like to do it to varying degrees and levels. It almost goes hand and hand with LARPing (live action roleplay) only digitally.

What your saying isn't wrong either, but the idea of self-inserting by trying to make your avatar as close to you physically in the real world isn't wrong as well. A lot of people prefer that.

Either way people are free to make the avatar they want and its not wrong to want to make an opposite gendered avatar. I personally want more robot, lion, and minority representation :x

 

[SpikeOut]

Same here.. depending on how well the booty is modeled for third-person view.

Seriously, though I think that female characters tend to have more interesting outfit designs than males in some games. Not counting most MMOs since the designs can be pretty awful.

 

[FiraB]

Depends on the game for me, in a lot of games I hate the design of male characters because they just look down right stupid, have terrible customization options or just don't fit my playstyle (gender lock games).

I also don't make my characters purely white anymore either, something many JPN players find funny about my black lalafel in FFXIV.

 

[Son Of D]

If I play a MMO then I make a male. Just want to avoid creeps stalking me because I play as a female. But in non-mmo games it varies. Fighting Games I go for moveset over character (although in crossovers I've been lucky in that my favourite characters have movesets I like). Offline RPGs I switch between male and female if I have a choice. Sometimes making a good looking guy or a badass girl. And I'm never put off if a game forces me to be a specific gender.

I'm a gay guy by the way, for those who want a 'survey' of answers from particular genders and sexualities.

 

[Lime]

I just play mostly anything that isn't some white muscular dude in his 20's-30's. I'm so freaking tired of that character type that an inanimate carbon rod would be more interesting from a narrative and an aesthetic performance. I mix it up every now and again between male or female, but it's dependent on the setting and tone of the game in question.

However, seeing female characters in atypical media roles through the conditions of the power fantasies/sci-fi/fantasy genres so insanely typical for video games can be really refreshing, as it is nice to see something in contrast to my everyday experiences with oppression/discrimination. It's great to see someone saving the universe/day through a lot of adversity who is someone who's not white straight dude.

Some of my favorites where choices for the female gender option was remarkable and should be commended:

• - Laura Bailey as the Boss in Saint's Row 3+4 is amazing. Really great voice acting.
• - Female warrior in Dragon's Dogma is all sorts of bad ass with some of the cool armor sets and impressive fluid animation work.
• - Persona 3 Portable gave some interesting dialogue and emotional responses by virtue of the main character's gender (I didn't dig the blue/pink divide though)
• - Dark Souls have some of the best armor designs across both genders.
• - FemShep obviously.
• - I've always liked the way that the Resident Evil series *at least* allowed to make their female ensemble prominent and cool (despite some of the gross bonus costumes )

 

[Etrian Oddity]

May we aspire to her badassery.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

I almost always go Female when I can choose. Dunno why, but perhaps because I'm a huge Metroid fan? Maybe I just really like strong female protagonists.

 

[Doctor Bat]

When given the option I usually pick female just out of curiosity, and honestly perhaps because I don't see a lot of games with a female central protagonist. Someone like Commander Shepherd, a high-ranking and respected soldier, is fascinating to play female. It recontextualises that character in that world. It's pretty cool seeing a woman do all these things we don't usually get to see.

As a guy, I'm just more curious to trying out games as a female character because it's different.

 

[Laughing Banana]

It's more fun generally to play Fashion Time! with female characters, hahah. Bloodborne is a good example of this: lots of the clothing set in the game fits female characters better for me and it's fun to play dress up with my character.

I don't really have a preference though.

 

[PhilipDoesMatter]

When I'm given the choice, I build a female char always. Loving my Celes in Xenoblade X

 

[Dutch Microwave]

Last few years I've been gravitating towards creating female characters most of the time and even if all things are equal,I choose women over men characters for just the sole reason of them being different and therefore inherently more interesting to me in those stories/situations men are put into usually.That's not to say I dislike male characters but nowadays they have to be exceptionally well realized personality-wise (and not annoy me much with said personality) otherwise I simply zone out and get bored fast.The 20-30 something male and its variations have been done so many times I dont wanna waste my time on retreads.I'm also more willing to give mediocre looking games a chance with female pc (within reason,f.ex this doesnt apply to boob jiggle simulators disguised as games).

As others have said,it probably comes down to whether you self-insert or not and the degree of it.I never fully do so it makes my choice easier.

Heh,it's probably one of the reasons why many men found the idea of heterosexual romances in game with female main character icky. For example Dontnod (Life is Strange devs) specifically mentioned the focus groups were put off by the idea of kissing a dude so they never wrote those scenes/characters in Remember Me.
I wonder how many people chose male romances in Bioware games as well and didnt become space/magic lesbian because those characters were something they'd have chosen as men. Of course you could argue that they just chose them on personality but Garrus would win in that case,unless theyre xenophobic

 

[Lothar]

I don't have this hang up but I figure a lot of folks can't relate to an avatar that they feel doesn't represent them in that kinda way. It's one of the arguments I heard for more diverse chars in gaming so I think it might be pretty common.

Not necessarily. The concept of self-inserting isn't some new thing, and people like to do it to varying degrees and levels. It almost goes hand and hand with LARPing (live action roleplay) only digitally.

What your saying isn't wrong either, but the idea of self-inserting by trying to make your avatar as close to you physically in the real world isn't wrong as well. A lot of people prefer that.

Either way people are free to make the avatar they want and its not wrong to want to make an opposite gendered avatar. I personally want more robot, lion, and minority representation :x

We're already far removed from being anything like the characters. Chances are no one here is anything like a buff badass military commander or a murdering psychopath like in Grand Theft Auto or a demigod like Kratos or a spiky haired child in a RPG. If anyone can self insert as one of those characters, why can't they self insert as a woman?

Whether I'm male Shepard or female Shepard in Mass Effect, neither character is anything remotely like me. So it doesn't matter which one I'm pretending to be. I go with which one has a more interesting look and voice.

 

[Anura]

LMAO

Hetero male that always picks female but the thought of passing on a game because I couldn't be a female character is hilarious. I feel bad for all the great games you missed.

I know I'm late on this but... Don't do this. Just don't. Trans women here and I'm really just done playing as guys. I mean, I've been doing it in real life for far too long anyways. Don't feel bad for me either. I mostly play Melee and Monster Hunter anyways, I usually don't bother with much else.

 

[Doombacon]

In general fashion dictates what gender I play in games. For example I would never play a male character over a female one in Monster Hunter just because of how much more detail is put into the female armor sets, and on the other hand I tend to play males in World of Warcraft because the bulky aesthetic of end game armor in the game tends to suit the male frame in my eyes.

 

[LinkToTheFuture]

In mmo's with deep customization I would always feel much more enjoyment playing my own gender(female) because it made me feel like i could put that much more of myself into the char i created. But non created char based games it doesnt make a difference to me =)

 

[TastyOreoFriend]

We're already far removed from being anything like the characters. Chances are no one here is anything like a buff badass military commander or a murdering psychopath like in Grand Theft Auto or a demigod like Kratos or a spiky haired child in a RPG. If anyone can self insert as one of those characters, why can't they self insert as a woman?

Whether I'm male Shepard or female Shepard in Mass Effect, neither character is anything remotely like me. So it doesn't matter which one I'm pretending to be. I go with which one has a more interesting look and voice.

My argument still stands and was from more of a create a character stand point to begin with. Even then with self-insert power fantasies, with pre-made avatars such as Kratos or "bad ass war hero with no emotions", it still applies. To varying degrees people want to live in the fantasies they create for themselves and in a lot of cases digitally LARP. If they don't wanna play as "X-type" of avatar they certainly don't have to. People generally feel more of an attachment to a specific type of "avatar" that they want to play which gives them a more immersive experience.

I myself default to trying to make an accurate representation of a mixed half-black/half-white person like myself or a robot race by default. I have a female friend in our guild who does something similar with female human/elves/dwarves every time we start up a new MMO or co-op game with create-a-character features.

People have the right to their own preferences with their fantasy power trips. I don't see why that's so hard to understand.

The problem now is getting the industry to recognize that not everyone wants to play a bald/crew cut, middled aged, emotionless/muted emotions white dude in his 30-40s, and offer up more "avatars" to use for their own fantasies. That's a whole other thread entirely however.

 

[Onivulk]

I like to play a character and see "their" story/evolution. I never want to insert myself into a game. I'm boring. I find females more interesting and will always make a female if there is an option.

 

[GTR R35_Supra RZ]

To OP's thread .....high 5 ma dude! if they give me the ability and the option to choose a female %100 I'll go with a chic..I give zero $&@& playing with dude. It's like you've always were able to play with male character since like........forever.