Do You Play as a Boy or a Girl?

[McChoclatey]

In most first person-shooter games or games where you get character customization, you often get to choose what gender you want to play as.

Usually I play as a girl (since I am one) but I find that in some games, playing as a girl gets you...unwanted extras. I know that this is simply because most games (on console) are marketed towards male gamers, who'd probably rather stare at a girl's ass than a male one's, but I feel like I don't have that level of comfort where I just...play. It just feels so "in your face" you know?

Not that I find anything wrong with making my character a guy; in fact, I like seeing muscles, a handsome face and a nice, soothing voice. I just don't like that playing as a girl, your character becomes sexualized sometimes.

So, how do you play?

[Misanthrope]

Way back in the day, when I used to play a terrible game called Maplestory, I knew a dude who pretended to be a girl to get free items. He'd flirt around with a bunch of desperate guys to get money and stuff >__>


I don't get the excuse some guys use, such as, "Well, if I'm going stare at an ass all day, I'd prefer to look girl's ass." I'm all like, err.... shouldn't you be concentrating on more important stuff? Like the surrounding environment? Or the monsters? Or the enemy players attacking you?

I'm pretty much indifferent on which gender I play as. Usually I'll just pick whichever one has the better looking armor.

(Unless one character model just looks plain awful. Like the female tauren in WoW.... Cows aren't supposed to have boobs-- they have udders. That's just weird).

[treeag]

I don't get the excuse some guys use, such as, "Well, if I'm going stare at an ass all day, I'd prefer to look girl's ass." I'm all like, err.... shouldn't you be concentrating on more important stuff? Like the surrounding environment? Or the monsters? Or the enemy players attacking you?.
I'm a female, and I usually play as either gender. And actually when I do choose a male character, that's my exact reason ;) Well not as much about the ass as the eye candy, but still. I don't play FPS or MMORPG though.

[Gabrymato]

I am a guy and it depends... If it's a RPG like Fable or something I always choose the guy, I don't know why to be completely honest. I just do :)
If it's a sports game like SSX I think I would lean on choosing girls more, they have better outfits.
When I'm playing TS3 my family is usually made up of just one young adult girl, and I focus on making her a celebrity and getting her a glorious career. I just think it's more fun playing as a girl in TS3, getting her all dolled up :) also girls' online CC is much more consistent that boys'.

My favorite games are racing games though, so it doesn't really matter which gender you choose when you're playing NFS The Run or stuff like that. :)

[ButchSims]

If the game gives me a choice, I usually pick male to start. but I will then go back and play as a female, as well. In some games, like, say, Fallout: New Vegas, there are some questlines that can be played out differently, depending on gender. Or in a game like Dragon Age, where your choice can influence the story in a major way. If the differences are merely cosmetic, and don't apply to stats or anything, I just pick the one that looks cooler.

[maxon]

Always as a female if I get the option. I don't mind playing male characters (I've been playing Alan Wake and The Witcher, for instance) but prefer to play as female. One of the great pluses of discovering Mass Effect was the realisation that there was no maleshep (at least in my universe) and that gameplay with the real Shep wasn't altered for some stupid 'women would behave like this' notion.

[Axe Gaijin]

MMORPG = Many Men Online Role Playing Girls :D

[Rawra]

I usually play the first playthrough as a female, and then, the next, as a male, just to see the differences. But I prefer playing as a girl, it's just more... personal. :D

Always as a female if I get the option. I don't mind playing male characters (I've been playing Alan Wake and The Witcher, for instance) but prefer to play as female. One of the great pluses of discovering Mass Effect was the realisation that there was no maleshep (at least in my universe) and that gameplay with the real Shep wasn't altered for some stupid 'women would behave like this' notion.

I know, to me, playing as Broshep seemed weird. I barely finished two playthroughs with him. o.o

[paksetti]

If it's a sidescroller or something, I'd just pick the one that looks cooler, like when I played pokemon ruby, I always played the guy because his hair was cooler. If they actually look like people, I'll play either. I usually go back and play both if it's more than an aesthetic difference. More often than not, If I can customize it, it's going to be ridiculous as hell though. I loved making ridiculous burly drag queens in sr2, just because the cut scenes were hilarious. "These gangs have no idea who they're dealing with"

[SimJymm]

When I play MMOs I don't see myself as being in the game, I see the character on the screen as the hero of a story. So when I choose gender I think what would make a story that will amuse/entertain me. Sometimes the hero is male, sometimes female. But honestly I've more female characters in WoW than male because most of the male characters are ugly (like Misanthrope I play male taurens).

In the Sims for me is all about playing a family. So both and sometimes same genders make up my households.

When I play RPGs I tend to be the hero, so I play as a male. Though I did play Sheperd in Mass Effect as a female, it was more fun that way. I played both female and males in Skyrim. But the females were more photogenic, so they got more screenshots. :)

[frankokomando]

I don't mind playing either gender, but usually if I have a choice I'll choose female.

[Yazoo]

I usually play as a male. :) For instance, when playing lets say a game that only gives you an option of A boy and A girl (As in one or the other) And there are two players.

I pick the male, and my brother is stuck with the female. Muahahahha. >.>

[piggypeach]

I don't really play games where the females are "sexualized". I'm more of a T-rated gamer. And everything below T also...

Soo I play as a girl. Because I am a girl.

[DigitalSympathies]

I play as a guy, I just prefer it that way even though I'm a female. I identify more with male protagonists.

[KKiryu007Joker]

Don't care, don't even think about it, I just play the game and if the character is the character then that's who I play as. Besides I don't believe in gender as a concept.

[BloodyScholastic]

I'm female and I always choose the opposite gender. Male.

I choose male because I think my gameplay is related more to male, more likely to be like male players than usual female players. I'm not exaggerated myself, I think it is because I've spent most of my time in my home since I was in elementary school, nothing to do except playing games, watching movies, listening to music, rather than spending my time going outside with female friends.

I play all varieties of games FPS arcade, fighting on console games, strategy, adventures, challenging logic, puzzle... I'm an impatient player, wanted to hit the highest score and sometimes swearing bad words if I get lose lol. ^^

Because I'm straight female, I find male character (of course!) more attractive, as a bonus :rofl: just like male players choose female gender for character customization to give them pleasure "sexy" sight, both equal right? :D In sims 1, 2, and 3, my characters I usually play frequently always be male. About 70% male and 30% female. I more likely to play masculine/bad ass/tough/cool/nerd/geek male characters than typical "boring" pretty/cute/hipsters female. That's why my avatar showing male sim, even tough you can see gender on my profile female ;)

[Ive]

Whatever looks the coolest, or has the coolest abilities. Usually it's male as I find the female characters can be a bit too sexualised or over the top. In recent games anyway.

I don't see "myself" in the character or see it as a person by itself. I have some friends who call their characters for her or him. To me it's just a it.

[minimogut]

I pick female, exclusively. I am a girl, and I've never felt the need to play as a male character (I only make exceptions for games like Mario and Legend of Zelda) so I have a female character. The games I play have attributes based on race, or they have nothing to do with what you pick, only how good your reaction time is, or how high your level is.

In the sims, it varies. It depends on what I'm trying to accomplish in a story/ upcoming video. If I need a male sim, I'll make a male sim. If I need a female sim, I make it. I know what they look like in my head, so it can be very different.

[maxon]

bad ass/tough/cool/nerd/geek male characters than typical "boring" pretty/cute/hipsters female.
How odd. I play typical bad ass/tough/cool/nerd/geek female characters myself.

[ElementMK]

If it's a sidescroller or something, I'd just pick the one that looks cooler, like when I played pokemon ruby, I always played the guy because his hair was cooler.This is how I go about it, too. I get a lot of flak from 12-year-olds on Xbox LIVE for playing as a female character in Halo. What can I say? Their male counterparts are just too damn bulky. I want someone that reflects my ladylike stature.

It is fun to mess with morons on LIVE, though. They see a female character and ask me to be their girlfriend. I respond with my deep Bubba voice and scar them for life.

[KKiryu007Joker]

It is fun to mess with morons on LIVE, though. They see a female character and ask me to be their girlfriend. I respond with my deep Bubba voice and scar them for life.

So evil.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll57/extra76/Walker/XXl/girls/GIF%20For%20NT/More%20GIF/dawson_crying.gif

[jthm_nny]

I usually play as a guy because of the clothing. I'd play as a girl too if all the clothes could be worn by both genders! (Note: all the custom content I've ever made was converted to both genders no matter how girly or boyish)

[BloodyScholastic]

How odd. I play typical bad ass/tough/cool/nerd/geek female characters myself.

Sometimes I pick female characters too. Most of tough female characters I've seen in my games pretty much being "sexualized", doesn't really fit to my taste ;) Kind of hard to find any other cool, nerd, geek, decent female character, since in my games the characters have been dominated by male :)

[clynnc19]

I play as a girl because I am a girl but play as a guy if that is the only choice.

[annoainthere]

Well really it depends on the character/game. I take the time to choose carefully (check out stats, abilities, etc..) because I like to play characters that have a good variety while being able to inflict a good amount of damage as well. I don't usually care if I play female or male, so long as they have the right stats for me.

[paksetti]

Well, this seems appropriate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e52EpgiI3gk

[SimMegaptera]

Both, either, I don't care. It depends on which one I'd rather look at/listen to.

In WoW I tend to play males more often because a lot of the female characters annoy me. :P Too-sexy death screams, too-skimpy 'armour', etc.

In City of Heroes I have a female hero because she's a me-avatar and totally not annoying -- there are huge options for faces, makeup, clothing or lack thereof, and body type, so I can make her the way I want. And I have a male villain because he's hot as hell. :)

[lovevslust]

I usually take the time to look at stats and such as well. Although in Skyrim I will admit the first character I made was a female because her face was gorgeous (I am male, don't everybody gasp at my name now...) But then after I played a male second time round' I found out very quickly that the males took less damage...Idk why...I had the same armor and everything on, same weapons, took the same damage in hits...blah blah blah.
But I will ordinarly choose male because in a lot of games their health always seems to be better...

[GnatGoSplat]

I am male. I usually play as male if it's a first-person game and you can't ever see the character because I feel as though I'm playing as myself, and I'm male.

However, I usually play as female if it's 3rd person and you can see the character. I have a few reasons (yeah, I've actually thought about this before, I'm nerdy like that):
1. I am pervy. I like boobs. Even pixel boobs. Between the choice of being able to see boobs or not see boobs, I will always choose to see boobs.
2. I like dainty, pretty faces too.
3. I like a female hero. I like women who are smart, strong, and kick ass. I'm attracted to this in real life, and I like it in my game too.
4. I like underdogs. Women have to fight harder for promotions, equal pay, etc. Sexism is still rampant in our culture, so I see a female hero as an underdog.
5. In a 3rd person game, I just see my character as a character in a story and not as myself, so I don't feel like I want the character to be male like me.

[candesco]

Most of the time i play a female character. I'm a guy myself, but for somehow i like to play females, especially in rpg's such as TES. One of the reasons is that you have more options. The female characters in Sacred 2 Fallen Angel have the options to my liking, as i like to play with magic. The magic character in SA2 is a high elf and a seraphim can use some divine magic. As for TES, that has to do with mods. And sometimes a game only has a female protagonist, like BloodRayne and Venetica, so you have no other choice. But sometimes i play a male character too, like in The Witcher, King's Bounty: The Legend, Risen, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Two Worlds II. Here you can only play with a male one, which is not a big deal.

[Synthesis]

I no longer play MMOs. But I don't mind admitting Ioften play female characters in third person games so I can have a prettier in-game avatar to stare at for x hours.

In my defense, that's not always the case. Take Saints Row the Third, in which I play a rough and tumble, three-piece-suit-wearing English gangster using the sliders from Hugh Laurie in SR2.

On the other hand, in Skyrim, I'm playing a female character. Sometimes, game content can make the difference--voice actors in Mass Effect games, for example, pretty much require I pick the female option.

I understand why some people would find oversexualized female player characters distasteful. For me it's less of an obstacle--I'm much more embarrassed for the obscene, over-the-top levels of violence we usually get in third person games. Though I guess I wouldn't have it any other way?

[Shoosh Malooka]

For a game like Mass Effect 1 with the female voice set of Jennifer Hale ( I think that's her name ) it makes me play the game as a serious no-nonsense badass, picking most of the badass dialogue except for the rare cases of twist your mustache evil. But in a game like Fallout 3 / Fallout: New Vegas that has no voice actress and hardly any difference in the game for what sex you choose, I'd rather just be blank-male-representation of what hero I wish I could be. There would have to be something substantial to make me pick a female character, and a minor change in stats wouldn't cover it. However, I imagine for a game like TERA which wouldn't have good female dialogue or acting, I would probably try a female because, look at the clothes they made. Clothes that show skin, or even look good covered up, color customization, hair, tattoos, etc.

[Oaktree]

I generally play each gender, with a preference for playing female characters, and I am female. If it has no effect on the gameplay, I admit to being fairly shallow about how my character looks. The first character I make is usually female - probably to act as a sort of author avatar - and then, if I can make an attractive male character, I often will. If I think either gender has ugly character models, I'll usually avoid it. For instance, I think most of the male characters in WoW are pretty ugly-looking (hyper-masculinity isn't very attractive to me - I like masculinity, but looking like a bodybuilder and that awkward slouch aren't very attractive), so I have no male WoW characters. In Dragon Age II, on the other hand, my favorite of my characters was male. If the gameplay is affected by gender, like in Diablo II, for example, I'll choose character type over gender. The druid is my favorite class, so I play a male character most of the time in D2.

[KKiryu007Joker]

I honestly like girls better, though it doesn't bother me to play a guy.

[Luisa's Bones]

I prefer playing as a girl since I'm a girl. I feel more connected to my character that way and it's more personal... If that makes any sense. I hardly ever see the appeal of playing as a guy really. I don't know why, I just don't like it and I'm usually put off by a game if I don't get to chose my gender, and will only play it if I really... REALLY like the game.

[Oaktree]

Off-topic, but I like your avatar KKiryu. We sort of match. :P