gaming Playing as the opposite gender

[TomokoKuroki 1,707]

It kinda bothers me, I mean its not really a big deal. I have gay friends and I'm completely comfortable no matter what people's preferences are, so it's weird that it bothers me. I honestly can't say why, its just something I was born with I guess.

 

It could be the possibility that you see it as a false statement to who they really are?

 

One thing that really bothers me in some games is how people try to over-sexualize so the point where it is completely silly and not sexy/serious at all. This is pretty prevelent in games such as Aion, or WoW that allow you to customize armor looks. I don't mind people trying to be sexy, and i know being "sexy" is very subjective as we all have our own opinion of it. But there is a fine line between sexy and straight out skimpy.

 

And i find it sad that there can't be semi-realistic armor for females in games to protect them in battle. I am sure if they think together, they can make something sexy that looks like it offers decent protection, but instead we see a lot of fantasy games with women in almost nothing running into battle. It is silly.

[Fhaolan 4,484]

I'm glad you brought that up. In Persona 3 Portable, you could play as a female and of course it still had the dating sim elements. I can see how that would make some guys playing the game uncomfortable. I imagine most (or at least decent amount) still played through that since it was a new spin on an old game, though.

 

I was more thinking along the lines that any relationships presented as part of the game aren't 'real'. If you're interacting with other players and a relationship sparks from *that*, then that is considerably different and I can understand having avatar/player dissonance problems.

 

Otherwise... this may be a bit harsh; but if you have difficulty observing a fictional relationship between video game characters, just because the one you are nominally controlling is of the opposite gender to yourself, and you wouldn't have a problem if you were controlling the *other* character in that same situation*... then you may want to think about that carefully. The character you are controlling is not you. Investing yourself to that degree can be an issue.

 

I actually run into something similar pretty often in an acting gig I do on a regular basis. Due to the semi-improv nature of the show, performers sometimes let themselves get a bit carried away, blurring the distinction between themselves and the character they're playing. You know it's coming when the actor says 'My character wouldn't do that!'. The response is, 'Your character does what the plot needs him/her to do.' Yes, you can make suggestions to improve the story, but you don't say no to the scene.

 

In brief: You are not the character, the character is not you. If you have a problem distinguishing between the two of you, you need to back away now and get a grip.

 

* Bolded for emphasis. I realized this is the most import part of my point, and I needed to be clearer about it. Not wanting to deal with relationships at all within games is, in my opinion, perfectly fine and understandable.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Fhaolan

[sparklechic 54]

well being a chick some rpgs dont give you the choice(example:first generation of pokemon) so i have to play as a male but even in many games where you get the choice i choose the male because i just think that the male characters look cooler.  In games i play with my friends they see it as kinda weird why i would choose to be the guy character but they dont really care.  In games where you can have more then one file though i usually make one with each.

[Aaramus 449]

When given the choice I will pick a male character, its easier for me to immerse myself in the game because you already have a big similarity with your character. This applies mainly to RPG's where you get to customise your character to your own design. 

 

However, when I play games such as Mass Effect I will do a play through of each gender. For one it means I can do more exploration through two play throughs but I also get to experiance the other voice acting. In the case of Commander Shepherd I felt that femshep was actually a better voiced and acted character, the male version was good but I actually felt that Shepherd was more of a female character.

 

The same goes for other games which are heavily story driven.

[KirbyFluttershy 2,523]

For MMORPGs and Multiplayer Games, It doesn't Matter What Character's Gender you Play as. It's all about the looks so For Example, If a Female Player plays as a Male Character, It doesn't find them weird. Same goes for the Opposite Gender as well. The only Hard part is the Player's Gender like I mistakenly find my linkshell member a female player in final fantasy XI.

 

For me, I played as Female Characters. Sorceress in Diablo2, Female Tarutaru in Final Fantasy XI, Angelic Buster, and Female Kanna in Maple Story, and a Bard in Trickster Online. As I played those Characters, People don't find me Weird at all. Not only for the Looks, but Some MMORPGs and Multiplayer Games have the assigned Job Classes.

[Fhaolan 4,484]

For MMORPGs and Multiplayer Games, It doesn't Matter What Character's Gender you Play as. It's all about the looks so For Example, If a Female Player plays as a Male Character, It doesn't find them weird. Same goes for the Opposite Gender as well. The only Hard part is the Player's Gender like I mistakenly find my linkshell member a female player in final fantasy XI.

 

I've not played much Final Fantasy, so I didn't quite understand. What is a 'linkshell member'?

 

Not much more I can say here. Just marking time...

[Skeletor Brony 703]

I was playing Borderlands 2 with my brother and we got the mechromancer pack (It's a new female player to those who don't know of it). I chose the mechromancer. He didn't rant at me like he usually does when I chose a female character (Zoey from L4D, female wizard on Skyrim, ect). So I asked why he isn't yelling at me. He said "The only reason I yell at you for being a woman in a game is because if there is no difference between characters, why are you choosing the women? If all characters have no difference between each other, what do you get out of being a female character rather than a man like yourself". So during my daily brainstorm, I was thinking. Thinking, Thinking, Thinking. Then it came to me. I play as a woman because I feel like I am learning from the view of a woman in a game world (including the new experiences in dialogue) and the women always have cooler styles than the men (armor almost always looks cooler on women in Skyrim).

[SasQ 1,379]

If there is any choice, I make use of it and I often chose female characters, because I like role playing very much, and I like to see how it would be to be a particular character, even if it involves changing gender, or even species (non-human characters, like animals, robots, aliens etc.).

 

This is just using my fantasy to the limits (if there even are any).

 

I don't see anything wrong with it, nor anyhow related to the sexual preferences: I can play a female character in a game, and still be perfectly str8 (sexually attracted to females) in the real world. Because when I play a female character, this is just a fantasy. I can be her, and behave like her, even meet some guys as if I were her, but I this is me being her, and not me being me ;-) I separate these two things. And when the fantasy ends, I return to my true self without any impact on it (not counting great experiences from the game ;-) ).

 

I approach it somewhat like acting in a movie. An actor can be someone else in the movie than in his real life, and behave differently.

 

But there's a more interesting twist you can try ;->

There's something called "conscious dreaming", or "lucid dreaming", or "dream control" (these are popular names, often considered to be the same, however there are some differences which I left for some other discussion), which is something like your personal Matrix ;-) In a dream state, you can become aware that you're dreaming (there are techniques to induce it), and if you're lucky, you can influence the dream scenery using just your thoughts, to do things which are often impossible in real life. Things like flying like Superman, passing through walls, breathing underwater, reversing gravity (like Twilight did in "Crystal Empire"), or even modify your own dream body. So you can change into some other person, even to switch your gender. And the advantage of this over playing a video game is that it is 100% realistic, as if it were in real life. Now that's a twist, eh? ;->

[PoisonClaw 8,166]

Funny you should mention FemShep actually, because that was actually something I debated about when i started playing Mass Effect. I can see why some people could have problems playing as characters opposite to their actual gender because, at least for the most part, the character in question acts as a kind of surrogate for the player. This is especially the case for games with bucket loads of customization options to the point that it might as well be you fighting the monsters and saving the world from death and destruction.

 

In this case, their is the chance that a noticeable distance between the player and their character occurs, and any attempts to alleviate this could be seen as...awkward for lack of a better term. Me, I just play as the character I like more. While this is generally the male character for reasons above, I picked female Shepard because she just seems like the better character given the two. Plus she's voiced by Jennifer Hale (Samus Aran from Metroid), and strong and badass female characters almost never get old.       

[Thrashy 2,800]

It just kind of depends for me, I occasionally play as a female in single-player games but mostly I stick with males because, being one myself, I obviously identify with them more. Plus, games that let you make that decision are generally ones that are tailor-made for players' self insertion into the game world, so one would think that creating an avatar that resembles the "real-life you" is the logical thing to do. Of course, I do realize it's fun to pretend otherwise.

 

I'm only bothered by dudes who *exclusively* play as female characters, and I have a friend who does just that. I'm not sure why it irritates me, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any gender identity issues, but it makes me raise an eyebrow nonetheless. It's even worse for MMOs because it forces you to be suspicious about whomever you talk to...you know, the whole "this player with a cute female avatar could really be some gross old man in his mother's basement" thing.

 

However, I had a friend once tell me something that put this issue into a whole different light: "Think about it. If you're going to be staring at your avatar for 40+ hours of gameplay, wouldn't you rather make it something that's nice to look at?"

Edited April 9, 2013 by Lowline

[SasQ 1,379]

It's even worse for MMOs because it forces you to be suspicious about whomever you talk to...

 

Because you should be suspicious about that. In fact, you never know who is playing the character you meet. Sometimes it can even be a bot ;-)

 

you know, the whole "this player with a cute female avatar could really be some gross old man in his mother's basement" thing.

 

And what it differs from the real life? ;-)

You can meet some great-looking chick who is "dumb as a rock" inside ;-J

You never know who's playing these real-life avatars anyway ;-D

Not to mention there are people IRL who think they have wrong body. You see a chick but there's a guy inside :-D

Edited April 9, 2013 by SasQ

[Thrashy 2,800]

^Oh yeah, I totally get that. Maybe I'm just too old-fashioned, but I'm someone who'd rather know a person by their *biological* sex rather than the one they personally identify with. I don't mean anything by it, of course, and I'm never fixing to judge anyone (for anything other than acts of blatant stupidity), but I just kind of see the world through more of a physical, WYSIWYG lense than an emotional one...I'm kind of a simple pony, when you get right down to it. XD

[hana 217]

i think theres a direct conection between the sex of a character to the gender and sexual orientation

like, if you are attracted mostly to females, you'd prefere to see a female butt on your screen

now, im using often male characters, cause most of the games i get into are intreduced to me by a family member. im in the closet, so i use characters of the same sex (unless there are cool girl\girly characters, which give a good excuse)

when i play a game in which my siblims not into, i choose a girl, as my gender, so i'd feel not as manly

and about if i have problem with it

i dont have a problem with it as long as it come from sexual\gender\free will choice, but when it comes to choosing a girl because you want good items, its annoying

[Midnight Dragon 264]

*shrugs* When I was young, and my friends and I played pretend games, I oftentimes played as a male character (usually from a cartoon I watched).

 

Some years ago I used to pretend to be Bolt (yes, the dog from the Disney movie <3) around my friends a lot

[Tual 152]

Well, it really depends on the game. Unless I don't have a choice. If I can have duplicate files, sometimes I'll be one gender on each. (Y'know, one a female, one a male.) But..Yeah. It really depends. Plot, character design. Y'know.

Dude character looks cooler then dudette character? I'ma be the dude. 

Female looks funnier then male? Female.

Or...Y'know.

Playin' early Pokemon games.

I'm kinda stuck with a bro-hem. Not that it matters. :U I really don't go by genderness. Enjoying the game is all that matters.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Tual

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

Macho or somber males are more often than not the protagonists of action-oriented games. Honestly, it can get stale. For the sake of variety I'll play as a female in most of those games if the option is available. Exceptions being when the female version of the protagonist is almost nude or excessively endowed. Women can be strong without sacrificing their femininity, and they don't have to look like harlots to do it. When it comes to games that are heavily story-driven, I don't think I have much of a preference, if any. Atmosphere and the nature of the plot become large components of that decision. Gotta admit though, it's especially hard not to play as a male if there's the potential for a wicked facial scar, eyepatch, or beard.

 

As pitiful as it is, I think we all know that women are sometimes treated differently in the online gaming scene, whether they're given preferential treatment or treated as second-class humans. The internet is dominated by 20-something heterosexual white males, and I would expect the general behavior of the internet population at large to be in some way stilted according to its largest demographic, but it's still shameful when someone can't simply treat someone else as a person and nothing more. If it's an MMO and I'm playing as a female, I'll make no attempt to deceive other players into thinking that I'm actually female. Should they mistake me for a woman, I'll correct them, regardless of whether or not I stand to gain anything.

[Genepool 224]

Doesn't bother me in the slightest to be honest.  Only time I get creeped out is with the RPing, which is why I stay away from it, and just because I don't like something doesn't mean others can't enjoy it.  If a man and woman want to RP as the opposite genders, go ahead by all accounts imho, just exclude me from the RP session. 

 

Think the best comment I can think of comes from a person I played an MMO with.  "If i'm going to stare at a butt all day, it might as well be a sexy butt."

 

The first toon I make will be my "prime" toon who resembles me in RL with features, but after that, i'll just make whatever I want.  I'll go for female toons when I want something nice to look at.

 

Remember, when it comes to armor for females, the less it covers the better the protection. 

[Modphase 1,271]

When I play action games, I play a male mostly all the time. Sure, femalse can fight, and sometimes I'll play as a girl in a roleplaying action game as a separate character, but it honestly seems more befitting to me to play as a male. But I have to say, when I do play as a female, I don't dress her up in skimpy armor that exposes her and barely protects her, I still choose the armor I would choose if I were playing a male character.

 

In my opinion, it ticks me off when, in a game such as fallout, people make mods that turn your characters into some flawless anime girls who wear skimpy armor. Like I said, if anything, I would play a female whom is very masculine and actually looks like she can fight.

[SasQ 1,379]

My favorite video game with a female character which I very associated to, was "The Longest Journey". It was because of a great story involving her and her surroundings, and some interesting special talent. In the sequel, "Dreamfall", the main heroine is also a girl. Actually two of them, because the heroine from the first part also returns in the game and you can play with her at some episodes. There's also a male character, who is a good warrior and assassin. And the storylines of these three are intertwined, so you play them interchangeably during the whole gameplay. Both these games have great stories which require the player to switch the role (and sometimes even genders) from time to time. And the only flaw of the sequel is the ending, which is not satisfactory (that's because they planned to make part 3, but they still haven't done it yet). Nevertheless, these are the games where I mostly enjoyed playing feminine characters, from the psychological reasons, and not just to watch their half-naked bodies jumping around as in "Tomb Raider" ;-) (not that I weren't liking to watch half-naked female bodies heheh ;-) but there's time for one and time for the other).

[Dave247 568]

It's never bothered me, but I hardly knew anyone that did that anyway. I've pplayed a number of MMO's in the past and I always used to only ever go Male characters and never female as I would always try to somewhat make the character like myself. It wasn't until I started to play MMO's with a friend who would often play as female characters that I started to change.
At first, while we played It was no different, but after a while I became curious to what it was like and why he chose to do that himself so I started to create female characters for something different, and although the gameplay didn't change, my experience while playing the game did. So now while I am more inclined to play as a female character in games like in ME where gameplay changes based on character gender I would still most likely go Maleshp, for now at least.
 

 

I was more thinking along the lines that any relationships presented as part of the game aren't 'real'. If you're interacting with other players and a relationship sparks from *that*, then that is considerably different and I can understand having avatar/player dissonance problems.
 
Otherwise... this may be a bit harsh; but if you have difficulty observing a fictional relationship between video game characters, just because the one you are nominally controlling is of the opposite gender to yourself, and you wouldn't have a problem if you were controlling the *other* character in that same situation*... then you may want to think about that carefully. The character you are controlling is not you. Investing yourself to that degree can be an issue.
 
I actually run into something similar pretty often in an acting gig I do on a regular basis. Due to the semi-improv nature of the show, performers sometimes let themselves get a bit carried away, blurring the distinction between themselves and the character they're playing. You know it's coming when the actor says 'My character wouldn't do that!'. The response is, 'Your character does what the plot needs him/her to do.' Yes, you can make suggestions to improve the story, but you don't say no to the scene.
 
In brief: You are not the character, the character is not you. If you have a problem distinguishing between the two of you, you need to back away now and get a grip.
 
* Bolded for emphasis. I realized this is the most import part of my point, and I needed to be clearer about it. Not wanting to deal with relationships at all within games is, in my opinion, perfectly fine and understandable.

 

This is a very good point but one thing i've been wondering about is, what about in Role Playing on a forum such as this? What happens then after you create a character and role play as him/her, especially when you have based that character off yourself?

[stainesbrony 219]

I was at a friends house playing Halo, and we thought it would be funny if we played as ladies for the level we were doing. It's just the same as playing as a man, but a but funnier.

Anyway, it's usually the same game, only some things are a but different.

 

Also, when I'm playing Metroid, I always play as a lady. There is no choice.

[Fhaolan 4,484]

This is a very good point but one thing i've been wondering about is, what about in Role Playing on a forum such as this? What happens then after you create a character and role play as him/her, especially when you have based that character off yourself?

 

I had to think my reply through on this one, because it's easy to be unclear on this kind of thing.

 

Actually... I have an idea. Oi! Fhaolan! Get over here!

 

A bipedal wolf wanders on over, smirking, "Aye? Wha' do ye need? It's been years since ye let me out."

 

Check out the thread. Then do as you will.

 

Fhaolan frowns as he scans through the posts, "Why?... Oh.... Really?" He glances up at his author. "How exactly is this gonna help?"

 

It's a matter of emphasis. Trust me.

 

With a shrug and running a hand through his graying fur, Fhaolan turns to the readers. "As I hope is obvious, I am a RP character. One that he..." Fhaolan points off-screen. "created abou' fifteen to twenty years ago ta be his avatar on tha Internet."

 

Successfully, I may add, depending on your definition. There are still a lot of people who have cognitive dissonance when they meet me in RL, because their mental image is of him. In case you're wondering, yes, I do have an accent, but it's not the same and nowhere near as thick as presented.

 

"However, he is nae me, and I am nae him." Fhaolan taps on the table in front of him to draw the reader's attention back to himself. "He put a lot of himself intae me though, an' a long time ago... he got confused."

 

Go ahead, as you say it was a long time ago. I'm not embarrassed anymore.

 

"I fell in love with another RP character. *I* did. Got married an' everything." Fhaolan sighs, "An' as I said, he got confused." 

 

I wasn't the only one.

 

"True. He an' tha other player both got themselves mixed up with their characters in their own heads, an' thought that they were fallin' in love as well." Fhaolan smirks again, "They met in RL several times, an' discovered something."

 

The universal truth of RP and acting.

 

"A character is just tha'. A character. Nae matter how much of yerself you put in to a character, it's still just a character. Ye can never be tha' character for real. It's all just playin' pretend."

 

And now we wave bye-bye to Fhaolan the Celtic Wolfie, and return you to your regular program.

 

Fhaolan waves, hoping that he was of some use, before wandering back into the mists of his player's mind.

 

***

 

Fandoms like this one are more prone to these issues than some others, because people like to create avatar characters to represent themselves. I prefer the term AC over OC, because an OC can technically be any original character and is not necessary the player/author's invested avatar. The AC usually takes on the form of an idealized self-image translated according the particular lens of the fandom. Fhaolan represents me, emphasizing my fascination with wolves and my ancestry, and you can guess the lens used. I haven't created an pony AC yet, as I'm not sure exactly what I would do with a new one.

 

The second I put my idealized self-image into a role-playing situation, I ran into problems.

 

TL/DR:

 

Because RP is all pretend, all the limits are of your own imagination. You can pretend to be an alien, or a dragon, or of another gender or culture. As long as you understand that it's all pretend, a fantasy. Confusing the matter and being unable to tell the difference between reality and fantasy can be serious problem. If you're experiencing issues where you can't disassociate yourself from the character, or other players/actors from *their* characters, you need to have a good sit and think before it becomes said serious problem. At best you're going to embarrass yourself, and worst... well it can get pretty bad.

 

Again, there is nothing wrong with not wanting to play this particular game. You don't *have* to play as other genders or races or whatever. It won't automatically make you a better person for doing it. But there is also nothing wrong *with* playing as something you're not, as long as you are able to keep it together and don't get confused between reality and fantasy. If you can do that, there's a chance you might learn something useful from the experience. Just a chance, but it's possible.

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,091]

And i find it sad that there can't be semi-realistic armor for females in games to protect them in battle. I am sure if they think together, they can make something sexy that looks like it offers decent protection, but instead we see a lot of fantasy games with women in almost nothing running into battle. It is silly.

 

Holy crap, I know I'm digging back a little in this topic and there have been several posts since yours, but I cannot state how much I agree with that. As a male, it may seem silly to complain about this, but I honestly role my eyes whenever I look at a fantasy game and see the male warriors all armored up to the point where not a single speck of flesh is showing, while the female warriors have nothing more than a "battle bikini" on, yet they're counted as being the same class.

 

I just wish they were a little more realistic. One could argue that it's fantasy and it doesn't matter, but come on, why do the males need all that protection and the females don't? The females must be freaking stupid if they think wearing a two piece armorkini with some boots on is going to protect them from some dude with a hammer the size of a fire hydrant. Then again, perhaps it's the design team who is stupid... then again, what do I know? Chances are most dudes love having almost nude warrior women running around.

 

Besides... I like to leave something up to the imagination. That always makes it better.

 

But I'm getting way off topic...

 

I agree with Fhaolan one this subject. There is nothing wrong with playing a character who is not the same gender, race, or even species, as long as you are aware that it's just a character and nothing more. Getting attached to the character is fine, that's what makes us like fictional things is when we can attach ourselves to a character, but always keep in mind that the character is not real.

[Magpie 623]

I usually play as male or female characters when creating one, because I like to role play the character I make, and sometimes they come out as a female, sometimes as a male.

[lobsterbob 22]

I guess some people just like playing as the opposite gender for a few reasons. For males like myself, I can see one of the... erm, target incentives being the suggestiveness related to female characters in most games. Then again, they may just enjoy playing the role of a female. Nothing is wrong with either, both are better than being sexist and refusing to be the opposite gender. I rarely play as a female, simply because I find male characters easier to relate to.