Why do some male gamers play as female characters or toons? Plus Poll

I normally play games with male toons, where thechoice is given.

Oddly, the other day I was playing Torchlight II and had one of my 5yr old daughters (I have twins :) ) sitting on my knee, so I rolled a female engineer. When she noticed I was playing a girl character, she thought it was wierd and very funny because daddy was pretending to be a girl!

Think I'll be sticking to male avatars, don't really want her going to school and telling her pals 'Daddy likes to play as a girl'! :shock:

I normally play games with male toons, where thechoice is given.

Oddly, the other day I was playing Torchlight II and had one of my 5yr old daughters (I have twins :) ) sitting on my knee, so I rolled a female engineer. When she noticed I was playing a girl character, she thought it was wierd and very funny because daddy was pretending to be a girl!

Think I'll be sticking to male avatars, don't really want her going to school and telling her pals 'Daddy likes to play as a girl'! :shock:

GarGx1

I think I kind of mix it up a bit. Female characters generally have way more style, so I'll often play those. Plus it depends how the male characters are in the game. If I can create some interesting looking males or maybe ones that might resemble me in an alternate universe, I'll play those. My Jedi in The Old Republic looked eerily similar to me :)

But sometimes with the character creator, I can never get a male character "right" and he always looks like a douchebag. This happens particularly often with asian MMO's, where the males look.. awkward.. with ridiculous trendy haircuts. Not sure if they're going to a nightclub or going to kill monsters.. maybe both.

If I am going to be looking at my charatcer for hours upon hours, I'd rather it be a female character. That and animations in certain games

are better with the female characters, that and they have cooler looking armor.

Along with the fact that a lot of games I have played force you to play as a male protaganist, so when the opportunity comes along to be a female protaganist, it is a great breath of fresh air.

If I am going to be looking at my charatcer for hours upon hours, I'd rather it be a female character. That and animations in certain games

are better with the female characters, that and they have cooler looking armor.

Along with the fact that a lot of games I have played force you to play as a male protaganist, so when the opportunity comes along to be a female protaganist, it is a great breath of fresh air.

Stream_Beta

I normally play females cos males in games are ugly (except commander Shepard) and in games like skyrim, most of the mods (beauty,armor,body..) are made for females

I actually did a presentation on this in University... I thought it would be funny as I knew a guy who always played as women. From what I remember it stems from many different reasons.

The main ones I can remember are : the controlling ability of the woman. The fact women get more loot etc. Peoples perception of seeing a female in a game usually gives them the upper hand on trading etc.

However from what I remember, the ratio of men playing as women is less than women playing as men. This is down to women in games wanting more respect, people will listen more to a man for leadership than woman.

It was really quite interesting and I got a great mark ;).

All I know is it sounds like a bunch of you need to get laid!

I've played female toons because they can look bad*** in some games. Also sometimes they are designed better than the males. Depends on the class too, I rather play an imposing giant dude as a warrior, I could do a chic for a thief or mage though.

[QUOTE="Gamesterpheonix"]

Hey so I just wanted to hear why some of you do that. lol not going to attack or anything I just wanted to hear the logic. Whats the draw? I just see that sort of thing a lot and wanted to ask.

Cataclism

1. I like strong women

2. If I am going to spend hours staring at the same character (usually from behind), that character better have a fine ass.

Its really a no-brainer for me, as to why I always make female characters.

Actually that is all a lie; deep down I really wish I were a woman.

1. I like strong women

mrbojangles25

Honestly, I like to play a male because I roleplay sometimes (World of Warcraft, Mass Effect, Dragon Age). However, I have friends that decided to roll up females because it fits better some classes according to them. My friend rolled a female shaman because he said that it looked pretty awesome.

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

1. I like strong women

Zubinen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKcnpJSAsbo&t=4shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA3nczsL_Xk&hd=1&t=22s

hahaha not quite what I meant, but sure, Ill take it. Especially the first one; now that is a woman's body; none of that "skinny fat" stuff where the girl weighs 100 pounds, but still has cellulite; I bet the girl in that video weighs about 130 but you can bounce quarters off her butt :P

Fem Shep, well, that is more what I meant, but in spirit lol.

lol damn. This thread definitely exploded. In a good way too. No flaming or arguments that Ive seen. Though I skipped a few middle pages...lol. Gamesterpheonix

exploded? how so? I dont like the tone of your voice! My poltiical/religious views are better than yours!

[QUOTE="Zubinen"][QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

1. I like strong women

mrbojangles25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKcnpJSAsbo&t=4shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA3nczsL_Xk&hd=1&t=22s

hahaha not quite what I meant, but sure, Ill take it. Especially the first one; now that is a woman's body; none of that "skinny fat" stuff where the girl weighs 100 pounds, but still has cellulite; I bet the girl in that video weighs about 130 but you can bounce quarters off her butt :P

Fem Shep, well, that is more what I meant, but in spirit lol.

[QUOTE="Gamesterpheonix"]lol damn. This thread definitely exploded. In a good way too. No flaming or arguments that Ive seen. Though I skipped a few middle pages...lol. mrbojangles25

exploded? how so? I dont like the tone of your voice! My poltiical/religious views are better than yours!

As a straight male, you got to ask yourself: What would you rather look at for dozens if not hundreds of hours? :P

Hey so I just wanted to hear why some of you do that. lol not going to attack or anything I just wanted to hear the logic. Whats the draw? I just see that sort of thing a lot and wanted to ask.

Gamesterpheonix

In RPG's I would choose female character if I'm playing Mage, or a Priest or something similar that I associate female with. Majority of the time however, I always choose male.

Personal preference.

It's all about dat ass :oops:

Yes sometimes, it depends on the game. Usually in stories or books I like strong and badass female characters like Ripley from Alien. So in a game like Mass Effect that gives me the option to play as a badass female Im going to pick that option.

in solo RPGs always a male.

online mostly female since they tend to inspire weakness to others and in a way you have an advantage. especially female warriors.

also because they just look cool.

I view people who play human male warrior or paladin as completely uninspired

Normally if I have an option my first character is male and my 2nd is female.

Yea I do, I just like to mix it up though, I play as many different races/cultures in video games, as well as both sexes.

Just because I am a white male doesn't mean I want to always play one in games (when given the option)

My Mass Effect character that I am taking through the trilogy (albeit a save file from the first game I downloaded that matched my play through on the 360, but that is another matter) is a female.

I have my XCOM team very versitile, matter of fact, my highest ranking soldier so far is the one I named after my gf (kinda)

My HC monk on Diablo III, was a female.... But she had an unfortunate accident, back when latency was way worse in the game.

The bottom line decision when given the choice to play as either male, or female in a single player game, that I don't really intend on playing after I beat it, or along those lines. I will choose whichever model looks best, some games the males look horrible, but in others the female models look bad. If they look equally as well done, then I will choose the one that I feel would fit the story, or my intended game style more.

It depnds on the game and if that game has certain classes.

ie: I think wizard/mage and ranger classes look better as females and warrior better as males.