Journal #5334
Posted 15 years ago2008-09-06 20:38:22 UTC
Copied from Blog
Male Gamers Playing as Female Game Characters
I've been meaning to write about this for a while because while playing a mod called 'Killing Floor' for Unreal Tournament 2004 I decided to play as a female character for a change. Among all the other players I was the only female character.
I joined the only server that came up because the mod had obviously lost interest and half way through amongst all the French someone asked me why I was playing as a female character and then rudely remarked "it was kinda gay".
First of all what led this person to assume I was a guy playing as a female and second of all what makes it gay? I mean I am a male, yes but I guess he hasn't seen many females play games.
I didn't really say much to him because I just thought what a stupid thing to say. So I just asked what makes it gay and he never replied...
But this goes back to my topic...Is it wrong to play as a female character?
It started a while back when I installed Elder Scrolls Oblivion for the thirteenth time and decided for a change to play as a female. It certainly made the game different because of the fact the NPC's addressed me as ma'm or miss and the new sounds when I attacked were refreshing. Although my mother came in and watched me play for a while so I explained to her what it was about etc and when I switched to third person I recall her saying..."You're a girl? That's kinda weird." (Thanks mum)
So ever since I've been playing as female character because it's refreshing and because there aren't enough of them in games.
This is partly why I am looking forward to Mirror's Edge which follows the role of Faith, a female character.
I suppose this topic is kind of steering towards Feminism which is a topic I'm not too knowledgeable about. I even have a friend who has a female avatar in Guild Wars and I remember saying it was kind of weird (this was before I tried playing as a female character)...So perhaps before people say it's weird, they should try it themselves.
But yeah, is it geeky for a male player to select a female avatar or do you think it's perfectly fine? I'm interested in what you have to say if you're reading this.
*While surfing for a picture to post at the top I found this interesting topic which is similar to mine:
http://news.filefront.com/chinese-mmo-bans-males-from-playing-female-characters/
Do give it a read.
I thought I'd add that just now I completed the Shivering Isles expansion for Oblivion using my female character and I realised how playing as a female helped me make decisions. For example I was pleased to see they added choices to the game and there is a point where you are forced to kill either the duke or the duchess. Playing as the female I chose to kill the duchess and take her role. Therefore if given the choice to be male or female, it does alter the experience from what I've seen. I could even replay it and see the different bits I missed not playing as a male for example... (Yes I did install it the same day I completed it...It's short! only took like 5-6+ hours I think...)
(Content used: http://www.sexysprite.com/images/UUWOVAIBBMHK.jpg - 05 September 2008)
Male Gamers Playing as Female Game Characters
I joined the only server that came up because the mod had obviously lost interest and half way through amongst all the French someone asked me why I was playing as a female character and then rudely remarked "it was kinda gay".
First of all what led this person to assume I was a guy playing as a female and second of all what makes it gay? I mean I am a male, yes but I guess he hasn't seen many females play games.
I didn't really say much to him because I just thought what a stupid thing to say. So I just asked what makes it gay and he never replied...
But this goes back to my topic...Is it wrong to play as a female character?
It started a while back when I installed Elder Scrolls Oblivion for the thirteenth time and decided for a change to play as a female. It certainly made the game different because of the fact the NPC's addressed me as ma'm or miss and the new sounds when I attacked were refreshing. Although my mother came in and watched me play for a while so I explained to her what it was about etc and when I switched to third person I recall her saying..."You're a girl? That's kinda weird." (Thanks mum)
So ever since I've been playing as female character because it's refreshing and because there aren't enough of them in games.
This is partly why I am looking forward to Mirror's Edge which follows the role of Faith, a female character.
I suppose this topic is kind of steering towards Feminism which is a topic I'm not too knowledgeable about. I even have a friend who has a female avatar in Guild Wars and I remember saying it was kind of weird (this was before I tried playing as a female character)...So perhaps before people say it's weird, they should try it themselves.
But yeah, is it geeky for a male player to select a female avatar or do you think it's perfectly fine? I'm interested in what you have to say if you're reading this.
*While surfing for a picture to post at the top I found this interesting topic which is similar to mine:
http://news.filefront.com/chinese-mmo-bans-males-from-playing-female-characters/
Do give it a read.
I thought I'd add that just now I completed the Shivering Isles expansion for Oblivion using my female character and I realised how playing as a female helped me make decisions. For example I was pleased to see they added choices to the game and there is a point where you are forced to kill either the duke or the duchess. Playing as the female I chose to kill the duchess and take her role. Therefore if given the choice to be male or female, it does alter the experience from what I've seen. I could even replay it and see the different bits I missed not playing as a male for example... (Yes I did install it the same day I completed it...It's short! only took like 5-6+ hours I think...)
(Content used: http://www.sexysprite.com/images/UUWOVAIBBMHK.jpg - 05 September 2008)
5 Comments
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Although, in Star wars galaxies (i curse myself for ever playing that game) There was just as much (and sometimes it seemed more) female avatars as there were male. And almost every single one of the female avatar players claimed to be female in real life. I'm not too ignorant to believe that there's not female gamers, but I know they are indeed rare. So in that game, i avoided all the female characters, plus, they all acted like sluts anyway. Horrible community in that game. :/
Plus, how come every one of those female character players refuse to use ventrilo, or teamspeak? Hmmm..... :/
Apparently i found the light, and eventually told "Sony Online Entertainment" to shove it, and promptly uninstalled the game from my system.
That's one of the reasons I respected Valve so much post HL2. They emphasize common, human personalities instead of gender-specific personalities. In doing so, characters inherently have more depth. And for some reason, other developers still don't understand this concept
Unless that's really the core of the character's personality(EG: Watchmen's "Comedian"), putting the sheer amount of emphasis on gender that most games do is just piss annoying. Its just dull.
Having said that, I prefer gender-neutral women as characters to masculine dudes if given the option. I want to play as a person, not a man or woman, if that makes sense. And given the state of the market, playing as a female seems to give way to more depth in itself because its so different.
Given that, if presented with a choice, and if the female isn't sexed up (or if I can create my own character like Oblivion, I always run with the woman. Eye candy is always nice, but if I'm going to be interacting with this person for days to months, the two-dimensional aspect gets old really fast.
I agree, World Crafter, about Valve and their skills with personalities. Remember they are a company who don't use publishers so it allows them time to experiment and as Gabe said it works out, other companies should try it.
Besides, I just have this feeling; I am a man, so I play a man.
But that's personal, if some dude wants to play a female character then why not? I don't mind. If he wants to, let him.