So you prefer playing as another gender?

Well, as a guy, I’ve been asked multiple times why I systematically play games female characters in video games, to the point of skipping a game if I’m forced to pay a male one, with a few exceptions (I really liked Albus from Troubleshooters for example). Whenever there’s romance in a game, I’ll also take the F/F route. Yet, I don’t think I fetishize those in general. There’s a thing about not liking most M characters in games, but also something about playing someone really different from who I am. We’ve had an interesting conversation about this with my gf who always plays F characters and woyd never play M.

Although I’m a straight guy, I’ve always more identified to female friends and characters, although I have a few male friends too. So I’m wondering who else does that (playing a character not matching your gender), and if you found your own explanation.

Edit : It’s not really an oversexualization drive for me, I try to play a female character that looks like me, even though I’ve never thought about actually becoming a woman.

Edit 2 : So far, I think we have, hmm…

  1. Playing someone that differs from one’s irl identity
  2. Physical Attractivity
  3. Male character writing and design
  4. Lara Croft effect
  5. Lady Dwarf
not_that_guy05,

People look at gender while I’m just trying to see what style fits me in playing. Sometimes it’s male characters and some times they are female.

hitmyspot,

Yes, generally if it’s new to me, I don’t have an appreciation of how their individual play styles will match mine, so I’ll default to the malez same as me. However, where I’m familiar with the characters and their game style, I’ll choose what suits the game in the style I like to play.

So for instance, street fighter is chin li for life.

elliot_crane,

Same dude. People make a big deal of this shit all the time but it literally does not matter to me.

If the game wants me to create a character I’ll just make a dude like me and spec him out with the stats I want. If there’s preset characters to choose from, I couldn’t care less who they are. If I want to play a necromancer and the only one is an 8ft pink lizard lady that farts rainbows, fuck it, I’m playing an 8ft tall lizard lady necromancer that farts rainbows.

needthosepylons,
@needthosepylons@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, but that’s an interesting thing to talk about I think.

My gf always creates characters looking as closely as possible to her. I do the exact opposite. What’s funny is that… she lacks self confidence and I do not. So it’s not about that. I suppose it’s something else that determines us that way. I have an idea, but I wanted others opinions.

HerbalGamer,
@HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works avatar

she lacks self confidence and I do not.

she wants to see herself being the awesome protagonist while you have no problems seeing your own worth so don’t need the enhancement.

elliot_crane,

Well if you want my opinion, I do it out of sheer laziness. Like I said above, I’m way more into tuning the stats in RPG builds than appearance. Sure, if I need to be a non-human to get a particular buff or ability I want, then I’ll do that. Otherwise, it’s human male, olive skin, short black hair, beard, done.

RayOfSunlight,

On my case, i’m a male and i always play with the male character unless i got no option.

Hypothetically, if i happen to play for example, Plants VS Zombies Garden Warfare 2, i would always play as the Sunflower, yes, the doctor brainz it’s also there but i would prefer being on the plants side (Although things may vary).

An example of a game where i had to forcefully play as a Female Character is Cally Caves 2.

Out of that, i mainly avoid playing with female characters, mostly because i’m a honest person.

andrewta,

I’m male and mainly play female characters if given a choice

Mainly they look really good. And if I have to look at someone’s butt I’d prefer it’s a female

Bobmighty,

Not only a different gender, but a different race. Fuck playing some asshole that’s a jacked version of me. That’s boring. I can at least change things up a bit and play a jacked version of someone else who is very different to me.

needthosepylons,
@needthosepylons@lemmy.world avatar

Agreed

Arthur_Leywin,

You lost me at “to the point of skipping a game”

It’s 1 thing to prefer, it’s another to obsess over it.

needthosepylons,
@needthosepylons@lemmy.world avatar

I can understand your reaction, but I suppose that as long as I don’t bother people and devs with my preferences, it might be ok.

Arthur_Leywin,

I mean your preferences don’t affect others directly but it’s definitely a red flag to me as to what kind of person you are. The vibe I get is that you’re somewhat of a misandrist. In this case self harming since you’re a guy.

True or not, that’s what I get from that statement.

needthosepylons,
@needthosepylons@lemmy.world avatar

I’m not sure that’s true, but I understand how it could lead to this conclusion. My personal stance on the matter would be : do as you please as long as you don’t harm others.

Iapar,

I play female because their character model/hitbox is smaller most of the time.

EarWorm,

I play exclusively female characters, and also go for the F/F romance when possible. I think it started with fighting games, because female characters were usually faster, and some shooters actually have smaller hitboxes for female models, so there are are actual advantages. But yeah, I’m mostly with you, to the point where my GF laughs at my characters always looking like me with boobs. We’re playing through Elden Ring together now, and I’m playing a (F) dex spellblade and she is making a (M) tank with a bonking stick.

HeyJoe,

I started playing more with friends in online games for the past 10 years or so now. Newer games definitely allow more customization so they noticed I always pick the female and wonder why. I just tell them the same thing some have mentioned here, if I am playing this game for a long time I would rather be looking at a female than the man. They just look better. Plus back in the day I absolutely noticed in MMOs that people were way nicer to female characters for some reason.

Anticorp,

I played a female character in WoW because I was an avid PVPer and the neckbeards hated getting killed by a female. Also because I’d rather look at a female posterior while I’m playing than a male’s.

Monster96,

I play female characters because their customization options are much more diverse and they have a lot more styles to choose from. From their hair all the way down to their shoes. Male characters, I find, don’t have as much options. Now, don’t get me wrong on what I’m about to say, people can wear what they wanna wear and that’s cool with me, but if I’m playing a muscle ripped dude with pecs registered as weapons a skirt doesn’t really fit him. Plus, if it’s a 3rd person game, I’d rather be looking at a female butt than a male butt.

Riven,
@Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

That last point is why I play female characters in game that have customization. I’ve played wow for 15 years, that’s plenty of hours I would rather spend looking at a female model over a guy’s model. I do play guys in games that skills are tied to models like overwatch, junkrat is my Boi. But if it doesn’t matter then give me the thick girl model all day long.

johannesvanderwhales,

I’m male. If the game has much of a fashion/customization aspect to it I tend to play female characters, since I guess I’m more interested in how female characters look than male ones. I think a lot of this has to do with whether you view your in-game avatar as an extension of “you” or not - personally, I do not identify much with my avatars regardless of their gender.

PeterPoopshit,

I opt to play as a female character sometimes. A quote from the article perfectly summed it up for me: “If I have to stare at a butt all day, I would rather it be a female butt”.

Sendpicsofsandwiches,
@Sendpicsofsandwiches@sh.itjust.works avatar

I’m personally pretty indifferent. If I’m given the option I’ll usually choose male but if the characters are gender locked like diablo 2 I just pick what looks fun to play

southsamurai,
@southsamurai@sh.itjust.works avatar

I dunno, I’ve always made whatever struck me as cool in the moment. No real pattern to it other than wanting the character to look cool on screen while I’m making it. If it turns out later that something in game makes it not look cool, I might not make the same choice on a new character, but it’s still about having something neat to run around on the screen with.

Like, playing Neverwinter back a few years ago, I had one of every class, and between three accounts, some duplicates of a class in different races. I spent a ton of time on that game while I was recovering from a chain of health issues lol.

Anyway, the rogue class was always fun to play, but male dragonborn looked goofy as fuck in higher level armor for that class, so my main rogue was a female dragonborn. My paladin was male human because cheese. But when I was setting the character up, I would just flip back and forth until I was happy with what it looked like.

But, that even applied in table top games in a way. I’d pick sex based on the cool factor rather than playing what I am.

bitwaba,

If I’m going to play an MMO watching someone’s ass run from point A to B for 40 hours a week, it’s damn sure gonna be a woman’s ass.

Turun,

Whether this is the actual reason or simply the most socially acceptable explanation that can be stated is unclear.

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