360 réponses à ce sujet

[AlexXIV]

They should feature both, male and female. Since that's what they offer, and that's what the game is about. The protagonist can be both.

[Merci357]

krissyjf wrote...

Correct me if I am wrong, but don't most gamers- including male gamers- play a game for the storyline, the challenge of combat, and because the characters are rich and well-developed? So if the game is all of these things, and the protagonist just happens to be a female, why wouldn't you play it? Female gamers have had to do this for years. Most of the games I own have only male protagonists.

Maybe this isn't a fair question, since BioWare's RPGs all give us a chance to create either a male or female PC, so it could be argued that it is a mute point.

There are quite a few recent games were you are indeed stuck playing male protagonists - Adam Jensen, Geralt of Riva or Mike Thornton. And, honestly, despite being "stuck" with Adam in Deus Ex, it's still my personal game of the year so far.
There are plenty of games that allow either gender - and most often I pick a female there. Hawke, Shepard, the Warden, the Courier? All females in my games, just to keep a nice mix together with those games were I'm given no choice. Just to defiate from the "generic male space marine" cliche. But also, like in the ME games, because I can relate better to Femshep for plenty of reasons.
So, in short, I'd definitely play a game were the protagonist is female by default. Like I did with games like Tomb Raider or No One Lives Forever in the past, even thought hose are no RPGs. All I care about is the quality of the game, not the gender of my PC.

That said - I'd prefer if games would always offer a choice, so all can play it the way they prefer. They just should use this amazing feature more in their marketing - it looks like they finaly get it somewhat right with ME3.

Modifié par Merci357, 17 octobre 2011 - 10:31 .

[Meshaber]

My first playthrough in both DA2 and Mass Effect were with females. And Jade Empire. So far, I've only played through DA2 as a male once (call me a misogynist, but ladyfolk runnin' around with huge two-handed weapons looks rather silly to me, so my warriors stay male) and as a female... I think at least three times.

Good enough ?

[casadechrisso]

Given the choice, I tend to play females most of the time and I'm rather unhappy when a RPG doesn't give me that choice (Geralt being a rare exception).
Why BW always uses male protagonists in marketing is beyond me, I hate those guys on the boxes and bought the games despite of them, not because.
Actually, most Action-RPGs use iconic females on the game boxes and in Ads (countless F2P, Spellforce, whatever) even if you're stuck with a male character (e.g. Two Worlds). Now, I wouldn't like to see one of those elves in chainmail bikini on a BW game box because it simply looks cheap, but I think it's about time for BW to put a strong female protagonist on the box who doesn't just fulfill the "sex sells" cliché.

[bleetman]

krissyjf wrote...

If Hawke had been created/written and marketed as a female protagonist instead of a male one, would you still have bought and played Dragon Age2?

Would you buy any game of BioWare's (or any other developer) that featured a female protagonist? Or would you pass it by and simply mark the game as a "girl's game" and thus 'unworthy" of playing?

There hasn't been a Bioware game I've played - and I've played pretty much all of them, as far as I'm aware - that I haven't made a female character for. All my Hawke's, Shepards and all-but-one of my Wardens were female, anyway.

So, yes. I'd still buy them.

Hooooowever... I'm not sure how much of that would be specific to Bioware, or gaming as a medium. If the question was "if games as a whole primarily focused on female protaganists instead of male ones', I might have to change my answer slightly. Which isn't to say "I don't want female protaganists", more a case of "it's annoyingly rare to see them actually pulled off in ways that still present them as human beings, rather than walking breasts and/or simplistic tropes". I am, for instance, tempering my enthusiasm for the next Starcraft 2 installment because the plot - such as it is - seems to focus on Kerrigan for the majority, and Blizzard are increasingly incapable of writing convincing female characters.

As far as Bioware in concerned, you get a choice of gender anyway. They're already doing female protaganists, do them convincingly for the most part, and have been for years. But yes, I do wish they'd stop acting as if their female main characters didn't exist, and I imagine I still would regardless of what gender my own characters were. The femshep trailer should be interesting in that regard.

On the whole, sure. Bring 'em on. I tire of endless streams of Heroic Manly Men saving whatever day needs saving, or whatever it is they're up to this time around.

Modifié par bleetman, 17 octobre 2011 - 11:40 .

[Darth Wraith]

The gender of the protagonist is not a deciding factor for me. I play games based on whether I think I'll like them or not. If the character I'm controlling is male or female is not important at all.

[Siven80]

Couldnt care less either way.

As long as the story and lore is good, and the overall game is good i'll play whatever character there is.

My DAO Warden is Male, but my fave Hawke is Female because i like her voice.

If both characters could only be Female, i still would have played them both.

[Feanor_II]

I usually play as male, but I don't have any problem with females protagonist. In my only playthough in DA2 I played as female, the same in KOTOR 2.

I don't care which gender appears as cover character (though I think that starting to use FemShep in the 3rd Mass Effect is a bit ut of time)

[FedericoV]

krissyjf wrote...

Thoughts? Comments? Answers?

Very interesting and thought provoking question.

I would have no problem if the iconic Hawke/Sheppard/Warden would have been a woman.

It would have been great.

But playing an entire RPG with a female charachter? I don't know, I would not like it that much. I mean, I could live with that in an adventure or action game: I played all the originals Tomb Raider game and Lara Croft was one of my gaming icon at the time. I love The Longest Journey main charachter.

But in an RPG it would feel akward, because set charachter or not, I still see our avatars as a pen and paper gamer: it's my charachter. Sometime I'm free to create it from scratch. Sometimes I create it in coperation with the master. But it's my charachter and simpy put I'm not able to enjoy roleplaying a woman.

And as much as I dislike romances in general, they are an integral part of Bioware games since BG2 and it would feel horrible for me to play one with a set female charachter. It's not a problem connected to the sex in itself but to my ability to enjoy the experience of roleplaying a woman charachter: I do not feel it.

[Master Shiori]

It wouldn't matter to me, since I have no problem playing with either male or female protagonist. In fact, my canon Hawke is female and I've chosen a female protagonist for the majority of my DA2 playthroughs.

Would I buy a game that heavily featured a female protagonist? Yes, as long as I find both the story and the protagonist interesting. The gender of the protagonist plays no part in my decision to purchase such a product.

Modifié par Master Shiori, 17 octobre 2011 - 12:56 .

[Eudaemonium]

Well, the central reason I am buying the ME3 Collector's edition is because it has femshep on it (everything else is just icing). And since they announced the new default she seems to be cropping up everywhere, which can only be a good thing.

I think one reason Bioware chooses this is the whole thing with most gamers being male (however much f a self-fulfilling prophecy this might be) combined with the fact that the players frequently embody themselves in their player character. I assume there is some kind of socialisation structures that mean most people identify better with people they see as sharing certain attributes, which include sex and gender. I personally find it easier to relate and identify with characters of the opposite gender, hence why I play almost-exclusively female PCs, but then I am somewhat of an anomaly. That isn't to say I won't play men in games, I did back when I played MMOs and I often play games that have non-customisable PCs who are usually male: Deus Ex: HR and El Shaddai being the two most recent ones.

Personally, I think Marian Hawke would have been more iconic than Garrett (default names for default models and all that), simply for the reason that having a female iconic character would have been different and thus more noticable. And I mean, she's also hot enough to attract a lot of the hetero-male crowd (sorely neglected in DA2 ), which would be important for marketting.

[G00N3R7883]

The gender of the main character isn't a primary factor that I look at when deciding whether or not to buy a specific game. I'm mainly focused on the quality of the game.

The most obvious example that comes to mind straight away is the Tomb Raider series. I've skipped a couple of the low quality games, but the most recent ones (Anniversary, Legend, Underworld) have been good and I enjoyed them, also looking forward to the reboot.

In Bioware games where we get the choice, I always play male first, as that helps me to get inside my character's head. But I tend to do another run as a female character later, partly to be as different as possible, partly to experience the voiceacting (FemShep and FemHawke were both amazing). I wouldn't change that method at all if Bioware focused marketing on the female character.

I'll admit there's also an element of having an attractive character to stare at over the course of the game. But as well I think female characters (in any medium) are better at expressing emotion and vulnerability, which can sometimes be alot more interesting than the tough space marine.

Modifié par G00N3R7883, 17 octobre 2011 - 03:02 .

[Leoroc]

I never thought there'd be an issue with a female protagonist until I saw the rage about Jedi Exile in KotOR2 being declared female.

I certainly have no issue with it though I prefer to play male characters I could care less who is the iconic on the box. I hated the iconic look of mHawke anyway, and both Shepards look way too young (my mShep is easily in his early 40s).

[Raanz]

haha

A game is a game, regardless of who is the protagonist. List of games I have enjoyed as a male gamer:
1. Tomb Raider
2. Heavenly Sword
3. Metroid
4. Jade Empire
5. Mirror's Edge

I could go on, but not necessary. If the game is fun to play, and has a compelling story, then it doesn't matter who gets the press. Not sure why it bothers some people so much.

[alex90c]

I don't mind whether the protagonist is male or female. In an RPG all I really do is (provided you can rather than FF linearity) impose my own personality and views on my character so I can do that for a character of both genders easily.

Haven't read the whole thread but I hope nobody has pulled the "durrrrr i liek female protagonists cos if i hav to look at an ass for 30 hours it might as well be a gurlllllll"

Meshaber wrote...

My first playthrough in both DA2 and Mass Effect were with females. And Jade Empire. So far, I've only played through DA2 as a male once (call me a misogynist, but ladyfolk runnin' around with huge two-handed weapons looks rather silly to me, so my warriors stay male) and as a female... I think at least three times.

Good enough ?

tbh, I actually love making female warriors since it pretty much turns the typical image of women (also women in fantasy games who are mostly of caster classes) upside down. I mean, making a city elf girl in DA:O and then letting her go around in heavy armour swinging around some massive 6ft long greatsword just oozed of awesome in my opinion considering they have the most "slightest" build of all the options in the CC. Same for dwarves actually, I loved the idea of a small character swinging around massive weapons.

[thepringle]

Yes, I still would buy it, why wouldn't I? I prefer the female Hawke anyroad. 

Modifié par thepringle, 17 octobre 2011 - 04:58 .

[FaeQueenCory]

Yes, I would have still bought and played it.... but my "canon" Hawke would then be a whatever girl instead of a douchey-bloodmage-guy.
It really wouldn't affect me except for that as to who they used to market.

But then, I'm gay so "opposite gender iconography" affect me differently.

[badidi71]

Raanz wrote...

haha

A game is a game, regardless of who is the protagonist. List of games I have enjoyed as a male gamer:
1. Tomb Raider
2. Heavenly Sword
3. Metroid
4. Jade Empire
5. Mirror's Edge

I could go on, but not necessary. If the game is fun to play, and has a compelling story, then it doesn't matter who gets the press. Not sure why it bothers some people so much.

Truth.  As a player since the NES days, who or what I played as didn't matter to me as long as the game was fun.  Though the compelling story bit doesn't matter as much to me since I pretty much play every genre except sports and racing games.  For RPGs, what matters to me more is character development and interaction over the overall plot of the game.

When given a choice of playing as a male or female, it depends.  When actual agency is involved I usually use a male character when I actually feel as the character.  So for DAO I mostly played female, and for DA2 I played a male mostly.  For any other genre when given a choice, I usually play females, like in fighting games.

[Kail Ashton]

Even games with female leads are written like dudes with big tittahs, asking if we want to play the equivilant of "menstral cycle: the video game" is like asking us if we enjoy being kicked in the balls

the anwser is an obvious No

Modifié par Kail Ashton, 17 octobre 2011 - 06:13 .

[Xerxes52]

I'm perfectly fine if a female is marketed as the main protagonist.

In my Mass Effect playthroughs, half of them are female.

In DA:O and DA2, I have 5 female and 4 male playthroughs.

Modifié par Xerxes52, 17 octobre 2011 - 06:15 .

[themonty72]

I think it should be more female main protagonist in video games. I enjoyed playing as the a two handed female warrior in DA2. loved her voice real easy on the ears. Couldnt pass an hour with the male Hawke because I hated his voice.Also I thought the FemShepard was raw, uncut.... totally bad ass especially if she was a renegade.When Rpgs give me an option to pick sex genders I pick the females every time.

Modifié par themonty72, 17 octobre 2011 - 06:37 .

[Hathur]

Kail Ashton wrote...

Even games with female leads are written like dudes with big tittahs, asking if we want to play the equivilant of "menstral cycle: the video game" is like asking us if we enjoy being kicked in the balls

the anwser is an obvious No

classy, I see. <_<

Modifié par Hathur, 17 octobre 2011 - 07:38 .

[TheJediSaint]

Hathur wrote...

Kail Ashton wrote...

Even games with female leads are written like dudes with big tittahs, asking if we want to play the equivilant of "menstral cycle: the video game" is like asking us if we enjoy being kicked in the balls

the anwser is an obvious No

classy, I see. <_<

Look, I'm as male as they come, and even I know there's more to female characters than just their menstral cycles.

Modifié par TheJediSaint, 17 octobre 2011 - 07:51 .

[Fishy]

To be honest I have a hard time playing has a female protagonist in video game. They seem to be most of the time out of place. Like in Skyrim .  I`m going to play a Nord. A Rugged Looking Nord  . A Vagabond who fight dragon should not look like Miss California .

So If i can make a woman that look like a warrior ..Sure. Woman protagonist are most of the time Ultra-Sexualized and that just get on my nerve. It's not really just  their beauty .  But they just don't look like Warrior. They look like hollywood actress in romance B-Movie.

Where are the scar? The filth? The rugged metal and the unwashed hair? Nah they always look 'perfect' .
Vanity full blast.

Modifié par Suprez30, 17 octobre 2011 - 08:36 .