217 réponses à ce sujet

[Dawson14]

So I've read literally hundreds of ending threads since I've finished the game and came here to find comfort in others that found the ending as horrible and devastating as I. After reading those, I've come to find a trend that I really don't "get".

Members on here seem to have an obession with FemShep and her romances/potential blue babies. It seems to me that more people prefered or played with a FemShep over a Male Shep. I'm a normal guy in my mid 20's and not once did I ever have the urge to play as a FemShep. I tried to have a mindset that I am Shepard so I picked a Male War Hero Spacer. I played mutliple playthroughs of ME1 and ME2 and once with ME3 and always played as a Male. 

I can understand if you are a female gamer why you'd pick a FemShep, but if you are a male what is the attraction to FemShep? Is it because you don't associate Shepard as yourself, but rather just an observer and find the character attractive/appealing? Or is it something else?

Furthermore, I've seen guys complaining that their FemSheps did not have enough male LI's, which I don't understand. Again, maybe this goes back to my idea of Shepard as myself, so I naturally wouldn't want to romance a male character because I am not gay. So the question I pose here is what's the attraction for male players to have a plethora of male characters to romance? If you think of FemShep as yourself then I'm at a loss, if you think of yourself as an observer then I can understand wanting to be FemShep and see her happy.

Another scenario I've seen is the massive amount of guys who played as a FemShep and are borderline obsessed with the lesbian romances with Liara/Ashley (particulary Liara). Now, lesbian romances are fine, no big deal. And I understand that if you are a male and playing a female character you would more naturally want to romance a female character instead of a male. But in regares to the obsession, Ive seen the blue babies thread and for some reason it creeps me out. I think the fan art is actually pretty awesome and beautiful, but a lot of the comments leave me scratching my head. I'll try to explain my thought process here as well because I'm sure people will be confused why I have a "problem" with it. 

So again, I always played a Male Shep and romanced Liara. I'd love for a happy ending where he goes back to his crew pops a beer open with Garrus and gets to bone Liara till' the end of time. If they wanted to throw in a cutscene where I see some Shep/blue babies that would be fine too, but I have no uncontrollable desire to see that like the people in the blue babies thread. And I say uncontrollable desire because thats the feel I get in that thread. Members actually post that they are crying at the fan art....really? Crying about something not getting put in the game? Are you being serious or just trying to get the point across that you really wish it was in the game?  I was deeply emotionally invested in the story line and got a little teary eyed during the deaths of Mordin and Legion among others, but NEVER would I cry over a FemShep holding a blue baby picture I saw in a forum. I just don't understand it. How do men cry/get teary eyed over pictures posted in a forum that refer to something that never got put into Mass Effect? That fact is what really bothers me because I honestly can't imagine a reason to why grown men would do that. And I know that sounds a little offensive, but it's not intended to be.

So could someone give me some answers to why this is happening and explain the reasoning behind the emotions/thinking. I'm not trying to be mean, just trying to understand. No idea why it bothers me so much that I had to post.

PS: Are there any other members out there like me who just played a hetero Shep all the way through?

Modifié par Dawson14, 19 avril 2012 - 06:11 .

[DraziusA]

I used to be like you, and only played male characters in games because...well, I'm a dude.

Then I played games like Resident Evil where you are forced to play as a female character..and I actually enjoyed it (after hating it at first). I enjoyed seeing a woman kick butt in a feminine sort of way, and I would guess that has a lot to do with why I still sometimes choose to play as a female in games.

In ME I played both sides but preferred the femshep, simply because of Jennifer Hale and her excellent voice acting. IMO her VO work on Mass Effect is the best I've seen in any video game ever..and I have played a LOT of games.

[Dartbeast54q]

I'm a guy played a male shep through all three games. I attempted a run with femshep just to see how things would be different, since i've done that in fallout, da-o and da2 but couldnt stand Hale's voice, turned the game off after 5 minutes.

Thats why I play as female characters, mostly to see how dialog and etc is different, but its usally saved for a 3-4th playthrough. I can't really comment on anything else.

Modifié par Dartbeast54q, 19 avril 2012 - 04:22 .

[Dawson14]

I have no problem with playing as a female character. I just have questions to the emotional attachment and the choices that men make throughout the series. Ive seen clips on youtube, and yes Jennifer Hale does a fantastic job voice acting. Mark is subpar throughout the series. Wonderful and fitting voice for male Shepard but needs to take A LOT of acting classes. His voice at  climaxes were very anti climatic

Modifié par Dawson14, 19 avril 2012 - 04:23 .

[AwesomeDudex64]

I like my woman in armor.

[Made Nightwing]

Hale is a damn good voice actress, for sure. And in the first two games, the only real reason that my MainShep was a guy was because Ash was an LI and I love her character almost more than I love the games. That said, in ME3 Meer picked up his voice acting and I genuinely loved playing as ManShep.

[Agugaboo]

I thought Hale was great. It really comes down to personal preference.

Different humans are different.

[DubVee12]

I'm like you, dudeShep was my only Shep and he romanced Liara.
I did try Femshep once, just because I liked Jennifer Hale. I could never really get into Femshep though just didn't "feel" right if you will. But I can see why others would like it.
And I agree about the blue babies part. I certainly would have like for that to be in the game, but I never really expected Bioware to do it. The reference on Earth though was very nice, and enough for me.

[XTR3M3]

I rather watch a female run around than a male. Some people say that they don't even look at their character while playing but I do because I watch the whole screen...which probably explains why I hate the female sumo/gorilla run so much.

I always romance a female as a femshep because I can't bring myself to have enough disconnect even with a female character to romance a guy. Dudes are not my preference and even in a fantasy game, I just can't do it. It isn't because I want to see girl on girl, it is because I don't want "ME" to be "ME as Shep" on dude.

I do like Hale's voice too....kinda a husky/tough/no nonsense/sexy thing she has going.....you know, like "sexy but don't eff with me sounding". Meer's is OK, but feels too generic...not poorly done, just generic.

Modifié par XTR3M3, 19 avril 2012 - 04:26 .

[Icesong]

How do men cry/get teary eyed over pictures posted in a forum that refer to something that never got put into Mass Effect? That fact is what really bothers me because I honestly can't imagine a reason to why grown men would do that.

They're not always men and you shouldn't always take it literally. There's this thing humans sometimes do where they overstate things to convey a feeling.

As for why a male would want to play a female, you realize this question has been asked for like three decades now right? You'd think for someone in his mid 20s you'd have seen it by now. You could find far better answers elsewhere. As for me, I'm not trying to be the character, it's more like I'm an author writing one. And after reading, watching and listening to thousands of stories, the old tropes and archetypes just don't interest me anymore. But if I take that tired character and simply change the sex, suddenly it has new life for me.

[ShepnTali]

Some dudes like to roleplay as women, and some dudes want to see the story play out from a little different perspective. Maybe a combination of both.

[Gotthammer666]

Can't comment on all of it, but the 'blue babies' part stems from the Liara romance dialogue itself. In LotSB if you romanced Liara you get a dialogue choice where Liara asks you what you see in the future, and the non-nihilistic option is "old age, retirement and lots of little blue children."
On Earth Liara will comment during her goodbye that "all those little blue children will be disappointed [she] didn't have a speech prepared." To which Shep replies that "They'll make something up".
So the implication through the game is the promise that Shep and Liara want to start a family, and the fan agitation for it as a result is just a by product of feeling that the endings did not match the promises of the game.

For the lack of male partners for FemShep she's got:
Garrus
Kaidan
Thane
Jacob

Garrus is an alien, Thane dies, and Jacob dumps you... so people wanting a straight, human relationship have one option (who might be dead, and some people find his... integrity annoying).

Gay FemShep options are:
Liara (arguably)
Traynor
Kelly
Allers
So a gay FemShep can have double the potential 'final' partners.

BroShep has
Ash
Kelly
Miranda
Liara
Tali
Allers
as straight options, while gay BroShep has:
Kaidan
Steeeeeeve!
in ME3 only.

Obviously gay BroShep is worst off here, but nobody's debating that - the issue is that straight FemShep has such a limited range of options, and is the only one to get actively dumped. Some see it as pandering to the 'lol lesbians are hott' crowd by picking the straight female options to dump on and expanding the gay ones, others see it as simply being stupid or uneven (ie Miranda should have dumped your ass or something).

Members actually post that they are crying at the fan art....really? Crying about something not getting put in the game? I was deeply emotionally invested in the story line and got a little teary eyed during the deaths of Mordin and Legion among others, but NEVER would I cry over a FemShep holding a blue baby picture I saw in a forum. I just don't understand it. How do men cry/get teary eyed over pictures posted in a forum that refer to something that never got put into Mass Effect? That fact is what really bothers me because I honestly can't imagine a reason to why grown men would do that.

They have a different emotional spectrum to you? Believe it or not, men (and women) do not have a singular emotional response to anything and everything in the world. Some people find the thought of their beloved characters starting a family very sweet, and that it was 'taken away' from them upsetting, or get teary when they get emotional over kids.

Modifié par Gotthammer666, 19 avril 2012 - 04:28 .

[Jjynn]

Its a very simple mindset.

Either you play the game thinking "That's me." In which case, you'll probably play your gender and something you feel approximates who you are.

Or you'll play the game thinking "That's my character." This allows a lot more flexibility in how you approach the game and are less likely to feel constrained by ideas of who you are as opposed to who your character is.

That's really what you're seeing when women play male characters and men play female characters.

[Lyrandori]

Couple of reasons...

1) A portion of the fan base being young male adolescents whom happen to be excited seeing a female they shaped themselves having sexual interaction with another attractive female.

2) Real life-based / biased view of sexual orientation greatly influencing their preferences and choices when it comes even to virtual "relationships".

3) Being attracted by heterosexual, homosexual or alien exoticism, or mere curiosity.

4) A player objectively trying "all romance possibilities" for the heck of trying them out without having any specific preferences towards gender, appearance or "implications" of the given relationship(s).

5) Etc...

There's no universal "for everyone" explanation about this subject.

[Athlonis1]

It's a defense mechanism to soothe the pain caused by the endings...

[Occulo]

Dawson14 wrote...

Furthermore, I've seen guys complaining that their FemSheps did not have enough male LI's, which I don't understand.

Regarding ME3:

Thane doesn't say much to Shepard whether you're in love with him or not. The most dialogue you ever get out of him is during Cerberus's attempted coup and a few (admittedly touching!) words on his deathbed. Before the attack, he doesn't say much in Huerta Hospital lounge, and never really has anything new to say after that first visit. It's pretty much like how Garrus was like in ME2 except he doesn't shove you away because he's busy doing calibrations, but just sits there and thanks you for visiting him and talks about his son all over again. Like you were visiting your sexy assassin grandpa with Alzheimer's or something.

And Kaidan--... He's... well, I liked him the most in ME1. In the subsequent games he and Ashley occupy the exact same roles with little variation. You can't really get to know him in either ME2 or ME3, so he's a bit bland. Suits a name like "staircase" though.

Jacob's a cheating bastard who decided to knock up some Cerberus scientist and just throws "the prize" to the wind. Also, his romance in ME2 was really creepy. Not his fault. Shepard's. She acted like a sexual predator during the whole thing. Totally creepy.

So then all you're left with is Garrus. And he's awesome, but... Thane! No one beats him at cuddling. You can just ask Joker, he'll agree.

[robtheguru]

Dawson14 wrote...

So I've read literally hundreds of ending threads since I've finished the game and came here to find comfort in others that found the ending as horrible and devastating as I. After reading those, I've come to find a trend that I really can't comprehend.

Members on here seem to have a large obession with FemShep and her romances/potential blue babies. It seems to me that more people prefered or played with a FemShep over a Male Shep. I'm a normal guy in my mid 20's and not once did I ever have the urge to play as a FemShep. I tried to have a mindset that I am Shepard so I picked a Male War Hero Spacer. I played mutliple playthroughs of ME1 and ME2 and once with ME3 and always played as a Male. 

I can understand if you are a female gamer why you'd pick a FemShep, but if you are a male what is the attraction to FemShep? Is it because you don't associate Shepard as yourself, but rather just an observer and find the character attractive/appealing? Or is it something else?

Furthermore, I've seen guys complaining that their FemSheps did not have enough male LI's, which I don't understand. Again, maybe this goes back to my idea of Shepard as myself, so I naturally wouldn't want to romance a male character because I am not gay. So the question I pose here is what's the attraction for male players to have a plethora of male characters to romance? In addition, why the desire to see an ending with babies with their FemShep and male LI? If you think of FemShep as yourself then I'm at a loss, if you think of yourself as an observer then I can understand wanting to see FemShep happy.

Another scenario I've seen is the massive amount of guys who played as a FemShep and are borderline obsessed with the lesbian romances with Liara/Ashley (particulary Liara). Ive seen the blue babies thread and for some reason it creeps me out. I think the fan art is actually pretty awesome and beautiful, but a lot of the comments leave me scratching my head. I'll try to explain my thought process here as well because I'm sure people will be confused why I have a "problem" with it.

So again, I always played a Male Shep and romanced Liara. I'd love for a happy ending where he goes back to his crew pops a beer open with Garrus and gets to bone Liara till' the end of time. If they wanted to throw in a cutscene where I see some Shep/blue babies that would be fine too, but I have no uncontrollable desire to see that like the people in the blue babies thread. And I say uncontrollable desire because thats the feel I get in that thread. Members actually post that they are crying at the fan art....really? Crying about something not getting put in the game? I was deeply emotionally invested in the story line and got a little teary eyed during the deaths of Mordin and Legion among others, but NEVER would I cry over a FemShep holding a blue baby picture I saw in a forum. I just don't understand it. How do men cry/get teary eyed over pictures posted in a forum that refer to something that never got put into Mass Effect? That fact is what really bothers me because I honestly can't imagine a reason to why grown men would do that.

So could someone give me some answers to why this is happening and explain the reasoning behind the emotions/thinking. I'm not trying to be mean, just trying to understand. No idea why it bothers me so much that I had to post.

PS: Are there any other members out there like me who just played a hetero Shep all the way through?

I'm the same. I've never been a fan of playing as a female in a game as I do tend to try and put myself into the characters situation for a little bit of extra immersion. Thats why in all RPG's if the option arises i'll always run with a Male character.

However, a few months back, after the constant stream of Femshep worshippers saying Jennifer Hale had done the greatest voice acting performance of all time I decided to give Femshep a run. To be hones't I could not and cannot see what the fuss is. She isn't any better than Meer and to be honest they are overshadowed by some of the secondary characters.

As for the baby thing, i'm not going to cry or anything but it would have been nice to see my Shep settle down with Liara after the I put in to doing completionist playthroughs in each of the games. Just something to make the effort feel worthwhile. Obviously if I had just breezed through the games i'd have expected a much worse ending. As it turned out the amount of effort I put in is pretty irrelevent

[Oni Changas]

I'm with OP. But I'm also a bit misogynist with heroes in epics. Just can't buy the logic of a 115 pound woman kicking ass. Never bought into it with River Tannen, never took Hannah seriously (though Kill Bill and many others are well done exceptions). To me, Shepard is either an extension of myself in my secondary canon, or "Sheploo" in my true, primary canon. I'm not so desperate for HLA that I'd play as a female for the purpose of romanicing Liara or any other female/asari.

[Mavaras]

Many reasons probably. A lot of men that really get into RPing females probably have substantially underdeveloped animas, allowing for the exercise to act as a means to express their repressed femininity and restore balance to their psychological health. Or, they just like dat ass.

[indyracing]

For myself, I almost always play a male character in my first playthrough of anything, and generally always female after.  In any MMO my "main" is a guy, and all alts, which may or may not become a main later, are females.  I have done this for years, so I have no problem playing female characters.  I guess this is where I should say I'm a straight guy.

I absolutely loved Jennifer Hale's voice in KOTOR.  When I heard she was going to be femshep's there was no question in my mind that I would play a female first (I think for the first time in any first playthrough of any game).  I also decided to go renegade, and romanced Liara (and stayed true in ME 2).

So "my" Shepard is a renegade female who likely "fathered" little blue babies on Eden.

My 2nd ME 1 character was a Paragon male.  I really don't like the voice actor of the male.  But I finished ME 1, and am at the "beginning of the end" with him in ME 2.  I romanced Ashley (to see what it was like) in ME 1, but didn't stay faithful in 2 (Tali).  If given the choice, was going to stay true to Tali in 3, but I don't think I'll ever play ME 3 again (or finish his ME 2 playthrough).

All other characters are female.  I have multiple other characters that finished ME 1 (somewhere nearing 5 others, but not sure), and 2 other females that finished 2.  I personally just love Jennifer Hale's voice, and really don't like Mark Meer's (though not at all on the scale that I dislike Kaiden's/Carth's voice actor, who I always sacrifice so as not to hear him).

Actually, now that I think of it, I must be totally over the "I'm a guy so I must play a male toon" as my one (to this point) Skyrim character is female.

The reason I always chose a male first in the past was that "I'm a guy so I must play a guy", but the reason I always played females as all alts and 2nd characters was the simple fact that, even digitally, I'd rather look at a female backside than a male.  Probably a little childish, but so what?  The increased graphic and 3d model quality and the addition of lesbian relationships don't hurt, either.

[ShepnTali]

Actually, girls with guns are appealing to alot of guys.

[PorcelynDoll]

I'm a woman and I always play women. I project myself onto femshep very much. She looks like me, makes choices I would and I want Garrus babies! Sometimes I think about making a Sheploo but it would really come down to the fact that I would have him skip around in pink armor, sing into his hairbrush and ride ponies. I don't think the galaxy could handle him lol.

[tekkaman fear]

Only time in the entire trilogy Femshep didn't feel right was the sparring match with vega. That just felt very wrong. This huge guy punching her in the head and not knocking the hell outta her was kinda unbelievable. I wish they would have had a different scene for femshep.

As for why I use a Femshep...I like bad girls that can kick butt dammit. And I'd rather stare at a hot chick for hrs if given a choice than I would a guy.

[Mavaras]

Another reason some guys might always choose female avatars is because they have a complex that makes them want to assert control over women, and by controlling a female avatar's movements, conversations, clothing, personality, love interests etc.; they obtain complete dominance, thereby satisfying their psychological perversion. Or, they just like dat ass.