340 réponses à ce sujet

[Abelas Forever!]

if the gender doesnt matter I Could play as a guy and not be upset but not otherwise, I really cant help how annoyed it makes me just by seeing how different they make things because of gender. if it makes me upset then im just going to ignore the choice.

I Could choose to only play as male and not female.

Could you explain or give me an example? I don't understand why you are annoyed. I think it makes sense that if you play as a female character then people react to you differently in games than if you play as a male character or there are differences in some situations.

[KaiserShep]

I really don't care who you play as, but what I have issue with is people ridiculing others for playing as a female, and calling the person who does it as gay or weird. If you're comfortable with your sexuality and who you are then you shouldn't put others down for doing it.

"Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short, wear shirts and boots because it's okay to be a boy, but for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, because you think that being a girl is degrading.

Random forums that I've visited were pretty bad about this sort of crap. Thankfully, BSN is fairly benign by comparison. There's a random dumb comment like that here and there, but it's no WoW forums that's for sure.

But anyway, I love mixing things up in these games. I find myself a little spoiled by all of the options.

[jncicesp]

Could you explain or give me an example? I don't understand why you are annoyed. I think it makes sense that if you play as a female character then people react to you differently in games than if you play as a male character or there are differences in some situations.

Sure yeah. I dont mind characters reacting different based on gender, id rather not but I dont have an issue with that. Its really just the content associated with genders, which I guess is mostly romance and flirting options. Mostly.

 

It just has a lot to do with pleasing the player. If that player likes what they're given its great and noone cares. if not they mostly get told to play as the other gender to get more enjoyable content or ignore all the content that they don't want. id rather just assume its the only content there.

 

Also im not a big fan of male being default, which in Origins it REALLY felt like that was the case when I ran though a bit of the game as male noone batted an eyelash that you were at any momment in that game. the only real reason I can think of why they changed it so much for female is because they decided to make male default and have female be a 2nd option just by changing and adding a few things to make it a totally fresh shiny new experience then playing as a guy.  

And the only difference besides reactions is how the actual content is changed, like gender specific conversations, which are only romance or people pointing out your not a man, Its easy to see how most characters are being used in the story until you see what Else they can add and when its not there after seeing it, it just feels wrong even talking to most of them because theyre not doing what theyre supposed to be doing, the only reason for that is gender.

 

Mass effect one had a little amount of differences except for a few and it wasnt that whoever just reacted different its that I could tell they went out of their way to make it different

ME2 is the best example which you cant even completely talk with 3 of the party members because they have conversations locked to their romance content, which is locked by gender.

 

Theres just a ton of assuming of what the player will want to see based on which gender they choose. when its used like that it feels more like  a 'choose your character/story' and not creating one. again I don't mind the differences in how characters react, theres just so much more to it then that I feel like, I cant ignore seeing it if I play as both genders It feels So forced, if I just play as one I can be  mostly happy and enjoy the game.

 

Dragon age 2 didnt bother me, It had differences between genders but I couldnt see them going out of their way to please anyone in particular. I could notice how they made everything work a heck of a lot more but that upsets me in a different way that has nothing to do with gender.

 

Sorry theres not really an example in here and that its kind of rambling, but its still a  reply that im using as an answer.

[Giga Drill BREAKER]

For me it depends on the game, in a character creator games like Dragon age, Elder Scrolls and Saints Row, I find it easier to play a male because I am male and I relate to a male character more, it allows me to play that character as me, but in games with full fleshed out protagonists, I'm not really bothered as long as the characters and stories are good.

[Oswin]

I've been a gamer my whole life so I'm used to playing as male leads. I have played a few with female leads down the line, but when I finally got to have the choice between male or female it was awesome. I'm trying to think of what the first one was, knowing me it was probably pokemon.
From then on I would always pick a female character. Especially if they are a silent protagonist because then it's left open for you to place your own personality onto them.
That changed with Dragon age 2 and Mass Effect though. I liked the voices of male sarcastic Hawke and male renegade Shepard, so I happily ran through as them. I'm not the most feminine of women so playing as a man isn't a huge stretch.

And if I'm completely honest? I'm a huge perv. I don't mind playing as male characters if they are one tasty dish. I always feel bad when male gamers get so much hate for doing the same with female characters.

[Mes]

If I can make a good-looking guy, and romance who I want to romance with him, I will play as a guy first. I think because this way I could get the most out of the story. I've mentioned a few times now that I think male/male relationships are incredibly sweet.

 

Historically I've also felt more powerful as a male. This is kinda unfortunate, because I'm sure this is a result of being raised in the patriarchy, and with how a lot of female characters are portrayed in games. I gotta say though that female Shepard (when I opened the game and was surprised that I actually had a choice in gender) really opened my eyes. She kind of reminded me of Xena, which I used to watch as a kid. Man why don't we have more women like that on TV... 

[PlasmaCheese]

I'm a female gamer that has been playing games since forever. I have no trouble relating to male protags, in fact, 99% of my favorite games star male leads. However, now that I have a choice? And I can actually create this female however I want, give her any personality I want, and can play her however I want? Hell yea, I'm making a chick hero!! That doesn't mean I don't enjoy playing a set male protag... But when I have a choice, it'll probably *always* be female. I've tried otherwise, but just couldn't get into it knowing virtually the same exact game exists but with a female lead.

[brightblueink]

I'm a female gamer that has been playing games since forever. I have no trouble relating to male protags, in fact, 99% of my favorite games star male leads. However, now that I have a choice? And I can actually create this female however I want, give her any personality I want, and can play her however I want? Hell yea, I'm making a chick hero!! That doesn't mean I don't enjoy playing a set male protag... But when I have a choice, it'll probably *always* be female. I've tried otherwise, but just couldn't get into it knowing virtually the same exact game exists but with a female lead.

Yeah, this is almost exactly what I was just about to post. I've been playing games for the last 20 years, and I'd definitely say that most of the games I've played have had male protags, so I don't really have any congnitive dissonance with it or anything. (And boy, I'm glad I DON'T have any issues with playing male characters, since many of my favorite games--Bastion, The World Ends With You, the first season of The Walking Dead, Baten Kaitos, to name a few--have male main characters, and the thought of living in a world where I would be distracted while playing Bastion just because of the Kid being a guy is not a world I want to live in.)

 

But it's so rare for me to get to play as a female character that when given the choice, I usually pick female over male. That's not always true--in games where the play style or class is restricted to gender (like, say, a fighting game, or games where class is tied to a specific character like the Borderland games), or games where all characters play the same but they're CHARACTERS more than avatars (for example, the Left 4 Dead series), I'm more likely to play a male character because either I like how they play or I prefer their character better. (For example, my first choice in L4D is Louis in 1, and Nick in 2.) But even in those games, I'll nearly always try the female characters first to check to see if I like them before I try out a male character, just because, again, being able to have a choice of playing a woman is still sort of a novelty to me (although I think this is starting to change).

 

But in a series like Dragon Age, where you're creating your own character with the personality you prefer? I don't think I can think of a game where I haven't played as a female on my first playthrough, and the majority of my subsiquent playthroughs. Usually when I do play a male character, it's either because I have a VERY specific idea for a character that will only work as a male one (usually something incredibly dorky like "I want to play my Warden as the alternate universe version of the main character from my favorite book series" or "I bet [character from manga I like] would enjoy games like this, I wonder what sort of choices he might make if he played? Hey, that might be a fun way to see some scenes I wouldn't normally see!"), or I specifically want to get to play through content that I can only see as a male character (usually romances in BW games--which of course means that all of my Hawkes have been female).

 

It's not because I dislike playing as a man. It's because I like playing as a woman--and I don't get to do that as much. If set female protagonists were more common in games then maybe I'd be more prone to play as a guy? Maybe. In fact I'm going to go ahead and say yes, it's likely. When I play in TRPGs and forums, I'll still maybe play a girl but I'm just as likely to play a guy. I think it's because in those settings my choices are only limited by what I'm interested in playing, so while I still really enjoy playing a woman it's not really *exciting* like the choice is in a video game.

[Quill74Pen]

I am a male, but when it comes to RPG/MMO games, most of my characters are female.

 

Why? Simple, really: Gaming to me is an escape from the responsibilities of real life, a time to relax and have fun playing by myself or with a group of like-minded gaming friends (some of whom go beyond "gaming friends" and into real life friends). And, over the years, I've discovered that I find more immersion in RPGs and MMOs when my character(s) are female. Those characters are basically me IRL, just with a gender that's opposite of mine.

 

So, I am and always will remain a male in real life — that cannot, will not, change because of those aforementioned responsibilities. But in the gaming world, my characters are female more often than not.

 

In closing, this has been a very interesting thread with a lot of thought-worthy posts in it. Everyone is to be commended for their contributions.

[Abelas Forever!]

Sure yeah. I dont mind characters reacting different based on gender, id rather not but I dont have an issue with that. Its really just the content associated with genders, which I guess is mostly romance and flirting options. Mostly.

 

It just has a lot to do with pleasing the player. If that player likes what they're given its great and noone cares. if not they mostly get told to play as the other gender to get more enjoyable content or ignore all the content that they don't want. id rather just assume its the only content there.

 

Also im not a big fan of male being default, which in Origins it REALLY felt like that was the case when I ran though a bit of the game as male noone batted an eyelash that you were at any momment in that game. the only real reason I can think of why they changed it so much for female is because they decided to make male default and have female be a 2nd option just by changing and adding a few things to make it a totally fresh shiny new experience then playing as a guy.  

And the only difference besides reactions is how the actual content is changed, like gender specific conversations, which are only romance or people pointing out your not a man, Its easy to see how most characters are being used in the story until you see what Else they can add and when its not there after seeing it, it just feels wrong even talking to most of them because theyre not doing what theyre supposed to be doing, the only reason for that is gender.

 

Mass effect one had a little amount of differences except for a few and it wasnt that whoever just reacted different its that I could tell they went out of their way to make it different

ME2 is the best example which you cant even completely talk with 3 of the party members because they have conversations locked to their romance content, which is locked by gender.

 

Theres just a ton of assuming of what the player will want to see based on which gender they choose. when its used like that it feels more like  a 'choose your character' and not creating one. again I don't mind the differences in how characters react, theres just so much more to it then that I feel like, I cant ignore seeing it if I play as both genders It feels So forced, if I just play as one I can be  mostly happy and enjoy the game.

 

Dragon age 2 didnt bother me, It had differences between genders but I couldnt see them going out of their way to please anyone in particular. I could notice how they made everything work a heck of a lot more but that upsets me in a different way that has nothing to do with gender.

 

Sorry theres not really an example in here and that its kind of rambling, but its still a  reply that im using as an answer.

Now I understand what you mean I haven't even though about that female protagonist in DAO could be just second option and it was made different so that not everything would be the same. I was just happy to be able to play as a female and have male LI options. However I got the feeling that you were meant to be playing as a male so that you could do the dark ritual by yourself or if you happened to be with Morrigan then doing it makes even more sense. I find the Witch Hunt DLC a little bit weird because I didn't see any reason why would my Warden go after Morrigan. We were friends in the game but if she wanted to disappear then it would have been ok. There was also the thing that she had Alistair's baby and in that case I see even less sense that my Warden goes after her. So if I would have been able to take Alistair with me then it would have made more sense. I don't know what happens if you don't do the Ritual.

 

I guess it doesn't bother me that you could do things differently if you play as male protagonist. The way I play games I just don't know what the other options are. Of course I was annoyed that I had to persuade Alistair to do the Dark Ritual with Morrigan so we could both live. I guess it's possible to fail in that too so I think romancing Alistair is not easy and you can fail it pretty easily. What I'm trying to say is that it's ok that romances such as Alistair can exists. Because sometimes you don't just have enough choises. If you have played ME then you know about the two romance options for female protagonist that have angried some people. So I'm just saying that it would be fair that male characters could also have some tragic romances as well. So not only straight women get tragic romances.

[Iron Star]

I'm a guy and I always play as a female when given the option. Dragon age, Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls etc. The reason is that I've always seen strong female "heroes" as more interesting than men, I don't know why.

[Zered]

I am a guy and most of the time I play as a guy. At times I play as female (like in SWTOR MMO). No big deal I guess.

 

Wy wife plays mostly as a female but has no problem with playing as a dude - for instance she liked both witcher games.

[XMissWooX]

When I first started playing video games I had no problem playing as a male. A majority of games had set protagonists, and they were male, and that was that. If I couldn't play as a male, I couldn't play at all.
It wasn't really until I got into RPGs (most notably DAO) that I found that, quite often, you can choose your character's sex - and in some case, that would have an impact on the game.

When given the choice, I almost exclusively play as female characters.
That isn't to say I can't play as male characters. Occasionally I will find a game I like the look of and buy it, even if the PC is a man. And sometimes I play as a man in games which allow you a choice.
The difference is that I cannot seem to 'connect' with my character as well when playing a male and when playing a female. I can't really explain why, even to myself, but I just find that I am not as invested in the character. As a result I rarely finish male playthroughs.

[jncicesp]

Now I understand what you mean I haven't even though about that female protagonist in DAO could be just second option and it was made different so that not everything would be the same. I was just happy to be able to play as a female and have male LI options. However I got the feeling that you were meant to be playing as a male so that you could do the dark ritual by yourself or if you happened to be with Morrigan then doing it makes even more sense. I find the Witch Hunt DLC a little bit weird because I didn't see any reason why would my Warden go after Morrigan. We were friends in the game but if she wanted to disappear then it would have been ok. There was also the thing that she had Alistair's baby and in that case I see even less sense that my Warden goes after her. So if I would have been able to take Alistair with me then it would have made more sense. I don't know what happens if you don't do the Ritual.

 

I guess it doesn't bother me that you could do things differently if you play as male protagonist. The way I play games I just don't know what the other options are. Of course I was annoyed that I had to persuade Alistair to do the Dark Ritual with Morrigan so we could both live. I guess it's possible to fail in that too so I think romancing Alistair is not easy and you can fail it pretty easily. What I'm trying to say is that it's ok that romances such as Alistair can exists. Because sometimes you don't just have enough choises. If you have played ME then you know about the two romance options for female protagonist that have angried some people. So I'm just saying that it would be fair that male characters could also have some tragic romances as well. So not only straight women get tragic romances.

 

I don't mind that when playing as a female protagonist people in the game will comment about it or maybe have some prejudices. I guess it adds more to the story. In that case I just want to have some dialogue options where I can defend myself. It's also ok that I might not be able to have romance with some guy because he is gay. I might not like it but I guess that might add more to that character. It would also be ok that a female character would flirt with me but I might be able to say that sorry I'm not interested beacause I'm straight. However I just hope that these restrictions would be more balanced so that playing as a female protagonist don't get all the difficulties.

(this really isnt a direct reply to you)

hmm thats a thing... Morrigan and Alistair were both plot characters with romances attached to the plot but even their plot points were optional.

 

It really only bothers me because I cant play as a guy and enjoy it as much as playing female and playing as both upsets me, I can completely see why people who dont mind playing as Either gender would want difference but that just adds stuff by taking it away from others. Its a personal thing I cant get pass.

The different origins all had different reactions that you saw a lot more throughout the game, they didnt have any(or very little) restrictions to any content aside from the actual origin. gender still felt like had more weight than any origin.

 

Mass effects awful when it comes to all this, but I dont think Garrus and Kaidan were handled worse than Ashley and Tali, its just that they took two other guys and kept  all the girls for guyshep. they all were at least really good characters.

 

I have absolutely no faith that they can do restrictions well so id prefer none

Alistair and Morrigan(super important plot story characters) were both pushed on you just by talking to them if you were the opposite gender, I never fail to have Alistair interested in me when its the last thing I want(honestly hes my least favorite character with a romance).

if you were the same you lose out on optional cool stories with the two most important characters you have with you.

same with Ashley and Kaidan depending on what gender you play as its just assumed you want to romance one of them.

in ME2 id say its handled worse but with Three people, maybe not Garrus but just by talking with the other two guys you kinda have to go out of your way to break up with them, I love Mordin and I know it was a joke but after rejecting  2-3 guys he does his whole letting you down gently thing.

 

But ME 3 is interesting, they still have the pushed stuff with kaidan and james but they added two gay characters which really arnt pushed in anyway(probably because theyre secondary characters), people keep saying how they like samantha turning guys down but its worth pointing out..aside from Samara shes the only one who does that.

 

I hate that it comes down to romances but thats the biggest(not only) thing that changes with gender, dragon age 2 everyone was equally pushed into things and not nearly as bad as any other game.

If someone has a restriction they're going to be pushed a lot more, if they have a restriction and are a plot character theyre going to be unavoidable.

 

also more on topic playing as a lady hero=Awesome. playing as a guy one=blarg.

[colemanshane]

For me myself my choice depends on how I want to play that playthrough.

My original warden was a male Dalish elf named Shepherd because it was the most like Mass Effect and I had just finished another playthrough with Shepherd being a male, I played him like I would Paragon Shepherd.

I in a later playthrough played a female Dwarf Nobel to romance Alistair and just see what playing a female was like.
 

For Dragon Age 2 I made and played Hawke as myself, and on my only other playthrough made a slightly different version of him to be the exact opposite.

 

For Inquisition I plan to properly Roleplay a character, so I'll be playing a Female Qunari Rogue.

I think it'll be fun.

[Soulseeker25]

I actually prefer to play as a female character in my games. Because they have better visuals in my opion then the males (Im looking at you male dwarf commoner, and dwarf noble in origins character creator).

[ShallowlLife9871]

I normally play female characters, but like meany others, I have no problem playing as a male. For me, it always depends on what feels right for the story arch I want to play. My wardens are female, but My Hawke's, are normally Male. as DAI chances are I will play a female.{ race and class will be decided when I actually play the game.} 

[Fetunche]

I have no problem playing either gender but I dislike gender locked content, what ever I can do as male I should be able to do as a female , biological considerations like giving birth aside.

[ArtemisMoons]

I actually don't mind some gender locked content, if only because it adds to replayablity. (I'm kind of hoping for some race locked content in DAI too. >.>)

That said, I tend to play ladies because in most games I play, I am forced to play men. But I don't mind playing either, even though I'm a woman. lol

[Zombie_Alexis]

I prefer playing as female when given the choice, simply because that choice is a relatively rare in most video games. However, if I find the game to have a lot of replay value, like the Dragon Age games (and to some extent, TES), I play as male just to see the differences. I love my male Hawkes and my male Dwarf Commoner is one of my favorite DAO play throughs.

 

That said, I have never played Mass Effect as a male. I became so attached to Femshep, that I just can't make a male character. Renegade or Paragon, that character is so well written and voice acted, that she has become one of my favorite characters of all time. Sure, there are moments in the game where I'm reminded that the default character is male (she holds her arms out when she walks and sits like a dude in ME2, and why the heck am I giving Sha'ira the once over from across the room and around the corner in ME1?) but all in all, it's so refreshing to have a badass female character who can get the job done. Sorry, Sheploo fans! I will leave him to you. At least until the day that my curiosity overwhelms me and I do a Maleshep run.

[kipac]

That's probably because some people pretend to be the protagonist themselves when they're playing the game. I assume that's why quite a lot of people complained back when the Walking Dead season 2 was released by saying "I don't want to be playing as a little girl".

When I play games, I personally just think of myself as sort of a reader of the protagonist's tale who has a bit of controls over his/her story and action.
So I don't mind at all if the protagonist is a male or female.

[Peer of the Empire]

Don't want to be a girl