149 réponses à ce sujet

[RedIntifada]

The poll on what race/class you plan to be in your first play through can be found here:

http://forum.bioware...or-will-you-be/

 

Most of the posts in the thread are just individuals stating what their inquisitor would be which is cool... but I thought it would be good to examine the meta data on a separate thread, rather than fish for my and others comments among 8 pages.

 

A lot of people have commented before the poll on how human male is by far the most popular choice.  But perhaps even more interesting than that is that is that the poll indicates more female inquisitors then males in every non-human race, by quite a large margin.

 

Now it is true that males can play female inquisitors and visa versa (be interesting to do a poll on that), but I wonder why the correlation between female PC and non-human. Is it because women are more used to being "othered," where as men feel more at home with having a more central, clear cut dominant role? Maybe it is because women are socialised to reflect more on body types and fashion that the different frames carry more interest.

 

I don't know but I think there some interesting social data here. I would like to hear people's comments but as I know where these sorts of threads CAN go, please keep the discussion respectful. I don't want it shut down early.

[The Hierophant]

No.

You're trying too hard. Drawing conclusions out of thin air with sketchy and or no data at all.

[TheJediSaint]

Bioware Forum surveys are unscientific and have too small a sample size.  The only thing worthwhile you can gain from them is amusement.

[Elissiaro]

I know I play mostly non-humans... 

If I remember correctly, my characters have been; commoner dwarf, city elf, mage elf, dalish elf, noble dwarf and human. In that order. Then there's been at least one more commoner dwarf, another mage elf, male that time, and a few more city elves one of wich was male... 

 

I never completed the playthrough with the dalish elf, noble dwarf or the human characters. Actually way to many of my characters never even left Ostagar...

 

I think just like playing the underdogs.

[The_Prophet_of_Donk]

I feel that with the new playable race, a lot of ppl will be playing as a Qunari on either their first or second playthrough... I am not one of those ppl, Though the Qun intrigues me.

[RedIntifada]

So far there are 825 answers. Most "accurate" polls only use 1,000 people

 

It is done 1 per account so it is better than most online polls. I am not saying it is perfect data. But it is data and it does match up with what we already knew about 50-60% of players playing male humans. What is interesting is then where and how the rest of the categories are divided... and there seems to be a consistent pattern

 

[SomeoneStoleMyName]

350% more players chose female dwarf over male dwarf. Like I pointed out in that thread - this seems like a pretty big difference. 

Then again... Varric?

[Beerfish]

The question seems to indicate that I am playing the game only once.  As with other games that have allowed it I most often play all races and a combo of sexes.  The first one is usually human male.

[JeffZero]

 

tumblr buzzwords

 

What, like "othered" and "socialized"? I'm not familiar with the tumblr community and the vocabulary its user base is prone to utilizing, but those words have plenty of relevance in statistical interpretation.

 

I don't see the harm in someone intrigued by not-totally-inconsiderable numbers in online poll data offering a theory on the slant. I, myself, have noted far more statements in recent days of intent to play a female elf than a male one.

[Gannayev of Dreams]

I enjoy playing non-human females more than human females whenever the opportunity arises.  Mostly because, when choosing to play a female I'm doing so to experience something "other" than what I am already.  Choosing a non-human just furthers that concept.  I like to be as "other" as I possibly can.  For DAI, a female Qunari fits the bill nicely.

 

When I play a human male it is to be as relate-able as possible.

[RedIntifada]

The question seems to indicate that I am playing the game only once.  As with other games that have allowed it I most often play all races and a combo of sexes.  The first one is usually human male.

 

True, although that still raises the question... why couple male with human... and then presumably to give yourself an entirely different experience tie in with a female non-human?

What is it that leads players (whether it is first, second, third, whatever play through) to be more likely to play human and male and then/or non-human and female as a combination?

[JeffZero]

I enjoy playing non-human females more than human females whenever the opportunity arises.  Mostly because, when choosing to play a female I'm doing so to experience something "other" than what I am already.  Choosing a non-human just furthers that concept.  I like to be as "other" as I possibly can.  For DAI, a female Qunari fits the bill nicely.

 

When I play a human male it is to be as relate-able as possible.

 

Interesting. Makes a lot of sense.

[OctagonalSquare]

Guys playing as sexy elf girls, sexy dwarf girls, and sexy qunari girls.

[mentos]

Some people just like to be called pretty.


A more serious answer: while some people are interested in creating more epic versions of themselves others are interested in creating an interesting story they wont find elsewhere or they just want to hook-up with Sera

[The Hierophant]

I'm sorry RedIntifada But this only takes into account the posters on this forum who are a noted vocal minority amongst Bioware's customers, while there's no guarantee that everyone will play as what they've voted for on that poll.

Your stuff about women being viewed as other instead of human is debatable too since we're on a forum in which people were clamoring to roleplay as different races since DA2's exclusion of the feature.

[Spaghetti_Ninja]

Maybe it's to offset the fact that - companion and advisorwise - all female characters except Sera are human, and that all the demi-humans are male.

 

Think about it. Solas, Varric, Iron Bull. We haven't got any female dwarves or qunari.

[Ophir147]

Guys playing as sexy elf girls, sexy dwarf girls, and sexy qunari girls.

 

Thread over.

 

Being able to play as a non-human and as a female is an interesting novelty. You don't have to be female to want to take advantage of this.

[RedIntifada]

I'm sorry RedIntifada But this only takes into account the posters on this forum who are a noted vocal minority amongst Bioware's customers, while there's no guarantee that everyone will play as what they've voted for on that poll.

Your stuff about women being viewed as other instead of human is debatable too since we're on a forum in which people were clamoring to roleplay as different races since DA2's exclusion of the feature.

 

Except the data lines up with the data we already know and people have been commenting on for months... People know that human male is the most popular and dwarfs are the least popular. This data lines up with that, so it doesn't seem to represent any skewed social agenda on this forum... the extra indications we do get from it though add a bit more to the overall picture.

[Samahl]

My guess is that men aren't often in a position to have to relate to others in media, so they tend to choose what's most familiar to them. Women do, however, so they feel more comfortable playing a distinct "other".

[dutch_gamer]

I am not sure how it can even be concluded there is a trend of women more likely choosing to play as non-human. Maybe I am missing something but does that poll even show how many women or men voted on what?

[TheJediSaint]

My guess is that men aren't often in a position to have to relate to others in media, so they tend to choose what's most familiar to them. Women do, however, so they feel more comfortable playing a distinct "other".

Nope, plenty of men like to play attractive and/or exotic women.  There's a reason for the existence of MMORPG alternate meaning:  Many Men Online Role Playing Girls.   I don't see why that would be any different in a singleplayer RPG.

[TheJediSaint]

I am not sure how it can even be concluded there is a trend of women more likely choosing to play as non-human. Maybe I am missing something but does that poll even show how many women or men voted on what?

You're not missing anything.  The survey is unscientific, meaning that it doesn't control any variables in the sample.  The data can provide jollies, not knowledge.

[RedIntifada]

Guys playing as sexy elf girls, sexy dwarf girls, and sexy qunari girls.

 

Perhaps, but if it is sexyness then what does it say about the fact that they are attracted to more "extreme" body types? Is it an indication of attraction to unusual bodies? Surely if it is about perving, which is often the justification hetro-men use to play female character without having their gender/sexuality questioned then human female would be a lot more popular. 

[Panda]

The poll doesn't ask gender of answerer, although most people seem to like playing their own gender more there is people who doesn't have preference of gender (like me) or like playing as other gender more. So I don't think we can be sure if all those human male are from male players and qunari female are from female players.

 

Also the difference isn't that big actually, only human male-female male and dwarven female-dwarven male have rather big differences.

 

That said I think the topic is intresting. Do women and men in generally play differently and make different choices? Maybe, maybe not. It'd be nice to hear more info of that.

[SardaukarElite]

If you think of human male as the normal character, then maybe people who are open to breaking that mold in some way become open to breaking it in another. Once they realise they don't have to play as a man, the thought they don't have to play as a human follows soon after, and vice versa. Or, for whatever reason people who want deviate from normal want to deviate as much as possible. It might be interesting to look at how the full gender, race, class breakdown works.

 

That is guesswork though, based on an observation that might not be fair. The sample size is too small, and I'm not sure how you would set about proving any hypothesis.