563 réponses à ce sujet

[Arcian]

All of my custom Shepard's are based off of me to some extent. But if it is default Shepard, then I will play as FemShep.

It feels very contradictory to play as oneself when the purpose of roleplaying games is escapism from oneself.

[MrFob]

This is one issue I am completely unbiased about. I find male and female Shepards absolutely on par. Yes, they both have their ups and downs sometimes but overall, they come out pretty much the same quality for me.
I just love the fact that BioWare gave us the choice in these games. It adds a lot of replayability for me.
My first Shep was a male Shepard, just because I found the concept art with the armor so cool. Played him mostly paragon and he has been the first one to go through all three games when they came out. I wouldn't call him my "cannon" Shep but he is the trail blazer and the one that is the least metagamed one. He is the one who is the best reflection of myself in the game and so he does have a special place.
My favorite overall trilogy runthrough was with a femShep that started out mostly renegade in ME1 and over time became one of these paragade "nice to her friends but doesn't take crap from anyone" characters. Garrus was the perfect match for her and she fit the story best IMO.
There were many characters after that but these later ones were often played with a specific purpose in mind (like check out full renegade or see what a certain choice would do) so those two first ones are definitely the ones that stand out the most.

[Vazgen]

It feels very contradictory to play as oneself when the purpose of roleplaying games is escapism from oneself.

Not really. Basing the character of yourself allows for easier immersion in the game world. Your choices feel more natural.

[Rusted Cage]

Not really. Basing the character of yourself allows for easier immersion in the game world. Your choices feel more naturaI.

I agree to some degree as I find it hard to completely seperate myself from my character. Full renegade, for example, is a chore for me because most of the time it is contrary to what I would do. Having said that I haven't played as myself before either - at least not honestly. Maybe my first playthroughs were more like me but most of the time I try to rp what my Shepard would do.

 

I might try an honest Phil Shepard just to see what it's like.

[KaiserShep]

Renegon FemShep is the best.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Not really. Basing the character of yourself allows for easier immersion in the game world. Your choices feel more natural.

 

Sometimes. It depends upon your role playing. I can get deep into role playing a character. When I did my first ME character she was not like me. Not at all. Yet, I got immersed in playing the character. She was a totally ruthless b*tch, but by the third game she tried to leave the galaxy a better place. She had her beliefs - that the geth were machines so she sided with the Quarians because Tali was her friend.

 

My Inquisitor is one who believes in The Maker and who believes she is the Herald of Andraste. She saw Andraste reach down and save her from certain death. That was like Daenerys surviving standing in the fire and survivng unmarked by it. The mark on her hand and that she's the only one who can close rifts proves it. When I role play this character I really get into role playing her. It's too bad the corpses disappear after combat because perhaps I'd like to do something with them. Maybe impale my enemies as an example or stack and burn the dead, or leave them to rot in the sun (they should disappear after you leave the area, though). And they should have casual changes of clothes so you can walk around indoors and in non-combat areas without armor - of course you're accompanied by bodyguards unless you dismiss them. Good is not nice. She is nothing like me. Yet I find it very immersive to play this character.

[Vazgen]

I never meant that immersion is not possible without certain relation to yourself in the game (although there is an interesting article on that here: RPG Games: Do Personality Types Affect Role Play?)

 

What I'm saying is that immersion is achievable faster with decisions that you would've made personally. In RPG games your character is usually a blank state and you spend some time to craft an outline of his/her personality during the first hours of the game. Once you establish it, further choices just come naturally. Picking choices that you would've personally made allows you to skip that first part and immerse yourself right from the start. At least, that's the case for me.

[Rusted Cage]

I never meant that immersion is not possible without certain relation to yourself in the game (although there is an interesting article on that here: RPG Games: Do Personality Types Affect Role Play?)

 

What I'm saying is that immersion is achievable faster with decisions that you would've made personally. In RPG games your character is usually a blank state and you spend some time to craft an outline of his/her personality during the first hours of the game. Once you establish it, further choices just come naturally. Picking choices that you would've personally made allows you to skip that first part and immerse yourself right from the start. At least, that's the case for me.

Interesting article dude, will need to study and see if I can identify my personality type. Don't get me wrong, I think subconciously I do make decisions based on my own biases and beliefs, one of the reasons I have such difficulty playing hardcore Renegade. I also think a small amount of meta-gaming comes into play when picking an original Mass Effect character for the first time in that you know a Spacer/War Hero will start with a boost to paragon points. So probably most people play more or less as themselves during the intial playthrough. Funny, that first one is always special and probably ends up being most people's canon Shepard.

 

It gets easier to actually roleplay after so much time has passed since I first played the games. Not all your Shepards are Vazgen Shepard, are they mate?

[Vazgen]

Interesting article dude, will need to study and see if I can identify my personality type. Don't get me wrong, I think subconciously I do make decisions based on my own biases and beliefs, one of the reasons I have such difficulty playing hardcore Renegade. I also think a small amount of meta-gaming comes into play when picking an original Mass Effect character for the first time in that you know a Spacer/War Hero will start with a boost to paragon points. So probably most people play more or less as themselves during the intial playthrough. Funny, that first one is always special and probably ends up being most people's canon Shepard.

It gets easier to actually roleplay after so much time has passed since I first played the games. Not all your Shepards are Vazgen Shepard, are they mate?

Of course not. But Vazgen Shepard is the one I'm attached to the most

[Abelas Forever!]

FemShep because I like playing as a woman maybe because I'm a woman or maybe because there isn't that many games where you can play as a woman. I also like that I can experience a story where the hero is a woman.

[Daemul]

Femshep>>>>>>>>>>Maleshep because Aria is into Femshep more

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=5CQjrDGxWnU

 

This evidence is irrefutable!!

 

OK, being serious for a moment, this video reminded of me of a thought I once had about the Asari. They are an all female species who will be naturally predisposed to finding anyone who shares their form attractive, meaning the male form will be completely unfamiliar and alien to them. An Asari trying to kiss a male for the first time would be like me trying to snog the roach from Man in Black, way too weird. Someone like Aria may have been around male gendered species long enough to have gotten used to the idea, but she would still consider them strange. 

 

If Bioware had originally went down the route of making the Asari only attracted to the females of humanoid species, thereby making someone like Liara a Femshep exclusive romance, it actually would have made sense. But they've gone too far with this whole thing of making the Asari attracted to everyone(something which makes no sense) to be able to turn back now, unless they do a DA:I. 

[von uber]

Making asari only attractive to females would have been an interesting idea.
Although not sure how it would work with non humanoid races.

[Daemul]

Making asari only attracted to females would have been an interesting idea.
Although not sure how it would work with non humanoid races.

 

Doh! In my post I was meant to specify that I was referring to humanoid races but I had a brain fart. I'll change it now.

[Shuidizi]

I have 2 male shepards and 1 female shepard, and I love them pretty much all equally, here're some thoughts:

 

Romance: Garrus is definitely the best romance out there, however Tali is pretty close, the only thing make Tali romance slightly inferior is the fact she appears very late in ME3, but that's about the only downside. Her romance is better than Garrus's in ME2 anyway. Liara is also great but she's available to both genders.

 

Voice Acting: Overall Hale has the stronger performance, but it actually creates a problem for me, I can create 2 male shepards and still feel like they are two different persons because Meer's performance was not that distinguishable, but I cannot create a second femshep because as soon as she opens her mouth I thought about my first femshep. So which one do I prefer? Femshep's voice definitely, but maleshep's voice is more convenient for multiple characters.

 

Gameplay: Not too many differences, but I do want to point one thing out, maybe it's just that I'm strange, but a lot of "friendship" scenes feels more natural with a femshep IMO, Miranda's second Citadel DLC meeting is the perfect example: with my femshep it feels like two awesome women friends having fun, with my maleshep it feels like he's cheating on his LI with Miranda lol.

 

I guess in the end I probably prefer my femshep a little bit more, but not by much. I think the game is equally enjoyable playing both genders.

[SporkFu]

Gameplay: Not too many differences, but I do want to point one thing out, maybe it's just that I'm strange, but a lot of "friendship" scenes feels more natural with a femshep IMO, Miranda's second Citadel DLC meeting is the perfect example: with my femshep it feels like two awesome women friends having fun, with my maleshep it feels like he's cheating on his LI with Miranda lol.

That's an easy fix: just romance Miranda  It's totally worth it. Every time I play the game now as a maleshep, I kinda always wish I'd romanced Miranda no matter who my LI is. 

[Acute]

Femshep. First and foremost because I'm female and like to play as a cooler more badass version of myself. Secondly because I love Hale's voice acting and her embodiment of the character, and thirdly because dat Garrus.

[Darius M.]

Broshep.

In an ideal world, I would ride the fence and say they both have their merits. I deeply enjoy playing as both. However, my default would be the bro-Shep, and if I'm being dead honest, all of my male playthroughs are with Shepard as a brotha like me. I have no idea why, but I just always pictured Shepard as a fellow black man. Especially with the whole "raised on the streets" beginning story. I know that an African American hero is not what's on the box, but that's just always what my plays have been; I've never played as a white guy. Plus I think Meer's voice is deep enough to pass for an AA. Also, males get Tali

 

Now in fairness to femshep I will say that as I am also a feminist, and it was VERY fulfilling to see a female overcome all the limitations that keep women out of infantry/special forces roles in the United States Military in real life. The first time I saw femshep sprint with a full loadout, do an over-cover grab and incapacitate a fully armored trooper I just thought: "Good for this game making the field equal." I will admit that Garrus was also a very compelling argument, lol.
 

[Undead Han]

Bro Shep.

 

Both voice actors are good, but I prefer Meer overall.

 

Making asari only attractive to females would have been an interesting idea.
Although not sure how it would work with non humanoid races.

 

I think they would have had to drop the Asari penchant for shacking up with other species. If some Asari can find Krogan or Salarians attractive, than the same would also be true for human males. A human male looks more like an Asari than a Krogan of either gender for example. The Asari only being interested in women would only make sense if they mostly got involved with other Asari.

[Rusted Cage]

Femshep>>>>>>>>>>Maleshep because Aria is into Femshep more

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=5CQjrDGxWnU

 

This evidence is irrefutable!!

 

OK, being serious for a moment, this video reminded of me of a thought I once had about the Asari. They are an all female species who will be naturally predisposed to finding anyone who shares their form attractive, meaning the male form will be completely unfamiliar and alien to them. An Asari trying to kiss a male for the first time would be like me trying to snog the roach from Man in Black, way too weird. Someone like Aria may have been around male gendered species long enough to have gotten used to the idea, but she would still consider them strange. 

 

If Bioware had originally went down the route of making the Asari only attracted to the females of humanoid species, thereby making someone like Liara a Femshep exclusive romance, it actually would have made sense. But they've gone too far with this whole thing of making the Asari attracted to everyone(something which makes no sense) to be able to turn back now, unless they do a DA:I. 

Jesus, Aria is so hot when she kisses Femshep!

[78stonewobble]

Now in fairness to femshep I will say that as I am also a feminist, and it was VERY fulfilling to see a female overcome all the limitations that keep women out of infantry/special forces roles in the United States Military in real life. The first time I saw femshep sprint with a full loadout, do an over-cover grab and incapacitate a fully armored trooper I just thought: "Good for this game making the field equal." I will admit that Garrus was also a very compelling argument, lol.

 

I just wanted to comment on this part and ewrgh... I hate myself for bringing this up, but I was disappointed that in some of those cases, women's admittance we're due to lowered standards. IMHO, the standards, for any job, should have nothing to do with gender, but simply what is required to do the job. 

 

After hearing the amount of bigotry on certain military sites against women (or homosexuals for that matter) tho... I think they are needed there more than ever. It should just be on the same terms as everyone else.

 

Otherwise I completely agree. 

[Darius M.]

I just wanted to comment on this part and ewrgh... I hate myself for bringing this up, but I was disappointed that in some of those cases, women's admittance we're due to lowered standards. IMHO, the standards, for any job, should have nothing to do with gender, but simply what is required to do the job. 

 

After hearing the amount of bigotry on certain military sites against women (or homosexuals for that matter) tho... I think they are needed there more than ever. It should just be on the same terms as everyone else.

 

Otherwise I completely agree. 

 

Oh I couldn't agree more about the standards (especially for an occupation as important as a soldier) not changing for anyone regardless of gender. That needs to stay the same and if you pass, you're in, if not, you're out. No consideration of anything else. I think you're right in that regard.

 

Interestingly enough, the ban in the USA against females in active combat roles (primarily infantry & special forces) was only lifted last year. It's a very interesting conversation that I give Mass Effect props for subtly addressing. There were and still are a ton of arguments made against females in combat roles, and although I am a proud feminist, and the vast majority of these arguments were full of it, there were only two that carry even the slightest bit of merit. Those two being physical capability to serve on the front lines with a full assault pack + weapon (can be in the ballpark of 120 lbs depending on MOS) and the risk of capture.

 

I think it's offset however by the fact that real military fitness looks a lot different from what they show the cameras; once you've seen it from the inside. I love our military, but the standards should be raised across the board. Not even all males are the bada$$e$ they show in Hollywood films. I've known PFC's who cannot do even 15 pushups, who cannot do 20 situps, etc. While I think that while there are certain risks that effect women, and not everyone will make it, everyone should at least have the opportunity to try to pass the standards. I thought the series (ME3 in particular) did a wonderful job showing females who were able to stomp flat the sexist attitudes that a lot of people have. That's why although I typically play as a male, I respect the hell out of femshep, and almost all of the females in the series.

 

(Diana Allers doesn't make that cut, lol) What do you think?

[78stonewobble]

Oh I couldn't agree more about the standards (especially for an occupation as important as a soldier) not changing for anyone regardless of gender. That needs to stay the same and if you pass, you're in, if not, you're out. No consideration of anything else. I think you're right in that regard.

 

Interestingly enough, the ban in the USA against females in active combat roles (primarily infantry & special forces) was only lifted last year. It's a very interesting conversation that I give Mass Effect props for subtly addressing. There were and still are a ton of arguments made against females in combat roles, and although I am a proud feminist, and the vast majority of these arguments were full of it, there were only two that carry even the slightest bit of merit. Those two being physical capability to serve on the front lines with a full assault pack + weapon (can be in the ballpark of 120 lbs depending on MOS) and the risk of capture.

 

I think it's offset however by the fact that real military fitness looks a lot different from what they show the cameras; once you've seen it from the inside. I love our military, but the standards should be raised across the board. Not even all males are the bada$$e$ they show in Hollywood films. I've known PFC's who cannot do even 15 pushups, who cannot do 20 situps, etc. While I think that while there are certain risks that effect women, and not everyone will make it, everyone should at least have the opportunity to try to pass the standards. I thought the series (ME3 in particular) did a wonderful job showing females who were able to stomp flat the sexist attitudes that a lot of people have. That's why although I typically play as a male, I respect the hell out of femshep, and almost all of the females in the series.

 

(Diana Allers doesn't make that cut, lol) What do you think?

 

Well I must admit I see myself as more of a humanist, than feminist, because I think the basic right to make your own life, what you want it to be, in this world extends to everyone. Not a guarantee, that you have the skills or abilities to become what you want, but that you get the chance. 

 

Myself having tried it the other way around, educating myself and working in healthcare. I think there were 26 women and 2 guys in that class (me being one). There's a lot of sexism and generalisations going the other way too, but not quite as... hmm... piqturesque sexism, as some men in military against women or gays for that matter. 

 

Haha, Diana Allers, well I didn't really like her character, but the concept was interesting and I can't really fault people for wanting to be in a mass effect game. She's a journalist, she doesn't need reach the same bar in the same areas. 

 

People only need to be as strong, empathetic, emotional or whatever, as they themselves want to be.

[Kurt M.]

Manshep. Cos he's manly

[Hair Serious Business]

Making asari only attractive to females would have been an interesting idea.
Although not sure how it would work with non humanoid races.

 

Asaris that are attracted to only to females...lesbians that is?Or Asari that are attractive to other females?(sorry for dumb question xD)

Still if you mean like making Asari attractive to other females and female audience...idk I find asari as they are attractive to me at least and in game lot of other females from every race find them attractive as well...but I guess if we go by "fangirl" logic then something like this would need to exist first:

Spoiler

 

...but back to the post...female Shepard simply because of damn Garrus...and male simply because of Tali.Still I play more as female because once again Garrus...I'm unable to play ME if I don't have him romanced xD.