Why do you play a female character?

ghastley

The real question is: Do you identify with the character you're playing, or are they your companion/apprentice? I suspect the players who identify will choose the same gender, while those who have a companion are more likely to want the opposite.

I play both genders of character, and I have Khajiit and Argonian among them. If we could have a Dwemer automaton as a character, I'd try that, too.

Wing

tactx wrote: »

So most people are saying they choose a female character, and dress up with lipstick and dresses with girly names and such because they would rather look like a girl than a guy in game... Even though many pretend they're female until they get on Discord for "immersion" purposes. Got it

well you made your opinion on the matter known, why make a thread and disguise it as a discussion if you were just looking to bash?

first- the burden of proof on out of game gender is not on the female characters player, they are under no obligation when meeting people to go "oh yeah im a guy just so you don't get attracted to my character and thus start fantasizing about the beauty playing it hoping that maybe someday somehow you can have sex with me, just, yay know, fyi."

second- if you ask directly people will probably answer upon meeting them. someone asked me once and I was straight up, no problem.

third- some will act like girls and try to actually get the benefits that it entails. attention, maybe in game items, preferential treatment, etc.

fourth- if nobody asked or people just assumed there comes a point where its embarrassing for everyone involved to admit otherwise, both on the player and those that assumed as much. it can be awkward to go "oh yeah I know we have been playing for a year but yeah im a man", and it can be extra bad for those that have been wrong in their assumptions for anywhere from days to years. nobody likes to be wrong or taken for a fool.

fifth- and finally about your aggressive comment about lipstick, dresses, and girly names. I guess if guys create female characters they better name them Chuck? or John? just so that people don't make a mistake? and guys like women in dresses and makeup, or are your social circles of a type where you don't get to see women in pretty dresses and makeup? or are you of a persuasion that women in sexy clothes and makeup are "gross"?

tactx

Wing wrote: »

tactx wrote: »

So most people are saying they choose a female character, and dress up with lipstick and dresses with girly names and such because they would rather look like a girl than a guy in game... Even though many pretend they're female until they get on Discord for "immersion" purposes. Got it

well you made your opinion on the matter known, why make a thread and disguise it as a discussion if you were just looking to bash?

Actually I read through the 7 pages first and most of the reasons were that, but yes I did initially start this thread thinking it was rather strange. Still wanted to read why though. Those comparing playing a female (gender) to a lizard (race) isn't the same. And some guys with girl chars have even tricked my wife until they got on discord and she's like what the heck? Whyyyy would they pretend they're an actual female?! So I made this thread to see what people's reasons were and shared it with her.

max_only

ArchMikem wrote: »

Yuffie91 wrote: »

I am female and only play females. If I have a choice I will choose female. Not sure why but it feels weird and clunky playing as a male

The running animation for male characters is so fugly i agree. Whereas the animations for walking, running, and sprinting are all nice and fluid for females.

Funny I think the female run has hip dysphasia or whatever it’s called. It’s like their pelvis is on a different axis than their spine, to me at least. They “wind” up their backside which is possible and undeniably attractive when dancing, especially Caribbean dancing. However it is actually painful to do during a real athletic activity like running.

Paazhahdrimaak

For me all my magicka builds are male, and my stamina builds are female.
Im a dude. My characters at 50/50, I just like seeing the lovely ladies swinging swords the size of them.

Different reasons for other games, Like FO4, the male voice actor was awful. While the female voice actor for your character actually sounded in the moment.
And The latest Mass Effect, I pick a female because of the awesome hair options lol

mayasunrising

tactx wrote: »

So most people are saying they choose a female character, and dress up with lipstick and dresses with girly names and such because they would rather look like a girl than a guy in game... Even though many pretend they're female until they get on Discord for "immersion" purposes. Got it

Uh...as a female, I applaud men who not only decide to roll female toons, but then are comfortable and secure enough in themselves to RP those characters in a feminine manner. As a matter of fact, I respect those men and find them more attractive then...oh...I don't know...let's say someone who starts a thread with the hidden intent of - essentially - bashing any men who find feminine things worthwhile. 'Cause as all of us women learn from an early age; feminine = bad, weak, soft, deceptive, and all the other bad things.

To the boys and men out there; portraying women, or preferring the male models to the female, or putting make-up, dresses, or tiaras on your characters (or your real life person) doesn't make you gay, trans, less masculine, or any other silly thing sexist, misogynist, homophobic dudebros say (and for the record, being gay, trans, an effeminate male or strong female, Enby, or any variation of human is perfectly normal). Y'all are effing reffing badass for challenging gender norms.

Oh, and for the record; gender/gender presentation =/= sexual preference. Like for real...is this the 1950s? Catch up k?

Karmanorway

Because, powerful women is hot...
And are a better view from behind 8 hrs a day..

DocFrost72

mayasunrising wrote: »

tactx wrote: »

So most people are saying they choose a female character, and dress up with lipstick and dresses with girly names and such because they would rather look like a girl than a guy in game... Even though many pretend they're female until they get on Discord for "immersion" purposes. Got it

Uh...as a female, I applaud men who not only decide to roll female toons, but then are comfortable and secure enough in themselves to RP those characters in a feminine manner. As a matter of fact, I respect those men and find them more attractive then...oh...I don't know...let's say someone who starts a thread with the hidden intent of - essentially - bashing any men who find feminine things worthwhile. 'Cause as all of us women learn from an early age; feminine = bad, weak, soft, deceptive, and all the other bad things.

I've learned a lot about myself (and perhaps way more than I ever wanted to know from others) RPing my females.

(No one cares so it's in spoiler if you want to read).

Araenandriah, Syldraaendril, and Artinae. All bosmer.

Syl and Ara are actually seriously RP'd. Art's just a transfer of a dnd character I was really proud of, like her dad (also in my roster).

Syl came first. She was...difficult to play, since I had never really RP'd a female.

Ara is my second favorite character now, and crosses media when I play games. There's a weird mix I found works for this, you infuse a little of your own personality, but otherwise detach yourself from the character in the RP environment. You learn real quick that constant giggling, being flirtatious etc is fine...but that says little about the character. You want them to feel real, alive. Basically, there's no difference for me male or female: they're people. They all have goals, they all have desires. Sometimes they line up with gender roles (wearing a dress, lipstick to feel feminine and beautiful) while other times they defy them (no bewbplate here, just leather and a couple sharp swords).

Takeaway: it's super easy to make a female character if you just intend to make a character, and not a "female".

So yeah, it takes someone *very* comfortable with themselves to roleplay a gender or sexuality they aren't, especially when doing it right.

Not uh...not gunna touch anything below that in the quoted material though. You do you.

albesca

tactx wrote: »

Whyyyy would they pretend they're an actual female?! So I made this thread to see what people's reasons were and shared it with her.

For fear of being judged? Because it came up after some time and it felt awkward to clarify? Maybe your wife simply assumed they were female but they never outright stated it?

By the way, the fear of being judged seems totally justified, going with some of the replies to this discussion

Tandor

I play both because it's a role-playing game.

DedEmbryonicCell19

I base my mains off of my family, so there's me, then my wife and 2 daughters ..

FluffyKitten

Im male, 7 chars consisting of 3 female and 4 male.

I'm actually kinda surprise by that, I never looked at it statistically before, I just assumed that I had more female chars, after all, they are more pleasing to the eyes.

1 human, 1 lizard, two cats and 3 elves, This however is more due to the passives than anything, that and the fact that I dont really like the looks or lore of Orcs.

All my 1st person shooter chars have been male with the exception of PUBG but than again, that was 50/50 1st/3rd person.

MartiniDaniels

Also playing female is nice way of joking, since a lot of guys don't know your actual gender, you may start acting as female and telling things which we guys want to hear from females.. this is lol, when some of your group mates know you gender and some don't, so when this hilarious flirt begins, half which knows is rofling all the way.
Of course girls will easily see through your acting, but guys.. no, not a chance.

DocFrost72

tactx wrote: »

Wing wrote: »

tactx wrote: »

So most people are saying they choose a female character, and dress up with lipstick and dresses with girly names and such because they would rather look like a girl than a guy in game... Even though many pretend they're female until they get on Discord for "immersion" purposes. Got it

well you made your opinion on the matter known, why make a thread and disguise it as a discussion if you were just looking to bash?

Actually I read through the 7 pages first and most of the reasons were that, but yes I did initially start this thread thinking it was rather strange. Still wanted to read why though. Those comparing playing a female (gender) to a lizard (race) isn't the same.

You're right, takes some serious mental gymnastics to see someone as a real life argonian because they play one in game.

And yet, for some reason, people ask me if I am a girl irl because my avatar is female... huh.

And some guys with girl chars have even tricked my wife until they got on discord and she's like what the heck? Whyyyy would they pretend they're an actual female?! So I made this thread to see what people's reasons were and shared it with her.

Did she ask?
What was their intent?
Why would they get on Discord and out themselves if they wanted to hide it?

Sorry that happened to your wife, but I have questions about that.

Kiralyn2000

tactx wrote: »

And some guys with girl chars have even tricked my wife until they got on discord and she's like what the heck? Whyyyy would they pretend they're an actual female?! So I made this thread to see what people's reasons were and shared it with her.

See, that's not "people who play female characters." That's "people who do strange things while playing their characters." And has nothing to do with what they're playing - they do odd things to troll people/trick people/etc, in any way that tickles their fancy.


---

You know, I never understood the folks in WoW who said "I play female characters to get Free Gifts from Stupid Guys!" or the ones who said "I play male characters because I get creepy whispers when I play female!" Why didn't I understand it? Because no matter the female character I played, no matter what kind of outfits they wore, I never got creepy whispers or gifts or anything. Maybe because I wasn't trying to "act female" (whatever that means).

But like I said - I don't RP or "immerse" or "want to wear a dress IRL" or any of that. It's just a playing piece on a board. I don't "pretend" to be a Rook or Bishop when playing Chess, I don't pretend to be a fascist when playing the Axis side in a WW2 game, I don't pretend to be a yellow ball with a mouth when I play PacMan, and I don't pretend to be a girl when I play a female character in an MMO.

It's just a game. /shrug

Mysanne

I created men or women characters. I've got 8 characters : 3 men, 1 male (Khajiit), 4 women.
It's a role play and I can identify to both genres without problem. But I admit that my male characters are created according to my tastes because I enjoy watching them more than embody them.

I don't like argonians appearance, so I have never created an argonian.

I love my male characters as much as my female characters.

myskyrim26

I'm female. I have 1 female character and 7 male.
The very first character I created was a Dunmer. The game proposed female character and I just started to play with her appearance. It ended with a young Dunmer lady, subtle and beautiful. Not a sex bomb, no large chests, just slim. I started to play, and during my first weeks of ESO exploration experienced several strange dialogues. Unwanted attention, weird questions about her underwear - if she has any, etc. I play only male characters since.

Bruccius

The same reason why I, as a white person, will still play as a Redguard, or Orc.

Because I honestly don't care if my character doesn't always match with who I am in real life.

xenowarrior92eb17_ESO

@Watchdog you do realize that is part of the fun section of the game right? so yes on top of the fun im having...everyone its free to make its own choices to increase that amount of fun.

Goyah

I played both genders in every game but i played ladies for two reasons :

- They are often more beautiful than male character
- The customisation for girls, is always better, look for exemple the outfits in ESO, girls can put everything nice, while there is some nice robes you cant put on male (well you can, but i find that aesthetics lol)

ZOS_Ragnar

We have removed some posts that were not constructive. Please keep your posts civil and avoid derailing this thread with inappropriate comments.

Greystag

max_only wrote: »

In this game i only play male characters.

As for the why?

Pretty much this

Cpt_Teemo

This is my reason for playing Female characters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0q0QeQbw9U

Vaerth

Tan9oSuccka wrote: »

I play both genders though, I’ll never understand the armchair psychologists diagnosing/asking this very question.

There’s two choices. Why not?

Lipstick is neat. Beards are cool. Problem?

He never made any mention of it being a problem, did he?

I find it odd myself and was curious. I design characters in a way that I would like to represent what/who I would be in the games world. I am male IRL and both my wife and I design our characters in all games based on how we would look and be in that games world. That is why/how I decide my character creation. The OP simply wanted to know the incentive for people who choose the opposite gender. Never said anything was a problem one way or another

Hati

I think it's nice people playing whatever they want, it's just a game, not here to find my true love, so if people wanna go around saying it's something for pure RP so what?

I don't have the time or creativity for Role Playing all toons with different backgrounds, but i'm sure respect a lot who does.

I'm just a simple guy having fun imagining myself if i was in the game.

Everyone has a motive i guess, i'm not in the position to judge you know.

Wildberryjack

I make mostly male characters in all the games I play for one reason only; most of the female models stand funny and it bugs me. I'm female IRL BTW. But I do play females some just to have something different, or at least I try to because they often end up deleted.

Aesthetics are important to me. I'm an artist and if something doesn't seem right to my eye it'll drive me nuts. With my art, if it doesn't look right and I can't fix it then I destroy it and start over. I feel about my characters the same really, they have to look right or bye bye.

randomkeyhits

The majority of my characters are female, its so I can finally have the last word.................

CMDR_Un1k0rn

Well, made my male character today. Much more fun. Should look better with VC too.

FlopsyPrince

I only played male characters in the past (excluding Marvel Heroes where you got the hero, not the gender) until I was playing another MMO and didn't like the look of the male characters. I switched to mostly female characters. My only male character here was made on a free weekend a while back. All others have been female.

Certainly better to look at, but I don't focus much on that in a game. I might in real life, but a game is just something to play.

tactx

randomkeyhits wrote: »

The majority of my characters are female, its so I can finally have the last word.................