Vigarr wrote: »

I don't think I would be all that fascinating for such a study.

The fascinating part to me would be to get a grasp on what the various people consider "normal".

Vigarr wrote: »

All of thi

MornaBaine wrote: »

I actually think a pretty fascinating psychological genders study could be done about the choices players make regarding the gender of their characters.

I don't think I would be all that fascinating for such a study. I'm a masculine, heterosexual man who's completely secure in my sexuality and I play both genders simply for the spice of variety. I relate slightly more to the male characters because I put more of myself into them and know what it's like to be a man but that doesn't mean I can't get into my females beyond pixelated boobs and butt (weird that people do for that reason but I don't judge). If you ask me they should study the people who play the opposite gender because they feel weird staring at their own gender character as if they're naked and real...that's just bizarre.

I like when other people get it. Cheers.

I write characters, and any good writer has to "get behind" or into the shoes of the characters they are writing--feel what they feel, think how they think, to a degree.

We are all human, and we all possess this seemingly magical ability to intuit what someone other than our selves might be thinking and feeling.

The people who are so scared to play x character for how they will look to others, or whatever weirdo reasons, or those that assume it's just a package of graphics and not a character you can get into.. those are the ones who haven't learned yet.

Vigarr wrote: »

newtinmpls wrote: »

The fascinating part to me would be to get a grasp on what the various people consider "normal".

"Normal" is relative, what's normal to me might be odd to you and vice versa.

@rb2001 I see it along the same lines...I create characters then act them out accordingly. I don't live them nor bring them into the real world but I try to make them seem real in the world they live in....that's about the extent of my RPing in games.

Yep.

What I actually find weird is the fact that guys fall in love with female chars ... pixels on a screen ...

I much more prefer a real body then some pixel on a screen.

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

MornaBaine wrote: »

I actually think a pretty fascinating psychological genders study could be done about the choices players make regarding the gender of their characters.

Theres no need for a psychological study. Its kind of evident why male players enjoy playing female characters. One of the most common reasons will be something nice to look at while you play. Of course their will be outliers that do it because theyre creepers, others will do it because others give them things. But theres nothing particularly mind blowing about it.

Ive got two male characters and a female character. For me the female character was just to do something different. Its quickly becoming one of my favorite characters but thats because its a class that in past MMOs Ive typically taken up.

While you are undoubtedly right regarding the majority of players I happen to know you are wrong for quite a few of them. There's no small percentage of players who use opposite gender characters to explore any number of facets of gender curiosity. It can be a "safe" way to experience what it might be like to be a gender other than your own for those who feel they may have gender identity issues or a way to gain insight into how the opposite gender is treated and perceived from a first hand experience. Is that "weird" or "creepy?" Not really. Humans are weird. Weird is the norm. We just like to pretend it's not.

I'm a female player with a female argonian. Crazy, I know.

My favorite guy that plays as a girl was in the quest prisoner of jathsogur with me (still haven't been able to complete it. Check out my fix option I have on my post). We were just talking and decided to trade. I didn't know he was playing as a girl until this point because he had the DEEPEST voice I've heard on a mic. Hahahahahahahaha was so funny

xeneblaze wrote: »

Welcome to the modern era of video gaming where women join in and play too! #sarcasm

I was in college when WoW first came out, and I remember that my university had a ton of WoW players... almost all women. In fact, it got to the point that I became desperate to find guys who played besides me and would react to finding a guy gamer at my university much the way men stereotypically react to girl gamers.

To this day, I still know more women than men who game.

MornaBaine wrote: »

Humans are weird. Weird is the norm. We just like to pretend it's not.

I work in psych and I'll totally back you up on that.

Conventional wisdom is that there is a qualitative difference between someone "mentally Ill" and a "regular person".

Nope.

Dream on.

Tolmos wrote: »

I would be interested to hear your take on that, because I have had the misfortune of knowing several people who went through the slow decline into mental illness.

I appreciate that you take the time to acknowledge that it is a journey (of sorts) from an ability to function in local consensus reality, to a place of ... well for lack of a better term I'll just say that the person is not able to function safely.

It is easy after the fact to look at the person who has started on the ... well the "sane" end of the continuum (and that includes the ability to fake it "well enough") and then look at the non-functional, sometimes odd, occasionally dangerous (though not necessarily by any intention of theirs) and say well they were at A, and now they are at Z and there is a drastic qualitative difference.

But the rest of the alphabet was there. It was a journey, not a wayshrine (see, I can mix ESO metaphors in here).

It is similar (and possibly related to) the way that relatives who only see "aunt" or "grandpa" at holidays say that "everything seemed fine" until one day someone is making battery soup on a cranked up gas stove in their underwear (to combine some actual examples). Most people have developed (or maintained) enough social habits; and most of our society interacts on such a shallow level that the changes aren't visible - unless you are looking - and you know how to see - and you are willing to see (to quote Aslan the trouble with trying to make yourself stupider is that you very often succeed).

My point is ... well what is my point?

I guess in part that we are not that different; and the "qualitative difference" ends up being "can you function safely - and can anybody see it".

I think there are a ton of people who with the right care, social support, whatever (maybe luck goes in there too) could be ... brought back, diverted, rescued - whatever you want to call it. And some of it doesn't matter. When I have a patient that "hears voices" and they give him good advice and remind him to brush his teeth - how is that bad? Heck most people have a superego with a slightly less shrill voice that tells them the same sort of things.

So going back to boys and girls and gaming ... there has been some recent use of Avatar therapy where folks who have troubles with the voices they hear relate to them with avatars that are allegedly similar in some respects to gaming/computer avatars - and in some cases it really helps.

So maybe on a certain level being able to "be someone else" (however different from or similar to "you") is a form of therapy. Isn't there some literature that correlates psychopaths with not having been able (or been allowed, or learned how) to play. And isn't a lot of play different versions of "let's pretend".

So Play ON - cause it's probably good for you.

YMMV ... just have fun!

I'm a little grey ET

I have repeatedly had the same experience in every MMO I have played.. started with EQ, later in LotrO, then Rift, then GW2, now here. First time I pop into TS and speak, response is always the same: "oh, wow. Thought you were a guy." Meh...

I like raiding, I am female... so shoot me : P

Regarding character creation, I am not sure why people place so much self identification into it. I mean, I get the reasons all listed by everyone. I just don't especially relate.

My way of going about it has nothing to do with what I can identify with, enjoy looking at, "explore," or otherwise self ID with. I make characters based on the vision in my head of the class type, race and role they would hold and what they might look like on the field. Never always the same.

I can picture a powerful sorc as a super tall Altmer male, or coversely a super dark, tiny Dunmer female... DK tanks could be a slender Imperial males or stocky Redguard female, a short male Orc... Templars female Breton or Altmer, maybe Nord... Nightblades as a Bosmer of any type, Khajiit males or Redguard females... mostly just dependent on the picture I can conjure up in other words... could be anything. I guess my only exception is Argonian. For some reason I just can't seem to picture them as anything... judging from the passives, ZoS has the same issue? lol Not sure, they could use more definition in my head...

@DenMoria We are all weird in our own way. Life is all about finding people that like your brand of weird.

by now it will be 'almost' 50/50 with men being more but by about 6% or so

Has been waaaaaaay more women gaming than most think for quite awhile

I'm a flesh-and-blood female with all female characters. Woop-woop!

And my hubby @KanedaSyndrome is male with all male characters. We like our real-life genders, plus it makes it more immersive But "work it!" to all those who gender-bend