Do you play as the opposite sex in games?

[ItIsGreen]

Makes no difference to me, if it's a game like Diablo 3 or Mass effect i usually play through as all female then all male charactors, hell back in the day we played as simple squares or oblongs or a snake, but never a circle, that would just be sick.

Not a Pac-Man fan, then?

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Damn circles getting in the way with their roundness. Triggered

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Not a Pac-Man fan, then?

I have no issues when Pac-Man is a circular sector, but when Pac-man become a full circle then i have issues with that, it is just wrong, noone should have just one edge, except people named Cliff.

 

[Kor]

I assume this just means when there is a choice?
...

As seen from other comments, if a game only has a female playable character, then some gamers will 'choose' not to play that game at all. That's unfortunate.

Kor

 

[JD]

In video games, besides knowing I'll identify more with the romance options, I don't trust male video game writers to write female characters. You tend to either get female characters who are 'men with boobs' or you get female characters who are designed around male gaze. Those kinds of female characters don't interest me. I'd be much more interested in a realistic strong female.

Have you played the Tomb Raider reboot games? They were written by a woman, Rhianna Pratchett, the daughter of Discworld author Terry Prattchett, and I thought they did a pretty a pretty good job of not overly sexualizing their version of Lara.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Have you played the Tomb Raider reboot games? They were written by a woman, Rhianna Pratchett, the daughter of Discworld author Terry Prattchett, and I thought they did a pretty a pretty good job of not overly sexualizing their version of Lara.

Have not, but that sounds interesting.

 

[Reverend]

As seen from other comments, if a game only has a female playable character, then some gamers will 'choose' not to play that game at all. That's unfortunate.

Kor

If that's the sole reason for someone to opt out of a game, it's a pretty moronic one IMO. As stated before, I'm no fan of the cookie cutter "Brown-Haired White-guy McBoringface" that seemed so omnipresent for a while there, but that's not going to put me off playing if the game is actually good from a mechanics and/or story telling POV.

Have you played the Tomb Raider reboot games? They were written by a woman, Rhianna Pratchett, the daughter of Discworld author Terry Prattchett, and I thought they did a pretty a pretty good job of not overly sexualizing their version of Lara.

As much as I really did enjoy the first one (haven't gotten the 2nd one yet, so can't comment) I felt the characterisation was a little bit at odds with the gameplay. If they really wanted to go the survival horror route and have Lara suitably traumatised buy having to take another human's life, then they really ought to have played down the combat in favour of exploration, stealth and puzzle solving. That's certainly one area where the first three CD reboot games balanced thing a little better.

Not sure which version of the character I like more though since they're both appealing to me, each in their own way. OG Lara is a larger than life, pulpy comic strip character in the same mould as the less grounded versions of 007, Indiana Jones and by extension the likes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.

Modern Lara on the other hand feels much more like a real person, with relatable motivations and attachments. As such she's much easier to engage with on an emotional level and imbue the game with a greater sense of personal agency. Also, juxtaposing the hyper-real gritty tone with (at first) very subtle supernatural elements works very well in enhancing the sense of wonder and fear of the truly unknown, like you just wandered off the edge of the map and into living mythology.

 

[JD]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it here, but we have another game coming up that gives you the option to pick a man or a woman as your character, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. I'm already planning on my first play through being with the woman, Kassandra.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Back when I played The Old Rebublic, I preferred the female characters cause they had the more interesting voices.

 

[Jeyl]

All the time. I can't recall the last time I made a male avatar and I'm content with that. Give it up for the ladies!

 

[kirk55555]

I'll sometimes play as the other gender, it depends on whether I've played the game before, and (if there is voice acting) how the VO sounds.

 

[fireproof78]

If that's the sole reason for someone to opt out of a game, it's a pretty moronic one IMO. As stated before, I'm no fan of the cookie cutter "Brown-Haired White-guy McBoringface" that seemed so omnipresent for a while there, but that's not going to put me off playing if the game is actually good from a mechanics and/or story telling POV.

What about White Haired McBoringface?

I personally enjoy playing both male and female, largely to have a different experience in a game and see voice acting or character response. In games like Fallout or Deus Ex (my personal favorites) there can be different ways of solving problems too.

 

[Solariabsg25]

I usually play male characters, doesn't bother me playing female characters. Would have a serious problem if I did as I'm a big fan of the Resident Evil Franchise, and you'd miss out on a large portion of that without being willing to play female characters.

 

[Reverend]

What about White Haired McBoringface?

I personally enjoy playing both male and female, largely to have a different experience in a game and see voice acting or character response. In games like Fallout or Deus Ex (my personal favorites) there can be different ways of solving problems too.

Not sure why, but I always thought white haired JC looked like some weird albino clone of John Travolta...so of course that's the one I picked almost every time.

 

[EmoBorg]

My main in World of Warcraft was a female undead rogue. I miss her. We went through good and bad times together in the game.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

When you do create a female character though what do you do to find a look that you like?

I tend to choose looks that I think I would look like if I were a girl.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I don't, last thing i want are game characters resembling me, when i game i want away from that reality, but for comedy effect on the odd occasion when a game offers something that does actually look like me it's quite funny, the tiger woods 2004,5,6 golf games did allow a good representation of me in game, and it was not a pretty site, moreso the angry and dancing poses in game. Lol

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

OMG the only golf game I've ever played was the Golf Simulator Microsoft did in the 90s.. "Oh that's a rough" echoing through my speakers. hehe

 

[EmoBorg]

When you do create a female character though what do you do to find a look that you like?

I tend to choose looks that I think I would look like if I were a girl.

Mine looked like my sister when i was growing up. She used to look after me when i was a child. Because of that, i wanted my main character to look after my other characters.

 

[JD]

When you do create a female character though what do you do to find a look that you like?

I tend to choose looks that I think I would look like if I were a girl.

I usually just kind of randomly play around with the features until I find a look I like.