For myself (female, age 53 - just in case that seems relevant to anyone), I tend to play as a female because I play as myself (unfortunately, given my age, a very idealised version of myself in physical terms). By that I mean that the personality of my character matches my own personality, and the toon, for me, is a virtual representation (albeit idealised) of myself in a game, so to play as a male character just doesn't feel right for me. I have tried several times to create a male char, but I never feel so immersed in the game. Same goes for playing strange animal type toons (like Tauren in WoW); it just breaks my immersion.
I have to agree with Jayarte for much of this. I am a female and only play female characters and also have a difficult time playing strange animal type chars. This is part of the reason I never really got into WoW. I couldn't be happy playing a blue rabbit like creature with floppy ears and I really like playing elven so in addition to the very cartoony appearance of that game, it didn't draw me in. I prefer EQ/EQ2 where it is a little more fantasy-realistic and I can be happy finding a character to represent myself that is more to my liking.
I have a lot of male friends in different games who like playing female characters. The reasons they have given me range from "I like to look at female ass instead of man ass when I play" to "I play female because people give me stuff if I am on a female char compared to a male char and I get lots of free stuff and help". Frankly, I have never had anyone really give me free anything or extra help but that could be because I am very independant when I play and like to do things on my own and be the organiser of parties for instances or whatever. I really don't buy the "free stuff" reason from my own experience so I think perhaps it is more of the fact some men like looking at women and objectifying them and by playing a female character they get to control a woman. Not ALL men who play female characters are probably doing it for this reason but I bet there is a large portion of them that do.
I don't buy the answer - "I'd rather look at the backside of a female instead of a male!".
I absolutely agree that the dudes who spit out that canard "doth protest too much."
And what's this talk about "elven males"?
What elven males?!
(hehs)
I do buy that answer simply because males do gravitate toward what they find aethestically pleasing.I tihnk the bigger quesiton is why do other people care so much who is playing what?I don't personally give a damn if you want to play a furry,hermaphrodite alien bookcase in an MMO as long as your having fun and not impacting on me having fun.I would think in actuallity that males that are uncomfortable with others playing a character of an opposite genre to their RL ones in a video gamea re the ones who "doth protest too much"
I do play males predominately and my main has always bene male but I've played female alts,having said that I've never tried to RP a female or not made it abundantly clear I am male when palying a female toon in a MMO.But since I am not trying to hook up in a game jsut trying to have fun and don't suffer from Homophobia everyone else can paly what the hell they like I don't care about that at all because it doesn't impact me at all.
It would be best to make a survey to see the percentages of males playing female/male toons and women playing male/female toons.
As it is now, the thread title is an unproven assumption.
I play both male and female toons. In the MMO I currently play there is no real difference if you play a male or female toon. With a helmet on and clad in full armour/shield and stuff there's not much to stare at from behind. And to stare at the front side will make playing a little bit difficult.
How come I choose gender? The hardest part for me is to come up with a name, as I don't like to run around with names like Drizzzt, Drizzzzt, Roxxor, Toona, Toonb, Toonc, etc. . I want a unique and easy to remember name for every toon and it has to be suitable for a fantasy game. If I come up with a fitting male name then I'll roll a male toon. If I come up with a good female name, then I'll roll a female toon. Often I get inspired by books I've read.
I didn't encounter harassment when playing female toons (just the usual smack talk). A few times some (obvious) male players try to flirt, but I just ignore it. I'm playing a game and don't want to make it more complicated. I play a game for some good dungeon crawl / grouping and don't need free gifts.
p.s. This kind of topic pops up quite often. Wouldn't it be best to make a sticky thread which references all those related threads? ,)
I think why women don't typically play male toons is probably just to help avoid our vulgar "guy talk" lol
Also, most guys tend to treat women differently too. though there are some people who are still stuck in the earily 1900's.. but for the most part we treat women better, screen pixels or not, there is still a different level of civility towards them.
I think people look at it all wrong sometimes. They look at your avatar as a representation of yourself. While that may be true to some degree I look at each toon as many in a collection (yeah I'm an alt-a-holic). Kind of like an auto collector that has some old cars, some newer. Some exotic, some just rare. Sure the Pontiac Fiero in his collection is a little "girly" compared to others but it is still a wicked little car. Therefore I don't necessarilly identify myself with any particular toon I play. I usually have a tank,healer,dps and support toon. So what if some are male and some are female.
I normally have the brute-strength type toons (ie. tanking/barbarian) as male, and healing or agility type toons as female (second set is probably a toss up between which one looks cooler). Sometimes females look better in the designated gear than males. Normally the robes in mmos look better on females because the male versions still look like dresses. Example: Aion Sorc gear looks stupid imo on males.
Also sometimes it seems like the devs made a certian armor for a specific sex first and then adapted that to the opposite sex afterwards, which would explain why the male armor in games normally looks cooler than the stripped down cleavage version of the female set. The opposite seems true for robes being made for female toons first in games.
I had some female alts when I multiboxed WoW for a while. The reason for it was that female toons have a more narrow frame and wouldn't get hung up on doorways while on follow like the male characters had a tendency to.
In old SWG, I had a female Twi'lek dancer because it seemed the way to go for male toons to watch a female dance to get buffs.
its kind of awkward though when youre in a group with a female toon, lets call the toon "KittyKat" for the story, then they get on vent and you hear this wheezing burly man talking to you, lol
Better question: Why are players concerned about what the actual sex is of the player behind the character. Are you kids beating off while you are playing MMOs and want to be sure youre not in love with a dude?
Seriously. Go outside. Get a date. Stop being so lame.
I think why women don't typically play male toons is probably just to help avoid our vulgar "guy talk" lol
Also, most guys tend to treat women differently too. though there are some people who are still stuck in the earily 1900's.. but for the most part we treat women better, screen pixels or not, there is still a different level of civility towards them.
This, btw, is true enough. Guys talk like guys when they think there aren't any ladies around to hear them. I am what a more polite person might call "a little rough around the edges" for a lady, though, so I don't really care, and sometimes I join in if it is funny. Sometimes it gets a little too raunchy or awkward even for me, and then I try to steer things in the, "Less talk, more kill!" direction... which probably helps solidify the illusion that I might have a little testosterone going on.
I don't want the special treatment female characters get because it usually comes along with baggage. I don't want people to give me things. I don't want people to make any assumptions about how I am going to play. And if I royally screw up, I can take the heat-- cuss me out, don't coddle me. I hate being patronized.
I also get some perverse pleasure out of all the "OMG, you're a CHICK!" and so on when my secret gets out.
Personally I don't really care why. It's a role playing game, so why not play whatever role you desire?
Although, I must say, I agree with the guy who said he plays male toons because he wouldn't know how to RP a female. In fact, I'd feel kind of foolish even attempting it.
So, it's not really about looks in my case. My toons are generally "mini-me" who go about thier business as I would if I ever found myself in that situation.
Ironically, the one time I did roll a female toon in any game was in Vampire: Bloodlines and it was sort of because of looks. I wanted a stealth build and males moving crouched looked very effeminate.
[Sienfeld] Not that there's anything wrong with that! [/Sienfeld]
I play both, but I find in a lot of games the males look either corny or blocky. In games with ugly males and females I will usually roll a male. In games with either good looking characters for both sexes, or deep character creation, I will roll both.
I used to only roll my own gender, but after a while I said fuck it. It's not really about staring at pixelated booty all day. It's definitely not about getting free stuff. I've had a few guys come on to my toon, and I'm the first one to laugh and tell them I'm a dude. It's about what appealed to me during character creation.
People that are unhappy with others choosing the opposite gender need to chill. It's not a big deal, unless you're trying to get with someone. The best thing to do is assume everyone is a guy in MMOs.
As a male gamer my first oon is always a male; I understand the reference better. When I create my first alt it is almost always a female toon and in almost all cases has the same name. Her name is hybrid of my three daughters' names. So I create a toon to honor them and give them a little bit of ego boost when they see me playing a toon with their "name".
HEy, I have a different and related question: What's with female characters that throw themselves at you when you're a high level male character?
It's rather assumed that it's guys falling all over themselves to give stuff to pretty female characters, and trying to chat the ladies up for cyber sex, but in playing high level male characters, I get more random PMs flirting with me or even flatly offering cybersex for items. I rather assume that those "females" are really male players trying to take advantage of "rich" characters that they assume are male IRL. It kind of weirds me out a little bit; I am not so freaked out by being hit on by "girls" as I am being hit on so obviously to get stuff.
Well in some games, FFXI and soon FFXIV you have a few races that do not have an option to role a male character. There are quite a few threads out there where people are like crap I like the race but they do not have male, should I role the female or stick with a race that has both male and female and just role the male.
So with that said the only issue I see is if a guy rolls a female to take adavantage of it, like others put if they are trying to get some stuff from a male character regarless of if it is a male or female in RL. Other than that I could care less, and I normaly want to know if your are male/female if we strike up a friendship (not sexual pervs) and only if we have been playing for a long time and I wonder at any point or if I get asked if I am a guy or girl. Other than that who cares?
Well in some games, FFXI and soon FFXIV you have a few races that do not have an option to role a male character. There are quite a few threads out there where people are like crap I like the race but they do not have male, should I role the female or stick with a race that has both male and female and just role the male.
well i canses like that you cant help it, but i just meant in genral
I like the look honestly. The idea of an ass kicking woman on the front line sounds much more enthralling than the rinse repeat of yet another guy. Also, I play a female character because when I am leveling I'd rather stare at a well designed female form than a male ass. People have their reasons to do what they do, I have mine.
I like the look honestly. The idea of an ass kicking woman on the front line sounds much more enthralling than the rinse repeat of yet another guy. Also, I play a female character because when I am leveling I'd rather stare at a well designed female form than a male ass. People have their reasons to do what they do, I have mine.
END OF LINE_
~V
Alot of the males I know who also play female toons do so for the same reason, after all, Aphrodite was/is the roman/greek goddess of beauty. Females have been considered the symbol of beauty for many culures. I believe those who read too much into are the ones who are truely expressing their own insecurities and projected it on others.
Cheers!
MMO Vet since AOL Neverwinter Nights circa 1992. My MMO beat up your MMO. =S
i will use WoW (though i hate it and it sux) for example
for instance i like how certain race+class look:
human male (though humans have small heads) females are fat and annoying, they provoke me to kill them when i play horde and if i play ally i laugh at them
night elf both
dwarf male
gnome hate
draenai hate
troll both
orc both
tauren male
forsaken female
blood elf hate
when i played that sh*tty game i was both ally and horde player, i was for the PvE and i really laughed when idiots flamed on horde vs ally, and thats it, i liked how certain combinations look, i play them depending on that, if i feel im gonna play dwarf i will play male, because i like how manly it looks, with the awesome beard, but if i wanna play forsaken, i would play female, because somehow looks anime to me, if rogue or warrior
but if i want to play orc or night elf, i will have to choose male or female depending on my mood and on the class, i like females for casters and males for melees, with some exceptions
That said, I always roll male toons. I like my characters to be fantasy versions of me in some way and I like to be able to relate to them, whether I roll the scarred and grizzly tank or the grey-haired and wise wizard. I just couldn't roll a female and relate to it, to feel like it was some manifestation of me.
At the end of the day it's a fantasy world and people should be able to play what they want. It doesn't say anything about the person's choice, just the same as choosing to be a frog or wolf or lizard character means nothing other than it appeals to that particular player. I think the people who complain about guys rolling females do it just because they want to dream that all the hot, half naked females in the world are RL girls and they don't like finding out they're actually guys.
Comments
I have to agree with Jayarte for much of this. I am a female and only play female characters and also have a difficult time playing strange animal type chars. This is part of the reason I never really got into WoW. I couldn't be happy playing a blue rabbit like creature with floppy ears and I really like playing elven so in addition to the very cartoony appearance of that game, it didn't draw me in. I prefer EQ/EQ2 where it is a little more fantasy-realistic and I can be happy finding a character to represent myself that is more to my liking.
I have a lot of male friends in different games who like playing female characters. The reasons they have given me range from "I like to look at female ass instead of man ass when I play" to "I play female because people give me stuff if I am on a female char compared to a male char and I get lots of free stuff and help". Frankly, I have never had anyone really give me free anything or extra help but that could be because I am very independant when I play and like to do things on my own and be the organiser of parties for instances or whatever. I really don't buy the "free stuff" reason from my own experience so I think perhaps it is more of the fact some men like looking at women and objectifying them and by playing a female character they get to control a woman. Not ALL men who play female characters are probably doing it for this reason but I bet there is a large portion of them that do.
I do buy that answer simply because males do gravitate toward what they find aethestically pleasing.I tihnk the bigger quesiton is why do other people care so much who is playing what?I don't personally give a damn if you want to play a furry,hermaphrodite alien bookcase in an MMO as long as your having fun and not impacting on me having fun.I would think in actuallity that males that are uncomfortable with others playing a character of an opposite genre to their RL ones in a video gamea re the ones who "doth protest too much"
I do play males predominately and my main has always bene male but I've played female alts,having said that I've never tried to RP a female or not made it abundantly clear I am male when palying a female toon in a MMO.But since I am not trying to hook up in a game jsut trying to have fun and don't suffer from Homophobia everyone else can paly what the hell they like I don't care about that at all because it doesn't impact me at all.
Yeah.
They (male players who try to sell that answer) doth protest too much.
Old enough to know better - young enough to do it anyway.
It would be best to make a survey to see the percentages of males playing female/male toons and women playing male/female toons.
As it is now, the thread title is an unproven assumption.
I play both male and female toons. In the MMO I currently play there is no real difference if you play a male or female toon. With a helmet on and clad in full armour/shield and stuff there's not much to stare at from behind. And to stare at the front side will make playing a little bit difficult.
How come I choose gender? The hardest part for me is to come up with a name, as I don't like to run around with names like Drizzzt, Drizzzzt, Roxxor, Toona, Toonb, Toonc, etc. . I want a unique and easy to remember name for every toon and it has to be suitable for a fantasy game. If I come up with a fitting male name then I'll roll a male toon. If I come up with a good female name, then I'll roll a female toon. Often I get inspired by books I've read.
I didn't encounter harassment when playing female toons (just the usual smack talk). A few times some (obvious) male players try to flirt, but I just ignore it. I'm playing a game and don't want to make it more complicated. I play a game for some good dungeon crawl / grouping and don't need free gifts.
p.s. This kind of topic pops up quite often. Wouldn't it be best to make a sticky thread which references all those related threads? ,)
Females play male toons to help stop sexist harrasement that goes on.
Males play females for a few differnt reasons, I will keep these reasons to myself because they are not pretty.
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore)
Now Playing: N/A
Worst MMO: FFXIV
Favorite MMO: FFXI
I play male characters all the time. How would you even know that I am female? You'd just ASSUME I was a guy because I am playing a male character.
I think why women don't typically play male toons is probably just to help avoid our vulgar "guy talk" lol
Also, most guys tend to treat women differently too. though there are some people who are still stuck in the earily 1900's.. but for the most part we treat women better, screen pixels or not, there is still a different level of civility towards them.
ok, guess I'll chime in.
I think people look at it all wrong sometimes. They look at your avatar as a representation of yourself. While that may be true to some degree I look at each toon as many in a collection (yeah I'm an alt-a-holic). Kind of like an auto collector that has some old cars, some newer. Some exotic, some just rare. Sure the Pontiac Fiero in his collection is a little "girly" compared to others but it is still a wicked little car. Therefore I don't necessarilly identify myself with any particular toon I play. I usually have a tank,healer,dps and support toon. So what if some are male and some are female.
I normally have the brute-strength type toons (ie. tanking/barbarian) as male, and healing or agility type toons as female (second set is probably a toss up between which one looks cooler). Sometimes females look better in the designated gear than males. Normally the robes in mmos look better on females because the male versions still look like dresses. Example: Aion Sorc gear looks stupid imo on males.
Also sometimes it seems like the devs made a certian armor for a specific sex first and then adapted that to the opposite sex afterwards, which would explain why the male armor in games normally looks cooler than the stripped down cleavage version of the female set. The opposite seems true for robes being made for female toons first in games.
I had some female alts when I multiboxed WoW for a while. The reason for it was that female toons have a more narrow frame and wouldn't get hung up on doorways while on follow like the male characters had a tendency to.
In old SWG, I had a female Twi'lek dancer because it seemed the way to go for male toons to watch a female dance to get buffs.
its kind of awkward though when youre in a group with a female toon, lets call the toon "KittyKat" for the story, then they get on vent and you hear this wheezing burly man talking to you, lol
Better question: Why are players concerned about what the actual sex is of the player behind the character. Are you kids beating off while you are playing MMOs and want to be sure youre not in love with a dude?
Seriously. Go outside. Get a date. Stop being so lame.
Laudanum - Romance. Revenge. Revolution.
Crappy, petty people breed and raise crappy, petty kids.
This, btw, is true enough. Guys talk like guys when they think there aren't any ladies around to hear them. I am what a more polite person might call "a little rough around the edges" for a lady, though, so I don't really care, and sometimes I join in if it is funny. Sometimes it gets a little too raunchy or awkward even for me, and then I try to steer things in the, "Less talk, more kill!" direction... which probably helps solidify the illusion that I might have a little testosterone going on.
I don't want the special treatment female characters get because it usually comes along with baggage. I don't want people to give me things. I don't want people to make any assumptions about how I am going to play. And if I royally screw up, I can take the heat-- cuss me out, don't coddle me. I hate being patronized.
I also get some perverse pleasure out of all the "OMG, you're a CHICK!" and so on when my secret gets out.
Personally I don't really care why. It's a role playing game, so why not play whatever role you desire?
Although, I must say, I agree with the guy who said he plays male toons because he wouldn't know how to RP a female. In fact, I'd feel kind of foolish even attempting it.
So, it's not really about looks in my case. My toons are generally "mini-me" who go about thier business as I would if I ever found myself in that situation.
Ironically, the one time I did roll a female toon in any game was in Vampire: Bloodlines and it was sort of because of looks. I wanted a stealth build and males moving crouched looked very effeminate.
[Sienfeld] Not that there's anything wrong with that! [/Sienfeld]
I play both, but I find in a lot of games the males look either corny or blocky. In games with ugly males and females I will usually roll a male. In games with either good looking characters for both sexes, or deep character creation, I will roll both.
I used to only roll my own gender, but after a while I said fuck it. It's not really about staring at pixelated booty all day. It's definitely not about getting free stuff. I've had a few guys come on to my toon, and I'm the first one to laugh and tell them I'm a dude. It's about what appealed to me during character creation.
People that are unhappy with others choosing the opposite gender need to chill. It's not a big deal, unless you're trying to get with someone. The best thing to do is assume everyone is a guy in MMOs.
Exactly.
MMOs = Where women are men and kids are federal agents.
As a male gamer my first oon is always a male; I understand the reference better. When I create my first alt it is almost always a female toon and in almost all cases has the same name. Her name is hybrid of my three daughters' names. So I create a toon to honor them and give them a little bit of ego boost when they see me playing a toon with their "name".
Gaming since Avalon Hill was making board games.
Played SWG, EVE, Fallen Earth, LOTRO, Rift, Vanguard, WoW, SWTOR, TSW, Tera
Tried Aoc, Aion, EQII, RoM, Vindictus, Darkfail, DDO, GW, PotBS
HEy, I have a different and related question: What's with female characters that throw themselves at you when you're a high level male character?
It's rather assumed that it's guys falling all over themselves to give stuff to pretty female characters, and trying to chat the ladies up for cyber sex, but in playing high level male characters, I get more random PMs flirting with me or even flatly offering cybersex for items. I rather assume that those "females" are really male players trying to take advantage of "rich" characters that they assume are male IRL. It kind of weirds me out a little bit; I am not so freaked out by being hit on by "girls" as I am being hit on so obviously to get stuff.
Well in some games, FFXI and soon FFXIV you have a few races that do not have an option to role a male character. There are quite a few threads out there where people are like crap I like the race but they do not have male, should I role the female or stick with a race that has both male and female and just role the male.
So with that said the only issue I see is if a guy rolls a female to take adavantage of it, like others put if they are trying to get some stuff from a male character regarless of if it is a male or female in RL. Other than that I could care less, and I normaly want to know if your are male/female if we strike up a friendship (not sexual pervs) and only if we have been playing for a long time and I wonder at any point or if I get asked if I am a guy or girl. Other than that who cares?
well i canses like that you cant help it, but i just meant in genral
March on! - Lets Invade Pekopon
Men are such animals, I know, I use to be a man before I got married.
I like the look honestly. The idea of an ass kicking woman on the front line sounds much more enthralling than the rinse repeat of yet another guy. Also, I play a female character because when I am leveling I'd rather stare at a well designed female form than a male ass. People have their reasons to do what they do, I have mine.
END OF LINE_
~V
Alot of the males I know who also play female toons do so for the same reason, after all, Aphrodite was/is the roman/greek goddess of beauty. Females have been considered the symbol of beauty for many culures. I believe those who read too much into are the ones who are truely expressing their own insecurities and projected it on others.
Cheers!
MMO Vet since AOL Neverwinter Nights circa 1992. My MMO beat up your MMO. =S
i will use WoW (though i hate it and it sux) for example
for instance i like how certain race+class look:
human male (though humans have small heads) females are fat and annoying, they provoke me to kill them when i play horde and if i play ally i laugh at them
night elf both
dwarf male
gnome hate
draenai hate
troll both
orc both
tauren male
forsaken female
blood elf hate
when i played that sh*tty game i was both ally and horde player, i was for the PvE and i really laughed when idiots flamed on horde vs ally, and thats it, i liked how certain combinations look, i play them depending on that, if i feel im gonna play dwarf i will play male, because i like how manly it looks, with the awesome beard, but if i wanna play forsaken, i would play female, because somehow looks anime to me, if rogue or warrior
but if i want to play orc or night elf, i will have to choose male or female depending on my mood and on the class, i like females for casters and males for melees, with some exceptions
^^
MMORPG = Mostly Men Online Role-Playing Girls
That said, I always roll male toons. I like my characters to be fantasy versions of me in some way and I like to be able to relate to them, whether I roll the scarred and grizzly tank or the grey-haired and wise wizard. I just couldn't roll a female and relate to it, to feel like it was some manifestation of me.
At the end of the day it's a fantasy world and people should be able to play what they want. It doesn't say anything about the person's choice, just the same as choosing to be a frog or wolf or lizard character means nothing other than it appeals to that particular player. I think the people who complain about guys rolling females do it just because they want to dream that all the hot, half naked females in the world are RL girls and they don't like finding out they're actually guys.
I pretend I am a robot whilst playing any online games, I find it helps to avoid any potential "gender" issues...
As seen below--->
RandomPerson:"a/s/l?"
Me:"Beep."
RandomPerson:"Wut!?"
Me:"Beep, beep..."
And so on.
I put on my top hat.