Well, as a guy, I’ve been asked multiple times why I systematically play games female characters in video games, to the point of skipping a game if I’m forced to pay a male one, with a few exceptions (I really liked Albus from Troubleshooters for example). Whenever there’s romance in a game, I’ll also take the F/F route. Yet, I don’t think I fetishize those in general. There’s a thing about not liking most M characters in games, but also something about playing someone really different from who I am. We’ve had an interesting conversation about this with my gf who always plays F characters and woyd never play M.
Although I’m a straight guy, I’ve always more identified to female friends and characters, although I have a few male friends too. So I’m wondering who else does that (playing a character not matching your gender), and if you found your own explanation.
Edit : It’s not really an oversexualization drive for me, I try to play a female character that looks like me, even though I’ve never thought about actually becoming a woman.
Edit 2 : So far, I think we have, hmm…
- Playing someone that differs from one’s irl identity
- Physical Attractivity
- Male character writing and design
- Lara Croft effect
- Lady Dwarf
Removed by mod
I pretty much exclusively play os female characters (I’m a male). I think it’s mostly that male characters in video games are mostly the same.
i wouldn’t overthink it too much. it seems youre in a category of almost 30% of male respondents, not all preferences say something meaningful about us.
Maybe. I’m not a native English writer so it may not have sounded like I wanted. I just find this curious, but I’m not in pain because of that.
I usually just play whoever has the best racials or abilities. If i can play as the giant tank guy or girl (think Karlach or Reinhart) i usually play as them.
In a typical core PC/console game, about 60% of the female avatars you meet are played by a male player.
Seems low
Male. If I can make a character, I’ll make a male character almost every time, especially on a first run. Or if the character is otherwise a placeholder for "me* in the game.
That said, I love when games give us female protagonists that aren’t sexualized (think FF6), and I’d love to see more of that.
So, do I prefer to play as a male character? It depends.
I’d like to see some good takes on “female perspective” in games. But if it’s basically an aesthetic difference, I’m making a character that matches my gender because it’s supposed to be “me” in the game.
I am male. If given the option to play female and a female would make the story more interesting I will choose to play a female. What defines “interesting” is arbitrary. Valheim - female named Muscle Wife. Phasmophobia - black male with friends (due to movie tropes) and female solo (because they look janky and ragged as hell). MMOs - depends on the aesthetic. If I am going to be staring at a character for a long time and I am not roleplaying an ugly bastard then I will choose female most of the time since I don’t play MMOs to self insert.
When choice isn’t an option I do not avoid a game just because of a character’s race or gender, but I am starting to get real sick of white male protagonists. They aren’t really offering me any new perspectives.
I’m a cis guy and I play primarily female characters. I will play male characters, but I find it fascinating to roleplay as a female character. It’s something I’ll never experience in real life and I find female characters are often more interesting.
IMHO if you’re going to pretend/imagine yourself as the character you’re playing, I feel you might as well do something that isn’t you for the experience. Otherwise, what’s the point of putting yourself in a characters shoes if you just make yourself in that world? I already know how I’d be in any situation…because I’m me. Hell, in RPG games I’ll even sometimes romance male characters, if thats an option(Playing Femshep in Mass Effect, I will often romance Garrus Vakarian, for example).
Then again, I’ll also sometimes explore LGBTQ+ relationships, if they’re offered, playing as either male or female characters, even though I’m not interested in that in real life.
Is it a little weird? Probably, but it also helps me understand what it might be like for other types of people and how to better understand and sympathize with their life struggles and experiences. RPG stands for Role Playing Game, after all.
If I have to stare at a digital ass, it might as well be a chick’s ass
If I have to stare at a butt all day, I would rather it be a female butt.
I mean, yeah, this is basically the reason for me, without the horny part. I don’t experience immersion in third-person games, and I don’t have a strong sense of identity, so I might as well have a character bobbing up and down on screen that I enjoy looking at.
Cis-het guy, usually play female characters. One of my first action games as a kid was Tomb Raider and I think that just cemented in my mind that women characters are badass
MMORPG = many men online role playing girls
Cishet guy. Most male protagonists are too brutish. They look dumb. Female protagonists seldom have that issue.
Agreed.
Strong male lead = dumb brute
Strong female lead = badass
Edit: ‘dumb’ being used liberally here
Really depends on the game/story and if I like the characters. For example playing Fallout 4 as a female protagonist felt out of place, like it was just a mod that someone hacked in. But on the other side Cyberpunk 2077’s male character annoyed me enough that I restarted as female V. And then there’s games like Skyrim where the only difference I notice is the grunts you make in combat.
I thought Fallout 4 did fine on that part. I mean there wasn’t any appreciable difference but it didn’t feel wrong to me.
This feels like trolling or horseshoe theory in play, you skip games where you can only play male, aka most games? This is very similar to people who skip “woke” games because they can not play as male.
Well, it depends. I’d skip games I’m mildly interested in, yes. And yes, it means most games. Well strangely enough it may depend on the game, LoL or other MOBAs, for example, I don’t mind the gender of my character.
But yes, I may have in common with those people the tendency to skip some games, but it stops here. The main difference being I’m not going to annoy anyone or cry on steam boards because of my personal preferences.
For me it’s not that I won’t play with a male lead, but if that’s the case then you are going to have to convince me to care about the game. With a female MC you won’t have to try as hard.
