Have You Ever/Do You Reverse(d) Gender In Games?

[Dazaster]

First off apologies if this topic already exists. I did a google search but didn't find one.

 

But I was wondering how many here play your games as a different sex to your own, i.e. males playing as female characters, females playing as male, etc.

 

And why.

 

I started playing games many moons ago, almost always as a male character,  because:

a:) I am male

b:) I wasn't given a choice

c:) I had no interest in doing so

 

Then I bought NeverWinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic and, Oblivion.

All three games offered a choice, to be either male or female.

(I'm sure there were other games as well, but I don't care, coz' I didn't buy them at the time. Or I did and I've forgotten. It was a long time ago, after all.)

 

At first, I played as the traditional male character because:

a:) average males are stronger than average females in real life and I didn't want my character to die too easily

b:) I thought this was reflected in video games (stats, character creation etc)

c:) I thought it might be a bit 'gay' to play as a woman

 

Then, Once Upon A Time, for a laugh, and, being bored, I decided to start a new game as a female character:

However, being male, I noticed something:

I quite liked the shape of the female avatar, especially from behind(default view)

There were clothing mods available that made her sexier

There were mods to make her nude

Oblivion is a perverts paradise from the start because

you can swing the camera round and watch her breasts swing  as she runs.

 

Pretty soon it became apparent that I really, really liked looking at this type of filthy on-screen dirt.

And so began a quest to produce the most life-like female charcter I could in every game I played.

 

And it's developed to the point where playing as a male character, and watching him, seems.., well.., wrong.., and I even avoid several popular titles because there's no 'female protaganist' option(and therefore no ass or breasts to look at).

 

Now I've looked at similar threads on various boards, including the Nexus, and you can see the the kiddie yobbo boys by their total assault on people who do like I now do(play as female characters, even though their male), with their comments usually following the following line:

You are a total gay fuckwit!!! Women are,,blah blah blah etc.

 

But I ask them, and to you, is: Is it?

 

Is it really?

 

I prefer to watch a woman's backside, a woman's face, a woman's breasts, and a womans' general shape, rather than a muscle bound freak of male-dome, so that makes me gay?

 

Well, gay used to refer to happy, so yeah, I'm happy to be gay.

 

But then again, it may be something completely different. 

Disgustingly,  I may be some sort of pervert who gets his 'jollies' from watching impossibly preportioned women on a little screen.

Still, better than being fixated upon rape or slavery, I suppose.

 

Naturally, I have almost no repartee with real women. And I have a very small penis. But that doesn't matter when you can interact with a gorgeous female every day by softly touching a keyboard and deftly stroking a mouse, does it???

Bloody hell, it probably does. I'sa doomed I tells ya, doomed!!!!

 

Ah well, never mind hey.

 

Back to my original query:

 

Do you/have you play(ed) as a (reverse gender) character?

 

 

 

 

 

[Leito86]

I tried it a few times, but could never get into it.  I always go back to my gender.  It makes it easier to relate to the in-game character.

[dboura]

I'm perfectly fine playing bother genders in respect to gaming. Some games even go to lengths of separating abilities, classes, and such depending on gender. Those ones you're not going to get a full feel or enjoyment out of unless you broaden your game-play across the gender lines. Not to mention most character related mods for games are usually gender-based (with strong pulls to the female genders) for aesthetics, not to mention perversions and fantasies.

 

Single player games never throw issues or discrimination problems. Multi-player, now that tends to be a different story. Infact, my first character gender swap was on an mmo (Age of Conan) to avoid some people. With those, its usually best done while you play with a clique of friends or guildmates that you feel comfortable around and understand or can relate to your intentions on playing opposite gender characters.

[Captain Cobra]

Depends on the game.

[Fated_Sin]

I almost always play a female character in games that give you a choice. Sure I'll make the obligatory simulation of myself but female characters are more intriguing ex. hate that the original Saints row had no choice for a female but have loved the other games of it since. Also they sometimes have more appeal in a story like Female Shepard in mass effect...ah good times....not to mention there are some awesome female protagonists ie. Samus, Lightning, etc.

 

 

heck most of my characters in Swtor are female because they just have more appeal to me both visually and story wise. My first level 50 on that game is my Twi'lek Scoundrel (dps spec'd) 

[Nonsense667]

It hasn't been active for a while, but yes, there was another thread of this topic. 

 

http://www.loverslab.com/topic/7599-have-you-played-as-another-sex-in-games/

[smoke1967]

I have always played my games as a female character when possiable...I am most certainly NOT gay nor am I homophobic

 

I do enjoy watching my realisticly textured, slender, modestly endowed vampire nord maiden's body on my screen

 

my reasons why?...the above reasons aside

 

I think it has something to do with astrology...lol...yeah I know

 

I happen to be a libra...(masculine sign ruled by a feminine planet)...many libras tend to have more opposite gender traits than most other signs

 

(my female libra friend is a decent auto mechanic and is aspiring to become a pipe fitter...despite being just 5-1 and less than 100 pounds)

 

that being said there's also the fact that in our typical (U.S.) society...its not uncommon to see men acting like drunken nords from day to day

 

but seeing a beautiful female, who is secure in her sexuality AND her ability kick ass and destroy anything that challenges her...

 

(without breaking a nail...ohh, the devines help the poor creature that somehow mars her beauty in the slightest way)

 

is a fascinating sight

 

so I guess my reasons for playing a female character are

 

1. asthetic appeal

2. insight

3. novelty

[Emily]

Novelity it is.

[rebby]

"if im gonna stare at an ass all day, why not make it female?"

 

all kidding aside, i do believe there is a deeper psychological reason for choosing the opposite sex, at least when it comes to men playing female.

there are two extremist positions that will attack this phenomena. and those are the feminist, who will claim we are sexist. and the homophobic, who will claim we are gay.

i will say that we are neither.

We appreciate the aesthetics of a woman, in so giving in to our sexuality, but we also characterise that woman, making her choices our own.

we are secure in our own sexuality, and therefore does not fret at the sudden choice of "what armour looks best on me, chain or leather?"

 

i may be overanalysing here, and im sure there are those who will choose the opposite  sex just because of the adult mods they might have

[LordJerle]

I play as female cuz... boobies. 

[Astaroth-Lite]

Well, keep in mind this is a bit of a moot concept for women as this is usually something you more or less have to do for most games.

[Kpnut]

Yes I do and it all started in Guild Wars as a joke. 

[Nonsense667]

Generally the last thing that crosses my mind when I'm making a character is "What sort of ass do I want to ogle." It's usually something along the lines of "What sort of story am I going to play this time? Who am I going to be? Who are they? What's their story? What do they look like?" And yes, side objectives like "What sort of 'fun' am I in the mood for right now?" when it comes to adult games and oblivion.

 

I dunno. I know I shouldn't, people have the right to do what they want, for what reasons they want, but I guess the roleplayer in me always just gets pissed off whenever people say "I play as a girl because that's what ass I want to stare at, lol." I get the phrase, but fuck, it is not applicable at all. What game do you stare at the character's ass as you are playing? Hell, in a lot of games now days, with the over the shoulder cam, the view is only from the waist up. But I get it, "Who's shoulders do you think I want to stare at?" doesn't really have the same ring to it. 

 

I also don't pick female characters because "I enjoy the female aesthetic." Both genders look fine to me, regardless of my orientation. Do I make a character that I like to look at? Sure. But do other males really have that hard of a time enjoying looking at a male character? Especially one that could simply be a representation/incarnation of their own self? Of course, I never get the whole "Ew I saw another mans face in the porn, that completely ruined it for me" complaint either. 

 

Long story short, I play as both. Gender is just one part of the characters that I play. As for the reasons? Plenty. A part of me wants to be female. Games can be a way to exercise it. And also... why not? I play as a male. I play as a female. I'm not a mage, a warrior, and assassin, a spy, a general, a rectangle, I am not many things, yet I still play as them. Why is playing as a different gender any different? It's not really, at least not for me. 

 

Like always, if you are different, and hold views opposing to mine, that is your right that I can always, completely respect.

[ElvenScoundrel]

I only play characters of the same gender as me, that is, male. I feel weird playing as females, as I like to think I RP my character in games like Oblivion and New Vegas and I don't have a female mentality, whatever that means.

[Kpnut]

I only play characters of the same gender as me, that is, male. I feel weird playing as females, as I like to think I RP my character in games like Oblivion and New Vegas and I don't have a female mentality, whatever that means.

That's the opposite from me, I like to separate myself from the game world as much as possible.

[ElvenScoundrel]

 

I only play characters of the same gender as me, that is, male. I feel weird playing as females, as I like to think I RP my character in games like Oblivion and New Vegas and I don't have a female mentality, whatever that means.

That's the opposite from me, I like to separate myself from the game world as much as possible.

 

 

I can't do that, as games to me are a form of escapism and I like to immerse myself in them as much as possible, which is why in games that can be modded like New Vegas and Fallout 3, I don't really download lore-breaking mods or play as females. 

[Mordyn]

It depends, and I can play both gender when the gameplay reflects my choice in the story. If it doesn't change anything, well, I don't really care

 

[Schmendrick]

    I completely agree with Nonsense667. The very essence of playing is to be someone else: a warrior, a mage, a thief, a murderer, a guy or a girl or something else. People use video games to be someone they can't be in real life, and to do things they also can't. Take GTA for example, objectively speaking, this very popular game talks about the violent desires of people wanting to commit horrible crimes; does playing GTA turns you into a criminal? Of course not, it's just about fantasy.

 

    I for myself started playing female characters -I being a male- since Oblivion, I think. At first I had it like a gulty pleasure, so I played when none could watch me. I also recall feeling quite embarassed the first time my girlfriend -now my wife- saw me playing Oblivion with a female character, as she freaked out a little bit --You play that game as a girl?! But then with time she and I came to understand that this thing of playing video games is much like playing with dolls: when kids play with their toys, they become into them, there is no more immersive game than the one a child can play with his/her toys and imagination. Nowdays we adults have our own toys to play with, but the rules are pretty much the same: to become someone else for a limited period of time, and in the security of imagination achieve impossible quests: as fantasy opposes to reallity in the most strong way, and therefore there are no moral, social, or any other consequences.

 

    Another remarkable thing is that videogames first came to accept murder and thievery as something funny and morally acceptable to fantasize with, than transsexualism or transvestism. Meaning probably, that people are more eager to accept their violent desires than their transsexual or whatever desires.

[cartixio]

In non adult content  typically mmo's ill play a male main, but after awhile ill usually make a female alt. I tend to dote on my alts a bit much though, I spend so much money spent on them x.x

As for adult content i prefer  playing as male chars, but don't I mind female chars. It's interesting seeing things from the other side of the spectrum.

[happyg3]

I play as both mattering on class, if I am emulating a tv star in-game, and variance in dialogue.  I play quite a bit of Mass Effect games and the voice acting for the female is a lot better than the male dialogue. The female renegade character is more fun and exciting.  I play her as Claudia Black(in Farscape), Soldier.  Adds more RP to it. 

[Kodiak]

Do I play opposite sex characters?  Well for anyone who has seen my posts in the New Vegas adult section.. that is a resounding yes.

 

Why? Well, all philosophy and meta-sociology aside... my view point is quite simple.

 

I'm a gamer. Its what I do.

 

The characters I make, be it single player, MMO, or table top are all story/concept driven. I don't just make a female character for the sake of being female or just to see her ass run around (though in Koko's case in FONV...its totally about her ass). Character concepts are already established in my head and that's what I make. The same is true for characters I make in any game.

 

My first female character was table top AD&D. She was a little farm girl, adopted as a baby from the local orphanage who developed a subtle but very real affinity for magic at puberty. So as a level 1 sorceress, she set out to find the truth about her real parents. By the end of it all, she learned she was the only daughter of an arch-mage turned lich.

 

Why was this character female? I recall quite vividly a picture by Larry Elmore of a sorceress who I wanted to base the character off of. Simple as that. Its been the same since. More times then not, my new female characters are carry overs from previous games as new incarnations of the same character. I'm on my 8th incarnation of a female character I've had since the original EQ in 2000. She was a Dark Elf Rogue. Why? Because the dark elf males were hideous looking (female really weren't much better). This character has been in every major MMO from Earth and Beyond, EQ2 and  WoW to STO and SWtoR. She's just a character I refuse to let fade away. She of course also always appears in single players games such as Oblivion and Skyrim where she returns to her Dark Elf rogue origins.

 

As a quick counter point. This female character was only after several long played male characters, many of which I still carry over into other games, as noted above.

 

There are many games on the other hand that I have to play a male character just because it fits the story a bit better. Mass Effect for Example. My original Shepard was male and I loved it. tried the fem Shep and couldn't get past the first couple of hours of play. Doesn't work for me. Skyrim actually was the same way for a while. My first character who completed a full play through was the hulking nord male, sword and board fighter. I just felt it was a cinematically appropriate choice and I had the perfect (another long time character concept from D&D) hero to play the part.

 

So yea... It doesn't matter to me. Male, female...for boobs or for story. On rare occasions I will choose one over the other if I really hate the character model, voices or animations. This is occurring more and more often, but its a different rant for another time.

 

 

[sammyj069]

Gender is a difficult concept for me.  I assume this topic is more asking if you play your same biological sex?  Given the concept of gender, I tend to think of myself being androgenous.  I don't have a lot of the cultrually accepted norms of my own sex, nor those of the opposing sex.  Thus, I guess I'm somewhere in between.  My partner generally plays males, especially in MMOs, for obvious reasons.  She usually prefers to take on a masculine mask, simply to avoid the rampant beligerence that is the assumption that females can't game as well. Also, if we don't choose opposing genders in MMOs, we usually can't purusue the obligatory marriage mechanic invovled, and we're that geeky that we usually marry in the virtual world as well xD

 

As for me, I feel what some have said: I usually come up with an extensive character concept, and run them.  In Skyrim, I've only beat the main story once, and ran through the Dragonborn content once.   That character was a female Nord named Freija, as like many, I felt she fit the "vanilla" skyrim feel the best.  That being said, I'm ashamed to say that I've sank 600+ hours into Skyrim.  In the past year.  Why?  Because Freija only completed the main story.  She was a virtuous individual, who strove to end the evils in her land.  She'd never, say, join the dark brotherhood.  No, I made a different character for that.  And another, and another, and so on.  I've probably made over thirty characters who have made it to at least level twenty or thirty, before moving on.  Each one a different concept and different race or gender.  Thanks to "live another life", my headcannon states that each of these individuals exist within skyrim simultaneously.  Freija was the only "dragonborn", while the others are mercs, theives, assassians, etc.  I know it sounds like a weird concept, but since I've been DM'ing for so long, I don't have a defined fantasy view of myself, I tend to take masks as I play. 

 

Admittidly, I feel most comfortable when I play my own sex, and am allowed to pursue my own orientation.  To date, one of my favorite role play experiences in video gamming is FONV, with the Chercez La Femme perk =P

[LordJerle]

I recently picked up a Kryptonian race mod, that's pretty on par for what you'd expect from a Kryptonian.  Laser vision, super speed, super perception (slow motion Skyrim, the environment moves at something like 1/100th of the speed while you retain normal speed), freeze breath, super health, super stamina, super strength, all that.  No flight, but that was easily fixed with the flight mod from the Nexus.  Anyway, I decided to make a male character that looked exactly like Kal El, even named him as such.  I play him as a hedonistic hero.  Was great fun, up until I decided to marry the Jarl of Solitude (she's hot), then I used a mod to divorce her because I found I couldn't try and seduce every female in the game anymore, which didn't fix anything.  So now I'm playing as Kara Zor-El xD

She's a lesbian who runs with her Dark elf girlfriend, who seems to enjoy watching Kara have sex with complete strangers, and occasionally enjoys a threesome.  I know, I've completely perverted the superman mythos. lol

[Asariphile]

I am a Roleplayer. I never play myself. Thats not to say I always play the opposite gender, but I always play a character who isn't me.

[Cock Sucker]

would the people who don't play as opposite genders in games not play games where characters are the opposite gender ie like tombraider? you wouldn't play it?