MsOtaku Posted February 25, 2017 Author Posted February 25, 2017 I love where this topic is going. Keep posting your thoughts, guys! xoxo
karlpaws Posted February 25, 2017 Posted February 25, 2017 Developing thoughts ... The fat, acne-riddled, asthmatic boy can see Arnold the Barbarian topless and ripped and pretend to be him. He won't see a beefcake Chipendale dancer created for the sexual gratification of boring housewives with loser husbands. On the other hand, do any girls see Red Sonja, Xena, Ripley, or any powerful woman from fantasy or sci fi, scantily clad and kicking ass, taking names and all without bubblegum and say the same? Some seem to but mostly it seems women are supposed to read bodice ripper novels and not focus on the fact that men in bad B movies are just as poorly written as the women, and not see the gender equality in equal opportunity drek. Everyone is scantily clad because they can't act, hence why they're in a B movie. I'm going to stay away from real world empowerment because that is a whole lot of subjective. How much do you want to control, what is power to you, and "lies, damn lies, and statistics" of male vs female life expectancy, hours worked vs lifetime pay, deaths on the job and all the rest that people use trying to pit people against each other and create jealousy.
MsOtaku Posted February 25, 2017 Author Posted February 25, 2017 On the other hand, do any girls see Red Sonja, Xena, Ripley, or any powerful woman from fantasy or sci fi, scantily clad and kicking ass, taking names and all without bubblegum and say the same? *Raises hand* I grew up watching those movies (never got into Xena) and from a very early age, when I was confused as to why I found these women so attractive, I wanted to be just like them and developed a fascination with swords and weapons in general. Whether I made them myself or was lucky enough to have a play sword bought for me, I went outside and pretended to be Red Sonja. I took Nerf guns and pretended to be Ripley while my dogs were the Aliens. I admired these women and found them incredibly sexy.
KoolHndLuke Posted February 26, 2017 Posted February 26, 2017 This is actually a topic I brought up somewhere else. At first it was responses to the question and everyone generally agreed it was more fun to play as a female. But of course it turned into some stupid sexist debate with the usual platitudes. I did suggest that how a person plays their game might betray some hidden desires in themselves without them realizing. Needless to say- that idea did not sit well with that audience. Way too uptight were they- when all we were discussing is whether they liked to play as male or female in Sky. I love playing as a female in Sky. They can be made absolutely gorgeous! I suppose it could be considered unfair by some to expect that all women are perfectly beautiful and when they break wind it smells like Roses. As a man, though, when you fantasize about a woman- she is perfect. Even some imperfections in a woman can be endearing. I always try to give my girls that certain look that shows that they have seen some shit and have the scars to show for it- but still enjoy a good fuck from time to time. Some discretion is used so things do not get boring and repetitive. They are not shy but are definitely choosy when they have sex. It is the odd moments that are best. Like when sex is the last thing on your mind and then you turn around and see your character or follower turned a certain way in the light and cannot help but stare. If babies were made to be cute then women were made to be beautiful and sexy. What surprises me is how many men have never even thought about playing a game as a female when they can.
Guest Posted February 26, 2017 Posted February 26, 2017 I agree with what you're saying. Just putting that out there before I start randomly typing out thoughts as soon as they pop into my head. *snip* Some interesting points and aw shucks, thanks I guess what I was driving at in my own random typings was that it's what folks do with the material we've got to work with that matters. Nobody else can step into that and say "this is what you're feeling about this", though people will often try. It's personal. When I play one of my fantasy girls, I'm definitely not thinking about 21st century normative gender roles, all that stuff is eating my dust. Rape isn't a feature of my journeys because it reminds me of the more horrible aspects of reality that I am intentionally leaving behind. Seduction is though, plenty of my girls have mesmerized their victims before fucking them and leaving them penniless and naked. Or dead and drained of blood. Is that different? I think so. Cutting off the heads of bandits with a daedric blade, that's fair game. I'm not thinking of reality when it happens, but it does please me. Whether a piece of armor is appropriately effective in battle is not something I'm interested in pursuing with any vigor. But combat that feels visceral, responsive and brutally fast? That is. My rules, my world, nobody else's. It doesn't have to make sense to anybody else, just me. That's probably a definition of empowerment, but not a politically very useful one. I like fantasy female aesthetics, I like the big thighs the wasp waists, the milky complexions and the heaving bosoms. It's an artistic take on the female form that is deliberately not grounded in reality and purposely intended to excite those bits of the brain that give us pleasurable thoughts. Escapism. Michelangelo's David isn't a work that's grounded either, it's an idealised, romanticized figure, the product of an enraptured mind. More escapism. Both have been co-opted by organized groups of people in pursuit of political agendas. I did suggest that how a person plays their game might betray some hidden desires in themselves without them realizing. *snip* Probably because you're attempting to define what other people are feeling and why. From what you've said you don't sound like someone who likes to have their experiences defined by others, so why are you doing it? edit: why can't I commit to my thoughts anymore? Need to stop this incessant editing lol.
Sarathis Posted February 26, 2017 Posted February 26, 2017 Some interesting points and aw shucks, thanks I guess what I was driving at in my own random typings was that it's what folks do with the material we've got to work with that matters. Nobody else can step into that and say "this is what you're feeling about this", though people will often try. It's personal. When I play one of my fantasy girls, I'm definitely not thinking about 21st century normative gender roles, all that stuff is eating my dust. Rape isn't a feature of my journeys because it reminds me of the more horrible aspects of reality that I am intentionally leaving behind. Seduction is though, plenty of my girls have mesmerized their victims before fucking them and leaving them penniless and naked. Or dead and drained of blood. Is that different? I think so. Cutting off the heads of bandits with a daedric blade, that's fair game. I'm not thinking of reality when it happens, but it does please me. Whether a piece of armor is appropriately effective in battle is not something I'm interested in pursuing with any vigor. But combat that feels visceral, responsive and brutally fast? That is. My rules, my world, nobody else's. It doesn't have to make sense to anybody else, just me. That's probably a definition of empowerment, but not a politically very useful one. I like fantasy female aesthetics, I like the big thighs the wasp waists, the milky complexions and the heaving bosoms. It's an artistic take on the female form that is deliberately not grounded in reality and purposely intended to excite those bits of the brain that give us pleasurable thoughts. Escapism. Michelangelo's David isn't a work that's grounded either, it's an idealised, romanticized figure, the product of an enraptured mind. More escapism. Both have been co-opted by organized groups of people in pursuit of political agendas. edit: why can't I commit to my thoughts anymore? Need to stop this incessant editing lol. Thanks, and you're very welcome. Awesome people deserve to be acknowledged and encouraged. Guys don't think about gender roles when they're playing video games, so why should women? The point of playing a game is to enjoy yourself, as you said, escapism. The point of playing a game with sexual content in it is to enjoy yourself even more in an adult way. When you're indulging in a fantasy and modding your game to help fulfill that image you just make the game the way that appeals to you the most. People ought to be less concerned with how society views things and more concerned with knowing themselves better. Hell, not everyone wants to feel empowered, either. Those people shouldn't be made to feel like crap because of it. They should be allowed to be themselves. If rape content is something you don't want to associate with then there's absolutely no reason you need to have it in your game, even if it's said to be semi-realistic to the genre or other people have it in their games or a lot of the mods cater to that. You're modding to your own tastes. Your game and the way it looks shouldn't have to appeal to anyone besides you. If it does, that's great, but if it doesn't too bad for them. You like it. That's all that counts, there's no need to analyze why. Oh no, heaving bosoms! I'm averting my eyes, oh Lord! Your characters look awesome. It's always a pleasure to see them when you post them in the screenshots threads. The way some people talk you'd think the fact that the characters you created are attractive to myself, a straight man, is an awful betrayal of your gender and you'd done something wrong in making them that way. People need to stop worrying about what normal should be and questioning why they find some things attractive and others not. If you like it, you like it. I don't wonder about why I dislike broccoli, I just don't eat it. To thine own self be true and all that. I second guess everything I write, too. Takes me an eternity to just make a post this long. You should see me trying to write a story.
MsOtaku Posted February 27, 2017 Author Posted February 27, 2017 This is actually a topic I brought up somewhere else. At first it was responses to the question and everyone generally agreed it was more fun to play as a female. But of course it turned into some stupid sexist debate with the usual platitudes. I did suggest that how a person plays their game might betray some hidden desires in themselves without them realizing. Needless to say- that idea did not sit well with that audience. Way too uptight were they- when all we were discussing is whether they liked to play as male or female in Sky. I love playing as a female in Sky. They can be made absolutely gorgeous! I suppose it could be considered unfair by some to expect that all women are perfectly beautiful and when they break wind it smells like Roses. As a man, though, when you fantasize about a woman- she is perfect. Even some imperfections in a woman can be endearing. I always try to give my girls that certain look that shows that they have seen some shit and have the scars to show for it- but still enjoy a good fuck from time to time. Some discretion is used so things do not get boring and repetitive. They are not shy but are definitely choosy when they have sex. It is the odd moments that are best. Like when sex is the last thing on your mind and then you turn around and see your character or follower turned a certain way in the light and cannot help but stare. If babies were made to be cute then women were made to be beautiful and sexy. What surprises me is how many men have never even thought about playing a game as a female when they can. Not all forums are the same and I have found LL to be the most open and welcoming one I have ever come across. I'm sorry people had sticks up their asses where ever it was that you posted your topic of the same nature as mine. Not everyone is the same and as I've read everyone's posts here I was not in the least bit surprised that there are men that prefer to play men characters - that's their own preference. I'm sure that they like to look at a beautiful woman, but perhaps they just don't want to play as one. Why? It's their choice. We either project ourselves onto our character or don't and pick which sex we'd like to be while going on this game's or any other game's adventures. Also, not all babies are cute. I've seen my fair share of fugly younglings. I'm not going to sit here and say that it's sexist to say that all women need to be beautiful because they all need to be beautiful in MY game. It's my choice. So you shouldn't be surprised that men don't play as women - they just don't want to and that's perfectly fine. I guess what I was driving at in my own random typings was that it's what folks do with the material we've got to work with that matters. Nobody else can step into that and say "this is what you're feeling about this", though people will often try. It's personal. When I play one of my fantasy girls, I'm definitely not thinking about 21st century normative gender roles, all that stuff is eating my dust. Rape isn't a feature of my journeys because it reminds me of the more horrible aspects of reality that I am intentionally leaving behind. Seduction is though, plenty of my girls have mesmerized their victims before fucking them and leaving them penniless and naked. Or dead and drained of blood. Is that different? I think so. Cutting off the heads of bandits with a daedric blade, that's fair game. I'm not thinking of reality when it happens, but it does please me. Whether a piece of armor is appropriately effective in battle is not something I'm interested in pursuing with any vigor. But combat that feels visceral, responsive and brutally fast? That is. My rules, my world, nobody else's. It doesn't have to make sense to anybody else, just me. That's probably a definition of empowerment, but not a politically very useful one. I like fantasy female aesthetics, I like the big thighs the wasp waists, the milky complexions and the heaving bosoms. It's an artistic take on the female form that is deliberately not grounded in reality and purposely intended to excite those bits of the brain that give us pleasurable thoughts. Escapism. Michelangelo's David isn't a work that's grounded either, it's an idealised, romanticized figure, the product of an enraptured mind. More escapism. Both have been co-opted by organized groups of people in pursuit of political agendas. edit: why can't I commit to my thoughts anymore? Need to stop this incessant editing lol. We can all be very sensitive about things we are passionate about so it's natural to feel upset or even angry when someone comes in and tries to tell you that you are doing something because at the moment you're feeling [insert random mental or psychological condition here]. No. We do things in games, especially those that can be modded, because we want to, because it makes us happy, thrills and excites us, because we can. You have no idea how much it hurt to have people tell me that making my Skyrim look next-gen was "a waste of time," a "stupid idea," or "it makes no sense". To be honest THAT was my main priority in modding this game. It took me months to get it just right and it doesn't bother me one bit that 80% of my mods are to make my game look gorgeous and making sure that it runs smoothly. Second priority: The people have to look beautiful, then I put interest in the "fun mods". Nobody had the right to tell me that I have my priorities mixed up when it's my choice how I want my game to look instead of leaving it looking vanilla and paying more attention to fun mods and play-style instead. Like many gamers, I game to escape, too. You have your way of playing and I and everyone else has their own. You choose not to have certain mods in your game, as do I only mine differ from yours. It doesn't mean that either of us is wrong. As you said, "My rules, my world, nobody else's." You and I may not share the same taste in our female PC's body shape, but it doesn't mean that we're wrong in that aspect either. Those of us that put in a lot of time and effort in perfecting our character take pride in that and if others don't like it, too damn bad. It's not their game so why should they feel they have the right to question someone about their choice of character look in a harsh and hurtful manner? They don't. I love your definition of empowerment - again, we don't all see things the same way - but at least you took the time to explain your meaning by honestly sharing your play-style and thus why you feel that is true strength. As much of an escape games are to me I have become an immersive player and put in a lot of "realistic" mods into my main game. Yes, it can be quite difficult and a pain sometimes, but apart from dungeon crawling, I like to make my play-though as realistic as possible for a human PC while getting to point A to point B and experience the consequences of running out of food, not bathing, being tired, and even being vanquished in battle, something I know you don't like. Like yourself I don't see reality when gaming. I think rape is a horrible thing in real life, however I like to have it in my games. It's a fetish. And I know it might seem odd to not see "reality" when I'm playing with immersive mods, it's just a game, it's fantasy, and I love the challenge. I want my female PC to overcome the harsh weathers, build her own campsite, hunt for her food, and fight with everything she's got in order to not get defeated by a bad guy. Yes, I put a rape mod in my game, but it doesn't mean I want to see her purposely get assaulted every few minutes. I put that in my game as a consequence of something that more than likely would happen if a woman was out matched and beaten in battle. I make sure she gets her revenge after it happens and enjoy killing her enemies. I want her to be powerful and sexy. I want her to shag whomever she wants because she can. It's my game and if she wants to sleep around she isn't considered a "slut" or a "whore". I do have different profiles where some of my girls are prostitutes, or drug addicts - again, more struggles to overcome. It's how I usually start them off, helpless and they work their way up out of the shithole situation that they're in and go on to become powerful heroines. Enough of my ramblings, I could go on forever. And OMG I love you even more for your David analogy - it was perfect. And if you think you have issues with editing, it takes me hours to write a single email or a longish post. I'm constantly re-reading and editing and I know that there's still some grammatical mistakes or words that are used out of context in here somewhere.... xoxo Thanks, and you're very welcome. Awesome people deserve to be acknowledged and encouraged. Guys don't think about gender roles when they're playing video games, so why should women? The point of playing a game is to enjoy yourself, as you said, escapism. The point of playing a game with sexual content in it is to enjoy yourself even more in an adult way. When you're indulging in a fantasy and modding your game to help fulfill that image you just make the game the way that appeals to you the most. People ought to be less concerned with how society views things and more concerned with knowing themselves better. Hell, not everyone wants to feel empowered, either. Those people shouldn't be made to feel like crap because of it. They should be allowed to be themselves. If rape content is something you don't want to associate with then there's absolutely no reason you need to have it in your game, even if it's said to be semi-realistic to the genre or other people have it in their games or a lot of the mods cater to that. You're modding to your own tastes. Your game and the way it looks shouldn't have to appeal to anyone besides you. If it does, that's great, but if it doesn't too bad for them. You like it. That's all that counts, there's no need to analyze why. Oh no, heaving bosoms! I'm averting my eyes, oh Lord! Your characters look awesome. It's always a pleasure to see them when you post them in the screenshots threads. The way some people talk you'd think the fact that the characters you created are attractive to myself, a straight man, is an awful betrayal of your gender and you'd done something wrong in making them that way. People need to stop worrying about what normal should be and questioning why they find some things attractive and others not. If you like it, you like it. I don't wonder about why I dislike broccoli, I just don't eat it. To thine own self be true and all that. I second guess everything I write, too. Takes me an eternity to just make a post this long. You should see me trying to write a story. I agree with everything you just said, Polonius. It is no one's business how one plays one's own game and what mods are in them. No one has the right to judge anyone for their fetishes, either. Sadly, there are people out there that are hell-bent on making others feel bad for our choices in games or how we choose to play them. I suppose they didn't get enough attention as children that they seek it on the internet by making everyone else feel like shit because they feel like shit. <--- Deep psychological stuff right there. I started this thread for opinions and wanted to read about people's play-styles, it's so wonderful to have so many gamers come here and share their thoughts. I'm sorry my reply to your post isn't as long as beast1e's, but I exhausted my thinker box reading and replying to PMs, posts, editing them 20 times over, and helping my youngling with an expository essay that he left for the last minute when we have 'The Walking Dead' to watch in half an hour. Also, I don't think we can be friends anymore since you don't like broccoli and it's one of my favorite foods. But perhaps I'll forgive you because you also have editing OCD. xoxo
learnedcock Posted February 27, 2017 Posted February 27, 2017 I almost always play a guy. I can identify with him more, and pretend it's me. As far as eye candy goes, well, that's why I keep a harem of followers and slaves.
Janius Posted February 27, 2017 Posted February 27, 2017 I have always been told that the universe of video games is aimed at a male audience, I do not agree, but apparently there is a certain degree of truth in that. I am a lover of video games, most of my friends like video games , My friends who are women are not interested in video games, incredibly I have a female friend who is a video game lover like me, The result of all my friends is a 8/1. There is reflected the why there are more mods of female characters ,Body presets, etc, there is more male audience. The case than whether to play as a guy or not, it is a matter of tastes, and tastes are also reflected in the mods on the internet .... apparently many like playing as women in the world of rpg. I like to play as a woman because I have the fantasy of the woman I would like, and when I play as a guy, I imagine that I am, so I do the most similar to myself...And now be or not to be in skyrim? Be a women, prove that you are a warrior as strong and capable as any hairy man!
MsOtaku Posted February 27, 2017 Author Posted February 27, 2017 I almost always play a guy. I can identify with him more, and pretend it's me. As far as eye candy goes, well, that's why I keep a harem of followers and slaves. Yeah, I had the harems, too. I identify with my main character as well. When I try to play as a guy I end up going too far in terms of just wanting to shag. I mean, I can do that with my girls but, I'd adventure and actually get quests done. I would start accepting quests as a male PC, but the first thing that always popped into my head at the start of a new game was, "Gotta get to Riverwood and fuck Camilla Valerius." And I'd lure her outside, waited for Faendal and Sven to be in the vicinity, and do her in the middle of the road. My guy was always an asshole. I have no idea why I played my male characters that way. So for the time being, I'm sticking to my hottie female PC. I have always been told that the universe of video games is aimed at a male audience, I do not agree, but apparently there is a certain degree of truth in that. I am a lover of video games, most of my friends like video games , My friends who are women are not interested in video games, incredibly I have a female friend who is a video game lover like me, The result of all my friends is a 8/1. There is reflected the why there are more mods of female characters ,Body presets, etc, there is more male audience. The case than whether to play as a guy or not, it is a matter of tastes, and tastes are also reflected in the mods on the internet .... apparently many like playing as women in the world of rpg. I like to play as a woman because I have the fantasy of the woman I would like, and when I play as a guy, I imagine that I am, so I do the most similar to myself...And now be or not to be in skyrim? Be a women, prove that you are a warrior as strong and capable as any hairy man! Growing up, I was a tomboy. From elementary to high school, and even today, all of my closest and best friends were/are guys. I felt that I could trust them more and we shared more in common in terms of hobbies, etc. Not all my friends were/are gamers and guys didn't introduce me to games either. I wanted an Atari for Xmas and every new console that came out after and I've been gaming for as long as I can remember. The first time I actually met girl gamers was when I got into MMOs and actually spoke to them on Vent. I found out all too easily that guys will play female characters in MMORPGs so other guys will give them stuff.... so I never really believed someone if they said they were actually a girl. I was pretty surprised at the number of gamers I met that are girls - of course the ratio of male to female gamers was obviously not 50/50. Even in the bigger guilds I was in there were about four guys to every one girl. Meh. It doesn't bother me. Some guys don't like sports and that doesn't shock me so why should this? We all have our likes and dislikes. But yes. I am woman, hear me roar and all that stuff. I am having more fun playing as a female PC in Skyrim and in the past ES games. Any game, really that allows me to choose my character's sex, I'll go for a chick. Even my avatar in Pokemon Go is a girl. I shall go forth and conquer the world of Skyrim and shag many people along the way!
YLJH Posted February 27, 2017 Posted February 27, 2017 The main thought here is who and where the video games are designed and the work cultures around them. I'm willing to think that Game designing companies are a little more gender even when they hire and that their staffs are generally diverse racially and evenly divided gender wise. Yet living right next to Silcon Valley and viewing the kinds of people that work in the big tech firms, if its any similarity, just doesn't convince me that the sexuality aspects of most of our games that are specifically like Skyrim will be changed any time soon.(Or games generally dealing with male female outside of a vague Overwatch style gameplay) To digress a little before coming back to my main point, most of these tech companies are pretty generally white-male and chauvinistic companies. If women are hired they usually have to be extremely extremely outstanding in some important thing, or they are err visually appealing.... The easy logic thought here is, who is a tech company dominated by white-males more likely to higher, the qualified blonde white woman with nice tits and ass, or the more qualified by not sexy black woman (who is either fat or not as, voluptuous in accordance with stereotype). If you answered the former, then you'd be right. To use actually sources, i remember a few weeks back (amidst the Trumpverse) that an NPR story threw out a fact that women are still grossly under-employed amongst tech companies, despite the fact that the issue has become much more talked about and cited. Now apply these thoughts to gaming companies, which also happen to be tech firms. Gaming companies in turn would be much less likely to higher women. The correlation : Not having a free female opinion on the games being produced that aren't either specifically conformed to the male opinion running the games(usually) or simply lack of a female opinion in general leads to a male-centric gaming industry designed to promote men before women. Notably vanilla Skyrim is not very good about tits and ass, why? Are the developers prudish? Yes not all women have huge tits and ass, but i mean cmon, they didn't even give the more fierce women muscles!, I'd think if you were a badass greatsword wielding tattooed woman charging around hacking down giants, you'd have comparable muscles. (IRL i knew alot of very athletic women in my classes, they all had muscles, not Terminator exaggerated muscles, but like the normal kind of muscles one gets from just plain working out alot) The developers might not be prudes, but maybe they thought it'd be respectful not to portray women like the above "exaggerations". Says who? Did they ask a female opinion for that? Left-Conspiracy buffs here would argue that the industrial extent of our society is working in a massive attempt to skew women of each successive generation towards more traditional roles in reaction to what was the great women's movement of the 60's. The counterpoint one then says is, so how are males portrayed in game. Well, big muscles, general emphasis on broad shoulders strong chins etc, despite the obvious exaggeration and impracticalities as mentioned above with various armors. Oddly enough the schlong mods always occured to me as a reaction to men being portrayed unfairly. (or Pragmatically just for the sex modding) Yet when i posed this exact question in various sexuality classes in college i always got the same response, most men generally have average sized schlongs. I personally think the schlong mods were for practical purposes, not because they were physically incorrect. Personally, I found the lack of a gentle male character who was both strong but touchy disturbing.(Bar Farkas, if someone wants to say that) This is how i am IRL, and like most of us who play video games (escapism in mind) we like to project some of ourself into our characters. Therefore my male characters were always using one of Tolkein's elves, because well, practically it fits, but they are always described as being the best warriors, fierce, yet very gentle, kind, artistic, and of course considering sex the most intimate and best experience of their lives. That last part should be taken out of Tolkein's Protestant context (Im thinking Missionary position and done)and put into a more modern version. Long winded, half dissertation, sorry....
karlpaws Posted February 27, 2017 Posted February 27, 2017 I'm going to throw out some baseless assumptions because that's all I have the time for right now. Without numbers, I've heard that many "white males" in the Silicon valley are more asian than standard european white, and this is evidence of anti-asian bias and proof they've succeeded enough to not be counted as minorities. Men and women have several physical and mental differences. There is a lot of whining about this by various types because they want everyone to be clones of each other. I'd like to be a 6'6" well paid linebacker in the NFL but no one would listen to me whining about being short of that by about 10 inches. Male skeletal and muscle structure is different from the female. There are some female well muscled examples but these are aberrations from the norm (or mean, or average or whatever. We're talking statistics here, not moral judgements). There are several sports with higher than average injury rates because the physical development of teenage females is not at the level required for the actions common in those sports. Similarly, "women are bad at math" may not be fully accurate but there are non-biased, non-discriminatory reasons why fewer women excel in science heavy occupations. Anecdotally, in a programming class or 3 I had of probably 30 guys we had maybe 3-4 women, but two I remember in particular. Mostly because they would, on weekends, take shotguns and blast old computer monitors for fun. I believe that such non-standard recreation and their participation in a mostly male industry were not just correlations but had a similar causation. I also saw a survey a few years ago that said, accounting for all people that played any kind of computerized game, the most common ( or average, I don't remember what terms and methodology they used) person that played a computer game was a 45 or 50 year old female. I fix computers for a living and expect that any guys who play my kind of video game wouldn't call me for help. On the other hand, the number of female customers (or their husbands) who call me that play Farmville and its ilk I cannot count. I have played with maybe 1 or 2 women younger than myself in MMOs but potentially 40-45% of my guildmates have been female, and older than 40, potentially half older than 60. Ending with this... I don't think game companies have to have female employees to design a female friendly game. They don't even have to have female designers. Unless the company is full of single nerds they have people they can talk to, and there are things like focus groups. The fact is certain people like certain types of entertainment and most companies will create a product that requires the least effort and money to satisfy the largest audience. Most mods are developed by one or two people for what they like. That's one reason why there are what, 5-6 body types? UNP, CBBE, 7 Base, Adec, and variants? I'm in a rush and won't be re-reading and proofing this, so if something doesn't make sense or is glaringly wrong or offensive.. I might take it back.
MsOtaku Posted February 28, 2017 Author Posted February 28, 2017 Long winded, half dissertation, sorry.... I'm in a rush and won't be re-reading and proofing this, so if something doesn't make sense or is glaringly wrong or offensive.. I might take it back. *Sits back with a bucket of popcorn* @YLJH, Never apologize for long posts. I love and am encouraging people to speak freely about how they feel on this particular subject. @karlpaws, NO TAKE BACKS! I kid, edit all you want. I'll reply to both of you sometime tonight or tomorrow. Pretty tired at the moment and I'd like to address you both properly on this debate/discussion. xoxo
karlpaws Posted February 28, 2017 Posted February 28, 2017 Nah, reading over it again I think I'm good, though really rambling and unfocused. As to the "play a guy or never play a guy" bit, I do play both depending on the game and what role play options there are, or what story based differences might exist, any benefits, etc. I think it was Oblivion (and other games I'm sure) that had attribute differences between male and female, which made females better for certain class types. Some single player games with romances (at least those not broken by mods) were only for one or the other so you had to play the game at least twice to see all of the options. Sometimes it just depends on how a character looks. One example from earlier in the thread... I liked the humans and night elves in World of Warcraft, and would play both orcs too, but tended to female trolls and tauren due to the sizes of the males. I had more female than male orcs due to the hunched back but I never played a male blood elf past 5 or so just because I couldn't stand the way they jumped. Male draenei were also way too large for me and all my female ones were as much for the size as the /waggle. The platekini aspect of the heavy armor did not factor into this at all.
MsOtaku Posted February 28, 2017 Author Posted February 28, 2017 Nah, reading over it again I think I'm good, though really rambling and unfocused. As to the "play a guy or never play a guy" bit, I do play both depending on the game and what role play options there are, or what story based differences might exist, any benefits, etc. I think it was Oblivion (and other games I'm sure) that had attribute differences between male and female, which made females better for certain class types. Some single player games with romances (at least those not broken by mods) were only for one or the other so you had to play the game at least twice to see all of the options. Sometimes it just depends on how a character looks. One example from earlier in the thread... I liked the humans and night elves in World of Warcraft, and would play both orcs too, but tended to female trolls and tauren due to the sizes of the males. I had more female than male orcs due to the hunched back but I never played a male blood elf past 5 or so just because I couldn't stand the way they jumped. Male draenei were also way too large for me and all my female ones were as much for the size as the /waggle. The platekini aspect of the heavy armor did not factor into this at all. Wow...that brings back memories. Playing Oblivion and Morrowind un-modded, I always chose a male because for one, the females were fugly as hell. And two, they had weak carrying rates. Now on to WoW... I HATE humans in that MMORPG. I refuse to play one. I just hate how they look. First off I was and am always FOR THE HORDE!!! (I met Chris Metzen and was in an elevator with him in the hotel we were both staying at two years ago!!! And he did impersonations!!!) (One too many Blizzcon conventions) and I always played female Blood Elves. On the Alliance side, when I had to play that damn faction - horrible memories of Goldshire - I always picked the female Draenei. I don't care if their knees are backwards, they have tails and an amazing ass. The only male race I would play was either a Worgen or Tauren. Yes, my Tauren Druid Healer named, Buttercup. No one ever died while I was healing! Not to brag, but most all of my alts were healers and I was boss. And WTF, Blizzard!? No tails for werewolves???? UGH!!! Love this fan art: EDIT: I edited this one too many times....
MsOtaku Posted February 28, 2017 Author Posted February 28, 2017 I'm high as a kite on a windy day. Ignore my ramblings.
karlpaws Posted February 28, 2017 Posted February 28, 2017 I'd played both War 2 and 3 so I was at home with either faction. The humans were a bit more blocky visually and the female smaller shoulder pads yet larger weapons was an odd look. The female worgen was a giant debacle but I do like the looks. The male stealth anim is the best, and female blood elf second best. Besides their short size, the goblins I hate for their sneak animations. (on the subject of wolves, did you hear the song Ember Isolte did "Man I feel like a Worgen" ?) Since there was no role play based on gender I never picked anyone based on that. A few I did as eye candy but I played so many years and made so many alts that I have no real good idea what my ratio would be. Other examples I can think of are Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2. I tended to play males in that game to fully exploit the romances available. NWN1 in particular let you make the nearly last fight easier as a male by keeping a token from earlier in the game. I don't think that was an option for females. Deus Ex 2 let you change your skin color to 3 shades and pick male/female but it mattered nil and you only saw your reflection a couple times in mirrors. Eve lets you customize your looks a lot but then you never see yourself much so it really matters less than nil. Didn't play much Rift but you can change the usual things there. I don't remember if they had their own version of the slutmog or not since I never got that far to really have a choice in gear. I know I'm forgetting some, but that just leaves something for next time. (I need to get Dragon Age and a few other games I missed)
YLJH Posted March 1, 2017 Posted March 1, 2017 Whats odd Karlpaws, Is the general lack of physical data by some reputable statistics people in these kind of things. Ive heard that most gamers tend to be in their mid 20's to 40's , so the 40's to 50's thing to me sound wrong, but both of us are saying this on hearsay. Its odd how culturally out of the loop i am, purely out of choice really, especially to the last 3 or so parts of your post. Then again, i chose to be out of the tech loop in general because i saw a long time ago how it could become an addiction and extraordinarily stressful and distracting. I like being distracted at home by my computer games etc, but then, im in my own house, on my own time. Which to me is proper. I don't want to be connected 24/7. This is why i frequent forums and forum culture in general. Any The-Scholars people here?
karlpaws Posted March 1, 2017 Posted March 1, 2017 Whats odd Karlpaws, Is the general lack of physical data by some reputable statistics people in these kind of things. Ive heard that most gamers tend to be in their mid 20's to 40's , so the 40's to 50's thing to me sound wrong, but both of us are saying this on hearsay. Its odd how culturally out of the loop i am, purely out of choice really, especially to the last 3 or so parts of your post. Then again, i chose to be out of the tech loop in general because i saw a long time ago how it could become an addiction and extraordinarily stressful and distracting. I like being distracted at home by my computer games etc, but then, im in my own house, on my own time. Which to me is proper. I don't want to be connected 24/7. This is why i frequent forums and forum culture in general. Any The-Scholars people here? Deus Ex 1 and 2 are ancient by now, Rift is possibly 10 years old and Eve I think is 15. Not very large games though. Gamer age on the other hand can sound wrong if you are using the convention definition of "gamer". You think guys, from the 15-20 year old new gamers to the 40-50 year olds that started in the arcades with quarters, but the study I remember reading but don't remember where took all people that played any time of game on the computer. A lot of guys don't game or have dropped it as a hobby so their numbers might not be as high as you think, but a lot of housewives and retired women play simple, short games on computers and tablets now which throw off the "gamer" demographic. What I don't remember at all was whether "money spend on games" was at all a criteria. That would be where that stats people are and why there isn't as much around yet. A lot of industries have not woken up to the fact that a lot of money is spent on consumer electronics and gaming in particular (Samsung VR goggles or the Oculus, anyone?) while Hollywood spends a lot on lobbying for laws that keep their struggling business out of the tar pits by making the useful gadgets everyone likes a little less useful. I'm a little on the low end of the top age bracket but I'm never surprised to meet an older male playing games as I realize the arcades were where many of the first gamers got started. Just like war simulations led to the RPGs and then to CRPGs and MUDs and eventually MMOs, which now make companies like Blizzard billions. A long way from self cast and painted pewter figurines. That breadth and diversity of interest in a hobby that attracts quite a few DIY types means you'll have a lot of small groups making something to fill just about any niche or interest. One of the great blessings, and great curses of the internet: bringing people with like minded interests together, whether grannies sharing quilt designs or people with any and every nasty inclination sharing tips on how to escape detection while pursuing your illegal behaviour. On your last point.. anything that is enjoyable and allows you to escape or avoid something unpleasant can become addicting, I think. Some video games keep you on the "just one more" treadmill that casinos have employed for decades, but a good book has been doing the same for a few centuries. People have been putting off things for other things for a long time, but I'm not sure how often "addiction" is really the right word for what is happening. Part of being an adult is taking care of the things that you need to do before doing the things you want. I think its telling that I started seeing shirts for sale not long ago with themes of "I'm done adulting today" or "If you need me I'll be in my pillow fort coloring" Toys R Us and Peter Pan wanted us to keep the childlike wonder and ability to play but there was the expectation that we would return to our adult selves.
Guest Posted March 1, 2017 Posted March 1, 2017 I remember seeing the Cataclysm character alpha shots and thinking "if that's their answer to what lies behind the Greymane Wall I think I'm finally done". Blizzard used to be pretty good at delivering a pleasing brew of dark themes with Don Bluth/Dragons Lair sorta aesthetics but they seemed to be lurching ever further into outright Disney theme park territory (MoP - prosecution rests). After playing it for a bit I realised I just wasn't their intended audience any more. In Wow I had a pretty even mix of male and female characters on the go, mainly because there were some animation and aesthetic disparities across race and gender choices (NE males moved like hulking silverbacks, the females were genuinely graceful). I raided on RP servers, we only ever used TeamSpeak when were learning things. So most of the time I was well in character regardless of gender and could sell it to my fellows quite well. I even had the odd romance both as a female and a male (not the Goldshire sort though). Skyrim's a very different prospect right? It's offline so there are no house rules, no online community to fit in with. I'm modding the hell out of it, it's more mature and dark than it would be otherwise, and while sex isn't remotely a focus of my general gameplay, I like it to be always a possibility, and sometimes for some characters (vampires, spies) it's part of their arsenal . But I have found I'm just not at all keen on being a sexually conquering male, no matter how deep I dig I find it's just beyond me to roleplay effectively, so I end up feeling unattached, a voyeur. I don't want to be one of those, so that's basically why I hardly ever play as a male.
KoolHndLuke Posted March 2, 2017 Posted March 2, 2017 Well. I'll be honest. I don't like playing a male because they are usually pretty boring. I mean most guys are as dumb as a fucking box o rocks. They also are always trying to fuck each other over to gain something which makes them very predictable. Its almost always a power trip with them with a few notable exceptions. I'm not saying this is fact- I'm saying this is how I see it. Women on the other hand seem to be more free and easy, live and let live. Girls are usually not out to prove anything- to use a cliché; girls just want to have fun. This is why I like playing females. I mean besides the obvious reasons there is much about the female of the species to be admired. I think what it might come down to is how much of yourself you project onto your char. Though some people say that is a fuckin silly idea.
Darkpig Posted March 2, 2017 Posted March 2, 2017 ^For the longest time man has fucked everything up and women had no power over that. Now women have a turn to fuck everything up.
Codifer Posted March 6, 2017 Posted March 6, 2017 What a wonderful thread. My thanks to all of you. Codifer
MsOtaku Posted March 6, 2017 Author Posted March 6, 2017 Hey guys. I'm sorry for not replying lately to your posts and whatnot, real life has kept me super busy and I try to get some game time in the evening to unwind. I do log in here and see what's new and read new replies here when I can so please don't think I've forgotten about this thread or you. I miss getting into discussions with you all. I'll be out of town for a while, but when I get back I'll do my very best to continue our conversations. xoxo What a wonderful thread. My thanks to all of you. Codifer Thank you! That's very kind of you to say. Everyone here has had great things to share in regards to their choice of character sex and why they picked it.
深淵の神 Posted March 6, 2017 Posted March 6, 2017 I play both, I have a lot different profiles, some males and some females, but in skyrim for me it's like a really immersive experience so I enjoy more playing as male, it really makes me feel part of the story. Normally in an RPG I choose a female character because I like to see a pretty nice girl in front of me all the time, not because I feel like I'm one xD But in games like Skyrim, with this kind of immersion I enjoy much more the male character :^)
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