Gender Question/Poll

[Sakuri23]

My parties are usually half and half.. I kind of base each person that I make on a character I read about in a book (Dragonlance:Chronicles)... I don't really think about the gender that much.. Sakuri

[antryg]

I'm male and usually play a male in games on pc. On console games I'm much more likely to play a female character. That's usually because the female characters look much prettier and I'd rather look at them.
I'd did play BG2 all the way through with a female thief named Kat just so I could do the Anomen romance and annoy Kaltia. (It worked very well.)

[Aelia Jusa]

Originally posted by Cloudbringer: And at risk of falling out of PC and into stereotypes, I usually make my Paly, Ranger, or fighter a male while the mage, bard and cleric are almost exclusively female. I've used male and female rogues and a male bard was the first bard I used, but once I decided I liked the class enough to use it in BG2 and NWN my bards have all been female.

I have to say, I've never really associated one gender with any sort of class. In my IWD groups I always have at least one of the fighter types female, and at least one of the less-tough classes male. I've also played nearly all classes for main characters in BG-type games, which were mostly all female, except the couple of males (and one of the males I played a mage-thief). The classes just don't seem to be gender-specific to me, especially since there are always a range of portraits including armoured/roguelike/magic-centred for both genders. Also perhaps the introduction to rpg-type games I had through Ultima 7 may have influenced my perspective; I always played a female for that, which was primarily a fighter-type.

[Gabrielles blades]

oo looks like i didnt peek at this topic soon enough after my post;
hrm anyhow in responce...

Roleplaying female character is a lot easier for me because of my biases/prejudices of women/men.
For example, it is far easier to think of a female as having empathy, compassion, good-nature, a little naivete than for me to roleplay as a guy with those traits.

I myself irl am probably a typical male in personality, so i like to try to mimic what i think females are like in a character since its what id rather be like irl but dont have the genetic makeup or environmental upbringing to bring about those types of personality traits.

My favorite character type is a female rogue or bard because i like to play as a sly/underhanded/deceptive/mysterious person who is also in general a very nice person whod give money to beggers, fetch the sherry for the spiced potatoes, and be a goody-two shoes who makes it her business to be as meddlesome as a harper. a guy to me just wouldnt do that sort of thing.

and i agree with what luvian says about online help partially; EQ is a bit of a different atmosphere for example and peoples greed and selfishness generaly work to make it more likely that only a couple men would be affected by that help the woman syndrome, but it is still better than a guys asking for help.

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by Aelia Jusa: I have to say, I've never really associated one gender with any sort of class. In my IWD groups I always have at least one of the fighter types female, and at least one of the less-tough classes male. I've also played nearly all classes for main characters in BG-type games, which were mostly all female, except the couple of males (and one of the males I played a mage-thief). The classes just don't seem to be gender-specific to me, especially since there are always a range of portraits including armoured/roguelike/magic-centred for both genders. Also perhaps the introduction to rpg-type games I had through Ultima 7 may have influenced my perspective; I always played a female for that, which was primarily a fighter-type.

Yeah, but I always give my fighter's 18 str (might as well, seeing as it's their primary attribute). Now, I assume that 18 str denotes Schwarzenegger/Hulk Hogan-like muscles. Now, in day to day life I've seen this sort of strength in mnay males, but never in any females. I think a bit of realism is necessary if one is to roleplay properly. Of course, you could always give your female fighters lower str, but that would limit their effectivness. I'm not trying to be sexist, just realistic. Conversely, I usually give my female characters higher wisdom and charisma than the males, as I often notice higher degrees in these attributes in females in day-to-day life.

[Luvian]

Originally posted by The Hierophant: Yeah, but I always give my fighter's 18 str (might as well, seeing as it's their primary attribute). Now, I assume that 18 str denotes Schwarzenegger/Hulk Hogan-like muscles. Now, in day to day life I've seen this sort of strength in mnay males, but never in any females. I think a bit of realism is necessary if one is to roleplay properly. Of course, you could always give your female fighters lower str, but that would limit their effectivness. I'm not trying to be sexist, just realistic. Conversely, I usually give my female characters higher wisdom and charisma than the males, as I often notice higher degrees in these attributes in females in day-to-day life.

Well.. that IS sexist. I've seen woman with more muscle than Schwarzeneger when he was at his peak.

[Thoran]

Originally posted by Luvian: Well.. that IS sexist. I've seen woman with more muscle than Schwarzeneger when he was at his peak. [/QB]

I'd love to see a picture of that, I think now that Arnie is past his prime people are forgetting just how big he really was... I've watched a lot of top female bodybuilding competitions, and he was on average almost twice the weight of the women in competition today.

Arnold at his peak.
235 lbs, 57in chest, 31in waist, 22in biceps, and 28in thighs suspended on a 6ft2in frame

Juliette Bergmann (2001 Ms. Olimpia)
119 lbs, 38in chest, 23in waist, 15in bicepts, 23in thighs.

Even Lenda Murray, who is huge in female bodybuilding ('02 Ms. Olympia) weighs in at 145. Contrast that with '02 Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman at 257.

I don't think it's sexist at all to say that men are bigger and stronger on average than women, it's a simple fact. It isn't in the least degrading to the accomplishments of Murray and Bergmann, who are great bodybuilders by any standard.

When I play human characters I try to be realistic...
-if I'm playing a fighter, ranger or paladin it's a male,
-thief/rogue it could be male or female
-sorcerer/wizard is either male or female
-clerics tend to be male (because there is a martial aspect to the cleric role) but I do play female clerics on occasion too.

Once you throw in other races it depends on the race... I think D&D Half-Orc and Dwarf females would make great fighters, and I don't think either of the elf or gnome genders would.

[ 08-22-2003, 08:49 AM: Message edited by: Thoran ]

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by Thoran: I don't think it's sexist at all to say that men are bigger and stronger on average than women, it's a simple fact. It isn't in the least degrading to the accomplishments of Murray and Bergmann, who are great bodybuilders by any standard. When I play human characters I try to be realistic... -if I'm playing a fighter, ranger or paladin it's a male, -thief/rogue it could be male or female -sorcerer/wizard is either male or female -clerics tend to be male (because there is a martial aspect to the cleric role) but I do play female clerics on occasion too. Once you throw in other races it depends on the race... I think D&D Half-Orc and Dwarf females would make great fighters, and I don't think either of the elf or gnome genders would.

Wow, I agree with absolutely everything you said. Both the things about real life muscles, and DnD race/class. Nice

[Attalus]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: I like female npcs though, and in BG2 there are great female npcs, so you can surround yourself with your very own harem -- which fits the character of Amn so well. [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]

Yeah, in BG2. I always have a male Bhaalspawn and Imoen, Viconia, Nalia, and Jaheira.

[Aelia Jusa]

Originally posted by The Hierophant: Yeah, but I always give my fighter's 18 str (might as well, seeing as it's their primary attribute). Now, I assume that 18 str denotes Schwarzenegger/Hulk Hogan-like muscles. Now, in day to day life I've seen this sort of strength in mnay males, but never in any females. I think a bit of realism is necessary if one is to roleplay properly. Of course, you could always give your female fighters lower str, but that would limit their effectivness. I'm not trying to be sexist, just realistic. Conversely, I usually give my female characters higher wisdom and charisma than the males, as I often notice higher degrees in these attributes in females in day-to-day life.

Of course I'm sure you realise that your 'noticing' higher wisdom/charisma is women is probably not proof that they actually ARE more wise or charismatic, but that you are male and are differentially affected by male and female charisma

I do of course admit that men are biologically built to be stronger than women, and while some women will be stronger than some men, on average men are stronger than women, and have the potential to be stronger. However in fantasy games I really don't care about that . Especially in 2nd edition, where no matter how much adventuring you do, how much wielding of your heavy axe or sword, you NEVER get any stronger except by magical means, I see all the stats as something more intrinsic to the person, not as reflective of practice or experience or how many bench presses you do, or indeed, your sex. The fact is, there is no difference to how strong you can make your female character compared to a man, so any limiting you do is YOUR preference, not something that is meant to occur. So for me, men and women can be equally strong. And just so my female fighters aren't really unattractive body-builder types, their high strength doesn't necessarily result in huge muscles and thick necks in my mind