Gender Question/Poll

[Donut]

Originally posted by Luvian: quote: Originally posted by Donut: I always play a female character - I don't really know why! Some distant, latent need to be fulfilled I suppose. It's over 25 years since my operation but I'm still somewhat confused genderwise. In RL I prefer being male but I miss how easy it was to get sex as a woman.

Humm... are you serious? [/QUOTE]Absolutely, it was REALLY easy!

[Xen]

Originally posted by Luvian: quote: Originally posted by Xen: I always play Male. PnP or BG series. Oh I suppose it doesn`t matter if you are a Dwarf in BG becuase Female and Male are exactely the same. quote: It can be creepy, too. There's that guy I "know" who is a big Vampire: The Masquerade fan, and I'm sure he think he is really his character, you should see the way he act in real life, and he is always mumbling too, which make him look even more psycho. I was suposed to join his group once, but when I found out how he acted in real life, I changed my mind. I realy don't want to see how they play.

That is creepy. How does he act in a real life,Luvian? [/QUOTE]Like he think a Vampire would act I guess. It's hard to describe.

Edit: Basically he's staying in character even in real life. I don't know what he's mumbling, I don't think I want to know, either. [/QUOTE]Hmm...good that i don`t know this guy...

[The Hierophant]

For all the political correctness that has been hammered into me by my mother, sisters and female teachers, I still cannot shake the mindset gained from real-life experience that males are simply stronger than females. Thus, I take males along in my roleplaying groups. I like to get the job done, quickly and without fuss. whether it be conquest, murder, thievery or whatever. However, if a computer-generated female NPC fits the requirements of my group (such as Viconia in BG2) I'll take her along. There arn't many of these females though... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Stratos]

I play males about 2/3 of the times and I really only play women if it changes the game somehow; if the only difference is that people adress you as Miss instead of Sir I don't bother playing females. Unfortunately, quite often changes in a game when playing a female instead of a male only consists of things like being able to have sex to get some information or similar.

Do I roleplay females when playing them? Well considering I have no idea how women think (I believe they think, I just don't know how ) I probably don't roleplay them well.

Why do I even play them at all? To put it simply: I just love women, and besides their pictures are cooler.

[Legolas]

I think that about 25% of the crpg characters I play is female. I play male characters because I am, because I know how male characters react on a basic level and therefore don't have to think too hard on what I am saying, and because I can think of no reason not to.
Although I play them with all sorts of races, classes and personalities, the latter are rarely extreme, since I find it hard to abandon my knowledge on basic male behavious (although scratching ones behind, drinking tons of ale and flirting with the opposite sex do go with just about anything). The personalities of my male characters are roughly divided into race and good/evil. I play an evil dwarf differently from an evil gnome, and evil dwarves aren't the same as good dwarves either. Aside from that, I view their class as a means to accomplish their goals, which also allows for some variations. Although a NG elven cleric will behave much the same as a NG elven wizard.
When playing female characters, there are several things I see are different (aside from any modules). First, the reactions from male characters. They tend to be kinder and more patient. Not that it would have been bad to have to play a male character, but there is definately a difference. I know I myself treat both genders differently as well when playing. Apart from that, I find it easier to play each female as having a unique personality. Since I haven't as much to go by, I find I'm better able to concentrate on a specific stereotype or single defining characteristic. My female characters also tend to sit around more, either talking or doing nothing at all. That, and I use more emotes.
Overall, I think playing female characters is 'cleaner', as they don't carry the luggage I, being male, would place on their male counterparts. I also find being able to explore character traits all the way is more enjoyable.
Yet I do mostly play male characters, as they are more familliar and let me explore the more subtle differences in character personalities. Male characters are easier to play, but harder to roleplay in my experience.

[Cloudbringer]

Well, this really is an interesting topic! [img]smile.gif[/img]

I don't really know why I always go for the female pc, other than it just seems 'right' given my own gender. Like Lady Blue, I do have mixed parties when I make up all of the characters in games like Icewind Dale. 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. That said, I did reverse the genders on my usual choices recently in an IWD2 game, but that was because I patterned all the characters on the usual pc of some friends and thus my Paly was a woman and the mage a man. ROTFL! But in honor of Donut-the-mixed-up, my cleric was a male voice and female portrait....hehe....

When a friend from these boards told me he'd created a Cloudbringer pc in his BG2 I laughed, thinking he was joking. Ok, gotta admit, my first thought was "You what? Um....should I be flattered or is there something you aren't telling me?!"

Then I realized from discussions with him that he often plays female pc's in crpgs AND PnP. His initial reason for playing females in his PnP group was the same as InsaneBane suggested...he wanted to mess with his burly buddies and see how they'd react to him being 'female' in the game! LOL But now he does it about half or more of the time, still getting a good reaction from the guys, I guess! That and he told me that it made sense to have one of them play a female role since they'd always have only male charcters to interact with if nobody did.
I guess I can see that point in his case as his group is all guys but it seems to me that alot more women are playing the crpg's these days and I'd probably guess they are doing PnP more too. So anyone want to hazard a guess why the ladies aren't taking on male characters more often? Or at least as often as the men are strapping on swords over their chain mail skirts?

This has been a topic I think on once in a while and after playing NWN on the Undermountain module the other night and finding that fully half the 'ladies' in our party were male players, I started thinking about it again and figured I'd put the discussion up for everyone. I really appreciate your responses!


Hey Wolfie, no worries, I know too many guys playing females to have the nice men in white coats after you, dear! They'd be way too busy if that was a reason to call them! [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] But I find it interesting that you say you don't 'roleplay' the ladies in your PnP games because you don't know how women think! Nacht says he has played a female char convincingly enough in PBeM games to be taken for a female player. Now I don't know if it's just because the guys playing with him ASSUME any female char is played by a woman or perhaps they don't know how women think, either and assume the pc is doing what a woman would do and the player is female or maybe my Nacht is right and he plays one well! LOL But then he's always telling me he'll never figure out how I think and it must be a 'female thing' when he can't! LOL

Well coming late tot he discussion but.....
My answer is: It depends on my mood and what type of Character I want to create.
I play both male and female, though I have to say...I probably do not role play the gender. Some times I just do it for the graphics [img]smile.gif[/img] wooohooo for coconuts

Many of my CRPG characters are taken from the PnP games I used to play. So I just translate them over. It is worth mentioning my PnP female characters all started out as males....but I ran into a couple of DM's who loved gender reversal items and curses....

[Timber Loftis]

I play males only most always. I guess my mental approach with rpgs and crpgs is that I'm creating an ideal, or alternative, version of me. [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img] So, that ideal version is most always male. 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]

[Cloudbringer]

Alot of people have said that female pc's get treated differently. Do you mean by npc's in a crpg or is that also something you find player to player in multiplay games or PnP? LOL, I can just see the CRPG multiplay world overwhelmed by female characters because everyone thinks they get a better/easier deal?! [img]graemlins/laugh3.gif[/img]


Now I just realized I missed a good question!

Originally posted by Aelia Jusa: When you get to make your own group, I usually choose a mix of characters, but with the 'main' person (like the one who talks to NPCs) as a female. I have sometimes made an all female party, but never an all male group. In that case mostly because I think picturing a group of guys going about adventuring would be so boring - they'd all grunt at each other and try and pick up tavern wenches and that'd be it! [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img] With a mixed group you have all the sexual tension, and party members getting together... lol basically my games are just big romance novels with stats [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

How many of you who play female pc's in PnP games have had that character involved with other player characters in romances? Was it easy, awkward, outright weird, or no big deal?

(PS: Aelia, I play more like you do with choices for parties in IWD!)

[mistral4543]

I usually play a female character, both in computer games and PnP. Somehow, I don't think I can sustain a male outlook (not that I even know how males are "supposed" to be like ) for long, and generally, it's just fun exploring the different sides of myself.

During the few PnP games I have played, I have most enjoyed being an elvish female bard. There was this crazy scene when the 3 PCs (inclusive of my bard) were in an eerie forest hunting for the undead. Between the 2 other males, the elven ranger was studiously examining the ground for tracks and the half-orc barbarian was jumping up and down (he informed us that he would soon be jumping from tree to tree once he had placed enough ranks in this skill [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). And my bard was eagerly strumming her harp in an effort to calm her companions

In another game, my solemn gnomish monk started swinging her fists at the monsters but due to an incredibly turn of bad luck, missed on every throw but her reflex saves