Gender Question/Poll

[Cloudbringer]

Thanks Bozo of Bones. [img]smile.gif[/img] I have had the discussion on a limited scale with my fiance and some friends who play D&D and it was something I really wanted to hear about from all of YOU folk as you play the games too.

I really was curious about the pattern as it does seem that more men play with female characters than women play male ones. I really can't say WHY that is, it just seems to be the pattern. HEHE...although the theory that it's to oggle the portraits of lovely ladies, MAY be the one I'm buying overall! LOL Well, I just can't believe you all want to nurture your 'feminine sides' or that most of you are pining to change gender or anything like that, so the portrait theory is in the lead until I get convinced otherwise! *giggle*

I know in games like BG2 that they have made the STATS the important choice and for all intents and purposes your char is really the STATS with a picture you choose so the gender isn't really important game-wise except for some minor side-quests involving the romances. Still, I found it interesting that many male players would primarily or frequently choose the female gender for their main char.

For those who played PnP with female characters, did your fellow players have a problem with it or just go along good naturedly, joking as you went along? Did any of you find that some players in your PnP game were really uncomfortable with the fact you played a woman in the game?

Some of you mentioned that when you play online, you sometimes get hit on when using a female character. Confession time fellas...how many of you led the other player(s) on or didn't say you were a guy right away when it became apparent you were being hit on? How many of you were grinning when you told the other player your rl gender? And how many told the other guy IMMEDIATELY and were flustered by it? Is your nick that you use on those board/hosts a readily identifiable one for gender?

[Bozos of Bones]

If i do use the female char as main it's because i like the voices. I prefer the female voices because they have a way of calming me. My parties are allways 50:50 and i am in no way discriminating...or at least i try not to be.I got hit on once by a guy who couldn't realize that my nick(I am Bozos of Bones in the RPG world because my name is[DO NOT LAUGH!] Božo (pronounced like Bojo, but softer, but in strategies and FPS's i am The_Regicide and i was using that nick at the time) was male. I led a female paladin(before the time i got so hooked up to necromancers) around Icewind Dale 2 and i let the guy's imagination roam free. I even changed all my spelling into the she part just to lead him on. Kinda Chaotic Neutral thing to do, i know, but i couldn't help it. After about two hours or so i told the poor wizard who i was and he said: "Ah.. Oh.. OK." and cast a sol's searing orb saying: "no hard feelings, just a small punishment." It didn't end how one would expect it, did it?

[Chewbacca]

Originally posted by Cloudbringer: For those who played PnP with female characters, did your fellow players have a problem with it or just go along good naturedly, joking as you went along? Did any of you find that some players in your PnP game were really uncomfortable with the fact you played a woman in the game?

I depends of the group really, though I have never been admonished for playing a female character I have had people ask "your playing a girl?"....though low and behold the next time new charcter generation came around some of those curious were rolling up females once they realized another creative aspect of the game opened up to them or that it might be fun to try a different/unusual gender role in the context of the game.

Some of you mentioned that when you play online, you sometimes get hit on when using a female character. Confession time fellas...how many of you led the other player(s) on or didn't say you were a guy right away when it became apparent you were being hit on? How many of you were grinning when you told the other player your rl gender? And how many told the other guy IMMEDIATELY and were flustered by it? Is your nick that you use on those board/hosts a readily identifiable one for gender?

Well, I have an obviously female sounding name in NWN...Dawn_Walker...
This is actually a spin of a title one of my male pnp characters earned on his many adventurers. His name with the title is: Omen Nightsword, Walker of the Dawn.
Of course he got the title from another character of mine...Omega Dawn ..a female who achieved dietyhood in a an old, long-lasting 1rst edition camaign over a decade ago. The dm made her a diety NPC and eventual Omen joined her order and recieved a title.

Anyway Ive yet to be hit on while playing a female character online in NWN. I just didnt think of the possibility until you mentioned it Cloudy. I would probby LMAO and inform them OOC that I enjoy roleplaying, just not that kinda of roleplaying.

[IAmThumper]

Thanks for those links Thoran.
I don't think we have gotten to the point of equal rights for women. If you look salaries and positions women still don't get paid the same and still don't get the top jobs. I think it's just going to take time. I feel like some feminists want to push and push no matter what it takes and it does more harm then good.
Of course I don't think we have equal rights for men either. Have you read about the fathers rights activists sending fake bombs to family courts and offices. That's not right either.
This whole world is sc&^%ed up! I envy people with radical views since there is only black and white for them. I'm stuck in the middle with more shades of grey then I can count. The next time anyone asks why I spend so much time in front of the computer I'm gonna tell them cuz I tired of counting the shades of grey!

[Cloudbringer]

Errm, Bozos of Bones, sol's searing orb ....a small thing? LOL OUCH! Although he seems to have taken it in stride other than that!

I dunno Chewie, dear....I'd fluff up that fancy outfit of Omega's and strut my stuff more if I were you...you're obviously not making her attractive enough! *snicker, snort, guffaw!" Just teasing!

Seriously, Nacht told me he got hit on by a guy in an email game who thought the player (Nacht) had to be female since his pc was! LOL Oopsie! Was surprised to find out otherwise and probably more than a bit embarrassed too, I'm sure. Which is one reason I brought that topic up!

Seemed odd that alot of guys play female pc's but some guys are shocked to see it's a guy playing one or hit on a player online, ASSUMING the player's female if they have a female pc. I just kind of figured if so many guys play women's roles, you'd expect guys to be verifying gender before making moves on other players! LOL

[Bozos of Bones]

He confused Nacht with female because of the pic!? Then his view on my gender would be . . . multisided dice? Is that the pic or have I just made myself a complete idiot?

[Donut]

Originally posted by Cloudbringer: I really was curious about the pattern as it does seem that more men play with female characters than women play male ones. I really can't say WHY that is, it just seems to be the pattern.

It's simple Cloudbringer. Men CAN play female characters because we understand women. Women can just NEVER understand the way a man thinks!

[Thoran]

Originally posted by IAmThumper: Thanks for those links Thoran. I don't think we have gotten to the point of equal rights for women. If you look salaries and positions women still don't get paid the same and still don't get the top jobs. I think it's just going to take time. I feel like some feminists want to push and push no matter what it takes and it does more harm then good. Of course I don't think we have equal rights for men either. Have you read about the fathers rights activists sending fake bombs to family courts and offices. That's not right either. This whole world is sc&^%ed up! I envy people with radical views since there is only black and white for them. I'm stuck in the middle with more shades of grey then I can count. The next time anyone asks why I spend so much time in front of the computer I'm gonna tell them cuz I tired of counting the shades of grey!

There's a LOT of research regarding salaries and the supposed wage gap. If the research isn't sponsored by NOW it invariably concludes that given a male and female, each with the same job and amount of experience, each working the same hours, the female tends to make slightly MORE than the male. The reason NOW statistics make it look so horrible for women is because they consider anyone working more than 25 hours per week to be "full time", and studies have established that women tend to choose part time work as a way of maintaining work/life balance (something I wish I could do ). Additionally, the professions women choose have in the past tended to be lower paid (they chose nurse and teacher instead of doctor, lawyer, engineer), this has changed but still skews the numbers. Feminism takes the great choices that many women have (to stay home with the kids as much as possible, or to enter a profession they love instead of one that will make the most money) and uses it to distort their research and claim that women are opressed... it's pure BS.

I too consider myself a moderate... but the actions of the NOW liberal left are so egregious that I just can't sit by and let it happen. The actions (or inactions) we take today have significant consequences in the long term. My boys are fighting their way through a educational system that has been stacked against them in the last 30 years of leftist feminist domination and conservative inaction. The statistics are frightening... by the time my youngest goes to college in 10 years, American campuses will be almost 70% female. The average 7th. grade boy is already over a YEAR behind the girls educationally. Instead of admitting that programs to assist girls have been at the expense of boys, feminist continue to claim that girls need MORE... it's always about MORE for them and damn the boys, they're abusers in training anyway. Boys are dropping out, failing out, getting into trouble, commiting suicide, and taking ridalin at multiples of the rates that girls are (it's even worse for minorities). Do you see these things covered in the liberal media? NO, do you see our liberal universities starting programs to correct the inequity? NO. It's up to people who are watching those being hurt by these problems to take a stand.

Anyway... all my stomping and fist pounding has broken my soapbox... so I'd better get down before I fall down [img]smile.gif[/img] .

As for the on topic part of the discussion... I agree with others that as far as gaming is concerned, games don't ever make a distinction between gender, so it's really a matter of making a character that has the attributes you want... then finding a picture you think is cool. Other than personal preference there's absolutely no reason to choose one or the other. If you want to explore all the dialog possibilities of a game you almost have to play twice these days, once with a male character and once with a female (and maybe even more if they have any race specific dialog).

I've never roleplayed a woman and got hit on, although I did once pretend to be the brother of this rich female friend once (she wanted me to help her escape some unwanted attention at a party, so I played the protective big brother) and got hit on a lot more once the girls thought I was wealthy. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Here's a question... when you roleplay a woman do you act DIFFERENTLY? I'd tend to think a woman who was an adventurer would have a lot in common with the guys, rough, tough, agressive. When I've roleplayed a female character I invariably act about the same... but with a falsetto voice [img]smile.gif[/img] . Typically we have a lot of fun with it (but our gaming isn't very serious). My wife usually chooses male character, and tends to prefer barbarians... she does a good job with the grunting and howling, but not so good with the deep voice part (she always breaks out laughing).

[ 08-26-2003, 09:19 AM: Message edited by: Thoran ]

[Cloudbringer]

Originally posted by Bozos of Bones: He confused Nacht with female because of the pic!? Then his view on my gender would be . . . multisided dice? Is that the pic or have I just made myself a complete idiot?

No, they were playing a game in email and Nacht was using a female pc (like in Paper and Pen games) so the other guy hit on Nacht the player (as opposed to his character) thinking Nacht must be a woman since he played one in the game! LOL


Donut- [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] You been sniffing old socks again, dearest pastry of my mornings? Me, I think you guys just like looking at all that cleavage when you click on your pc to do anything in the game.

Thoran, I'm told that some games, like Arcanum do play differently depending on the gender you choose for the main pc. Nacht mentioned a game he played that had different ways of accomplishing one's tasks depending on the gender of the pc and different reactions by the various townspeople.

[Bungleau]

Originally posted by Thoran: I've never roleplayed a woman and got hit on, although I did once pretend to be the brother of this rich female friend once (she wanted me to help her escape some unwanted attention at a party, so I played the protective big brother) and got hit on a lot more once the girls thought I was wealthy. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Reminds me of a time that I visited a friend at work, and she informed me that I was her husband, at least for the day.

See, she was an exotic dancer, and had a customer that was trying to push the limits. To calm him down, she said, "I'm married, and my husband is right over there... [img]smile.gif[/img]

Now *THAT* can put some of those Hollywood marriages to shame [img]smile.gif[/img] Hi and bye in less than an hour.