Gender Question/Poll

[Cloudbringer]

Ok, the poll setup has me stymied and I decided I want to hear your answers rather than try and come up with all the possible answers for the poll (since I wouldn't be asking this question if I KNEW all the answers to it! LOL) so here we go:

Ok, this topic's come up for me before and I'm curious, so answer if you would:

In roleplay games either pen and paper, online or computer games, do you play male or female characters? What's your own gender (ok so we can't always guess with a nickname! )

If only one main character is it male or female (like NWN or BG2 etc) and why (if you don't know and always choose one or the other that's fine too)?

Do you alternate or always play one gender in games?

If you play a character opposite your own gender, was there a special reason for doing it or trying it out (ie: the game has different paths depending on it or you just had to try a 'romance mod' or somesuch?)?


I know many guys who play female characters and a few who seem to play them exclusively or most often. But I have never done that (made a male pc for the game)in a game where 'you' are the pc (only in multi character games like Icewind Dale) so I really would like to hear about your play choices and reasons.

[ 08-20-2003, 10:17 PM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

[Luvian]

I almost always play female, only playing as male every once in a while to see what's different. Like in Fallout and Arcanum. I think I played male twice in fallout, and never in Arcanum.

Except when I play in multiplayer, as it confuse other people.

[Cloudbringer]

So is there some reason you do that, Luvian? I mean why do you choose female pc's most of the time?

[Gangrell]

It alternates for me, if it's the good pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons, then I prefer to play the male character because in that your options of roleplaying are much broader, that and I am a guy [img]tongue.gif[/img]

In Pc/Console games, I play the guy most often because I like to see the characters from my story in action, but I enjoy playing the female Pc more. I couldn't really tell you the reason why Cloudy, could be because it shows that women can be hard-core in D&D, I don't know [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Edit: Spelling

[ 08-20-2003, 10:12 PM: Message edited by: Gangrell ]

[SecretMaster]

Me, I play Male characters, even my sis. I don't know why, I see females as wizards and rogues, and priests, and monks, not a paladin.

[Luvian]

I like to say it's because it help remind me not to think as if the character was me, so it's easier to roleplay a different personality, but I think it's because it's fun to be able to make a character of the opposite gender do what I want.

[ 08-20-2003, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: Luvian ]

[Lord Lothar]

I'm a male but I play both genders. Picking a male is easier to role paly but I play females because it adds a different twist on role playing for me.

[Cloudbringer]

LOL! Thanks for the answer, Gangrell! I really got interested in this after several male friends and my fiance all told me they play female pc's and I was surprised to hear that as it never occured to me to play a male in the one crpg I had going (BG2) where you 'are' the main character.

I haven't heard any women players say they play predominately male pc's or even half and half, so I opened this up to get a discussion going and learn more about my fellow players (of either gender! ).

Luvian...LOL, now that's an honest answer if ever I heard one!

Um, SecretMaster, I think you lost me with the 'sis' part. Do you play your sister's char as male...or does she play male characters or...?

[GokuZool]

If you've haven't guessed or ready, I'm male I play both genders, as it's cool to see the story play out in a different way. I can't say no to a woman weilding two swords!

[Arledrian]

I can't understand why people would want to play their opposite gender when it comes to roleplaying, except for the odd once or twice out of curiosity. It's moulding my character into me that I enjoy most in CRPGS!

I'm actually quite thorough in this - I often roll ability scores to match how I think I'd personally measure up had I been born in Fae'run or Krynn, or what have you. I also go to the trouble of giving my character dark blond hair, and beige, white, blue or black clothes - the colours I like to wear myself. Also, I use my own photos as character portraits. I even think along the lines of "well let's see, I'm a big guy in real life, and I study geography and love nature in general, so I think I should play a ranger" - so that I even personalize my choice of class. My character is always called 'Alexander' as well [img]smile.gif[/img]

I suppose there are a lot of elements that come into this - perhaps insecurity, in that some people prefer not to play themselves because they aren't happy with who they are, but also there's the aspect of escapism - the fact that some people just want to break free and be a radically different person for a little while, if only in a video game.

Interesting topic, Cloudy [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 08-20-2003, 10:57 PM: Message edited by: Arledrian ]