I hardly play MMOs, but if I do ever get back into Guild War, I assume I would probably select a female character as my avatar. Probably the same with SecondLife, WoW and Phantasy Star Online. Again if I ever bother with MMOs (which I haven't yet, thankfully). But as far as single player games go, I almost always choose to play a female character if given the choice (which is probably why it was easy for me to create a list of female gaming characters I like)Firstly I just hate stereotypical aggressive male character design, though I love to play the stereotypical sexy female character design. If I have no choice I rather play as an effeminate male character than a butch one.
Female video game characters just happens to be a whole lot more interesting than males. If designers put more effort into designing interesting male characters than the usual tough looking guy, then maybe yeah. Anyway it isn't wrong or anything. I am after all just role-playing.
Then there is the benefit to picking female characters, especially in role-playing games. Their stats suits my style. If I want to train up as a mage I rather have a female than a weird looking Arnie styled dude. Female characters also tend to have better agility, which suits my game style even more.
Personally I rather look at a shapely female model than an ugly male model with fugly textures.
Also Jenni loves to play as the stereotypical aggressive male. So it goes both ways. What I find shocking though is judging by the level of comments at Kotaku, it seems that many male gamers also prefer to play as a female especially in MMORPGs. I have always thought it was just me.
So what about you? Do you role-play as a character from the opposite sex if given the choice?
5 comments:
The X360 games library is full of "tough-guy-muscles-for-hire" esque characters, and Gears of War recently is certainly an example of that. By contrast though, one of the other Xbox flagship series, Dead Or Alive, has the complete opposite with characters who are peaceful, relaxed, and well, just pleasant in general.
The Sims is an example where neither genre has the upper edge, because the attributes of the avatar will nearly always be the same, and that's the case in a lot of games where customised players are allowed.
My point is, maybe if the characters' stats were a lot more balanced to begin with, maybe we wouldn't feel as uncomfortable in picking that opposite sex character? Maybe it would just be more honest instead of as an attempt to improve your game?
I admit to playing a female character in The Sims but due to me being uncomfortable of guiding a male character in doing his business! But good point on balancing the stats.
Gears of War is a good example. Somehow the bulky physicality of most of the characters doesn't seem to fit in with the agility that they happen to display. It looks weird.
A Solid Snake esque chaarcter design is almost balanced. He has good physical built that isn't exaggerated in every way.
Merry Christmas and happy new year!
Happy belated Xmas and a Happy New Year too.
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