Gender you play as most?

[MARS]

Wow, I somehow never posted in this thread.

Both, I have no trouble roleplaying as either gender.

[CreeperX]

[...]And kick ass female leads in fantasy stories seem to come at a cost of "look, she's wielding a blade so she must be strong. And sexy."

My Skyrim characters all have quirky personalities and jacked up problems. I think fantasy genre and video games in general could use more females in starring roles. Skyrim lets me do that.

Indeed. Plus any female character's role often seems to be just focused on her gender. If there's a female in a male dominated story (which fantasy tends to be), she's usually destined to be someone's love interest. Kind of annoying how often the focus seems to be on some obligatory romance and not on her as a person who has an important, active part in defeating the evil force or whatever the actual story is about. How many times have I seen a story where it reflects on how someone's finding her attractive (because "strong and sexy") and falling in love with her, not on what she has actually done to help their cause. Of course, you can be both important and interesting and also someone's love interest but I'm rather tired how almost every time an attractive female character (who's not a villain) makes an appearance, I know she has to be part of some romance sub plot.


Anyways, already answered the topic in the past. A female who plays both genders but mostly goes with males. Reasons/preferences already stated. One very usual trait is that I often automatically tend to avoid stereotypes. None of my male Dragonborns are like that poster boy Nord. No heroic muscular human warrios. The only one who completed the main quest is an altmer mage donning Thalmor robes. Then there's also a thiefing bosmer who acts like a hero when he feels like it, a dunmer who doesn't know what the heck he's doing and a vampire who's too busy being stupid and playing a father to kids whose parents he killed. The only nord warrior I have is a female. The other nord used archery and magic but is now pretty dead since he was a DiD character.

[...]Skyrim lets us have whoever and whatever we want in the lead. Women, priests, antiheroes, killers, mercenaries, etc. Things you wouldn't normally see as the starring role in a fantasy (or most things, really) -- one of the reasons Skyrim is so great.

This.

[OblivionDuruza]

I always have a problem with this kind of rationalization. This isn't necessarily at only you, VelothiConservative, just in general:
You can't sympathize with or understand a female character? I mean, if you need to be tied to your character, I hope you're not making any Argonians or Elves, or Dark Brotherhood, Daedric quest-doing or Thieves Guild characters. Just a pet peeve of mine. . . I can have fun with most any kind of character I create -- some are more like me than others, admittedly, but I've never made a character simply to be "tied to" them.

I have no problems with those who just play male characters or just female ones, but when you have to explain it in ways like "I'm a male so I play males" (not you, but others have said things along these lines), I just find it kind of strange. Some people don't seem to understand that they're just characters. I know a lot of people don't play the games for roleplaying aspects, but still. . . they're characters. You don't necessarily have to agree with their actions to enjoy playing them, right? So why do you need them to look like you? And people who say that they won't play characters that are different than you (lol, this is what it boils down to), can you not read books with female protagonists (or any protagonist that is at all different than you)? I just don't get it.

Again, I have no issue with how any one person plays the game. . . if you don't roleplay at all and just go with the default Nord and play every quest, that's fine. Not how I do things, but fine. I don't care if you do roleplay, either somewhat or a lot, and only play as females, or Argonians, or priests of Namira -- but don't say you can't "relate" to other characters, as if there is something wrong with those who can. I know, this isn't always the intention, but some people say it like that. I think you should be able to relate to other types of characters. . . if it is just a preference or that you can relate more to those who are more like you (I definitely understand that haha), that's fine. Just. . the way you word things can change their meaning, lol.

That all said, the games presents us with a fair amount of information about the different personalities and characteristics of in-game races and factions, such that it's not incredibly difficult to develop an understanding of the hypothetical internal motivations and attitudes of any given race or other otherwise fictional entity.

For plenty of people appreciating the more fantastical elements of the game is still more natural than trying to put yourself in the shoes of a person of the opposite gender, because while there's absolutely no chance of coming across an Elf or Lizardman in real life, there is a level of real associated with gender as it is presented in the TES series that makes the decision stand apart from others. Think of it less as if its purely "I'm male so I play males" and more of, "I'm not female and I have a finite idea about what female is, so I can't access female in the same way I can Elf or Argonian."

[Dohva.]

^^Well said, Duruza. I don't think many (or any) of us can identify with being a lizard, but with gender its a different tale.

Creeper, YES they are always someone's love interest. That gets on my nerves as well. I flip it in Skyrim. The dudes are the love interest.

[Witchery]

That all said, the games presents us with a fair amount of information about the different personalities and characteristics of in-game races and factions, such that it's not incredibly difficult to develop an understanding of the hypothetical internal motivations and attitudes of any given race or other otherwise fictional entity.

For plenty of people appreciating the more fantastical elements of the game is still more natural than trying to put yourself in the shoes of a person of the opposite gender, because while there's absolutely no chance of coming across an Elf or Lizardman in real life, there is a level of real associated with gender as it is presented in the TES series that makes the decision stand apart from others. Think of it less as if its purely "I'm male so I play males" and more of, "I'm not female and I have a finite idea about what female is, so I can't access female in the same way I can Elf or Argonian."

I'm sorry, this doesn't do it for me. If you can put yourself in the shoes of a completely fictional entity, I would think it would actually be easier to access something that you regularly encounter in the real world. Or are women actually that foreign to some guys? You don't have to understand women, but relating to them on the level that they're people facing problems should be enough to enjoy a story featuring a female protagonist -- or just to put yourself in that person's shoes. I mean, if you can do it with an Argonian or Khajiit. . . though I'm not saying everyone should play as something they simply don't want to play as, but they should at least admit they're not doing it because they can't emotionally but because they don't want to. (there's nothing wrong with that, haha.)

Also, if this is the case, then certainly playing as a female elf or Argonian wouldn't be strange at all. They're completely fictional entities and you have absolutely no chance of meeting one in real life, just like their male counterparts.

Again, you have every right to enjoy only male protagonists, female protagonists, or protagonists with fur and claws. I'm just someone who doesn't care about what the character is. . . just about who they are. Even if I completely disagree with everything they stand for, I can still enjoy a well-written character -- the character does not have to be someone I can easily relate to based on things like gender, age, race, social status, etc. for me to understand -- or at least try to understand -- them.

[ElderSkillz]

Lol, I like the poster boy for Skyrim. I was considering making an iron-clad character faithful to him in every way. Iron armor kind of blows so it's kept me from doing it. I still might though. It will just mean I probably won't have 60 health potions and 100 stamina potions like I usually do.

[Zephyr]

Think of it less as if its purely "I'm male so I play males" and more of, "I'm not female and I have a finite idea about what female is, so I can't access female in the same way I can Elf or Argonian."

This is a good point, that some people may feel more comfortable playing as another race than as the opposite human gender. I think, though, that that's easier to do when not roleplaying, and this is along the lines of what Witchery said. If I want to roleplay as a male of an elven or beast race, I need to learn about that race's history and culture. But to roleplay as a human female, I can draw more heavily from real-life experience as well as from female characters I like in other stories.

[Mickey]

I play male characters because I am a male.
This has NOTHING to do with any inability to appreciate a female character, in fact it is because I recognize that my insight into a female character is limited. It is very easy to appreciate a strong heroine in other media because someone better than me writes it. I cringe at the 1 dimensional role women get in alot of fiction, and feel it's better to appreciate the few female characters done really well by skilled authors, than to contribute yet another poor representation.

[ElderSkillz]

I play male characters because I am a male.
This has NOTHING to do my inability to appreciate a female character, in fact it is because I recognize that my insight into a female character is limited. It is very easy to appreciate a strong heroine in other media because someone better than me writes it. I cringe at the 1 dimensional role women get in alot of fiction, and feel it's better to appreciate the few female characters done really well by skilled authors, than to contribute yet another poor representation.

I mostly agree with this post. As far as speaking for myself goes. I "choose" not to role play as a woman because I simply don't want to. Women aren't so different that I don't understand them. I feel I understand them well. (Most of the time... ) I play as a male to emulate myself in a fantasy setting. I kind of feel like we're starting to over analyze this, but only because we're passionate about the topic. I'm glad I stirred up good meaningful conversation in any case. It's been enlightening for me.

[Gbaji]

I'm male, and I suspect it would be germane to note that I identify as straight.

I've been RPing long enough that my formative experiences with coming up with character conceptions involved sitting around a table with a half-dozen adolescent-ish guys, fiddling with dice and graph paper. It didn't take long for most of us to grow bored of stereotypical burly warriors, sneaky thieves, and clever mages. "Subversive" types such as orc bards, agoraphobic rangers, and halfling paladins became the norm.

Of course, playing a female character was always an easy way to be subversive, even if zero effort was made at genuinely role-playing the female experience. And there was always one guy who thought it would be high-larious to try to sleep with all the male characters. Very occasionally we could summon the maturity for an interesting session, but usually it was just embarrassing.

Now that I'm RPing solo in the privacy of my own study, the fraction of modding energy devoted to "improving" female characters provides another reason not to be That Guy. My character-creation reflexes have come full-circle, and now I find the challenge/enjoyment coming from making fairly stereotypical characters and putting just the finest variations on them, so that what starts out as subtle evolves into someone who, while I might not relate to them, I can still understand them.

My first Skyrim character was a male Nord warrior, just like on the box, and he married the hardiest Nord woman he met. He did his duty, kept his honor, and remembered where he came from. My second character was a little male Breton mage with a big chip on his shoulder. His cynicism only increased as he mastered the College of Winterhold and prosecuted the Civil War, but his last illusion remained the love he had for a simple Nord woman in Whiterun.

When it came time to embrace an evil character, I had already met Vex and Astrid in other capacities, and I knew that to surpass them my thief/assassin had to be female. When I first heard about Karliah, I thought I might have found a sister, but she was oh so disappointing. The coolest assassin armor mod just so happened to be fairly skintight, and when I found myself in 3rd-person mode more often than with previous characters, I decided I had to craft the matching cape.

Last I checked, I was not a homicidal cannibal, so my capacity for relating to my character is limited, but I enjoy it nonetheless. I know she wouldn't set foot in the Temple of Mara when not on a contract, so she's not getting married. She had a "youthful experiment" with Ingun Black-Briar, but when she's feeling lonely these days, she just calls both the Dark Brotherhood Initiates into her room and locks the door, although she can't do anything about Babette listening at the keyhole.

[rcbecker123]

Patience with the character creation screens, young grasshoppas.

I always play a male, although I am a female. I may sometimes have an alt who is a female, but my main player character is a male, always. It's actually a habit I picked up from online gaming, because females are stupidly singled out and harassed, so I just started to play as a male, and got stuck in the habit. Plus, I'm already a female in real life...so I like to escape from my own skin once in a while.

I agree thats the point of RPG's is you can be something your not. A hot babe in cool looking armor or the big muscled man which I have failed to achieve in real life. Or as others sometimes say, the very slick cat person who can sneak with the best of them.
As an old school role player I can play either sex with an equal amount of enjoyment. There is one benefit I find, when I play a female. She gets to be that total bad a** chick who looks great and gets to kick butt.

[tatortodd22]

Skyrim lets us have whoever and whatever we want in the lead. Women, priests, antiheroes, killers, mercenaries, etc. Things you wouldn't normally see as the starring role in a fantasy (or most things, really) -- one of the reasons Skyrim is so great.

One thing that Bethesda will, I bet, always get right with their games. Tools, not rules. They give the player the ability to seek out their fun. They give them the tools to allow the player to experience the game how they want to experience. They give us the ability to mod, they give us ways to make our characters unique, etc. This is why I think Skyrim and the ES franchise has always been so successful. It's fun because you make it fun. You can play it like GTA, like a dungeon crawler, an RPG, a simulator, whatever.

Gender just happens to be one of those tools. One that I'm glad they take responsibly with appropriate proportion and voices

[Just_Mad]

I'm a male Skyrim player with a really bad case of 'charactus restartus,' and of my many (many many many) characters, the ones that tend to last longest are the females. I find them most enjoyable out of the two options, for an array of reasons that have, in majority been mentioned in some way or another in this thread. One key factor is that personally, I find it harder to separate myself from a character that represents me. Playing as a woman in Skyrim, or in any game, allows me to draw a barrier between myself, and the personality of the onscreen figure I control. In doing so, the figure has the chance to become a character. They then can have a personality, their own set of morals, own approach to the world in which they reside. Many people have said here they don't feel they could play as a member of the opposite gender because they wouldn't be able to relate- that's why I enjoy them.

I'm a 360 player- I have no mods to grant my characters divine curves and proportions that early era Lara Croft would be jealous of, but nor do I feel I'm missing out for that. I feel I'm missing out on a great many other mods, but those ones are not among them. Yes, I spend a while in character creation trying to perfect the facial features, but I do the same for my male characters- I can't deny these are the best looking characters yet in TES, but they're still not fantastic if your ambition is to make an even slightly attractive character- be they male or female. I have never had an issue with my female characters marrying males, either, it's never been uncomfortable for me as a heterosexual- because I separate myself from the character.

At the same time as this reason though, another reason takes effect too; I like the change. Many of you have already pointed out, how often do we get to play as a female character, with equal opportunity as the males? I'm already human. I'm already male. If I'm going into a fantasy world, I'm going to take advantage that I can be a full grown humanoid female cat, or an elf. I will play males, and human races too, but I will happily welcome the change. Many users have put forward insightful suggestions as to why some people do, and some people do not venture from their own gender when playing, I've been very interested whilst reading them. But I'd like to offer another answer to the question of why some of us choose to; because we can. This is a game of imagination and choices, and it's simply a choice some take. I'm glad that this is a community that will actually accept that, because we all play the way we wish to

[Starfang]

I always play as a male, I have trouble getting into the bestial races so I usually play as humans or elves, but usually humans.

[Dark Spark]

... Playing as a woman in Skyrim, or in any game, allows me to draw a barrier between myself, and the personality of the onscreen figure I control. In doing so, the figure has the chance to become a character. They then can have a personality, their own set of morals, own approach to the world in which they reside. Many people have said here they don't feel they could play as a member of the opposite gender because they wouldn't be able to relate- that's why I enjoy them. ...

Agreed. I would also like to add something I read once in the manual for a game from long ago: You are not any one individual character, but the 'guiding spirit' over the entire team. In that particular application the team members went into the fight under their own behaviors, but you could jump around and intervene if needed.

The same can be applied to any character you play in TES. You're the devil and the angel sitting on their shoulders, especially if you're playing in third-person view.

[ElderSkillz]

Lol @ the last part of the post above me.

[metaphorset]

Never thought much about it. I always play male characters because I'm male in real life and feel quite comfortable in the role in every situation.

Also I have to admit that I never spent more than 10 to 20 minutes to customize my character.
In Morrowind I chose a Dark Elf during the first game, because it was the default setting. Came out pretty cool after the first face mods were done.
In Oblivion I played all the beast races, because it was the least race-dependend main quest of all the three TES games.
In Skyrim I chose a Nord, just because it felt quite natural that way. Here I spent the most time to make that guy a little ugly and dirty in a belivable way. Clean people with perfect faces and bodies in medieval settings are just a no-go to me. (perhaps that's why I nearly have to throw up every time when I see Skyrim screenshots with overdone beauty vogue-style faces and pink manga hairdo, wearing latex armor and high heels. )

[rcbecker123]

Referenced to above. I think some people play Skyrim as Anime. Pretty school girls in high heels and such this is not bad if thats your thing. I think it depends on if you want a realistic game type setting, skyrim is fantasy but it is designed to be similar to the middle and dark ages. Were people would bathe in a lake or wash from a bowl once a week. you were lucky to have a big barrel to bathe you whole body in if you had money.

[Varyag]

I actually play both genders, but the most played characters with highest levels tend to be females.
I suffer serious case of multiple personas.

[Emzi 43]

One thing that could maybe discourage me from playing as a female is the armour, I mean, Hide Armour, the heck is that? And I won't even go into steel plate. So it's realistic that there wouldn't be armour made for females, but still. I do play as a female, often.

[rcbecker123]

I like the look of steel plate it looks more realistic than others out there and females look good in most armors in my opinion. I also hate the look of hide armor and glass. Elven should be shaped more to fit the female chest. In my opinion Dawnguard armor fits and looks good on male and female characters. its also my favorite armor in the game.

[CreeperX]

^
I think the problem with Steel Plate armor lays with the "boob plates" since realistically, those would help you get killed. The purpose of plate armor is to deflect blows from weaponry, right? Chest plate is designed to divert strikes or thrusts along an outside arch. For that reason, it is not form-fitting but rather has some space underneath. There's no need to "make room for female anatomy". If your armor is breast-shaped, you are actually increasing the likelihood that a blade blow will slide inward, toward the center of your chest. Also, if you fall onto your boob-conscious armor, the divet separating each breast will dig into your chest. In short: you are wearing armor that acts as a perpetual spear directed at some of your most vulnerable body parts. The place you are are trying to keep safe. Not smart in the least.

Though personally I don't really have a problem with Skyrim's Steel Plate armor since at least it's still completely covering the character instead of being like those chain-mail bikinis and such I see in almost every other game. Skyrim actually has rather gender neutral armor which I definitely appreciate. Male versions of hide or fur don't really cover any more than the female variations do.
Still, I must praise Dark Souls when it comes to realistic armor. There's practically no difference between female and male versions.

[Baloth-Kul]

If I'm playing a good RPG (which Skyrim is), I want to RP. And I...cannot RP as a female. I dunno. I just can't. It doesn't feel right. When I RP, I fully immerse myself into the game. I make my character me. I make it look like me, I make the name a lore-appropriate perversion of my name, and where applicable, I make the character sound like me. I make moral choices/plot decisions based on what *I* think is best. And doing all this, it helps to fully immerse me into the game, to make me feel like I'm a part of the world.

...Playing a female, I cannot RP, and it depresses me. It feels weird. Especially with, ah, romance in games.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

^But see, this is the very opposite of what I mean by roleplaying. RP is playing a character that is not you, but ... well, someone else (that's why it isn't called selfplaying); it's like the difference between Richard III and the actor playing him. Immersion is a part of it, but not the whole.

That doesn't mean it's wrong to play the game your way, if it's fun for you that's fine, just don't call it roleplaying, because it isn't.

[Dohva.]

I thought I wouldn't enjoy playing a dude. I was wrong. Its...so much fun playing another sex! And it makes everything so different, down to the choices I make for his eating habits. I rather enjoy bashing things and people with his warhammer. And he's got 99 problems, and a [&@%!] is one. SO...it can be--and is--fun to play another gender. So glad I listened to a birdie's advice on here and just went for it.