Your Gender/Sex IN VIDEO GAMES, and does it matter to you?

[nstgc]

There is a thread in the PoE2 forums on adding a third gender. This question is invalid since the game doesn't actually implement gender, only sex. However between this discussion and the one for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (people were bitching about not being able to play as a male), I really am confused as to why it matters so much.

 

Given an option in games I choose to play opposite my sex. Not for pervy reasons but because the the way males are portraid in most video games look nothing like me. I'm a scrawny man and look more like the female characters, but without breasts and flared hips. If not, I play whatever is offered. I recognize myself as my birth sex, though I don't think of this as a defining quality. In Final Fantasy XIV, half my FC mates think I'm a man and the other half a woman. People refer to me by both gendered pronouns because I refuse to tell them what my sex/gender is. I strongly believe that it shouldn't matter, than I want them to treat me as a person and not a gender, and so I don't tell them. The fact that half of them are wrong doesn't bother me in the least.

 

The more I'm reading with these topics, and from my experience with one of my two closest friends, who is trans, I'm pretty sure I don't actually have a sense of gender. When my friend said ``surprise, I'm a different gender," I didn't really understand why it was a big deal. To me, regardless of whether  it was she or he, my friend was the same person, but to her it meant a world of difference. Enough for elective surgery.

 

So...what is it with sex/gender that makes people lose their **** when it's different from what they are playing? Why does it matter?

Edited August 28, 2017 by nstgc

[smjjames]

This should go in the computer and console section.

 

As for me, I just use male which is my sex/gender, but I don't care whether a game uses a female protagonist or a male one.

[the_dog_days]

Not having a choice doesn't bother me at all (I say that because some people can't stand not having a choice). In a blank slate character creator I usually play as a guy because I like to role-play big, ugly, mean characters and playing as a dude feels more authentic.

[smjjames]

Really needs a "I play as my birth gender/sex, but I don't care whether a game uses a male or female protagonist" option.

[redneckdevil]

I'm usually a male if I have a choice except if it's an mmo then I'd rather look at a chicks ass than a man's for hours on end. Doesn't bother with either for fixed protagonist.

[Hurlshort]

This poll makes no sense to me.

[ShadySands]

Last time this came up I said that I'm not much of a roleplayer so I almost always play games as me. That's still my answer.

[majestic]

As for me, I just use male which is my sex/gender, but I don't care whether a game uses a female protagonist or a male one.

 

Indeed. As a member of the (white) cis-hetero patriarchy if I can choose I'll almost always pick a male character, but if I can't or I need to play as female for achievements I'll do just that - e.g. I played and finished each Mass Effect game as male and female Shepard.

 

If not it doesn't bother me and I really don't care about customizing my avatar that much. Some of my friends spend hours crafting their characters, I usually just press "random" a couple times if available and take the first things that looks acceptable, unless I'm trying to make the most goofy looking character possible.

[HoonDing]

"Yes/No, I play as my birth Sex, which is not my gender"

 

what a time to be alive

[algroth]

I went with the last option for the lack of an option that goes "I play with the sex/gender of the person I want to play as, which is not necessarily me".

[Ben No.3]

There's something about female mains in RPGs that I always find quite intriguing, armour aside.

[Guard Dog]

If playing a different gender changes the story of the game then I'll likely play both. My last Skyrim character was female. I must admit I enjoyed watching her backsdie in 3rd person camera much more than the previous male character. 

 

BG1 & 2 I've played both ways for the different romance stories. Dragon Age I hated too much to replay. Fallout 3 & NV it didn't make any difference. I always figured the FO3 PC is more likely to be female. Going on this long quest to find Dad and some of the interactions they had sounds more suited for a female PC to me. New Vegas it doesn't really matter I guess. It felt more like a "male oriented" story to me. 

 

PoE I've only played once as a male character. I understand it does change the story a little so the next time through I'll likely use a female PC. 

 

I can't really put myself in my PC's skin anymore than I can reading a novel. So I guess the gender of the PC does not matter. I don't feel it represents me in any way.

[nstgc]

For those that brought it up, I added a ``meh" option.

[Gfted1]

18/f/Il...oh crap wrong thread.

 

I play as my gender, male, and that's all that Ive ever thought about choosing. To each their own and I have no skin in their respective choices. I also just assume everyone in MP is a dude regardless of avatar.

 

I think what "makes people lose their ****" is the same as always, fear and ignorance. What people do not understand becomes "weird"..."how can the world be different from what I know!". Trust me, what we "know" today will be pointed and laughed at in 10-20 years. Anywho. Imo. Verily.

[injurai]

I'll play either sex, and gender, gender roles, gender anything doesn't factor into the character or play through. I just play a person trying to get through life with a moral sense of personal responsibility, and a head on their shoulders.

[nstgc]

Trust me, what we "know" today will be pointed and laughed at in 10-20 years. Anywho. Imo. Verily.

 

And that's why I make sure I keep my moral system as simplistic as possible. Hard to go wrong with ``is someone being hurt"?

[Bartimaeus]

I don't really mind not having a choice (i.e. playing a designed character), per se, but if there is one, then it can depend. Is there voice-acting in the game? If so, whomever I like better there (an example for this would be something like Mass Effect). If there isn't, or if there's a number of voice-acting options (e.g. Baldur's Gate), then it can depend upon the appearance of the character (in some games, male characters can look silly, and in others, it's the other way around). It can also depend on what kind of character I'm going for (for example, I'm just not the biggest fan of playing straight up beefy warrior-type women - just not my ideal character type). When given a choice, though, I generally (but certainly not exclusively) play opposite sex characters.

 

(e): As for gender, I've never really considered it...which makes sense, since I'm not really a video game romance person.

Edited August 28, 2017 by Bartimaeus

[Heijoushin]

I don't really understand the poll but... it's not big deal for me, though I prefer female characters (despite being male) when given the choice. I just find them more aesthetically pleasing.

[algroth]

There's something about female mains in RPGs that I always find quite intriguing, armour aside.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Edited August 28, 2017 by algroth

[Magnum Opus]

Being something of a 1) dinosaur,  and 2) hermit, I'll admit that this question caught me off guard a bit, not because I find it offensive or anything, but simply because I haven't given the options presented a lot of thought.  And this has not so much to do with questions of gender identity but more the degree of roleplaying in which I engage when I play games.

 

I'm one of those "roleplayers" who simply inserts themselves into whatever game they're playing.  This is partly because I play games for the escapism they offer; if I can imagine myself off to a world where I CAN affect things for the better, where I CAN make a difference... great. Also, even if it's only for a while, I like to imagine myself being able to burn monsters to a crisp with my fingertips from a few dozen yards away.  But, and this holds true even more strongly where the world being portrayed is all the more fantastical/off-beat, in such a fantasy environment, I find that in order to care about the characters and story in such a setting, I need something grounded in reality to make the whole experience more believeable/relatable.  At times, my character as myself in the game is that very anchor.  I end up caring more about the game world and it's characters, because I'm the one messing everything up for everyone!

 

It's also partly because they games I like most can't be finished in one sitting:  Any elaborate character backstory/personality that I come up with at character creation is going to end up forgotten three play sessions into the game.  I don't have the determination to maintain a "second personality" that long, so I just use me instead.  It's just easier that way.

 

(Incidentally, this is also the reason why I generally prefer the more heroic sorts of fantasy, where there ARE happy endings every once in a while.  I'm not going to play a game where everything I touch turns to ash and blows away on a bitter wind.  I get enough downers IRL; I don't need my entertainment dumping on me as well.)

 

For these reasons, I suppose -- there may be others, but I haven't examined things that closely, and this post is long enough as it is; these two are the biggies, anyway -- I always use my own sex/gender when playing games, to the point where if a game offers a choice between male and female characters, I'll choose the male 100% of the time.  If the game only offers a female character, I simply won't play it.  "Being female" is simply too far outside my realm of experience, and getting into that mindset for an experience that's supposed to be more fun than work seems like way too much effort to me.

 

Interesting question, though.  Nice.

 

Edit:  Long story short:  Yes, it matters.

Edited August 28, 2017 by Magnum Opus

[SonicMage117]

Doesn't matter to me if it's pre-wtitten but if its something like Skyrim or Saints Row I like to play as a girl. Probably because I'm labeled as the Alpha Male Manly Dude in real life.

[Vaeliorin]

I don't really care one way or the other about it if it's a pre-made character.

 

I used to try and play about 50/50 male/female (for example, despite female being the better choice for characters in Wizardry 8, I usually do 3 male and 3 female characters), but lately I find myself playing more female characters simply because I have an easier time coming up with names I like for female characters (which, yes, is kind of a silly reason to pick a certain sex, but meh.)

 

That said, I didn't vote because there isn't really an option for "I play both"

[Lord_Mord]

Whatever fits the character. My first playthrough is almost always with a male dwarf wizard as a warmup than I try to make something very differently. For Pillars I created a female character named Pirate Jenny named after a song from the Threepenny Opera. In Pillars 2, as there are romances I try to do a run as an evil gay barbarian. Not shure if the game gives me the opportunity to do that.

 

I for one am male, heterosexual and have no strong sense of gender. In fact I find it ridiculous to make differences. I understand that people are having difficulties "choosing" a sex, but in my opinion nobody has to choose at all. That you have a **** does not mean you have to eat beef and drink beer all day, make sexist comments and be a tough guy. That you like to wear womens cloth does not make you a woman or forces you to pick another gender. And I know what I am talking about. When I was a child/teenager I had long hair. Most people thought I was a girl and lots of them mocked me. It never really bothered me and if I wanted to wear a skirt I would have done so. That does not change the fact that I am male, whatever that is supposed to mean.

[FlintlockJazz]

I chose Meh option, but like Lord Mord its more what fits the character than randomly hitting buttons.  I'll try and come up with a concept first then go from there.  Likewise, I don't mind if the game sets my gender for me, particularly if I'm playing a set character like Geralt, Jade, Lara Croft, Mike Thorton, etc. 

[213374U]

I don't really mind not having a choice (i.e. playing a designed character), per se, but if there is one, then it can depend. Is there voice-acting in the game? If so, whomever I like better there (an example for this would be something like Mass Effect). If there isn't, or if there's a number of voice-acting options (e.g. Baldur's Gate), then it can depend upon the appearance of the character (in some games, male characters can look silly, and in others, it's the other way around). It can also depend on what kind of character I'm going for (for example, I'm just not the biggest fan of playing straight up beefy warrior-type women - just not my ideal character type).

 

This is pretty much how I decide what to play as. I don't mind fixed protagonists either, because I'm never really playing "myself". I have much more fun imagining a completely different character with their own personality and biases and trying to decide how they'd act than being boring old me all the time. Which is why I love when games react to characters of different sexes rather than making it a perfectly egalitarian/cosmetic only choice.

Edited August 29, 2017 by 213374U