[CaptainPants]

So this morning ive been going around a bunch of online game forums making this post. But im a little doubtful i will get a lot of responses since people just dont like me =( (lol i dont know if thats true but it seems like it)

So soompi members, please help out! You guys seem more responsive and helpful unlike most people in online games >.<
Im taking a writing course and we have a choice of our own research topic, mine being people in video games. And basically, i thought it would be a neat idea to go around various games and actually get first person opinions from players instead of just basing my research off of my own view.

One topic im currently interested in is why some male players will play female characters and vice versa (im actually a girl who plays guy characters). Im interested in any reason there could be, good or bad (i dont judge) and i would love it if people who do this could put in their own point of views.

This isnt meant to call out people, and if you want to keep your identity secret then just dont mention the game or what not. Ofcourse if you dont do this but would like to discuss why you think people do it, youre more than welcome to!
Thanks!

hopefully this attempt at research pays off =P

[termination_override]

The only reason I can think of for boys playing girl characters are.. they're perverts? O_O.. no offense, but that's just too weird. but m/b I secretly am going for the double-standard somehow since I don't have as much of a problem with girls playing guy characters at all..

the only exception is like for the Sims where you play several characters of any gender lol

[H i k a r i]

I've never played a guy character, but i have met guys that played girl ones.
i asked them why they do that. They said it was because when you are girl, people will help you more.
Like give you money, or weapons, or whatever they need.

[Frozy]

I remember one of my friends saying "Guys, would you star at a guy or a girl all day on your ass?" This made a lot of sense for most people, lol.

I actually played female characters for a period. In Maplestory, I played females because they had better outfits in particular jobs. Lunia, I can't choose my gender for the roles that I want to take, it's a like a console RPG.

For females, the reason why they'd play guy characters is to prevent getting stalked on, or maybe because they are tired of staring at their gender all day, just like above.

[Mannosuke]

There are various reasons why people would choose to play someone of some other gender (or race even, like maybe a hot night elf).

1: some games are rather restrictive in terms of character and class. Can't really think of any off the top of my head, but for example suppose there was Class X which excelled in offensive melee skills and combat whereas Class Y specialized in ranged attacks.

Now let us suppose only Male Character A could use Class X and only Female Character B could use Class Y. You can say this is poor design on the developers' part, but no matter the game is how it is. What if I liked ranged classes? Even though I'm a guy, I may choose to play the female character so I could play the ranged class. Similarly, a girl might like to charge into a battle with swords and guns...gunblades! and kick ass...and so she'd choose the guy character. It's just roleplaying, so it doesn't really matter as long as you like what you're playing.

2: Speaking from personal experience, I prefer playing characters that look good (and generally the female characters tend to look better). Who doesn't want to see a girl kick ass? If anything, I'll start up some dynasty warriors and start mowing through piles of enemies with the various girls I could choose from.

3: Indeed, maybe we just want to screw with people cause girls seem to get free stuff lol...

A game like maplestory where it's pretty the same sprites except with different hair and whatnot probably isn't that hard to program, but if you want a good 3D game with awesome graphics and have to give everyone equal access to everything...I guess it would be harder.

[BishieAddict]

Well it's the same thing as avatars right? in forums girls uses pics of guys and guys uses pics of girls. As my friend explains it, he doesn't want to stare at a guy all day,

personally I play both.
In RPG, sometimes you don't get to pick...

[Jaeho]

I've never played a guy character, but i have met guys that played girl ones.
i asked them why they do that. They said it was because when you are girl, people will help you more.
Like give you money, or weapons, or whatever they need.

My brother did that for Maple Story and Depth Fantasia... it's true. lol People help out girl characters a lot more.
He also received lots of free furniture in Habbo Hotel

[Irysinon]

Usually I play as both a male and female character. Reason? Counterparts and I usually like keeping a guild for myself where it's exclusive to my characters. In Maple Story, I played as both genders. I barely socialized as the girl character. It was all about change-up in an otherwise, repetitive game. The same goes for Seal Online and Dragonica and Tales of Pirates. There are certain things that are exclusive to respective genders, and why wouldn't you be curious to find out? I see it being no different from single-player games where you can or have to use both genders in order to progress in levels and whatever. For example, in Super Mario Bros. 2, you can pick Princess Toadstool and she has an advantage that the others don't. She can float in the sky for like five seconds.

[_dax_]

Way back when I was quite the gamer, I had a high leveled female character.
Many would ask me if I was really a guy, or I must be a guy to have those stats.
Found this a bit offensive.

However I do agree with the quote above.
Many would try to give away items, but I liked the idea of earning it rather.
Asked a gamer one time, his response was: less pressure to do well and free stuff.

[cheesedoodless]

im a guy and i always play a guy character in any game
unless the girl character just pwns

[xdeathberry]

My sister's boyfriend played a girl character all the time. When asked why, he simply replied he did not want to stare at a guy's butt [when the character ran. LOL]. Also, he said that being a female character, people would try to 'duel' or whatever and he'd pwn the crap out of them.
Err.. he also conned this really perverted dude.
So funny. But mean. But he had it coming. hahaha

I play male and female characters.
Female, cause I'm female, and male, because it's fun to experience the guy characters.
Different armor and stuff. It's limited for each gender, you know, like light armor vs heavy armor and such.

Mainly, it's to just try to get the most experience out of a game.
I get bored easily, so I keep changing genders, class, races, etc. Haha

Also, some female gamers choose to be male gamers to be equal or whatever?
Or so I've been told by a few.
You know. Typical female / male stereotypes.
They exist in games too.

[Clix]

I've never played a guy character, but i have met guys that played girl ones.
i asked them why they do that. They said it was because when you are girl, people will help you more.
Like give you money, or weapons, or whatever they need.

THIS is the truth. Female characters, whether they are or not, receive more help than male players. I take advantage of it.

It makes me laugh when guys try to hit on me, when I tell them I'm a guy, they call BS on me.

It is win all together.

[LazyAzian]

It's because it's fun making a super-girly cute account, make it to maximum level, and beat the hell out of the other "cool looking" players in a pink outfit, LOL!

Imagine, it's like a beautiful Barbie doll with awesome skillz kicking the ass of a user that looks like Godzilla.

Also, people will help you out more :3, in GaiaOnline, my main account is a guy but I have mule accounts which are girls....

Guys love the "cute but deadly" theme.

It's like Dynasty Warriors, I love killing legions of armies in a pink outfit with "silk sleeves" as a weapon, San Zang FTW~!

[Garadaz]

Wow i remenber that in guild wars , all my guild menbers and alliance , and even myself had female characters , but that was because they were shorter than men wich made their hitbox shorter , making them better in pvp haha (How nerdy haha.)

[kanyewong]

I'd rather stare at a girl for 5 hours than a guy. nuffsaid

[vulgar812]

I remember waaaaaay back in my Maplestory days, there was a guy who would play girl characters. He'd flirt around with other dudes so they would give him free stuff. There were also "girls" in 3D games who would charge people for cyber sex or "stripteases".

Perverts beware... that 'cute' chick you met online might've really been a guy.


Well anyway, I play both male and female. It depends on which gender has the better-looking armor.

[Jiniya]

The "excuse" about wanting to stare at a girl's behind instead of a guy's is BS in my opinion. I don't play online games (like WoW, since I do play that) to specifically stare at my character. Who does that? I look at.. oh, the enemies, my surroundings, the atmosphere, what I'm doing, hell, even my spells! But I don't play and stare at my character the entire time. Every once in a while I may have to, for example to see where she's facing, but other than that? No, of course not. If these boys wanted to stare at a girl's behind, they have the Internet for that.

The guys I know all play male characters. But the few that do play the occasional female character all say the same thing: " I get more help/sympathy as a female character" and if stats make a difference because of gender, like in Phantasy Star. The girls I know who choose to play male characters do so to avoid getting hit on by random strangers, mostly.

Personally, I only play female characters. I am female as well. Main reason why? The characters I play are an online representation of myself. However, I have no problem playing male characters, like my boyfriend's. With all the female characters I have, I've not once gotten hit on or given free stuff.

[babiloveyoo]

Lol, I have guy characters in some games because they look cooler.

[Mannosuke]

The "excuse" about wanting to stare at a girl's behind instead of a guy's is BS in my opinion. I don't play online games (like WoW, since I do play that) to specifically stare at my character. Who does that? I look at.. oh, the enemies, my surroundings, the atmosphere, what I'm doing, hell, even my spells! But I don't play and stare at my character the entire time. Every once in a while I may have to, for example to see where she's facing, but other than that? No, of course not. If these boys wanted to stare at a girl's behind, they have the Internet for that.

lol, who looks at the enemies, surroundings, atmosphere, and what you're doing all the time?
Whenever I game, I look at my character and how cool she is. And whenever I'm in battle, I look at how cool her animations are.

If you're skilled enough, minor details like where the enemies are and what you're doing are not important.

Indeed, I have the internet for that, but heck it's an ONLINE game. And what's better than combining the internet and game together?

[eigengrau.]

My brother likes to play WOW all the time, and he only plays girl characters.
I asked him why, and he told me 'cause they look nicer than guy characters, LOL.

On Maple Story, I've had a few guy characters and they're sooo cute XD. I like dressing
up guy characters, I don't know why.

The only reason I can think of for boys playing girl characters are.. they're perverts? O_O

LMAO, no. I don't know why some people think it's weird.. but, I think it's pretty normal. >__<