Guild Wars 2

Behellagh.1468:

sarasvatri.6871:

Let’s turn it around

Why is it expected that males should/would play males and females females? Why is this the accepted norm, and why does it usually end in a question about sexual orientation if the opposite happens?

I think that’s because the assumption, when given a choice in an avatar (unlike say Diablo II), that the player will see the avatar as a projection of themselves but probably idealized (thinner, stronger, taller, prettier … with hair). And that might be true if RPing was a priority. But since most people don’t actually RP as their avatar it really isn’t a RP breaking issue (if using voice chat).

If you played games for as long as some of us, we’ve played female characters since we didn’t have much of a choice. Samus, Laura Croft, the sorceress in Diablo II, the gender of the avatar you are “driving” is immaterial. So when given a choice is your avatar’s gender any different than skin or hair color. It’s just one of the few choices you have to customize your avatar’s look (I came from CoH so yes, few choices).

Is choosing race any odder than gender? Are you a furry because you like Charr? What about skin tone or hair color? Have you always secretly wanted to be blond or a redhead?

Go CoH! I4 through sunset, Virtue.

Interesting that you bring up races as I was having a discussion recently along those lines. Discusee was asserting that they didn’t understand how anyone could ‘get into’ a character of a different gender since males and females were so different from each other. My position was that the variety of races differed far more from being a human in our real world than being a different gender would.

For instance, if I chose to play a female asura, the bulk of the difference between me and that character is that the character is asura(and that they exist in a completely different world/culture) and I am human, with gender being a secondary difference. I have more in common with my girlfriend then I do with even a male human in Tyria.

RoseofGilead.8907:

LucosTheDutch.4819:

May I ask who those female heroes are? Famous people or people you know in real life?

Because I have to shamefully admit that I don’t remember any noticeable female heroes in our human history. I don’t think there were that many to be honest. First and only one that comes to mind is Joan of Arc and truthfully she wasn’t really all that heroic.

http://www.historynet.com/famous-women-in-history

That link has a fairly decent list, featuring some of the women I consider heroes. There are also the female figures from legends, such as Boudica, the Valkyries, and the Amazons. And then you have women such as Catherine of Aragon, Joanna of Flanders, Agustina de Aragon, etc.

Famous women =/= female heroes. Though I suppose that list also contains a fair share of what I’d consider female heroes (I just glanced over it real quickly).

heartless.6803:

LucosTheDutch.4819:

heartless.6803:

Animations are generally better

This is one thing I disagree on.

I’ve rarely seen female characters in games properly animated. Either their animations are overly sexualized (Guild Wars 2 is guilty of this too) or the devs just copy-pasted the male animations on the female character’s rig, making her look weird and too masculine (this is particularly the case in Mass Effect among other games).

To me it came from playing a lot of wow, where most male models just absolutely stink. I played a Female Human, because males looked stupid and had stupid animations. It carried over here when I made my guardian.

To be honest the women in WoW looked no better than the men. If anything, they looked worse, cause WoW was low-poly, so lots of straight-hard edges, which looks okay on male toons cause angular shapes are percieved as masculine, but it doesn’t look so good on female toons.

sarasvatri.6871:

Behellagh.1468:

sarasvatri.6871:

Let’s turn it around

Why is it expected that males should/would play males and females females? Why is this the accepted norm, and why does it usually end in a question about sexual orientation if the opposite happens?

I think that’s because the assumption, when given a choice in an avatar (unlike say Diablo II), that the player will see the avatar as a projection of themselves but probably idealized (thinner, stronger, taller, prettier … with hair). And that might be true if RPing was a priority. But since most people don’t actually RP as their avatar it really isn’t a RP breaking issue (if using voice chat).

If you played games for as long as some of us, we’ve played female characters since we didn’t have much of a choice. Samus, Laura Croft, the sorceress in Diablo II, the gender of the avatar you are “driving” is immaterial. So when given a choice is your avatar’s gender any different than skin or hair color. It’s just one of the few choices you have to customize your avatar’s look (I came from CoH so yes, few choices).

Is choosing race any odder than gender? Are you a furry because you like Charr? What about skin tone or hair color? Have you always secretly wanted to be blond or a redhead?

Go CoH! I4 through sunset, Virtue.

Interesting that you bring up races as I was having a discussion recently along those lines. Discusee was asserting that they didn’t understand how anyone could ‘get into’ a character of a different gender since males and females were so different from each other. My position was that the variety of races differed far more from being a human in our real world than being a different gender would.

For instance, if I chose to play a female asura, the bulk of the difference between me and that character is that the character is asura(and that they exist in a completely different world/culture) and I am human, with gender being a secondary difference. I have more in common with my girlfriend then I do with even a male human in Tyria.

CoH all the way :P

For me, the way I played CoH, the different heroes and villains I created weren’t “me” (heck no!) but instead were a “roster”. Just like Marvel or DC has a roster of heroes that do various actions and interactions with other characters, my CoH roster had different heroes and villains, some being arch-nemesis of someone in my roster. Now, if Marvel or DC had only male characters just because most of the creators are males, there would be a lack of variety and interaction.

So in GW2, my characters are a roster each having a part to play in the overall story laid out by GW2 (like my Asura Ele is the one who was the 2nd in command of the Pact while my Warrior wasn’t even at the battle of Clawr Island). And if my roster was only males, that’s like writing a story with only male characters! I’d never do such a thing!

All of my character on GW2 are human, and all are girls but then again I’m a girl.
Not to be rude, but I too wonder why men prefer to use female characters over male characters.
I for one find it odd to even think of playing a male character, I don’t know why but it just urks me a tad. :P

Probably the same reason women like to play as men!

It’s a video game?! Should that matter? If someone is uncomfortable then they have bigger problems than wondering about who’s what at the other end of the avatar.

http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/427/559/0ef.jpg

I think 90% of it can be summed up with

a.) looks prettier than a dude
b.) they just felt like it

of course some people also play it to get free stuff from gullible guys…

and some people use it as a release from real life.

I think that probably sums up almost all the reasons.. and if someone has a problem with it, screw them. it’s a video game.

I personally play a female character for the animations, boobs and because I love strong women.

Leo G.4501:

sarasvatri.6871:

Behellagh.1468:

sarasvatri.6871:

Let’s turn it around

Why is it expected that males should/would play males and females females? Why is this the accepted norm, and why does it usually end in a question about sexual orientation if the opposite happens?

I think that’s because the assumption, when given a choice in an avatar (unlike say Diablo II), that the player will see the avatar as a projection of themselves but probably idealized (thinner, stronger, taller, prettier … with hair). And that might be true if RPing was a priority. But since most people don’t actually RP as their avatar it really isn’t a RP breaking issue (if using voice chat).

If you played games for as long as some of us, we’ve played female characters since we didn’t have much of a choice. Samus, Laura Croft, the sorceress in Diablo II, the gender of the avatar you are “driving” is immaterial. So when given a choice is your avatar’s gender any different than skin or hair color. It’s just one of the few choices you have to customize your avatar’s look (I came from CoH so yes, few choices).

Is choosing race any odder than gender? Are you a furry because you like Charr? What about skin tone or hair color? Have you always secretly wanted to be blond or a redhead?

Go CoH! I4 through sunset, Virtue.

Interesting that you bring up races as I was having a discussion recently along those lines. Discusee was asserting that they didn’t understand how anyone could ‘get into’ a character of a different gender since males and females were so different from each other. My position was that the variety of races differed far more from being a human in our real world than being a different gender would.

For instance, if I chose to play a female asura, the bulk of the difference between me and that character is that the character is asura(and that they exist in a completely different world/culture) and I am human, with gender being a secondary difference. I have more in common with my girlfriend then I do with even a male human in Tyria.

CoH all the way :P

For me, the way I played CoH, the different heroes and villains I created weren’t “me” (heck no!) but instead were a “roster”. Just like Marvel or DC has a roster of heroes that do various actions and interactions with other characters, my CoH roster had different heroes and villains, some being arch-nemesis of someone in my roster. Now, if Marvel or DC had only male characters just because most of the creators are males, there would be a lack of variety and interaction.

So in GW2, my characters are a roster each having a part to play in the overall story laid out by GW2 (like my Asura Ele is the one who was the 2nd in command of the Pact while my Warrior wasn’t even at the battle of Clawr Island). And if my roster was only males, that’s like writing a story with only male characters! I’d never do such a thing!

I tend to make human characters a selfie of me ingame. So I guess I am on the complete opposite spectrum and if I had a chance would project exactly me in every aspect into Tyria. I don’t really have an idealized version, I have always just imagined myself as I am in any given scenario. This is also why I never make female characters, because I am a male.

I guess we’re a coin of two extremes.

Actually I’m quite impressed with this thread. The past few times I saw it brought up there was a lot of blaming for “psychological issues” among other things.

For me there’s a sort of weird pattern that may or may not be related to anything:

For every MMO/RPG that I’ve stuck with for 6 months or more:

1. My main character has been male.
2. I have had at least one female alt.
3. I often have more females total than I have males.

Now there have been a few other games, like Neverwinter, where I rolled a female as a main but did not stick around for long. I think the mindset is that the games I am very serious about, online at least, I want to be mainly identified as what I really am. If it’s a game I’m just trying, I go ahead and just make a female because I enjoy that character creation process better.

In GW2 I have 4 males 7 females. Male Asura is probably the most fun to play as far as voice and animation.

Simply a case for me of not identifying myself as the character. I’m not imagining myself as the hero, but guiding the hero. As I’m male, I’m more apt to feel protective of a female.
There are certain characters as I imagine them that I’ll roll male, but I mostly do female.

Well, in game people try new experiences and looking to different as possible as they are in real life? I don’t really know. I think there’s lots of reasons like I’d rather look at a female’s butt than males.

I want to feel validation.

Because I can tell the difference between fantasy and reality. It allows me to play female videogame characters, watch movies with women in them, and even write stories with characters who are not all a literal clone army of me without my head exploding.

Mojo.7986:

Simply a case for me of not identifying myself as the character. I’m not imagining myself as the hero, but guiding the hero. As I’m male, I’m more apt to feel protective of a female.

That’s a great point! I feel the same, and I think a lot of males are more apt to make the extra effort to help a female toon regardless of the player behind it. The gentleman chivalry factor?

Because the female voice actor for humans is better than the male voice actor. Seriously though, I used to make female characters to get free stuff from adolescent guys who think with their dangly bits rather than their brain, then made them cause they usually got access to more armor skins. In GW2, I made a few female characters cause they fit. 2/9 are male though. Male asura VA sounds sassy as hell

^(°-°)^ Male Human Weapon Stance ^(°-°)^

This forward-leaning stance with two weapons is looking awkward.

Because female character models look nicer than the male character models. The gear looks nicer as well.

The gear looks nicer as well or do you use skimpy outfits like 90% of female humans?

Honestly I always make a female character in games, I find it fun but I made a male Charr in GW2.

Have you seen the female norns/humans?

Barbie dolls, plastic looking skin and giant boobs. I can’t play that.

Plus I’m glad I made Charr, at least I don’t look like 80% of the players I see with females Norns/Humans with skimpy outfits so we can see their boobies.

I’m female and I only play female chars (when I have a choice, which I generally do).

I feel kind of strange playing a male char, personally; but I have no problem, at all, with
people who choose to play the opposite gender.

I think the things that are often said about men who play female chars are pretty offensive, because unless they are pretending to be female IRL (and especially, if they’re trying to get special treatment, or something), it isn’t affecting anyone else adversely.

So, people should just mind their own business.

BTW, my experience of being a woman who plays a female char, is that you generally get people (males) trying to take advantage of you (to get stuff, or whatever); not the other way around.

Either because they assume you’re actually male, or just because they think all women are a soft touch.

LucosTheDutch.4819:

heartless.6803:

LucosTheDutch.4819:

heartless.6803:

Animations are generally better

This is one thing I disagree on.

I’ve rarely seen female characters in games properly animated. Either their animations are overly sexualized (Guild Wars 2 is guilty of this too) or the devs just copy-pasted the male animations on the female character’s rig, making her look weird and too masculine (this is particularly the case in Mass Effect among other games).

To me it came from playing a lot of wow, where most male models just absolutely stink. I played a Female Human, because males looked stupid and had stupid animations. It carried over here when I made my guardian.

To be honest the women in WoW looked no better than the men. If anything, they looked worse, cause WoW was low-poly, so lots of straight-hard edges, which looks okay on male toons cause angular shapes are percieved as masculine, but it doesn’t look so good on female toons.

Yeah, but now they have smoothed all those angles out, in a purely convex way and they have tiny heads (smaller than before, for some unknown reason) and enormous thighs.

Which, perhaps, some men don’t mind, but most women (almost certainly) do.

Because they now look like nothing more than braindead baby machines.

They looked better with the angles.

ETA: I’m referring to the human female, here, BTW – the Belf female actually looks a lot better than it did (as long as you don’t look too closely at the face…).

I’ve got 2 male characters (Asuran and Human) and 3 each of Human and Asuran females. When I make my Revenant it’s going to be another human female. I just like how females look more; so much of the armor and so many of the character looks are just super ugly on dudes. I don’t use skimpy armor either. I honestly can’t stand the stuff.

I don’t actually have any female characters in GW2, yet. I tend to default to male characters when I have a choice for at least my first playthrough. I do play female characters in other games though but there is a variety of reasons why I may choose a female character.

1) The male character irritates me for some reason. This was especially true in the Mass Effect series, I just couldn’t stand the males voice so I played Femshep. After the first game I really didn’t give it any thought anymore. The game was just about a female named Shepard and that was the end of it really. Divinity 2 was another game I played a female, I don’t remember what it was about the male character that annoyed me though.

2) I’m replaying a game and want a different experience or I’m making a different story. This mostly applies to games like Skyrim which are about making your own story rather than having a story told to you. However, it also applies to games like Dragon Age Origins where I wanted to experience the story of my character becoming the queen. The game experience was sufficiently different based on gender it was worth replaying as a female and/or different race and class choices for different experiences.

3) Because I feel like it. This is why I will likely eventually create female characters in GW2. When I make a character I want to be invested in I infuse it with some sort of personality. Sometimes that means it’s a female, sometimes it’s a male. I’m considering making a Sylvari Ranger pre-HoT and it will most likely be female because it feels right to me. Honestly I have about as much explanation for a Female Sylvari Ranger as I do for my Male Asura Ranger. It just seemed like the thing to do. I actually wish my Asuran Guardian was female, so I may make another one. Just feels like it should be a female and not a male.

Want tiny heads and enormous thighs (and very long legs)? Try Blade & Soul.

It’s like they took the waist up of a Skipper doll and attached to to the hips and legs of a Barbie doll. And then slapped on huge breasts to try to move the center of gravity back up to the navel.

Mostly because I am not an insecure teen-twenty something living in terror of not being manly.
Also because I don’t play the character to be me, it is a character, if it happens also to be something my brain is wired to think is attractive that is fine too.

Behellagh.1468:

Want tiny heads and enormous thighs (and very long legs)? Try Blade & Soul.

It’s like they took the waist up of a Skipper doll and attached to to the hips and legs of a Barbie doll. And then slapped on huge breasts to try to move the center of gravity back up to the navel.

:/

At least they have long legs, I guess..

WoW female humans have stumpy legs (with gigantic calves!), as well.

Also, her head is bigger compared with her thighs than the WoW human’s, believe it, or not.

This thread probably doesn’t apply to me as I’m female but I found it interesting to read through a few different opinions. May as well add mine..

When I was younger I used to always play as male characters because they looked cooler; I suppose I was considered a ‘tomboy’ then, ja?

Anyway, fast forward all these years later and I’ve noticed a bit more diversity and change not only on my behalf but character models in games too. Older games generally featured very sexualized, barbie-thin characters and that was off putting – I could say the same for the males with their typical ‘ken’ theme but hey, it’s just a game. These days at least there’s some form of building your own character how you want them to look and I guess that’s opened up a lot more diverse options between male and female characters.

So far on this game:

18 female characters (mostly Sylvari)
10 male characters (mostly Charr)

Idk why but I’ve been on a roll with making male Charrs. A lot. They just look so awesome?

Zephyra.4709:

Idk why but I’ve been on a roll with making male Charrs. A lot. They just look so awesome?

They’re the best and I have even more respect for female charrs, I don’t see them very often.

1 love to look ad the butt off a female then a male
2 armor looks better
3 hair style
and much more
pic says it all :p

Genlog.4983:

1 love to look ad the butt off a female then a male
2 armor looks better
3 hair style
and much more

Too bad their butt is flat as a wooden plank, but at least you’re honest about the pervy stuff. Same can’t be said for some finding lame excuses though lol

Scar.1793:

Genlog.4983:

1 love to look ad the butt off a female then a male
2 armor looks better
3 hair style
and much more

Too bad their butt is flat as a wooden plank, but at least you’re honest about the pervy stuff. Can’t be said of some others finding lame excuses though lol

the camera is behind her so the look is better
same as real life a girl with a tight jeans

I play female because I love skirts.

No really, I must love skirts.

Anet knows it.

We all know it.

We love skirts.

Pants suck.

Who need them anyway?

i also no many females players play male
mostly for stalkers

I have HFA/Aspergers which in my case causes gender neutrality.

I find that men, especially manly men, intimidate me, and so I feel more comfortable playing female characters, plus it allows me to roleplay the other side of my nature.

This is actually silly question… In fantasy rpg video game world.

Why I wouldn’t? If I have choice to chose female gender for my character.
Why we must play male as male and female as female… What logic is behind this?
its just dumb. Its ROLE playing game. It eventually dont Switch YOUR gender.

Does gender change something? Not really, only visual look.
Does gender have privilege ? NO, it doesn’t. Actually nobody will think that if your characters is female in game then you must be female irl as well… And “going easy on them only coz its female character”? never seen that one happen. Personally I dont care what gender is your character or irl. Please dont bring silly world stereotypes in videogames.

So I have same lvl logic question. Why human would pick other race besides them?- _-
Personally I never pick human. I just dont want be human in fantasy game. Their lore mostly are as cancery as in … nvm = )

I thankful to Anet that they didint sexualize Asura and Charr by human standard. And they are mine 2 most favorite races in gw : ) Edit: Beside Kodan. =)

the choice is there so why not, i am a guy in real life so when i can escape from reality ill just choose whatever i want to be.
i have male characters but also female characters, to me it’s both because i can and because it fits a certain lore behind my characters.

I personally like playing as a male character when I have the choice. If I’m playing a fighting game, I’ll play as the character(s) that have my preferred play style, be they male or female.

In games with character creators, I end up making a character that somewhat resembles me, or I’ll make a character that I perceive as “cool”. I guess the people that go on about there being a psychological reason for people creating male or female characters, would say I make characters that I want to be like =P

In Dragon’s Dogma I made a guy, in Skyrim I made a Dark Elf guy, Saints Row guy etc

I personally don’t see anything wrong with guys wanting to play as female characters in games. You’re not hurting anyone, or affecting someone else s experience by playing as a female toon.

In the end, we’re all different and have our reasons for playing our preferred characters. But one thing I don’t buy though is the “I’d rather stare at a woman’s butt than a guy’s” =P

Sorry but if you’re playing the game, zoomed in staring at your character’s butt, you’re not going to be playing the game very well =P I always zoom the camera out to see my surroundings and be more effective in the boss fights, PvP etc

In my case it is because whenever I make a male character I try to identify myself with it but it seems to be impossible to make a male character that I identify myself with in most MMOs. Female characters do not feel like me at all therefore I do not need to identify myself with them.
TLDR : Male characters are in the uncanny valley for me.
PS: Also isn’t she cute? =D

You’re also not a dragon slaying hero in real life, so I don’t see why your ingame sex needs to match out real sex. It’s an rpg for a reason, you can play the role of any character the game lets you create.

Personally my characters are 50 50 male and female. I like to alternate.

Im sure this will be seen wierdly but bear with me.

I mostly play female characters for two reasons.

One: Its easier to care about the appearance of a female for me. I spend more time making sure the armors match. I spend more time making “themed” cosmetic appearences (my guardian currently has an entire appearance based on the luminescent set where as my only male character my ranger just has the balth outfit and done). And generally the results are more satisfying on a female character because lets face it. For the average male a female character is just going to be more attractive than a male character..which causes the player to attempt to maximize that to there own preferences. Definitely a big deal in fashion wars 2. (In wow I played predominately male characters. Largely because I simply didn’t care about there appearances in the slightest)

Two. If you are going to stare at a screen for hours staring at the backside of a character. I feel it is only kindness to your future self that it be a backside you can mildly enjoy.

Women in action are way hotter then men in action in my opinion.
Unless you are …

Hmm, recently I just changed the gender of my character (asuran) to female.
Cos…
1. Male Asuran just … has nothing much in looks itself (by the design/create system)
2. The armours male vs female wore x.×...
- male armour are like… not as much style/creativity? (except some)
- the colours suiting “male” seems to be quite restricted as compared to what suits female, generally, stereotypical. (hence more ground for exploration or creating an ideal look if play female)
3. Hear the difference! of the voice and things both genders said
4. Lastly, of course! opposite attracts :X okay. nevermind about this :X

Zanshin.5379:

Because boobs…

As an Asuran… what boobs? :0… Opps.

Okay, serious note, that’s quite true generally for male players lol.
(or based on what I have observed ^^)

Erm your friend is asking a dumb question that has no logical basis, following his “logic”, I am human therefore I should only play human characters, I also do not go round murdering people in real life therefore I should not PvP in GW2.

Jelle.2807:

You’re also not a dragon slaying hero in real life, so I don’t see why your ingame sex needs to match out real sex. It’s an rpg for a reason, you can play the role of any character the game lets you create.

Personally my characters are 50 50 male and female. I like to alternate.

Speak for yourself. As the hero of shaemoor I demand to be recognized as such in all and every event I attend in my IRL.

Main is always male, alts are usually female. Leveling alts gets repetitive, so makes for better scenery, plus female armor sets look better even the non-whorish ones.

Because I can. My characters are not a representation of me.

Main is usually male.
I go for a balanced group over time, so right now I got 4 males and 4 females.
Another reason is simply the variety.
There are some cool armor pieces out there and it would feel wrong for me to only see and use half of the possibilities.

The only characters of mine that are female are my mesmers and my elementalist.

I just can not bring myself to make a male character whose special ability happens to be shattering clones into purple/pink butterflies.

Elementalist is pretty much the same thing… but for a different reason.

Male light armor classes have a real issue with their wardrobe at the moment. Everything is a skirt or a dress…. and since it took so long to get my male Necromancer to look like he wasn’t a crossdresser…. I figured I’d just make the elementalist a female.

So that makes a total of three female characters out of the 11 on my roster.

I also laugh at the responses about the appeal of looking at a girl character while you are playing.

Did you also play with barbies instead of GI joes growing up?

I think that being kitten or cool on your male characters is much more fun than playing a female toon.

Depends on the race really. MMO’s tend to make male models extremely buff/barrel chested and I hate the look. If I’m playing an agile character or a mage archetype I don’t want to look like I can bench press a car.

Thankfully GW2 has a sylvari/asura male models that are lithe, any other race is female for me though.

I prefer playing female character in MMOs but i always choose male characters in games like Mass Effect or Dragon Age. Go figure