Real question...No joke...

[pheo3309]

For those saying that it's more realistic that men is stronger than women, think of it this way. You're playing a game where there's magic. Sure, you can wield a sword, but putting yourself in that setting without character levels, do you think a sword would kill a female mage who's mastered destruction and illusion? It's not a concept of strength really.

 

And if you ask me, as a male, women undergo some of the worst pain: child birth. Sorry for using that as an argument, but it's pain as men we don't feel and often don't think about. Just because you're physically strong doesn't make you intolerant to pain. It's why I don't believe in the concept of strength in just muscles and masculinity.

 

Also, look at a lot of female martial artists. They can't bench more than their weight, but they can take down a man twice their size. And they're not all that rare or uncommon. More and more women are taking martial arts programs. Again, it's not about how much one can lift, it's about how they apply themselves in such things. Women are capable. They've proven this.

[Georgiegril]

Nicely put, Pheo!

[pheo3309]

Nicely put, Pheo!

Thank you! For me, I don't see strength as a masculine or a feminine thing. I find it more of a state of being in both masculinity and femininity as it encompasses more than just lifting, moving, or swinging. It's about the willpower of the person that determines their strength. It's like me wanting to get into professional bullwhip cracking for crowds eventually with pyro-whips (right now I'm stuck at cutting cans). I've seen women pick one up and accidentally crack themselves and not utter a sound, while a masculine muscled man attempting to be Indiana Jones is doubled over in pain because he did the same mistake. I've also seen it vice versa. It's not about the gender of someone behind the weapon, it's how well they've trained with it and trained their mind to expect intensity to the outside factors. They're just as capable as men are, however society have stigmatized them for being the weaker gender. We're all human and in the Elder Scrolls mythos, we're all humanoid. The only thing that separates us is anatomy and hormones. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Anska]

I would like to add something for the group of players Pheo just addressed: No matter what things are like or not like in our world, in Skyrim male and female characters do have the same attributes. You don't get a physical bonus when rolling a male character or a malus when rolling a female one, unlike in games like Final Fantasy Tactics for example, where the female characters really are physically weaker. So you can cope with gigantic flying lizards, undead, werewolves, talking dogs, cat-people, elves and magic but you cannot wrap your mind around the concept that in Skyrim men and women are in fact equal in everything but anatomy? Because that of all things disturbs your sense of realism? Seriously?

[kingkoopaboy]

Because I like women. I think women is God's best creation. I didn't start playing as female character until I played Mass Effect. Fem Shepard was a lot more pleasant to the eye than Male Shep. I usually play as both but I prefer female. And since I play Skyrim in 3rd person, I rather be looking at woman's ass for the 100+ hrs I play the game than some dudes... My honest answer.

[StayFrosty05]

I basically always play as a pretty guy. Of course, I'm not a guy of any flavor, so I'm the mirror of the intended answerer... :P I almost always play as a character I already have established though - never as myself, to contribute to the secondary argument. Games are more like an interactive story that I'm writing my character through, and I'd like my protagonist to be a badass pretty guy.

I'm with AnkhAsendant on this....As a female I prefer playing males....though I prefer a handsome badass over a pretty badass myself... :P ....And never play as myself.

 

I play a Male for two reasons...:

 

1/ Eye Candy....I play third person and would much prefer a handsome man's butt on my screen than some woman's, since I spend so much time with it in my face....gaming.

2/ I like the idea of the big, bulky tough guy Warrior...the ultimate Alpha Male I guess.

 

As for Role Play....I personally don't feel any urge to play myself in a game, I prefer writing a story as such....My Dovahkin has a very thorough and deep back story and an in depth personality and a morality all of his own, he is not me, nor is he someone I want to be like, his too hash and primal for me....but I loved creating him and love trying to get inside his head and working on 'Now what would HE do next or how would HE respond'.

[Elleh]

As a girl, I play my roleplay games as a girl 90% of the time. So I suppose I'm one of those boring people without an imagination. :P

 

 

True answer is: I usually play as my own gender because I can indeed find it more relatable. And whether I am playing as "myself" or not it is greatly empowering to slip into a world where I am a strong (physically or otherwise) and heroic woman. If I want eyecandy, I mod the fellas I travel with. And I do like to play "dress up" with my female characters, but I'm probably not drawn to the same types of armor, clothing, and body mods as someone who is looking for a sexy piece of bum to stare at for hours. I choose stuff that I think is cool and practical. For the guys? I tend to choose things I like to look at (even though I still tend toward "cool and practical").

 

 

But when I do play as a guy.... yup, I admit I pretty much attempt to make them as attractive as possible. For the same reasons the boys play as attractive female characters.

 

 

I'm unsure what the original meaning behind the "playing as themselves" statement was. As in... literally "themself"? Or a character with their tastes and moral code? Because really..... it's just a different experience. I usually play story-driven RPG's as "myself" the first time through. (As in not with my name or face, but with my values and emotions). I like the thrill and emotional tug of being in situations that challenge my morals, without actually needing to worry about thousands of lives in my hands. I want to see the outcome of "my" actions. I want my character to be able to react the same way that I am actually feeling about that situation. It feels more natural. But on the next few playthroughs, I roleplay as whoever I want and react according to how I think they should behave - it's a completely different experience, and I hardly think anyone is mentally disable for playing one way or another.

 

[WolvenEdge]

>ears perk< Well said, Elleh.

 

Personally, as male, I play male, and prefer third person. >ears out< Let me explain before giving me that look! I understand that my point of view cannot always be considered human; I am far more wolf than man, and I have come to accept this through much hardship over the past several years of my life.

 

>left ear perk up< First, the facts:

Males are most often born with greater muscle mass; it is basic anatomy in most mammalian species, and this is compounded by biochemistry; chemicals of the androgen group are often natural steroids, boosting muscle growth for speed and strength, thus depriving most of us males of fine penmanship around our early teen years as our mind struggles to keep up with our development. The female keeps the fine tuning, the male gains greater force and speed. Females don't have this natural advantage in strength; they have to earn it. I have seen many females entirely capable of out arm-wrestling many men, but usually they had to work harder to gain that strength than the males do, often granting strong females a stronger will than many males.

>right ear perk up, left ear out< The female also has different mental adventages than the male; the androgen Testosterone causes vast differences in the development of the male fetus' central nervous system, often giving us a reflex boost, a tendancy toward certain mathematics, and a strong tendancy toward risk. In any population dynamic the female carries the population, and the males are far more expendable, and instinctively, we know it. The female is gifted in finer thought; often not as quick as the male, but given to deeper, clearer judgement. Thus, based on thought as well, males often make better warriors than females, but females tend to make better politicians, attourneys, et cetera.

There are notable exceptions, and genetics is the key to the entire puzzle, I personally know a family (whos name shall remain secret, but it isn't mine) where the above traits are almost entirely reversed, and they still fit into society very well.

 

>both ears perk up< Now that the facts are out of the way, time for my pathos;

I am a male wolf; my raison d'tre is to protect my pack, those precious to me, at all costs. The female gender is precious in both my sight and His, thus I personally cannot stand to see them hurt. I tried to play as a female once, but in the first fight she was almost killed and my protective instinct kicked in and I outside the computer became wolfishly ticked. My unfortunate door still bears the marks of my fury, as would my pitiful body's fist had I a tougher door. As for playing third person, I play a burst-DPS character; dual wielding longswords and wearing only light armor, so I use third person to simulate periferal vision, that way I don't get hit so often.

Thus, for the sake of my doors and my psyche, I play as male.

 

>ears half back< And before anyone else brings it up, I am straight. Very poor taste some comments. . .

[bben46]

@Elleh: Playing as themselves is literal. They try to make the character look as much like them selves as possible, and give the character their name. As for acting like themselves, from what I have observed. Not so much - they seem to look on the game as a opportunity to act up and do things they would not do IRL. But, I am sure there are more restrained people who do try to act like what they think their real life self would do in the fantasy world. (but I have yet to meet one) As for playing as a female - no way. When asked the first answer was, "That would be gay". One even said that there should not be any women in the game at all. (FO3)

 

My experimental sample is based on a group of 13 to 16 year old males for whom the game (Oblivion, FO3 or Skyrim ) was their first exposure to a real adult open world type game. These are my grandchildren and their friends playing on my computer - with their parents permission. So far none of the girls have shown any interest.

 

I have lost track of the number of times I have seen this exact same topic here - and from what I have seen, the immature males react with hostility to the very concept, more mature seem to mostly be more open to the idea. And most women (girl gamers) are scratching their head wondering what the problem is.

 

My own opinion - It's your game play however you like - But if I catch you criticizing someone else for playing the way they want, you will answer to me for a rules violation. So please keep it civil and don't make more work for the moderators. :whistling:

[pheo3309]

@Elleh: Playing as themselves is literal. They try to make the character look as much like them selves as possible, and give the character their name. As for acting like themselves, from what I have observed. Not so much - they seem to look on the game as a opportunity to act up and do things they would not do IRL. But, I am sure there are more restrained people who do try to act like what they think their real life self would do in the fantasy world.

 

Agreed. It even goes deeper than that though, into something setting specific. I think some inject themselves into the setting just because it may feel all that more real to them, that they have a full gaming experience that is relative to them. Now I'm not saying that people like this have a hard problem perceiving fantasy from the real reality, rather they want to see how they'd react in the setting. Granted, they'd not do some of the same things in reality, but that's a given. People have these things available to them to roleplay as they wish if they want. Heck, I've even done it in roleplay servers Neverwinter Nights, back when Gamespy had the Master List up. I also made characters that was totally different than me. To be honest though, I enjoyed those a bit more, not just because they were evil aligned, but because I didn't feel I was roleplaying them. It was me holding on for the ride in the experience of it. It's all about the perception and how well one knows their characters I guess. But I think I digressed a bit.