Gender swapping/Gender role swapping in games

ArchivedUser

Aesthetically, I will pick a race based on what class I am picking. If I am making a warrior/paladin/knight of some sort, I play a male due to the fact that that is what I have been exposed. I guess its a bit of me that wants to protect and fend for my family, so being a baaaaad dude on the battle field makes me feel content.

ArchivedUser

I pick gender depending on race of the character. In every MMO I end up having several alts of mixed gender and races.

I do not prefer particular gender in general, but I can prefer certain gender for certain race, depending on aesthetics.

Ah yes. I've never been treated differently depending on what gender I've played. As soon as someone calls me a "babe" I slaughter him and take his loot.

ArchivedUser

In PnP games I create a character and the gender is an afterthought. In video games, I usually pick a gender based on what armor type I'll be using. Anything form-fitting (cloth/leather) I tend to go female. Anything large and bulky (scale/mail/plate) I go male.

ArchivedUser

"I have considered it now and then when I get frustrated with the stupid way too many male gamers treat anyone with a female toon (No, I don't need new gear. No, I don't need your help. No, I won't send you photos of my chest or meet you for drinks. No, I'm not interested in ERPing with you. No, I will not be your stand-in girlfriend), but it always ends with me  deleting the toon and going back to one of my women."

I avoid this by selecting who I play with. I don't need people to pass an interview to have the honor of playing with me...but I only play with friends or guildmates, or solo (and I like my solo time). So it never happens, they never get the opportunity. I'm not a social butterfly, online or in real life.

"For Mark though, it was something of a coming out experience, and perhaps one that he wasn't ready for. "

Lots of trans people 'test the waters' online. It has much less consequences (in fact, about none) than in real life. I can't tell if Mark is trans, but being revealed before being ready is like finding out you're naked in front of the class in your nightmare. Regardless of the actual reaction of people, you're too vulnerable to even risk it.

ArchivedUser

SchalaZeal said:

"I have considered it now and then when I get frustrated with the stupid way too many male gamers treat anyone with a female toon (No, I don't need new gear. No, I don't need your help. No, I won't send you photos of my chest or meet you for drinks. No, I'm not interested in ERPing with you. No, I will not be your stand-in girlfriend), but it always ends with me  deleting the toon and going back to one of my women."

I avoid this by selecting who I play with. I don't need people to pass an interview to have the honor of playing with me...but I only play with friends or guildmates, or solo (and I like my solo time). So it never happens, they never get the opportunity. I'm not a social butterfly, online or in real life.

"For Mark though, it was something of a coming out experience, and perhaps one that he wasn't ready for. "

Lots of trans people 'test the waters' online. It has much less consequences (in fact, about none) than in real life. I can't tell if Mark is trans, but being revealed before being ready is like finding out you're naked in front of the class in your nightmare. Regardless of the actual reaction of people, you're too vulnerable to even risk it.

Unless you play with a consistent group of people throughout games, you can't avoid it. You do lower the chances but you can't avoid it completely. And wowee, this thread is turning into something odd.

ArchivedUser

I don't know if that was an appropriate go at humor with the level of conversation that was occurring here. I, however, may be wrong.

ArchivedUser

Humor is always subjective. Just like dead baby jokes become less funny once you have children. Using an anthropomorphic bear to comment on gender doublespeak is hilarious to some, not others.

ArchivedUser

Let's not derail the thread, please. If you found the bear funny hit the lol and move on and  If it offended you or didn't find it funny then ignore it. 

ArchivedUser

I started with boy characters so people wouldn't pick on me in wow, turns out they still do even if your a big tauren v.v

ArchivedUser

It's a myth that male characters escape bullying, trash-talking or bad treatment. They might escape patronizing players, but the female characters actually often get less harsh treatment for their failures.

I'm a know-it-all and I bore people with my geek knowledge (even in real life). That will either attract people who worship my knowledge, or repel people who want to hit on me. But it likely won't attract shallow people trying to hit on me.

ArchivedUser

I like to be manly, and look that way, both in irl and games. Also it just feels wrong to pretend.

ArchivedUser

SchalaZeal said:

It's a myth that male characters escape bullying, trash-talking or bad treatment. They might escape patronizing players, but the female characters actually often get less harsh treatment for their failures.

I'm a know-it-all and I bore people with my geek knowledge (even in real life). That will either attract people who worship my knowledge, or repel people who want to hit on me. But it likely won't attract shallow people trying to hit on me.

That's true with real life also, Men take the brunt of most things. If we fail in an physical activity or a class, we're treated far more harshly by our peers and parents. But that is also situational. So I don't believe anyone would try to say Men/Male Characters escape trash-talking or bad treatment, that's laughable.

ArchivedUser

Vortigern said:

SchalaZeal said:

It's a myth that male characters escape bullying, trash-talking or bad treatment. They might escape patronizing players, but the female characters actually often get less harsh treatment for their failures.

I'm a know-it-all and I bore people with my geek knowledge (even in real life). That will either attract people who worship my knowledge, or repel people who want to hit on me. But it likely won't attract shallow people trying to hit on me.

That's true with real life also, Men take the brunt of most things. If we fail in an physical activity or a class, we're treated far more harshly by our peers and parents. But that is also situational. So I don't believe anyone would try to say Men/Male Characters escape trash-talking or bad treatment, that's laughable.

There are many factors to that first statement and it's a generalization. I know for myself I've never received any harsh feedback for failing at anything based on my gender.  I actually think it's the opposite. Women in American society are brutally dehumanized to a point where young girls are just objects. Many of the younger girls I know in my circle who are around 16-20y/o constantly share their struggles of being pressured by society to be a certain way or to be overly successful to compensate for their gender. This is all from my own experiences so please take it all with a grain of salt. 

Also on the in-game harassment, I've been on both sides of the spectrum. As I mainly RP as a gentle highborn female elf with a disposition for the meek : ) I found that players will harass for nudes or proof. Then there are those who find out that I am a gay guy and will ask for a number or snapchat to exchange....like no thanks. 

ArchivedUser

makinoji said:

Jigsaw said:

Normally I pick female characters depending on how they look in the gear and how they move ingame, Like I have a big number of Female characters on WoW but on Runescape I am never a Female due to how capes look on them. Plus with Female characters if there is a good custom character creation you can normally go more in depth with them and make them look more different due to makeup and so on. But I am not sure what I will play Male or Female on Ashes though.

I can relate to the gear and how the customization features work. 

I agree I play primarily female characters as well. There is a wider range of customization  and that's the ticket.

ArchivedUser

"Women in American society are brutally dehumanized to a point where young girls are just objects. "

Everybody is treated as a tool. Just different types of tools by different people. You see cannon fodder in wars? They're just there to prevent enemy advance, pawns. Women used to be treated as baby machines, and men as beast of burden and cannon fodder.

Today with contraception, one half of the burden is gone. And only peace time prevents the cannon fodder part. The beast of burden part is likely not going away though, since no one does anything about it.

ArchivedUser

So is there going to be a test for this Gender Studies class?

ArchivedUser

Wibang said:

I like to be manly, and look that way, both in irl and games. Also it just feels wrong to pretend.

hahahaha.
It's a roleplaying game!!! The whole point is to play the role of a fictional character - also known as "pretend".

ArchivedUser

When I play some of the video game RPG's I currently have I am not always pretending to be the character(s). Sometimes it's just a fun game, so I can see Wibang's POV.

If they are instead engaged/immersed in the game world as their character then Dygz is right, and they are pretending. Being an RPG one would, I think, be more naturally inclined to pretend.

When I play female avatars I am not pretending to be a girl. Although I do pretend my character actually exist in that world. That said, when I play male avatars (rarely) I am not pretending they are me or pretending I am that level of manly. I'm more metro...

ArchivedUser

Just a gentle reminder to everyone to keep this thread productive and not cross into posts that would breach Community Guidelines.
Thanks yall

ArchivedUser

Nothing is more awesome than a fearsome woman leading a charge. I'm so glad that intrepid decided not to lock classes to genders. 

ArchivedUser

Azathoth said:

When I play some of the video game RPG's I currently have I am not always pretending to be the character(s). Sometimes it's just a fun game, so I can see Wibang's POV.

Choosing not to pretend is significantly different than feeling it's wrong to pretend in an RPG.
If you're playing your class, you are pretending to be that class.
You aren't truly a wizard or an elf in real life.
Feeling it's wrong to pretend to be a wizard or an elf in an RPG because you aren't one in real life is kinda odd. Gender isn't really any different.

In Ashes, we will have the opportunity to pretend to be dragons.
How can it be wrong to pretend to be a dragon??
Choosing not to pretend to be a dragon is understandable.

ArchivedUser

My point is I do not always invest that level of thought into game play, even if I'm playing an RPG. Sometimes it's just play time. I never pretended to be Mario when I was a pup. I think pretending is good at all ages and in multiple settings

*sorry to derail makinoji*

ArchivedUser

I used to mostly play female toons on MMOs.
Since 5-6 years ago tho I swapped over to playing only male toons. Started doing so after I became more socially active in MMOs instead of just playing by myself I think
(Context: Is male)

ArchivedUser

Azathoth said:

My point is I do not always invest that level of thought into game play, even if I'm playing an RPG. Sometimes it's just play time. I never pretended to be Mario when I was a pup. I think pretending is good at all ages and in multiple settings

*sorry to derail makinoji*

That I relate to, full on RP isn't necessary in all games and that's fine. 

ArchivedUser

Azathoth said:

My point is I do not always invest that level of thought into game play, even if I'm playing an RPG. Sometimes it's just play time. I never pretended to be Mario when I was a pup. I think pretending is good at all ages and in multiple settings

*sorry to derail makinoji*

Is Mario an RPG?
I think I've said - choosing not to pretend is understandable.
That is different than feeling that it's wrong to pretend to play a role that isn't you in a role playing game. Which is what Wibang said.

ArchivedUser

Paper Mario? Yes. Sorry, should have specified, I know how we beat definitions into the ground here

ArchivedUser

Because that's what I like to do. I like playing female characters; I find female characters fun and most male characters boring. Nothing is more awesome than seeing a world of female characters, as Queen's Blade (the anime) proves.

ArchivedUser

Interesting topic. I usually play male characters in games, except if the male version looks stupid and the female doesn't as much - WoW trolls for example. I have met plenty of men who play female characters for different reasons, the "watching female ass" argument is the one I heard the most. I don't really think (m)any of them played female chars because they are interested in "genderswapping", it's really just boobs they are interested in.
I played with many women online, since my wife also plays MMOs and ladies tend to stick together wherever they meet :]. On a WoW p-server we had a real girlgang and ever since I got asked to heal a dungeon for them and I was the only male in the group I can feel how awkward it sometimes has to be for women to play in a man-dominated world. So I could understand why women would choose a male toon - simple camouflage. But they usually don't. Compared to the men who chose female toons I haven't met many women who chose male toons. From my experience women tend to identify more closely with their avatar, so that might be a reason.

ArchivedUser

I'm so excited to come back and read the new responses. I think these types of open discussions enrich the community. Getting to know a little more about everyone, makes me not want to have to fight or de-level nodes lol

ArchivedUser

This is why I think it would be good to have gender change items in the game. Even if it's something rare like a high level potion obtained from a.. crazy alchemist's lair through a long and difficult quest line.