Gender Roll! Guy or Girl?

[HeckobA]

I play about half-half. I tend to get pretty immersed into a game and for example in Mass Effect being the nice guy Sheperd who everyone liked and respected was just as satisfying a feeling as being the badass Queen [censored] who nobody messed with (and got away with it), even though they are quite different.
It's always nice to play with a good-looking character, whether male of female e.g. both Dante and the other main guy in Devil May Cry 4, or in the latest game I'm playing, Dragon Age 2, female Hawke is sexy and lithe (OT: and I like how mages' attack animations are now so smooth and stylish). The reason is not so much because it's nice to look at your character (though that counts too), but because you can look at your character and think "man I look great" and it makes you feel vaguely good about yourself.

It can be... confusing and a bit weird at times, when I start to feel the infatuation my character has for the scarred Turian renegade, or the cringe-worthy accidental gay love scene between a dwarf and an elf. Seriously, Dragon Age I DID NOT ASK FOR THIS. Goddammit Zevran.

[EvilNinjadude]

Seriously, Dragon Age I DID NOT ASK FOR THIS. Goddammit Zevran.

"Stupid sexy dwarf/elf!"
I should probably count myself fortunate that my characters (or rather, my player character in any game I own) don't get into relationships without letting me in on it. Although... no, let's not bring games where relationships are the whole point into it. Because in that case the relationships you get involved in are more of a main objective to begin with.

[InceptionBwaaa]

Like how Oblivion was pretty much one big joke? I played with the feature sliders to take my characters' apperance to the extreme, and did female a lot because you can make one boob bigger than the other and that game's jiggle physics was a barrel of laughs. In other games, though, I try, as all others, to make the character reflect me as much as possible. (Except for Skyrim. I certainly am not an anthropomorphic kitty cat thing in the real world.)

[Him]

I tend to make my characters the same gender as myself. Except that one time in Mass Effect... for reasons.

[Schrodinger]

I tend to make my characters the same gender as myself. Except that one time in Mass Effect... for reasons.

Jen Hale has a very sexy voice.

[Him]

I tend to make my characters the same gender as myself. Except that one time in Mass Effect... for reasons.

Jen Hale has a very sexy voice.

The Garrus romance has extra dialogue options that are funny... He is also very awkward and it was completely worth it.

[Pseudoboss]

Female. Almost every character I make is female when I make a "default" character. I'm knot sure why. My theory is that female characters are not me, separate me from the character, and therefore raise my suspension of disbelief. My skyrim and WoW mains are both female, both RP'd as being extraordinarily badass. The protagonist of the story that I'm writing is also female. Another reason is that, especially in third person games, female character models are just much easier to look at for hours, yes, sex appeal does impact my character creation. Though I'd be more than willing to give it up for better female characterization and more Samus Arans (pre other M, of course.)

that said, it makes sense for games to have good - looking female characters. Fighting is hard, it's a requirement to be in shape, we've evolved to be attracted to forms that are capable. Seeing hot girls on the battlefield is to be expected. What isn't is seeing hot strippers on the battlefield. In my book, sex appeal is okay, as long as it's tempered. If it's not explainable thorough the character or setting, then it enters the realm of fanservice, which is not okay. Twokinds did this nicely. It makes sense for furry characters to not wear clothes, but this wasn't abused, with female characters striking a pose for the camera.

[Ardal]

Female, for one of the same reasons as pseudo: Having the character unlike me. This is especially true in games where I play the "Ultimate [censored]" character and not the "This is Myself" character. If I'm going to be different than myself, go all the way.

[Bellhead]

This is a tough one. I'd say that I'd make the protagonist a male, but the main character with the most development and depth a female.

A male figurehead at the front would seem "normal", but too common and overused in today's society, whereas a strong female supporting role would show that the protagonist isn't always the main character.

A while back, I wrote a story (don't jump into the story boards, I never finished it and probably never will) where the protaginist was the figurehead, who fought evil. He was supported by a nationwide "Crew" of mechanics and racers, and a female, just as strong and skilled as he was. She did just as well on missions, and even had her own strengths which made her stronger in some respects. He was just the one that was more well known, and got more screen time, just a face. As I wrote it, I tried to portray a male figurehead who had only raw talent with little to no develpoment, and a female supporting role that directed him, and organized his endeavours, and the Crew. She was the mastermind, with a lot of hard-earned skill and experience instead of natural talent.
This is a setup I've come to like, with a strong, ferarless, unstoppable female character thrust into the shadow of a face. It shows the opposite side of gender roles, being the caged spirit of the woman, and the overestimated importance of the man.

[wolfgirl207]

I'm female but I tend to choose the male option way more than female. Not too sure why but I've always just preferred it. Though I guess it also depends on the game and characters too.

[HeroOfHype]

I make a male character (though I will admit in saints row 3 I gave my character the russian female voice because it was hilarious)

[Commander-Strife]

I used to make guy characters almost exclusively, although it would seem it's more or less become a bit of a mix with a bit of a bias on female characters... mostly because my male to female ratio of OCs is about 2 to 5... ish

[Jonesy]

I typically go with a male character first, maybe for relatability. In certain games (namely Elder Scrolls or as far back as KOTOR 2), I'd make a female alt for roleplaying, different benefits or just to see what's different. I don't do that in every game, though.

[GAMINGREDNECK]

That's a tough one, I have a sub story where the character is a male but I say it would depend on what the story would be about or what type of interaction happens in the story ( not trying to sound wrong there ) because in movies the main character is a woman for example in the movie Alien Ripley was able to survive not because she was good shot it was because she was smart.

[Ja3k_Frost]

Oh, this is an interesting question. Usually if im making a character/avatar for an mmorpg it will be male. If its a sinlgle player game I might go either way.

I have a rule for mmorpgs, NO FEMALE CHARACTERS. Yes that probably sounds a little sexist but I can explain.
This is all because generally mmorpgs are often made by males for males. Although I am a male I don't like the way female characters are marketed, with generally skimpy or skin tight armor. I feel the guilt for buying into and supporting this marketing technique so I try to avoid it.
"Oh we dont have female characters? Check out update 2.0! Where you can play as a woman too, and yes even though 90% of her cleavage is showing that still counts as armor." -general mmorpg
(WoW, Rift)

On the other hand, for single player games I usually don't care whether my avatar is a guy or girl. Probably because I don't feel as guilty about walking around the public game areas half naked... not that I do that
(sims 3 and 4)

The exception to all of this is Skyrim, one of my favorite games. Where I can say it truly was a challenge to beat Alduin mostly naked (as far as you can get without any of those kinky mods).
Of course I haven't played mmorpgs in a while, like 2-3 years so maybe if the enlargement and acknowledgement of the female gaming community is anything like recent news suggests things could have changed quite a bit.
My final 2 cents are that I have played a lot of games lately that have genderless characters so lately Ive been avoiding this problem