Depends on armor, models and animations. Some roles/armor/animations just suit male or female characters better in my opinion. While she almost always plays females, one of my wifes EQ chaarcters was a male - because it suited the character she envisioned better, not because she was out to pick up chicks.

I guess apparently some people that started only recently and only with online games seem to be of the mindset that the character model you choose in game must be a reflection of who's behind the keyboard.  Which is idiotic and naive, as that would rule out all of the fantastic races too. It's just not a very broad minded outlook to have. Keep in mind where these games came from, even if how they're approached in the mainstream has been whittled down to stat & treasure hunting. 

Role Playing Games, as they were in the beginning, were primarily about taking on the role of a different character - an elven warrior, an orc monk, a dwarven alchemist etc, and acting out that character ( usually with hilarious results). That was the primary focus and the source of the nights entertainment. Sure there were stats and loot, but they weren't as center stage as they are in computer gaming. People taking on peculiar roles has lead to some of the more interesting characters I've met as well, I wouldn't change it for anything.

It seems males playing as females only ever really upsets unbalanced and overly hormonal individuals that feel cheated when they find out that hot female avatar is controlled by a guy, because they assumed it was a female ...and that they were going to do it, naturally, and that in real life 'she' also had a cartoonish and unnaturally idealized figure.

Good. It's their own fault for not considering the wide variety of people they're sharing the internet with. I can't help but enjoy the scenario of some redneck mouth breather courting a female avatar only to become infuriated (and confused?) to discover it's just some guy enjoying role playing a female paladin character in a role playing game.

This subject has come up countless times on these forums over the last decade and has only proven that that, as always, there's a lot of different people on the internet.

Originally posted by nyxium
I think someone's had an awkward moment discovering something they didn't want to know at a time when they were really enjoying themselves.

Personally (guy) I always toll male characters, I just like to identify myself with the characters I'm playing, I find it easier if they're the same sex. On my circle of friends I know several male friends that play female characters exclusively (I actually knew a VERY heavy role player that would go as far as to map his female char's menstrual cycle so that he could act crankier during her days) and others that play male or female depending on the character. In my very limited experience seems that there's an equal chance of a guy playing either male or female characters.

Out of the women I've met that play online I've only seen a couple of times them playing male chars, they (again, in my experience) seemed to be much more likely to play female chars exclusively.

Personally when playing and talking about characters I find myself subconciously avoiding using gender specific words (for example, using the name instead of "he" or "she"... much easier to do in english than in spanish) unless I know the actual gender of the player, and when I do use them, I use the gender of the char being played until I'm corrected otherwise.

I'm male and I roll both. I view MMOs as games with NPCs controlled by other players. I don't personally identify with my characters, and my characters are not in any shape or form a representation of me. Instead, I view them as playable characters in the vein of Lara Croft or Duke Nukem but in an online setting.

Likewise, I take every other character in game at face value. If I see a male or female character, I address them as such. I could not care less about the gender or sexual orientation of the players controlling those characters as they are irrelevant to me as a gamer.

Originally posted by LoverNoFighter

As a male, do you play a male character or a female one?

Uh, both?  Wait...do you actually mean 'character' instead of 'toon'?

If I ever get back into a game that has actual roleplay happening somewhere, I'll let you know which I'm playing.

But my days of messing with nerd's sexuality hangups are over, pretty much.

Originally posted by Zefire

Originally posted by LoverNoFighter

As a male, do you play a male character or a female one?

If you're a female, male or female charater?

 

It's a game not life.You are free to play and create what ever u want.People having issues with female and male creations as their charachter in a game they have serious problems in real life as well.

Iam male and i always create a female character.Why?Because it's a game and i like sexy female characters instead of males.

So yeah if you have problems creating a female character in a game then something is wrong.

 

If you create one merely for the sexual attraction, then you are no better than people who can't keep eye contact while talking with a busty pretty female. Different things have their place and time and certain things are best left to nightclubs, the beach and your bedroom. 

I play both, my main has always been male (except my main in SWTOR was female), one of the girls I game with helped me dress up my female toon in a couple games, lol. I know girls that play male toons, they sometimes get a kick out of how people talk to them when they're on male toons.

I'm male and I roll only male toons every games I played if class lock for female only I just roll other class

Originally posted by Acidon

Originally posted by LoverNoFighter

As a male, do you play a male character or a female one?

If you're a female, male or female charater?

 

 

My 2nd wife rolled male characters sometimes.  Just as I roll female characters sometimes.  For me it depends on the game, class, mood, etc.  

*shrug*

     For me, it wasn't until I started 2 boxing in some games that I started to roll female characters...Kind of a partner for my male character type of thing I guess.....Also I think that is one of the reasons why so many people (well guys anyway) wanted to use voice chat, so they could tell who was male playing female and who was female.

I'm a guy...but have played both. Depends on the race and class of my character.

I generally play Warrior/Rogue types as male. Cleric/Caster/Ranger types as female.

Originally posted by Valkaern

 

This subject has come up countless times on these forums over the last decade and has only proven that that, as always, there's a lot of different people on the internet.

 

This is true. However, I reckon that the number of cross-gender players has steadily increased over the years.

In some of the first games I played (SWG, FFXI) players truly seemed a little shocked if the girl was a guy in real life. Nowadays, in a game like Tera there are probably more female avatars than male. Just my opinion but I feel the gross-gender playing has become more expected and therefore accepted.

Originally posted by Banquetto
Approximately 35 of the 80-odd characters I play across a dozen different games are female; most of the rest are male. A few are indeterminate.

I'm male.

In other news, what a fresh and interesting topic this is, I can't believe nobody has ever thought to discuss it before...

Hm data hm data hm data hm data I got you babe... I got you babe

Originally posted by Miner-2049er

Originally posted by Valkaern

 

This subject has come up countless times on these forums over the last decade and has only proven that that, as always, there's a lot of different people on the internet.

 

This is true. However, I reckon that the number of cross-gender players has steadily increased over the years.

In some of the first games I played (SWG, FFXI) players truly seemed a little shocked if the girl was a guy in real life. Nowadays, in a game like Tera there are probably more female avatars than male. Just my opinion but I feel the gross-gender playing has become more expected and therefore accepted.

There's some truth in that: men are more tolerant of gender bending now and women have learned that if they play male characters they won't get digitally stalked nearly as much.

My recent favorite was a huge Norn male warrior I saw in Lion's Arch last night dressed in what appeared to be a pink and purple tutu...nice look

It's fantasy so have fun with it.

Only a male character.  I don't have any problems with guys that play female characters, as it's really meaningless anyway, but I like to be able to identify with my character, and can't do that as a female.  

Btw, although I don't have any issues with guys that play girl characters, I have to say that the excuse of "Well, if I'm going to look at a character all day, it might as well be a hot female" is about the most dumbass reason anyone can come up with.  Whenever I hear an idiot say that, I just roll my eyes.  If you honestly find a pixelated female preferable to look at, you need to get out of the house more.

I always play male characters.

Well, once I rolled a male elf and for all intents and purposes, it might as well have been a female character.

This female player mostly rolls female toons. But every once in a while, I roll a male.
/shrug