Video Game Characters -- What Do You Play?

[Guest Exeter]

I've been curious about this for quite some time and I don't think anyone has made a poll like this before. (If you have, I apologise. )

I've begun to wonder if ones internal gender identity and/or sexual preferences affect which gender they choose to play in video games. Myself, I've always felt most comfortable playing males and do so whenever given the choice. I'm just not certain, though, whether this is simply because I'm FtM or because I'm 90% gay.--->(Yes, I know that sounds odd, but I've still not entirely figured myself out.) Or both.

I've noticed that a straight bio-male friend of mine always plays female characters. I assume his preference stems mostly from sexual attraction.

My hypothesis is that transsexuals would most likely play their true gender on a video game, whereas some cisgender people may elect to play the sex they are attracted to.

I'm sorry if the options in the poll don't apply to you; it's just very difficult to detail the questions more than that. If you're not included, feel free to post anyway.

Thanks.

[Guest Donna Jean]

.

I'm MTF and I always play a female role when there is a choice in a game....

Donna Jean

[Guest KimberlyF]

I'm mtf and I play a female when I'm alone, an andro animal when it's a group setting if possible.

Kim

[Guest Exeter]

Oops. I think I made a mistake on the poll. It says you need to cast your vote on each of the questions... I suppose there's no way to fix it to where you only answer one? I didn't know how else to make a poll that covered both FtMs and MtFs of those three sexual preferences.

Sorry. I tend to make a lot of mistakes.

[Guest Kalie]

I am MtF and play female char. Always have :-) oh and I am bi sexual. I believe you wanted to know that too.

Love

Kalie

[Guest Tiaria]

I'm not going to vote: this is a public poll!

[Sally]

I always play in female roles dating back to when my sister and I played games using a blackboard for hangman and tic-tac-toe - the scores were always for her name and the female name of my choice at the time.

I could not tell anyone if I am straight, bi or gay because I have been pretty much asexual throughout my life.

Maybe I'll meet someone that will help me figure that out someday.

Love ya,

Sally

[Sally]

Oops. I think I made a mistake on the poll. It says you need to cast your vote on each of the questions... I suppose there's no way to fix it to where you only answer one? I didn't know how else to make a poll that covered both FtMs and MtFs of those three sexual preferences.

Sorry. I tend to make a lot of mistakes.

Don't worry - we all make mistakes.

However, I can and did edit your poll adding a does not apply option on each question - problem solved - everyone can now vote if they choose to.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Exeter]

Thanks for editing that.

Sorry again for the mistake... and is it bad that the poll is public? I didn't really know what the difference was with that.

[Guest sarah f]

I am MTF but only use female characters when I have a choice.

[Guest KimberlyF]

Thanks for editing that.

Sorry again for the mistake... and is it bad that the poll is public? I didn't really know what the difference was with that.

Well sexual orientation and gender are two different things of course, and the heart of this board is gender based so some may not be comfortable or know the other. You're asking people to out themselves without an option kinda. Personally I'm a lesbian, but it's my choice to say it.

Kim

[Guest Exeter]

Oh, I'm sorry, then. I didn't mean to do that. I really don't want to bother or offend anyone. I'm very awkward and never know how to do anything right. I'm just still questioning myself and I guess it makes me do this sort of thing.

[Guest KimberlyF]

Oh, I'm sorry, then. I didn't mean to do that. I really don't want to bother or offend anyone. I'm very awkward and never know how to do anything right. I'm just still questioning myself and I guess it makes me do this sort of thing.

Seriously it's no biggy. It wasn't a major screw-up but I was just showing one way people might not want this public. There isn't a person on this board who hasn't made many mistakes and most people look at motive before they take offense. They still might not be comfortable with your poll, but that's a long ways away from offended. And I'm in my 40's and I'm still questioning myself. That doesn't have to be said as a negative.

Kim

[Guest Tiaria]

Thanks for editing that.

Sorry again for the mistake... and is it bad that the poll is public? I didn't really know what the difference was with that.

'Public' means anyone can see who voted what... If it isn't, no one (not even you, or the mods, or the admins) can see who voted what...

In my case, it would just mean making some statements I'm not yet comfortable with... It's still too sensitive...

Sorry...

[Guest miss kindheart]

I haven't played many games, but i use to play street fighter on the super nintendo with my kids , i was always Chun Li

I also played Mortal Combat on the Wii with them and i was always Nitara

I remember the first time , my son said to me 'Your gonna be a girl ?'

And i said "Yeah I'm gonna be a girl"

That was before he really knew

vanna

[JenniferB]

I used to play video games all the time. But now not so much. It seems my interests are changing. But when I do play I always choose the female whenever possible.

Jenny

[Guest TaraD]

Im a MtF and I always play a female.

[Guest Ev.]

I'll aways play a female character if possible. Alot of games kinda annoy me when they limit the character to male, with some moronic explanation by Devs that "the story doesn't make sense as a female" which is most often nonsense. If they spent an hour brainstorming they could think of very easy ways to make the story suit both genders. :S

Only game I played a male in recent memory was in Age of Conan (the MMO) and that was purely because they just looked so lovely! :3 I didn't realize it for quite a while, but I eventually figured out that it was playing a male char that depressed me (as generally I'm in a really good mood while doing online stuff). Haven't played any non-required male characters since.

[Guest Samurai_Kid]

It depends.

I'm an ace FTM and I usually play as a girl. I just like it. Everyone plays as a boy. It's fun to be cool as a girl; people expect the girls to be pathetic and "cute".

But since I've started transitioning, I've been more open toward playing as a boy for whatever reason.

[Guest CrimsonEdge]

Straight FtM here and I always play as a guy. I always fund video games and the internet to be one place where I can be who I want to be ( a guy) without any complications. In games like Mass Effect, where you design your character from scratch, I tend to make my character look like a male version of me. That way, I get to be a man and a hero!!

[Guest Cowboy]

Straight FTM and I always play as a guy when I have the option. To be honest, if there isn't any option and the main character is a male then I dont even give it any thought.

I've always stayed away from games that require me to play as a female though, because its always felt awkward to me.

[Guest HoWeVeRmine]

Mm... well, a lot of arcade/online games I would play as female... Then I slowly progressed into playing as male because no one could watch me play so I could be whoever I wanted. As for video games at home I keep a balance of guys and girls as to avoid suspicion and sometimes I like playing as a girl because they're cool to look at fight and stuff. And RPGs (someone mentioned Mass Effect, I love Bioware! DA and KOTOR!! -ahem- excuse my geekiness) I tend to go through several times with different characters males and females. Video games are more fantasy so I don't really mind being either gender :]

[Guest sleeping chrysalid]

I prefer to play as females in secret. If other people who do not know I am trans see me playing as a girl I better have an excuse. I do not like to use the excuse that "it is just for sexual attraction" because that feels like self betrayal. It makes me sound like a typical guy when I say that and even though I do not want others to know the whole story yet I do not want to create a masculine image for myself when I am so far from it. I'll use any other excuse to play as a girl including one as silly as "I just want to see if there are any plot differences or if the characters act differently around me". I can easily hide a handheld game so I will always play as a female on the DS. I once thought that nobody could just look at my profile and see my avatar on Xbox Live just because I couldn't figure out how to so I made a female avatar but to my surprise a friend from school questioned it. It was kind of silly of me to believe that but I guess I just wanted to be able to do it so I tried to convince myself it was okay. My only excuse was that "my little brothers must have played a prank on me". It is difficult trying to hide it when I secretly prefer to play as a female character but I prefer to do so when I can

[Guest ladyamy]

I prefear to play female charaters or animal charaters.

[Guest Deandra]

I always like to play casual games like Mario and the gender of the character really never mattered to me. The character just have to be good enough for me to deal with.