Hydaelyn Role-Players
Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Printable Version

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RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - zaviire - 07-28-2017

I'll skip over the mucky issue of my own gender because ain't no one got time for that. That said, I almost always write male characters. I'm not sure exactly why; I part of it might be that I find them easier to design. I do have a few woman characters under my belt, but I've rarely if ever gotten as into them as I have the men I've written.

It might have more to do with the type of character that I enjoy writing the most: the tall, dark, and broody guys dressed down in either pinstripes or leather...? Depending on setting and tone, of course. (Leonnaux is of the former variety. I think. He's a good deal more bookish than I guess the archetype usually implies, but he's got the brood down-pat, I think.) When I try to do it with my woman characters, it usually comes off as... I dunno, kind of fake? They fall kind of flat, but I don't think it's for lack of trying. I've written a good share of woman characters who fit that mold, but either because of the overarching story that I was trying to tell or whatever else, I couldn't really get into them. Maybe the trick to writing more would be to find a stereotypically-female character archetype that I enjoy.

(07-27-2017, 06:15 PM)Maril Wrote: What I do end up doing however, if referring to people oocly with the gender of their character (because it's easier) - It's a super old habit, and persists even when I know people are the opposite gender.

I do this too -- but I try to be better about it! I guess for me it's probably a little bit because I associate names with pronouns; if I see a character name then it's kind of like an automatic thing. Thankfully with people I'm close to OOC I usually have (or pick) a separate name to refer to them by, so it's more of an issue with people I don't talk to (or about) OOC very often.

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kaiverta - 07-28-2017

All your responses are great. Thanks very much for joining the discussion. :3

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kaiverta - 07-28-2017

(07-28-2017, 12:04 AM)Ryuji Wrote: I'm a guy in the real world and the characters that I play are men as well. If I play a female then it's usually for the sake of a temporary plot/background NPC but given how difficult it is to actually create temporary characters on Balmung I don't really bother.


Fair enough. Smile I've never had the privelege of RPing on Balmung but by all accounts, it seems like a decent server.

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kallera - 07-28-2017

It's funny, we have a shortage of male characters in our RP group!

My character is female, though I sometimes wonder what the difference would be if I plaged the other gender, maybe be a bit less worried about social standing, a bit more "energetic" with a more "rouse and rile" method of cheering people up.

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kerrath - 07-29-2017

I'm male and my character is male. I've only ever RPed as a male character as well. Before I got into RP, my character was fantasia'd female a few times. 

There are two primary reasons why my character is male--one is that my girlfriend wanted our characters to be a couple, and the other is that I'm not terribly interested in emulating sexuality from a female POV & I think sexuality is a major component of character development.

Other than that, though--I do have a little interest in writing a female character. I'm a huge fan of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I think that there is an aesthetic to a female action hero who combines the best features of masculinity and femininity to create a hero that can inspire anyone. A hero who nurtures their comrades when they're weak but pushes them harder at the same time. Someone who is simultaneously patient but decisive. I really like that as an aesthetic.

If my girlfriend quit FF14 or something i'd consider playing a female character. Though, on the other hand, if she quit FF14, I probably would too, to play whatever she went off to. (unless it was another moba, in which case she can fuck off and play by herself)

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Charity322 - 07-29-2017

I've never been able to play the opposite sex. I just can't get into the char and I'm never sure how I should be playing them.

I do, therefore, fall into the trap of imagining the player to be the same gender as their char, even when I know better. XD

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Yian Kutku - 07-30-2017

In my more snarky moments, I get the weird impression that when it comes to Au Ra and Miqo'te, I can assume that the female characters are played by men, and the male characters are played by women.

More seriously, I'm a male and I play female characters almost exclusively. I have no idea why, but it is how it is. I say "almost" because in my years of playing MMOs (and a short stint with MUDs), I played a total of one male character (in City of Heroes), who got benched after something like ten hours of play, simply because I didn't feel comfortable playing him.

Which is the main draw of female characters for me: I feel more comfortable playing them. Again, I don't know why. I do like the female glamours more, and I do like the way female characters move in this game, but those don't feel sufficient to explain my preference for female characters. It just feels more relaxing.

I do RP my characters in what I feel is a gender-neutral manner. I don't consciously do so; it's just that the traits I like to roleplay (intellectually curious, confident/timid, exuberant/reluctant, naive/world-weary) are fairly universal, and not particularly masculine or feminine. So in that sense, it doesn't really matter if I play a male or female character.

I have never been mistaken as female in RL, though. I've been told that my choice of words and how I arrange them, especially OOC, is very "male"; I'm not sure if this is synonymous with "masculine". I don't actually know what the criteria for this is, but I've been told the same thing often enough (and by different people) that either there's a popular "is your writing male or female" test I've never heard of, or it really is a thing academically.

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kaiverta - 07-30-2017

(07-30-2017, 03:41 AM)Yian Kutku Wrote: In my more snarky moments, I get the weird impression that when it comes to Au Ra and Miqo'te, I can assume that the female characters are played by men, and the male characters are played by women....etc

Shortened it so I don't spread my answer too long down the page. That was a really interesting read. I wouldn't say that it came across as particularly feminine or masculine, but it was intellectual, and sensible.

I have no idea why I feel more comfortable playing males, even though I'm a female. Maybe it does have something to do with the fact that my female characters often got belittled by other female characters, but likewise, I feel like that's not a sufficient enough reason to cause my cessation of female-playing overall. If I liked female characters, I'd play them regardless. Male characters are just more relaxing (to use your words), and words for them flow more freely. I'd love to know the psychology behind it. Smile

Quote:Charity322 
I've never been able to play the opposite sex. I just can't get into the char and I'm never sure how I should be playing them.

I do, therefore, fall into the trap of imagining the player to be the same gender as their char, even when I know better. XD

I don't fall into the trap, per se, but I do respond to people as if they're the same gender as their characters--Male character's player gets called 'he, him, his', and vice versa), unless I already know otherwise, or they tell me otherwise. I just feel like it helps keep things from getting confusing. xD

Quote:Kerrath
Quote:...If my girlfriend quit FF14 or something i'd consider playing a female character. Though, on the other hand, if she quit FF14, I probably would too, to play whatever she went off to. (unless it was another moba, in which case she can fuck off and play by herself)

Ha! Hysterical. It's nice to see that there are people who stick to their gender, as well as people who can easily branch out and play the opposite. There's a good mix of players here.

What is MOBA, by the way (forgive my ignorance--I usually stick to console games)?

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kerrath - 07-30-2017

(07-30-2017, 03:55 AM)Kaiverta Wrote: Ha! Hysterical. It's nice to see that there are people who stick to their gender, as well as people who can easily branch out and play the opposite. There's a good mix of players here.

What is MOBA, by the way (forgive my ignorance--I usually stick to console games)?
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. League of Legends is the biggest one, but there are others. I can't stand em.

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Roedadyn - 07-30-2017

MOBA = Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. It's really just an arena where you choose characters and battle it out, like it says on the tin. DotA (Defence of the Ancients), League of Legends and SMITE are three examples of MOBAs. 

As for myself, I'm nonbinary but I do have a preference of playing male characters. I have no real reasoning other than the fact that I just like playing male characters over female. I honestly don't understand the whole "your gender vs your character" thing as I just thought "just play what you like" as some character aesthetics may look more appealing on one gender than another (for example the black scales on male au ra make me want to play a male one more than female, not to mention I'm not fond of female's tiny size). I have been mistaken for being male repeatedly, but that's because people look at my model and don't really get to listen to my irl voice (as I don't actually mention my gender).

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kaiverta - 07-30-2017

Thanks for the answer, guys. Knowing what MOBA means, I can say that I don't see too much of a point in that sort of game. There are obviously heaps of people who like them, but... not for me.


Quote:Roedadyn
By using the title 'Your gender vs. your character',  just meant to ask if your gender matches your character's, or if you switch it up, and if so why, and if people have given you grief over it.

I used to get grief in the past in my first MuD I ever played, but I think that was because we were all younger and more emotional, and perhaps it wasn't as widely accepted that people play characters of the opposite gender - or at least not as widely known.

Yep, I definitely play male characters because I just 'like to' a lot more. Smile It helps that I can design my own characters too, so they'll always be appealing to me aesthetically because I'm not limited by a finite selection of facial, hair, body, etc options.

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kerrath - 07-30-2017

one of my friends from wow was a female who almost exclusively roleplayed as male homosexual characters primarily because she enjoyed romance but hated the drama associated with straight romance rp.

at one point she was RPing as a muscular orc man who was dating a blood elf man who had a chocolate factory (????) and wow i did not know what to do with that information.

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kaiverta - 07-30-2017

(07-30-2017, 04:55 AM)Kerrath Wrote: one of my friends from wow was a female who almost exclusively roleplayed as male homosexual characters primarily because she enjoyed romance but hated the drama associated with straight romance rp.

at one point she was RPing as a muscular orc man who was dating a blood elf man who had a chocolate factory (????) and wow i did not know what to do with that information.

Ha! Wow, that's so strange.

I've seen two women (who were married IRL) who played two guys in a gay couple. o.O Nothing wrong with it - it's just strange. I guess it's just like hetero people playing a guy or a girl in a hetero couple.

How is there drama with hetero romance but not with homosexual romance? People are people regardless. I'd like to know how she avoided the drama, though... That's always nice.

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kerrath - 07-30-2017

(07-30-2017, 05:23 AM)Kaiverta Wrote: How is there drama with hetero romance but not with homosexual romance? People are people regardless. I'd like to know how she avoided the drama, though... That's always nice.
different kinds of drama. 

heterosexual rp might open up to thirsty boys who want to be your girlfriend ooc in addition to ic.

RE: Your Gender vs. Your Character's - Kaiverta - 07-30-2017

(07-30-2017, 05:49 AM)Kerrath Wrote:
(07-30-2017, 05:23 AM)Kaiverta Wrote: How is there drama with hetero romance but not with homosexual romance? People are people regardless. I'd like to know how she avoided the drama, though... That's always nice.
different kinds of drama. 

heterosexual rp might open up to thirsty boys who want to be your girlfriend ooc in addition to ic.
Ohh, so you mean if she, being a woman, plays a homosexual male, who gets involved with another homosexual male, then hopefully that other character is played by a homosexual male, or a girl, thus lessening her chances of being sought after OOC?