I have this on my watchlist too, and really would wish to take part. But I just can't decide who to nominate, there are just too many people that deserve it.

Thanks for the refreshingly honest replies guys (I assume you're guys, forgive me if I'm mistaken), glad to see I'm not the only one who -occasionally- chooses a female character just for the eye candy. I absolutely don't see any harm in that, nor any "underlying deeper issues" but think it's completely normal behavior and doesn't make anyone a superficial or evil sexist pig person. If anything were to strike me as abnormal, it's politically correct behavior where people are afraid to say what they truly feel and think for fear of offending someone or losing status.
Plus, I'm sure many female players also choose a character/avatar based on eye candy from time to time - to what degree I can't say as we didn't poll that in the last round but I'm sure that the occasional appreciation of eye candy is not a male players only syndrome.

Had a lot of fun reading all the answers in this thread so far, keep em coming!

Could you elaborate on that a bit more? My first thought was that's Freudian psycho babble suggesting that all of us who confess to liking eye candy from time to time are little Buffalo Bills from Silence of the Lamb - but that would be unfair as you might have some good points, either way it's an interesting topic that is central to ddickinson's question number 3.

I think one of the reasons may be the same answer I gave i the Girl's GA thread and that some people here also had for themselves - it's easier to roleplay a character that is more distant to your "true" self. Gender switching is a way to achieve this. My answer in the other thread was a little more detailed, so please refer there, if you're interested.

Another thing that quite a few people mentioned is getting bored by the "manly-man" muscle-packed role model so many games employ for male characters.

As I mentioned in the other thread I was quite surprised some time ago to learn through some of the discussions here that me preferring female characters in games (especially RPGs) is not at all uncommon. And this thread shows is as well.

What I found interesting is that of the women that answered question 3 here the great majority likes to stay "in-gender" if given the choice. Kitchen psychology would jump to the conclusion that many men secretly envy women while most women are happy with what they got ;-)

As for the eyecandy part - it's my experience that "the generic female model" matches the taste of most men pretty well (or we are just not very picky). While the typical ape-man hero with bulking biceps, wide jaw and military cut does not match the ideal of most women. I think it rather appeals to a wanne-be male self - targeted at a male audience with adolecent power fantasies (nothing wrong with that - I love playing Riddick too).

Wait, what? People play skyrim in third person??? Why?

I have enjoyed reading the posts, especially concerning the third question. However, I am disappointed by the lack of pillow fights and skimpy pjs. wtf?? Don't make me bring out the hose! ;)

Least favorite genres:
1. Strategy games. God, how anyone can find these fun is just beyond my comprehension.
2. Sports games. Last sports game I played was EA Sport's NHL 96 in 96
3. Pay to win that masks as FTP. they can all go to hell.

Play as a female?
yes, every chance I get, I play as a girl. The only exceptions to this are if there are different outcomes/dialogue options based on gender and the game Mass Effect. I could not make myself play as a female Shephard. Just couldn't. I dunno if it was b/c I was late to the game and only knew of a male Shephard, so the female version was weird to me or what. He was one of the first male characters I really enjoyed playing and felt I had really "become" him playing the game. It was a fun departure for me.

I played John the first time too (1+2). And it's true, I could really identify with him (except for the looks). But give Jane a chance on a second playthrough - the voice acting is nothing short of awesome. One of the few times I fell in love with my own avatar.

well thats surprising. many people, who played mass effect series including me, recommended to play male paragon or female bad-ass renegade. the voice of an male renegade just doesnt fit.

Yes, I saw your post - very fascinating to see how people play so differently from each other.
I don't actually roleplay in video games, haven't seen any game that truly allows you to be whoever and do whatever you want. Freedom is illusory, even in the most non-linear RPGs. Therefor, I always end up metagaming to a certain extent, meaning I play games more like a beta-tester and try to do funny stuff and experiment e.g. doing things out of order, try to brake quests and make the game despair at my strange actions rather than getting into character. So whether my character is male or female, I don't get into character. The only time I get into character is when I have to play with little kids of my friends, I can convincingly roleplay a variety of buga buga pseudo-scary monsters (T-Rex, zombies etc) and they're always satisfied with my impersonations. It helps that I'm not really a scary person so I can act out those monsters fully and the kids just laugh and have a grand time. I can also roleplay a generic horse and an elephant.

Kitchen psychology is a real Volksport nowadays, any trip to the bookstore proves it most effectively :)
I don't claim to have any answers but at least I don't print books with silly cover slogans and make conclusions based on reverse-engineering colorful premises and relying on a confirmation-biased horde of zombie customers.
I like to keep an open mind: "Nothing is written!"
As illustrated by one of my all-time favorite movie scenes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EZCG2Ex8Q0

Whoa, you are right. mind.blown. *opens crate-o-goodies and pulls out honey, glitter and disco records* Entertain me, dammit!!!!!


I have heard her voice is great and eventually I probably will play her as a paragon, since my male shephard is a jackass :)
interesting, though I'm gonna probably play the female as paragon, since I"m already being a renegade with John.

A matter of taste I guess. I'm an avid PnP player and I tend to roleplay every game that allows it (even city builders like Sim City). It just gives me a lot of satisfaction. I've managed to break some games with this - trying to do things my character would do but the developer didn't think of.
Computer games are limited (obviously) in this resort, but I try to take what I get and make the best of it. Worst case is a dialog with options that I find all unfitting. Especially in a game that otherwise fits my play style pretty well. Well in that case - if the mountain won't come to you, go to the mountain. Pick an option and adjust the picture of the character you had in mind.

Yes, been since Freud, I think. Difference nowadays is, there is a huge pile of choice. For whatever question you seek your (preconceived) answer, you will find a book that confirms your thoughts and uncountable people on the internet who are just along the same line - maybe that's a reason why many people nowadays are that firm in their convictions and it's really hard in a discussion to actually convince somebody. No matter how crude your opinion - there are thousands out there supporting you.

Pulls out whip... Naw too small.

Pulls out light saber... Naw too small.

Pulls out TIE Fighter... Naw too small.

Pulls out Star Destroyer... Naw too small.

Pulls out Death Star... OH MY GODS WE WILL ALL DIE. Naw too small.

Pulls out Indestructible hyperkinetic rabbity thing. Aim..........




*BUMP*

Glitter? Well, if it's going to be that kind of party, I might have some fishnets and whatnot lying around somewhere.

Thanks for the wonderful giveaway Lady D. Dickinson, I do believe I shall enter for the $5.99 game and will also enter on behalf of billymaysfan59 even though he already has some well-deserved nominations. One of the best people I've met recently, on these forums or otherwise.

Q1.My favorite genres probably won't surprise people that know me:
A.Western RPGS-I cut my pc gaming teeth on Might & Magic and the fantastic Gold Box Games from SSI and once Baldur's Gate was released I never looked back.I love almost everything about western rpgs, whether they take the well-used fantasy tropes and simply recast them in a different mold, turn them over, poke fun at them, or throw them out the window completely.I especially am fond of D&D based ones or those that use systems based however loosely on the ruleset. Not to say that I am not also a harsh critic; I haven't played many titles because of over-saturation of specific types or because of reading and listening to friends and certain critics with whom I often agree. Not to say I limit myself to only fantasy-based rpgs, Mass Effect 1 and KOTOR are among my favorites, as well as classics like Fallout, natch.
I love being able to immerse myself in a story, to act as the protagonist and face the challenges, come what may.

B. Real-time strategy games. From dynastic empire-building with grand strategy like Paradox titles to the grim battlefields of the 41st millenium in Dawn of War, not to mention 4X space-based games and city-management/building sims like Stronghold and Caesar 3, I've long been an armchair strategist.
I don't enjoy micro-managing unnecessarily or sloppily-made UIs so I am definitely very picky about what strategy games I'll play. The fact that I started with Dune 2000, Warcraft 2, Red Alert,Shadow of the Horned Rat and Romance of the Three Kingdoms for SNES has a lot to do with my taste in these areas.

C.Turn-based and hybrid strategy games like HOMM and the Total War series.I really enjoy the challenge of turn-based gameplay, especially with human opponents. The "just one more turn" syndrome is very difficult to deny for these ever-evolving strategy subgenres. I still maintain that Disciples II is just as good a game as HOMM 3, and in many ways is better because it has Dwarves.

The reason I love all types of strategy/simulation games is likely because most of our lives we spend as essentially peasants toiling for overlords. Strategy games give one the chance to be those overlords. Seriously though, I love the challenge and the innumerable ways to meet that challenge available to the cunning, tactical, and logical mind.

Honourable mention:Space-combat flight sims. X-wing, TIE Fighter, XvT, Wing Commander, etc gave me a huge thrill growing up. The fact that GoG brought the amazing WC series back so I could finally finish IV and now with Lucasarts joining them means a renaissance of these games for me.

Q2.Least favorite genres are far easier.
A.Sports games. I don't follow many sports, and the last sports game I genuinely enjoyed was Tecmo Bowl.
B.JRPGS...I dislike the aesthetics,the game play, the way you don't usually have control over your character progression, most of the party "banter" and character stories which all seem so painfully adolescent, and the attendant difficulties most of these games have with representing realistic men and women.
C.F2P/Pay-to-win because they ruined an entire genre of games, to my mind. I really enjoyed some aspects of WoW and Warhammer online before the massive rise in F2P MMO's came along and dramatically altered the entire culture of those games. There's no such thing as a free lunch and F2P games prey on the naive and reckless.

Q3. Whenever possible I tend to pick a Dwarf character. When that's not possible I tend to pick a bearded character.I know, I'm predictable. I don't shy away from playing as a female protagonist, especially in games without preassigned notions of gender and sexuality. To be perfectly honest, if a game doesn't explicitly tell me I can choose a gender, I don't bother checking.
I have enjoyed playthroughs of NWN modules as females, Baldur's Gate 1 as a female human, and more importantly playing as a female character on NWN RP servers. I used to login with an alt account as a female pc to see if people treated her any differently than if it was me, who was known to be a dude. In most cases the differences were minimal; unless I'd get asked out-of-character if I was a male or female, and from then on all OOC conversations changed depending on whether I said I was male or just "preferred not to say." I never lied and said I was female, however.

I'm a dude, or a woman stuck in a man's body.

In for a $9.99 game (the games I want all cost that much or more)

Q1. What are your top 3 favourite game genres and why?
A1.
-First person shooter = simple, easy to jump into and play, controls are usually customizable,
-free roam = let's me go at my own pace and do what I want,
-puzzle = exercises my brain and is good when I want to relax.

Q2. What are your top 3 worst game genres and why? (I'm interested to hear the ladies answer to this as well.)
A2.
-Turn based. = Other than board games, turn based games drive me nuts with all the waiting.
-RTS. = Overly complex gameplay and cluttered hud (I don't like huds). Rare exception: Myth, which let me disable hud and focused on combat.
-Simulation games. = They're not games. They're like a beta version of a game without any missions, just an engine and a world.

Q3. If you enjoy playing as a woman in games, what is it about playing as a woman that appeals to you?
A3. If I'm going to have to look at my character on screen for hours on end, I might as well enjoy the view.


The thing I dislike most about games overall is the lack of options (for customizing controls, hud options, sound, skipping cutscenes, etc).

The thing I like most about games overall is that they let me escape into a world where my life doesn't suck.

I'm a chimp. I'm a male lesbian (according to my lesbian friends). Do I qualify?! O____o?