3 ms·

What I fail to see is: why is the gender of the characters so important? It doesn't seem to make any difference on the mentioned games (unlike, eg: Diablo II, w

What I fail to see is: why is the gender of the characters so important? It doesn't seem to make any difference on the mentioned games (unlike, eg: Diablo II, where the female characters had different skillsets from the male ones). I've never understood why so many people feel compelled to play with a character with the same gender/race/etc as themselves. What amazes me even more, is that people are willing to pay for this.

evanwalsh 12y ago
I think people want to identify with the media they consume and games are different from more passive forms because of player agency. However, if the avatar in the game is supposed to be "you", but it doesn't even begin to look like you, then you don't identify as much. I, for one, relish a game that doesn't make me play as Johnny Brownhair-Whiteguy, but I have the benefit of being a white male with brown hair. I have the benefit of being catered to by most video games. If I could less often play as someone that looked like me, I think I'd start to feel excluded.
Nexxxeh 12y ago
I'm don't look like any of the video game characters from the games I play, regardless of gender. An extreme diet and a lot of gym time and a set of stilts might get me somewhere near Agent 47, or binge eating and a wig might move me towards something E Honda-esque. IDGAF. One of the MMORPGs I play as a female character coz I preferred the character model. She has green hair. In real life, I don't have enough hair left to warrant the pack of bleach and color. It's not real. It's a video game. I'd be as happy playing as Katniss as I would Peeta, if those are the Hunger Game options. Video games aren't the story of us. They're the story of someone else. That's the point. I'm not a humanoid fox with a star fighter, I'm not an elf tasked with saving the world. I'm not a hired assassin or a warrior with long red hair fighting a tyrant.

evanwalsh 12y ago

I think people want to identify with the media they consume and games are different from more passive forms because of player agency. However, if the avatar in the game is supposed to be "you", but it doesn't even begin to look like you, then you don't identify as much. I, for one, relish a game that doesn't make me play as Johnny Brownhair-Whiteguy, but I have the benefit of being a white male with brown hair. I have the benefit of being catered to by most video games. If I could less often play as someone that looked like me, I think I'd start to feel excluded.

Nexxxeh 12y ago

I'm don't look like any of the video game characters from the games I play, regardless of gender. An extreme diet and a lot of gym time and a set of stilts might get me somewhere near Agent 47, or binge eating and a wig might move me towards something E Honda-esque. IDGAF. One of the MMORPGs I play as a female character coz I preferred the character model. She has green hair. In real life, I don't have enough hair left to warrant the pack of bleach and color. It's not real. It's a video game. I'd be as happy playing as Katniss as I would Peeta, if those are the Hunger Game options. Video games aren't the story of us. They're the story of someone else. That's the point. I'm not a humanoid fox with a star fighter, I'm not an elf tasked with saving the world. I'm not a hired assassin or a warrior with long red hair fighting a tyrant.