76 replies to this topic

[mrs_pilon]

The survey is now closed. A huge thank you to everyone who took their time and participated in both the survey and writing (on the topic) in this thread. I'm leaving the thread open if anyone wants to discuss the topic further.

Hello, folks!

Now, I know that there is a thread about this topic (and I am going to read it) but please, hear/read me out.

I am conducting a research on gender-bending in GW2 for my Game Culture class. I have prepared a few questions on the topic and I hope you will be willing to answer them. I made an online survey to make it more convenient for people who would rather avoid participating in an open forum discussion (it's also probably more comfortable). However, I will also post the questions here and we will hopefully get some discussion going.

The overall idea is to not only gather reasons for why players gender-bend (and how many do it) but also to get a wider picture of the whole phenomenon. I, myself, am a female who always prefers playing as males and it is intersting to give it a bigger thought.

ALSO! If you are someone who doesn't gender-bend, please share on why you do not do that.

I will not use the data outside of my term paper. It will not be published anywhere. No user information, such as user names, will be mentioned in the paper.
Ok, this introduction got a big long, onto the questions!

Here is the survey link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TJHGR7D
And here are the questions from it (without the what is your gender/age ones):

1. Why do you play as a character of the opposite gender?
2. Does it influence/change your gaming experience? How? (i.e. social aspects, aesthetics, makes the game easier, etc.)
3. Do you identify with your character? How?
4. Have you done gender-bending before? In what games?
5. Is Guild Wars 2 more gender-bending friendly? For example, are the graphics and designs more attractive than in other games?
6. Do you enjoy playing as the opposite gender in single-player games?
7. Do you admit to your real gender while interacting with other players?
8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?

Edited by mrs_pilon, 05 November 2012 - 07:03 PM.

[Baktwerel]

I'm a female player who has 8 characters in GW2, half of which are male, the other half female.
Before I start to answer your questions, let me add some thoughts. As an artist I have a huge imagination and whenever I create a character in a game, I can't help but create background stories and personalities with them. As if I'd prepare them for role playing (which I actually plan to do in GW2 this time, for the first time in a game). Also, GW2 is the first game where I have male characters too (heck, my main is a male too), in other games I usually played with female characters but mostly because the males weren't appealing enough and had worse looking armors ( Also, in my guild we have multiple members of both genders who have characters of both genders.)

1. Well, why shouldn't I? As far as I know there is no rule like "if you are female, you can only play with female characters"
2. Since this is my first time playing with male characters, not sure. Haven't noticed anything different yet.
3. I don't think I identify myself with my characters. Sure, some of them may or may not have a few qualities from me, but in overall they are my characters and I'm myself, sitting here in front of the computer.
4. I haven't done it before, GW2 is my first and I really enjoy playing both genders.
5. I believe it is. Both genders of all 5 races look great and have lots of variations look wise. I find all my characters fun to play
6. Not sure what to say... most single player games have only one main character that is usually male. I usually focus on having fun but in a few cases I felt like I'd have more fun playing as my own gender.
7. If they ask or accidently call me a Sir, sure. My gender is not a secret and I will never pretend to be the other gender (I guess most people feel weird about this topic because there are always some players who not only play as the opposite gender but also pretend to be that gender).
8. Don't think so. I am who I am, I see no reason to pretend to be someone else.

I hope my answers help your research :3 Feel free to ask more questions if you want to know more, will gladly answer them!

edit: I have submitted my answers to the provided survey link too!

Edited by Baktwerel, 04 November 2012 - 04:37 PM.

[Bloodtau]

It's a fantasy game.
The guys playing a female character wishes they were female in real life. it's that simple!

[Sheffyeld]

Bloodtau, on 04 November 2012 - 04:30 PM, said:

It's a fantasy game.
The guys playing a female character wishes they were female in real life. it's that simple!

Fact.

My wife is a hefemale and my friend is a shemale <3.

[Impmon]

What about the people who play Charr do they wish they were charr in real life ?

[TGIFrisbie]

Are you also conducting a study on profession bending?  Cause while I play a necro online, I am a mesmer in real life.

[Cube]

Female, 19.

1. Why do you play as a character of the opposite gender?
Usually I will pick female. I rarely play male characters.

2. Does it influence/change your gaming experience? How? (i.e. social aspects, aesthetics, makes the game easier, etc.)
If I where to play a male character it changed my experience to where I can't relate completely to the character. I'm not a man, and I don't know how it is to be one. So I personally can't relate the same way as if I was playing a female.

3. Do you identify with your character? How?
Yes. I make my characters usually parts of my personality. I actually discovered this after playing 5 years of Guild Wars. And how every time I played a character I felt a certain way/got in a certain mood when playing them. And later I started to note down what characters where which part of me. And it was surprising, but fun

4. Have you done gender-bending before? In what games?
I tried to, but I didn't find it very fun in the long run. It was nice to look at something that I found sexy, but I put more into my characters than hotness level

5. Is Guild Wars 2 more gender-bending friendly? For example, are the graphics and designs more attractive than in other games?
Yeah, finally women(and men) can play male characters without looking like weird hulks. Have you seen the male in GW1? They are terrible. In GW2 you can actually make sexy male characters.

6. Do you enjoy playing as the opposite gender in single-player games?
In single-player games I normally don't have a choice. They usually always have a male hero which is really sexist, as the only females you often can play in good games are non existent or only for decoration on the side. But that's a whole other topic.

7. Do you admit to your real gender while interacting with other players?
If they ask and I'm comfortable saying so, yes. But it seems people always assume you're a dude unless you say otherwise

8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?
No never, unless you're role playing I find that very disturbing.

Edited by Cube, 04 November 2012 - 05:34 PM.

[Shadowrose]

I used the survey. It's there for a reason.

I don't get these people posting in the thread... do you need attention?

[Nox_Aeterna]

mrs_pilon, on 04 November 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

1. Why do you play as a character of the opposite gender?
2. Does it influence/change your gaming experience? How? (i.e. social aspects, aesthetics, makes the game easier, etc.)
3. Do you identify with your character? How?
4. Have you done gender-bending before? In what games?
5. Is Guild Wars 2 more gender-bending friendly? For example, are the graphics and designs more attractive than in other games?
6. Do you enjoy playing as the opposite gender in single-player games?
7. Do you admit to your real gender while interacting with other players?
8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?

1. Well atm is simple because i have more female characters than males i like , what i mean by that is , i could find much more matching names in my memory to females than to males characters , sill i got both kinds in GW2.

2. Not really , i do try to make them look nice and all that stuff , but i dont try to RP with my chars.

3. Hum not really , what i try is to identify them with the characters i named them after, like a holy paladin or mage from a story.

4. Many games , i dont really care so much if my char is male or female , i care about the characters i made them about , just reading their names remember of nice shows and series.

5. I have no idea what would make a game more gender bender friendly... and you example also makes no sense to me.

6. Sometimes i do ,sometimes i dont , usually i run many times so i go both.

7. Yes i always do , i dont really see any reason to hide im a man.

8. No , only reason i do this in games is for memories.

Edt: great i jumped a question , changing order.

Edited by Nox_Aeterna, 04 November 2012 - 06:20 PM.

[dd790]

Will fill out on survey too but as people are posting replies thought I'd add mine

1. Why do you play as a character of the opposite gender?
Why not? My character ingame is not me, I don't pretend they are I treat them like a character in a TV show where I am watching them in their 'life' rather than them playing out some alternate version of my life

2. Does it influence/change your gaming experience? How? (i.e. social aspects, aesthetics, makes the game easier, etc.)
No, but then I don't role play. I chat mostly to the guild and they all know I am male IRL and I make no attempts to appear female IRL ingame. People say that pretending to be a female IRL get's you better treatment ingame but I couldn't comment as I don't.

3. Do you identify with your character? How?
As stated in 1, I think of them more as a character I am observing rather than an extension of myself. Some of the choices ingame are perhaps influenced by what I feel I'd do in the situation but then I also make choices the opposite to what I'd do with some alts so depends on the character rather than me

4. Have you done gender-bending before? In what games?
Loads of games. Some the different genders have different stats tied to them so that is why, others just for the reasons in 1 that I don't see my character as myself

5. Is Guild Wars 2 more gender-bending friendly? For example, are the graphics and designs more attractive than in other games?
Graphics don't come into why I play as a male or female character and I have an old computer and play on lower settings anyway so not in it for the visuals. Design wise I just prefer certain race-profession combinations to be male or female and I have a mixture of male and female characters

6. Do you enjoy playing as the opposite gender in single-player games?
I don't tend to play single player RPGs and alot of other games don't let you choose gender as freely as the RPG genre. In alot of games there are stats or proficiencies tied to the gender you choose so I would tend to pick either depending on the playstyle I want to play so I'd enjoy playing the character's playstyle rather than gender

7. Do you admit to your real gender while interacting with other players?
Yes

8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?
Depends on the reason. Day-to-day for fun? No. Some sort of charity thing? Sure why not. Going to Rocky Horror Show? It's part of the night out

Shadowrose, on 04 November 2012 - 06:09 PM, said:

I used the survey. It's there for a reason.

I don't get these people posting in the thread... do you need attention?

Maybe the people posting on the thread have come to a forum for discussion, and to see other peoples opinions....
Crazy idea I know but maybe

Edited by dd790, 04 November 2012 - 06:15 PM.

[AngryTom]

Impmon, on 04 November 2012 - 04:57 PM, said:

What about the people who play Charr do they wish they were charr in real life ?

I do. Then I could be pissed off all day and no one would wonder why.

[MisterB]

Playing a character of the opposite gender in a video game is not the same thing as gender bending. Perhaps you should reconsider your assumptions.

[mrs_pilon]

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who responded! You guys are a great help. Keep them coming! I will post some general results after I analyse them if you want.

MisterB, on 04 November 2012 - 06:31 PM, said:

Playing a character of the opposite gender in a video game is not the same thing as gender bending. Perhaps you should reconsider your assumptions.

Actually, it is called gender-bending in game studies, look here, for example: http://www.nickyee.c...enderbend.html. I didn't just take the term, I was told it by my teacher and then found it in articles and books on the topic.

[matsif]

I'm a 22 year old male.

1. Why do you play as a character of the opposite gender?
cause I felt like it, really no other reason.

2. Does it influence/change your gaming experience? How? (i.e. social aspects, aesthetics, makes the game easier, etc.)
No, its the same game, the only difference is I get random PMs from pervs talking about how "hot" my character is.

3. Do you identify with your character? How?
sure.  I base all my male characters off of myself, and all my female characters off of friends/GF/etc.

4. Have you done gender-bending before? In what games?
nope, first time I've done it.

5. Is Guild Wars 2 more gender-bending friendly? For example, are the graphics and designs more attractive than in other games?
not really sure, I just decided one day "Hey, lets make a female character for something different."  and went from there.

6. Do you enjoy playing as the opposite gender in single-player games?
I've never done it before.

7. Do you admit to your real gender while interacting with other players?
If they ask, sure.  I don't bring it up though, pretty sure most people assume you are male unless you state otherwise anyways.

8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?
No, because I enjoy being a man.

[Dasryn]

your survey seems geared toward people who play as the opposite gender, which i dont, so i guess your survey is not for me

[dawdler]

mrs_pilon, on 04 November 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?

Lol what kind of a question is that? Might as well just ask it in plain text: "Are you a transvestite?"

I wont bother going through that questionaire point by point but I can answer it like this: When I play a game, I want to play ALL of that game. Male/Female characters is a matter of content. Sometimes its even the little things that make you enjoy playing a certain gender. Charr males and females look pretty much the same but the female voices is so much more fun. "I'm almost ready!". Me too... "I'm all covered in glory!". Oops... "I can barely walk straight!". Lets do it again?

Edited by dawdler, 04 November 2012 - 08:51 PM.

[Castaa]

I play a mix of genders.  I usually pick the character model that looks best and matches the class.

[Jentari]

For some reason I think the OP is really trolling.  I see no reason to try to connect playing the opposite sex in a video game as gender bending.

[Flaming_Foxx]

Castaa, on 04 November 2012 - 09:08 PM, said:

I play a mix of genders.  I usually pick the character model that looks best and matches the class.

^--This!
For example. Most of my characters are Male, simply because I prefer it that way. But there is no way I would ever make a male norn, I think they look absolutely hideous, it would be like playing as a Jotun... No thank you xD.

That being said. As a guy I prefer playing male characters. I find it a little immersion breaking hearing female grunts every time I cast a spell. I have no issues playing RPG's with female main characters though. So I would suggest that with MMO's especially immersion is quite important and people who are playing for the story (rather than simply the gameplay) will stick to their own gender.

With characters in RPG's you are external to them so it's not such a big deal. With MMO's they feel (to me) like a representation of self, and therefore I tend to project elements of me onto my characters (Gender, hair colour, skin tone etc).

Edited by Flaming_Foxx, 04 November 2012 - 09:22 PM.

[NeoPomStar]

1. Why do you play as a character of the opposite gender?
I am a male and I used to play a male char on all MMO games, but then after a while it seemed gay.  Having to stare at the ass of your male toon all the time as you travel the lands in your game.  I am straight, so looking at the ass of a guy is just not my thing.    

2. Does it influence/change your gaming experience? How? (i.e. social aspects, aesthetics, makes the game easier, etc.)
Well, not really.  Although I play a female toon, the name of the female toon is usually a male name, so that people will always know that I am a guy playing a girl toon.  I used to use female names, but then I have guys coming onto me - which made me feel weird.  So I use a guy's name now for every female toon.  I have no trouble making friends with a female toon, and it is very easily accepted by the community as it seems.


3. Do you identify with your character? How?
Nope, it is just a game for me.  Just an avatar in game.


4. Have you done gender-bending before? In what games?
Not sure what you mean.


5. Is Guild Wars 2 more gender-bending friendly? For example, are the graphics and designs more attractive than in other games?
Not at all, I've played other games, where the female toon have access to so many good looking fashion than the males do.  This includes but not limited to bikinis, and sexy looking fashion that looks like it was from Victora's Secrets


6. Do you enjoy playing as the opposite gender in single-player games?
What kind of question is that?  If you ever played a platform game like from the Final Fantasy series, you play both a girl and guy.


7. Do you admit to your real gender while interacting with other players?
Like I said previously, yes.  I use a guys name for my female toons so others would know, and also for creepy guys to not come onto me.


8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?
Never! xD  That is no different from a cross dresser, and I am not one.

[MFGrady]

1. Why do you play as a character of the opposite gender?
Appearance and Concept

2. Does it influence/change your gaming experience? How? (i.e. social aspects, aesthetics, makes the game easier, etc.)
None of my characters are extensions of myself, but characters that I feel should be a part of the world. I tend to make female rogues and mages and Male warriors and archers.

3. Do you identify with your character? How?
Very rarely. There's character me and Me me.

4. Have you done gender-bending before? In what games?
Depends on the game really. Mostly RPGs with heavy customization.

5. Is Guild Wars 2 more gender-bending friendly? For example, are the graphics and designs more attractive than in other games?
Men will play women regardless. I would think something is Gender-Bender friendly if it entices women to roll male characters. As a man, I have not a clue what that might be.

6. Do you enjoy playing as the opposite gender in single-player games?
My choice to play as a female character is not tied to the number of players, but the world and how I design my character.

7. Do you admit to your real gender while interacting with other players?
Always

8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?
Maybe for Halloween or on a dare. I tried on women's underwear over my pants at the Victoria's Secret that an ex worked at, if that counts

[Cube]

Shadowrose, on 04 November 2012 - 06:09 PM, said:

I used the survey. It's there for a reason.

I don't get these people posting in the thread... do you need attention?

We could answer them here too, and the person wanted some discussion. I don't see your problem, obviously you got one. Seems like you're fishing a bit for attention, and here you get it.

Edited by Cube, 04 November 2012 - 09:33 PM.

[Asha2012]

1. Why do you play as a character of the opposite gender?

I don't believe in avatars as digital representations of myself.  I prefer to look at something (someone?) aesthetically pleasing to me.

2. Does it influence/change your gaming experience? How? (i.e. social aspects, aesthetics, makes the game easier, etc.)

So long as other players believe me to be the gender of my avatar they definitely act differently towards me.

3. Do you identify with your character? How?

Not at all. But I tend to play (chat) from the perspective of what I find attractive in the gender.

4. Have you done gender-bending before? In what games?

Yes.  GW1.

5. Is Guild Wars 2 more gender-bending friendly? For example, are the graphics and designs more attractive than in other games?

Absolutely, in fact I wish it went further (more mature) but that is mostly my nerdiness showing through. If Game of Thrones ever becomes a MMORPG......lol

6. Do you enjoy playing as the opposite gender in single-player games?

Yes. Same reasons.

7. Do you admit to your real gender while interacting with other players?

Not at first and it depends.  If I start to form a real in-game relationship, then I fess up and always with guildmates (the truth would come out eventually anyway).  Here's the thing, this is my avatar in a FANTASY GAME.  This is not a social network or dating site.  99.9% of the time you are NEVER going to TRULY know the people you are playing with.  I think a little false representation is harmless.  Also, if you come to the game with other expectations, I think you are in the wrong place and seriously kidding yourself.  I can lie about my gender while still being fun to play with and courteous in my interactions.

I also believe in the ROLE playing part of the game, right down to chatting with other chars.

8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?

LMAO.  Never.  Read the answer to question #7.

Edited by Asha2012, 04 November 2012 - 09:54 PM.

[Znake]

Shadowrose, on 04 November 2012 - 06:09 PM, said:

I used the survey. It's there for a reason.

I don't get these people posting in the thread... do you need attention?

I used the survey as well but I felt it was very restricting. I felt the need to put my way of choosing the genders for my characters without having to answer specified questions. And here it is:

If I don't see my character at all. and even more if my character doesn't have a voice, I don't care at all what gender that character is. But if I have to look at my character(like in Guild Wars), I want to make it the way I feel I can stand to look at that character for many years to come. No matter the gender.

To that end, here's my character choices for race/profession/gender I felt were the ones for above criteria:

Warrior - Charr - Female
Ranger - Norn - Male
Necromancer - Asura - Female
Elementalist - Human - Male
Guardian - Asura - Male
Thief - Human - Female
Engineer - Charr - Male
Mesmer - Sylvari - Female

I did set a few restrictions of my own which limited my choices out-of-optimal, one of which were to have 50/50 male and female characters, the other that if I had 2 characters of the same race, they were of a different gender. The others aren't relevant to this conversation.

Oh, and I'm a 29 year-old male in real life.

Edited by Znake, 04 November 2012 - 09:54 PM.

[Ca|sifer]

Male. Straight. 3 Males, 2 Females.

1. Cause I can and also, for certain roles, the armors look better.
2. See above, armor aesthetics fit a role better.
3. Yes, of course I do. If I see my characters name, I go: "Oh! That's my character."
4. Tried it in Mass Effect. Played the first five minutes. Nope, couldn't do it, it felt too weird.
5. Yes, I think it is. Because it doesn't have as many RPG elements and cut-scenes are all on rails, it feels as if you're just playing a game that has a female character.
6. Don't really see any difference. It's just pixels on the screen.
7. Yes.
8. No.

I don't really see how it matters though, because it's not like it affects anyone else. Oh, and anyone who says that males who play female characters secretly want to be female: you're retarded.

[mrs_pilon]

dawdler, on 04 November 2012 - 08:44 PM, said:

Lol what kind of a question is that? Might as well just ask it in plain text: "Are you a transvestite?"

Haha,sorry, should have made myself more clear. When writing down this question, I had in mind mostlyother online platforms like chats, forums, social media, etc., not necessarly real life.

Jentari, on 04 November 2012 - 09:13 PM, said:

For some reason I think the OP is really trolling.  I see no reason to try to connect playing the opposite sex in a video game as gender bending.

Like I said before, that is the term used in the texts I've been studying for this paper. I do understand the point that this terminology might be faulty but that's not for me to discuss, at least now.

PS. Got even more replies, thank you so much, everyone!

[ScoutMATH]

my female chars are distinct from me. i just command them. i tell them to slash enemies, mine orichalcum, swim and kill jellyfish and they do it. i don't role play. but i might and if i do roleplay, ill make a male character. for now, i play mostly my female characters.

again, i play female char because it's like me commanding a girl to do something without the girl complaining. it's like playing doll or a robot, but the thing that i actually play are pixelated female action figures.

Edited by ScoutMATH, 04 November 2012 - 10:42 PM.

[Raani]

Female, 27.

1. Why do you play as a character of the opposite gender?
Purely aesthetics. I will pick whichever gender looks better. Animations and voice acting will also play into my choice.

2. Does it influence/change your gaming experience? How? (i.e. social aspects, aesthetics, makes the game easier, etc.)
No difference at all.

3. Do you identify with your character? How?
I don't. When I play RPGs I imagine myself being somewhat like an author. I am creating and directing a character, but I am not the character.

4. Have you done gender-bending before? In what games?
World of Warcraft. Dragon Age: Origins. Skyrim. Diablo series. I'm sure there are others I'm not remembering.

5. Is Guild Wars 2 more gender-bending friendly? For example, are the graphics and designs more attractive than in other games?
No. But only because both male and female models are done so well that I don't feel 'forced' into playing cross-gender.

6. Do you enjoy playing as the opposite gender in single-player games?
No more or less than playing as my own gender.

7. Do you admit to your real gender while interacting with other players?
"Admit" seems like a loaded word to use.   It depends on the situation. I will not always correct someone who assumes I'm a male. A guild member? Someone I can see becoming friends with? I'll correct them. Otherwise it just doesn't matter enough to speak up. Besides, if I ran around telling everyone who referred to me as a male that "I'M REALLY A GIRL!!!" I'd look quite ridiculous.

8. Would you pose as someone of the opposite gender outside games?
I'm not sure what you're asking? Would I pretend to be a male in everyday life? On internet forums? Where, exactly? But, no I would not.

[Dhag]

Baktwerel, on 04 November 2012 - 04:29 PM, said:

1. Well, why shouldn't I? As far as I know there is no rule like "if you are female, you can only play with female characters"

Simple, I'm a guy.  if I'm gonna have to stare at the backside of a character, I might as well find it pleasing.

[Araushnee]

I don't really fit for the survey, but I'm going express my thoughts anyway as the subject is very interesting.

I'm a 29 year old female. I don't personally do it, but I have no problem with people that do. I personalize to much with my characters. My first MMO was the original GWs and it became a thing for me to always hunt out the most attractive armor. Growing up, I only played games like Zelda and Final Fantasy so when I was introduced to being able to choose a gender and even customize it, I was so happy. I was so sick of being a teenage boy. And I haven't ever gone back. I want to look pretty, and personalize with my character.

My husband (age 32) on the other hand only plays females. He doesn't personalize with it and would rather see a female's butt on the screen. However, he does not play females in D&D. The decision for him, boils down to realism. He would play a male in a virtual reality MMO, but I don't see that happening any time soon. The technology just isn't there yet and has a long way to go. He does not play GW2, and hasn't played anything for a couple of years. It was so much fun to play with him back in the day. We would hunt down good looking armor together. I think if he played a female in D&D I would be weirded out though.