Curse

Silmar Alech · Nov 23, 2010, 02:31 PM // 14:31

I started Guild Wars with creating a male elementalist, because I thought I as a male should have male characters. I was never satisfied with the strange look of him, so when I learnt that many male players create female characters, I started doing this as well. Starting with my 2nd character, I now compare the female look with the male look, and whenever there is no decent male version, I choose the female. The only male characters I created since then were the warrior and the dervish - all others are female.

My male elementalist is an exception - I don't like his appearance very much, but deleting or gender-changing him would be like murdering him. Finally he looks very good in the new Wedding Couple Attire costume.

If some of the male characters look gay or not, well, I think that depends on the clothing. You can make every male character look gay if you like, or look manly if you like. It's totally up to you.

LifeInfusion · Nov 23, 2010, 02:36 PM // 14:36

Back in 2005 when I used to GvG I played female characters in PvP so people won't kill me first. It's a psychological thing. It doesn't work at all. All my PvE characters have always been male. It helps me sort out which ones are PvP, honestly.

But if you look at armors, the female armor is generally more elaborate and dyable. It sometimes makes me want to extreme makeover my necro (see Gloomcrest tunic top for example of how much more dyable things are).

P.S. If you think playing male characters is "gay" then you need to go to a psychiatrist to get your head checked.

tmakinen · Nov 23, 2010, 03:01 PM // 15:01

I play exclusively characters that are of the opposite gender than my RL physical body. Because I can.

It doesn't have anything to do with sexual orientation, either.

Guy Incognito · Nov 23, 2010, 03:05 PM // 15:05

Another male here. My chars are split evenly between male and female so I don't have a problem playing either gender, tho my girlies are much better looking.

I don't really have a problem with the way male chars look as I can usually find a face/haircut that is fine for me. The exception to this rule is the male warr, Why on earth did they have to make him a hulking lummox???

In my mind a warrior should have a more athletic build, sprinting around after beasties and all, and so would've been better suited to a ranger/rit/derv style body. As he is I just keep imagining him to waddle up to a monster, push it over then sit on it to finish it off.

I also agree with the point that was already raised that males to get the short end of the stick when it comes to armour and costume design.To me they're either dull and lifeless or just plain horrible.

fenshadow · Nov 23, 2010, 03:10 PM // 15:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by eeks

Let's face it, female armour is in general more elaborately designed and textured (especially the store costumes - I love using the female costumes, but I find the male ones either uninspiring or unappealing in comparisson), thus more appealing. Unfortunately, the unfair ratio between elaborately designed female armour to male armour, may be due in part to so many people jumping on the "this male character's armour is so gay!" bandwagon. Perhaps it deters Anet from designing male armour with as much love as what seems to go into female armour? Not stating that as fact, just throwing it out there.

*snip*

Additionally, I play a certain class/gender based on the armour I can choose. Probably my main motivator in-game.

Yes, thank you. The armor differentiation is extremely apparent in the "cloth" (read: caster) professions, where it is typically assumed that females have a much larger wardrobe to choose from. What eludes me is why it seems intentional that the females look sleek and elegant while the males are stuck looking extremely tacky. The kind of tacky that leaves you thinking, "Man, this would have looked so awesome, but ..." but, generally speaking, it's either dull and bland or chunky and unrealistic. The undertone is always that guys aren't allowed to want to look as nice as the ladies even though that is patently untrue.

I would like to add that one of my biggest reasons for playing mostly females is that many of the male models are hideously disproportionate. As was stated in a post above, many of the male models were designed to be "manly", but only if you consider being exceptionally obese and overbearing a sign of masculinity. Unfortunately, this tends to make most of the armor sets (for the corresponding profession(s)) look even more unattractive than normal.

Furthermore, the females get *way* more customization options. As a female, you can typically be a normal "person" or utilize the "look" of whatever class you're rolling. A prime example of this would be Necromancers - as a female, you can be an uber creepy skeleton lover or just a "Plain Jane" who dabbles in flesh ripping on her days off. As a male, you're never given a choice to be a Verata (Average Joe) - you're stuck looking like a withered hunchback whether you like it or not.

My apologies for the enormous tirade. I do have a single male toon - Tyrian Ranger <3 - but I always wish I could stand having more.

For the record, this is not a problem exclusive to Guild Wars by any means.

helloeveryone · Nov 23, 2010, 03:10 PM // 15:10

i am a male, for 2 reasons i prefer female character.

1. Looking at a guy for hours on end makes me feel disgusted.

2. I do not regard the toon i created as "i am that toon", but it is more like "i am controlling that toon". more like role controlling than actual role playing.

MagnumShadow · Nov 23, 2010, 03:15 PM // 15:15

IMO the only "gay" armor is sunspear paragon armor.

eeks · Nov 23, 2010, 03:37 PM // 15:37

@fenshadow : I personally find that they did the factions male ele armour quite well, or moreover the more elaborate coat sets. That may be a little biased though, granted I have a male elementalist.

Totally agree about the build some male classes have ruining the aesthetic. Take for example male mesmers (have one as well

), their armour - in my opinion - only really looks good on them if "tailored", like the Tyrian armour. Otherwise, they look like they're packed with steroids and have an overall bizarrely buff look for a caster that messes a lot with armour/outfits that don't have a tailored look. I think the recent wedding costumes have this overall problem with males; there's no actual tailoring in the groom outfit, so it doesn't quite look aesthetcally pleasing/streamlined unless you play one of the thinner classes.

If that makes any sense. :|

Kojima · Nov 23, 2010, 03:38 PM // 15:38

I have all females and like them all not just because I am female but because they do look better. But mostly, I find that the guys run funny. And they do not really have good looking hair.

A good guy friend of mine made his female character looked very close to his real life girl friend while I have heard of another guy saying that he didn't want to keep looking at the butt of a guy while he played. I think these were pretty good excuses.

Skiasca · Nov 23, 2010, 03:43 PM // 15:43

Female player, all female characters. I did make a male para for laughs but I really didn't like playing him after a few months. I can't really put my finger on why. I guess all in all, in many games the female designs, whether it be the selection of appearance or the clothing/armour, always seem better or have a lot more thought put into them then the male designs - you really only need to see the costumes for an example of that.

Nekodesu · Nov 23, 2010, 04:02 PM // 16:02

@Fenshadow : I would like to add that one of my biggest reasons for playing mostly females is that many of the male models are hideously disproportionate.

This is true but so are the females one, therefor I cannot say that this is a good enough reasons. Where the female ones are turned in odd positions and stand horrible compaired to what a normal human being should stand without feeling intense pain in their back. I have tried to stand how the eles/monks do and I can tell you that if you keep standing like that for a while your back is gonna hurt. I guess it's OK for the females because they don't stand in a painfull way, they stand in an typical anime/superior way.

And the costumes are layered over the actual 3D model. This is the most common way to make armor that 'stands out'. Where in WoW alot of armors with shape is just layed as a picture over the original body... This very very often causes characters to look fat

or that's atleast what I'm guessing they did with it...

I guess this wont be ideal for GW2 As I am guessing they are doing it like in AION, where you can change body size all after what you want?

I have to say so far AION is the only game who can do it right and I've seen with gorgeous male and female armor.

**cosyfiep** · Nov 23, 2010, 04:04 PM // 16:04

of my first 4 characters one was male the other 3 ladies---why? I hated the female monks hair choices (this was prophecies--and the bun look

)....I have 2 other males I play--a male rit because I liked his looks and a male necro because he doesnt look horrible like most male necros (also have a mule male dervish), yes I am female and yes all the rest of my characters are ladies, mostly because I like their 'look' not looks, male toons look funny (male warrior for one)....and I didnt even make a female warrior until nightfall came out because that class just didnt look right to me.
My husband plays both female and male characters (its kinda funny when he has one of his ladies out and I am playing a male toon), mostly because he thought the male characters were butt ugly.

Mordakai · Nov 23, 2010, 04:10 PM // 16:10

This thread subject pops up every once in a while, and I have no idea why:

Why do people care what sex you are?

You can assume that 75% (at least) of all female characters are played by males.

I'm sure there is also a percentage of female player who play male characters, perhaps to avoid the rampant sexism in video games.

For the record, I have both male and female characters (I'm male), but my main is female because I really hate the way Male warriors look.

And yes, I love to dye my armor pink, what's wrong with that?

Gwendolyn the Jinx · Nov 23, 2010, 04:15 PM // 16:15

Male irl, my characters are mixed (4-4).

My main is a female mesmer. The process for character creation is generally me looking up wiki and checking the available elite armor and picking whatever strikes me as most fitting for that profession. Secondary factors like casting animation, hair styles, and face models are weighed but I primarily look at armor really.

I generally assume the person I'm playing with is male, and if she would like to correct me then so be it.Otherwise, it's none of my business and I don't mind. (though mostly I'd just refer to the character's gender and not the player. That also allows for room to be corrected or not)

Roen · Nov 23, 2010, 04:22 PM // 16:22

Male here. Primary toon is female because 4 yrs ago when I started playing I heard the "if I'm going to stare at a toon's ass for hours on end, it may as well be female" idea and thought it made a lot of sense. I also have a male Rit who I think looks badass. And a male necro who looks pretty sweet also. My Perma-pre ele is female and will stay that way.

I have lately been wanting to pay for the sex-change operation for my main toon (and corresponding name change) since after playing it for so long I do see it as more of my in-game representation and I'm tired of getting hit on and having to explain I'm actually a dude.

Milennin · Nov 23, 2010, 04:44 PM // 16:44

I play male characters, and I think some stuff looks better on males, and some looks better on girls. A few things I hate about male characters:

Bulky Monk characters. It's already kinda bad on male Warriors, but on Monks it's especially bad.
Elementalist armour for males suck. Not saying that female armours are so much better, but at least they can choose sets that somewhat resemble traditional spellcaster outfits, whereas males all get the same old stuff with the pants (WTB long robeskirts!)
Female casting animations look cooler than those of the males.
The new Wedding costumes. Males only get 2, and both being similar looking outfits. Females get 3 nice and different looking outfits. Unfair I say.
Male Paragons look gay. Yes, I normally don't use this word to describe things, but gay is the only thing I can think of when seeing the male Paragon. It's emberassing.

Things that look cooler on males are generally most of the emotes and Dervish characters.=P And even though I'm not a fan of the bulky male Warrior model, I think it still looks better than the skinny female Warrior holding oversized weapons in 1 hand and tanking a bunch of monsters.

Skye Marin · Nov 23, 2010, 04:48 PM // 16:48

I do what I want, and don't think too hard about it.

Lania Elderfire · Nov 23, 2010, 05:03 PM // 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skiasca

Female player, all female characters. I did make a male para for laughs but I really didn't like playing him after a few months. I can't really put my finger on why. I guess all in all, in many games the female designs, whether it be the selection of appearance or the clothing/armour, always seem better or have a lot more thought put into them then the male designs - you really only need to see the costumes for an example of that.

Ditto... I tried making male characters but they all ended being mules and were deleted afterwards. As a female player, i just find playing fugly male characters unappealing. There were some factions male characters that didn't look terrible, but not great either. I do find female designs better overall in many games, but that's just true irl as well. There is a reason why the women's clothing section is like 3 times as large as the men's section. Women have a much larger selection to choose from and it's socially acceptable to wear a very large types of clothing from tight to drapy dresses, shirts, polos, blouses, jeans, skirts, short shorts, bikini's and a very wide variety of designs and colors on them... Men's section... monocolored polos, button up shirts, uninspiring slacks and jeans, and everything looks the same...and don't even get me started on hair, makeup, shoes and accessories.

Nekodesu · Nov 23, 2010, 05:05 PM // 17:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mordakai

This thread subject pops up every once in a while, and I have no idea why:

Why do people care what sex you are?

You can assume that 75% (at least) of all female characters are played by males.

I'm sure there is also a percentage of female player who play male characters, perhaps to avoid the rampant sexism in video games.

For the record, I have both male and female characters (I'm male), but my main is female because I really hate the way Male warriors look.

And yes, I love to dye my armor pink, what's wrong with that?

Why should people not care? There is nothing wrong with caring, wheter it's about caring why people play a sex, or why you eat bread every morning. Because you can care or wonder all you want, wintout telling anybody what to do, how to live, or what sex to play.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skye Marin

I do what I want, and don't think too hard about it.

Okay, well what are you doing here then. You should be somebody else not thinking about stuff.

Icy The Mage · Nov 23, 2010, 05:07 PM // 17:07

Male here.
All female characters.

Males run funny, have terrible looking armor in comparison to their female counterparts - and the smallest possible female characters are harder to click on in PvP