In most games, when there's an option to play as a man or as a woman, I generally choose to play as a dude because...I'm a dude. I guess it helps to immerse myself in the game but I never really gave it much thought beyond that. But in my second playthrough, if it's something like an RPG or anything like that, I usually switch to a girl just to see different story paths, conversations, personality even.

Except for fighting games. I've been telling myself it's because I love fast, rushdown characters like Millia Rage or Cammy. I even managed to fool myself into thinking it was because I used to do the martial art they're representing, like Lidia Sobieska from Tekken. Which is technically true, they have to have a play style I like.

But along comes Granblue and I'm torn between two characters: the badass old man brawler that is Soriz and zoner archer lady Metera. And at this point, I can't lie to myself anymore and will probably play Metera because she's a woman and she's hot.

TL;DR: I like women and they're hot.

Especially when playing 3rd person games, I find that I enjoy looking at a woman more than at a man in. Also mostly I think the character customization is better.

Because Jennifer Hale delivered a better performance than Mark Meer as Commander Shepard

To quote my best friend, "If I'm going to spend hours staring at an ass, it might as well be a girl's ass."

If women get more clothing options than men, I sometimes play as a girl cuz fuck man I wanna wear a skirt other than that I tend to play as my gender which is a man.

I prefer playing characters as little like me as possible. If there's a non-human option, I will always take it. The further from human available. Weird alien race? That's my jam.

If I have to be a human, I'll often play a female character because it's the furthest from 'me' I can get within those constraints. I'll also usually play a character of a race I am not, for this same reason.

I got sick of trying to make every avatar I have like me. Even if a game isn't even an RPG I like to mentally roleplay as somebody very different. Having a female avatar helps with that sometimes.

Gamer response: because sometimes I wanna experience what it's like to have less rights.

On a serious note, for the esthetic. For instance, girls suit the rogue characters better, largely because of how many times women have stabbed me in the fucking heart.

Ok, so it was still somewhat a gamer response...

I dunno, feels right in the moment? Kind of do it randomly.

I rarely play women in games because i like playing a oversized jacked warrior guy. I play women if a male of that class would look gay. Stuff like assassins, elementalists I always pick a women because the clothes look better and small build is more immersive to the role. But monk or healer I always pick a guy cause tall gigachad healer is funny.

I mix it up and play a wide variety of character genders, races, ethnicities and species. Whatever catches my eye during character creation for the most part, and if I replay a game I actively pick something different on different play throughs as it is a reminder that I'm playing this character instead of a different character.

So I don't actively or exclusively play female characters for a significant reason, just aesthetics of the game.

I play both, so I can see the difference in quests, dialogues, romances, etc.

I started with the Black Widow fallout 3 perk figuring there world be more male characters than female when fighting.

https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Widow_(Fallout_3)

EFFECTS
+10% damage against male opponents
Additional dialogue options with certain male characters

It stuck after that.

Sometimes.

Most of the time, I just make myself and I'm a guy. But in games where I am constantly making characters, like Elden Ring or something, I just slap the random button a bunch and whatever it gives me I accept.

Well... Fallout 2 I am always a woman because it makes dealing with the slaver leader a helluva lot easier.

I think of my characters in games as "stand alone", and I don't really care about the gender I'm playing as.

Specific reasons to play women:

• Cyberpunk 2077: Judy Alvarez is more appealing to me than Panam Palmer. (Although I have to dig up my first playthrough (male V) since the Kerry Eurodyne questline seems to be good).
• When I started playing Fortnite with some others, someone jokingly gave me the Heidi-skin. Except for certain quests, I keep using that skin.

I like the crossbow.

I usually go for incredibly inhumanly muscley male characters but occasionally play as a woman for variety.

As some others have said, I'd way rather look at the cute female character over thousands of hours of playtime than some ugly dude

Because we want to fuck it

Depends on the game.

Monster hunter: they get the cute armor sets. Dudes get the fat armor sets, while that version of the lady armor is something like a mecha teddy bear.

Social games: I aim for the more gender neutral looks, and for whatever reason guys are almost always bulky. It's usually somewhat possible to get a female avatar to look guyish. And if it's using voice chat, there is very little question.

Online MMOs: I have set male and female character tropes/character types that have been developed for 20ish years at this point. Coskii is an axe welding merchant or as close to that as I can manage. My thief is a lady, archer is a guy, wizard is a guy, and sorcerer is lady.

Single player whatevers: it depends on the character sounds. Sometimes games can get a bit excessive with their sound design, and for whatever reason make the guy voice sound like he's constipated for every sound effect.

with male being the only option for years in most games, i started choosing female characters to get a different experience nowadays it depends on the game, sometimes i like the female voice better, sometimes it's about the romanceable characters and sometimes about the character design

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haOm9TY90uY

The dadvocate explains it perfectly.

I play a mix of characters. If they're voiced, I tend to prefer feminine voices. I think there are a number of reasons for this, but one practical one is that I just hear better in a higher range for whatever reason (and this gets more true the older I get). I have a much easier time hearing higher-pitched voices and generally find them more pleasant.

If they're not voiced, it depends upon if I'm role-playing something specific. If so, I'll pick whichever I think fits best. If not, I'll probably pick a female character just because I find them more pleasing to look at. I always wanted to go back and do a female V playthough of Cyberpunk, but I just never got around to it.

Years ago, in the early 2000s, I got in to MMOs with Final Fantasy XI. I played mostly female characters there because people were more likely to help out.

I don't always, but when I do it's mostly to do with character customisation. If I'm playing a game where my character is constantly visible I'd rather it was something I wanted to look at, and male clothing is boring. OK, some games don't restrict clothes but many do. So I tend to create a character which is a female version of me, except in the cases where I prefer a male character (which isn't often if I have the choice!)

In games that have gender based perks, like Agent of Dibella in Skyrim or LadyKiller/Black Widow in the Fallout games tend to be stronger for female characters because more of the NPC's are male. This is more adding another reason than claiming that it's the main reason. I don't exclusively play either male or female but typically when I play a female character it's because I'm building a character that is less physically aggressive. I know this is playing into stereotypes but sword and board tends to be male while stealth archer tends to be female.

Depends on the game. Generally, I go with a male character that is somewhat like myself in appearance. The main reasons that I play a female character given the option are:

• There is some difference in the game or story based on gender (ex. Games like CP2077, though, generally not in my first playthrough. Or, the voice talents of Jennifer Hale in Mass Effect.)
• The male character was bodged in, unnecessarily (ex. AC: Odyssey, which wasn't even supposed to have a male lead until a sexist Ubisoft exec forced it - the dialog i, just awful)
• Sometimes, it is just being a bit thirsty.

Idk, might as well ask me why I listen to women pop singers and virtually no men. The only ones I do listen to are wearing wigs, makeup and heels. I see you, Adore Delano. lol

It's random and i don't really care at all.