https://midwest.social/post/4051752

For me it's definitely an RP choice. I don't always choose one or the other, but in games that give character creation options I tend to go for a quick "non-canon" play test to get a feel for the game and setting and get an idea of how I want to play it. Then I start a new file and create a character to fit that. Sometimes I go for a lithe rogue or a buff fighter, and the gender usually depends on either how I'm feeling or possible story/world stuff that makes it fit better, or sometimes just something interesting. Like in early Cyberpunk there was a glitch where you could start with a male character, then switch some settings and you'd get the female options but it would keep the original genitalia, so I played through as a trans woman because it wasn't something I'd done before and it was interesting and fit well into the setting. It didn't change anything in the game and I kept my character clothed so you never saw her hanging dong. But then I hit the story with the trans woman NPC and my V found a friend who they could connect with a little better. It was a fun role-play opportunity and I felt like it helped my connect to the game and the world even better when my avatar wasn't just a puppet I used to interact with the game. Even in games like the Witcher where you're given a named character, my Geralt always developed his own personality. I once accidentally sold all my boots and didn't realize for a few days that he was running around without shoes. When I noticed it immediately became part of his personality that he doesn't wear shoes. He like feeling the grass when he fights and he's more connected with nature. It kinda fit with the default personality but I leaned heavy into the more nature-focused choices where possible and it changed how I played.

Though I'm probably not an average case-study. I tend to eschew gender norms while identifying as a straight cis guy. I wear what I want, paint my nails or wear makeup if I'm feeling it. And I do lean heavy into the single player RPG games and avoid MOBAs or shooters. I think I've mostly just been playing DnD in all my video games, lol.

Speaking of DnD, my BG3 playthrough started with a female Drow monk because I haven't played any of that in DnD before, but as I played I knew I wanted a rogue so I restarted and as I built it I started with a human male but ended up with a Gith male rogue because I liked the look a bit more for it and knowing what little I did about the Gith in the opening it would be fun RP. But in my head, he's not from a creche but was lost as a small Gith and raised in some small village by human parents. So he doesn't fit in with the Gith he meets but also faces the fear that most people in the world experience when they see him. It just adds so much more depth to the game when they have their own personality.

I like vidya waifus

It depends on what kind of character I want to RP; sometimes that's a dude, sometimes not.

When the game allowed, I make my character to look like my then-gf (now my wife), and named it after her. Idk, I think she's cute and I would like to see her more.

Funny thing is I've never told her this and she have no idea why I always alt-tab out of my game when she walked by (she knows I'm not playing something that would upset her like a porn games or something like that because she can see what I'm playing from afar. She just can't see the character'name or details from that distance).

There are some exceptions -- I like playing Nightmare, who is male, in the Soul Calibur series, due to his moveset -- but absent broader gameplay considerations coming up, I'll default to a female choice. I'd rather look at the female character through the course of the game.

considers

I play very few multiplayer games. The last time I was playing a 3D multiplayer game much was a long time ago, probably a Quake 2-based Team Fortress-style game, and then I played a male character, an engineer, because of his role.

I haven't played MUDs for ages, but there I generally played a male character.

Sometimes games attach some sort of gameplay benefits on a gender-basis (e.g. male or female characters have slightly different stats or characteristics), and then I'll sometimes choose the main character's gender based on that, but that's become less-common, maybe not politically-correct. Mount and Blade: Warband does that -- it's a medieval world and male and female characters have significantly-different roles there; there I'll play a male character. The Fallout series had a long tradition of having the Black Widow/Lady Killer perk work differently based on a character's gender; it's generally advantageous to play a female character there.

When I was young I learned to pick a female character and people would be way more nice to me and helpful when I was new and give me stuff.

I don't mind what sex my character is, my character is not me and I don't see why I would mind what sex my character is. Like, especially in a video game, the scenario is usually quite fantastic and nothing that my character does (e.g. acrobatics, shooting, running for more than 18 seconds without collapsing out of breath, etc.) gives me a sense that they are a version of me. My character should be random or whatever the writers thought would be most appropriate for the themes or story or whatever.

(I did not watch the linked video)

Well, for one, I play role playing games. So, I like to experience different roles, different ways of thinking, and playing as someone like FemShep or female V in Cyberpunk offers a much different perspective on life than if I played as a male. I'm a male, I go outside as a male, why do the same thing in gaming?

And for a second reason, if I'm playing a third person shooter why would I (a straight male) want to stare at a man's ass for 120ish hours?

But I never do? :(

It depends on the game. If the gender has an effect on the stats or gameplay, I may choose a female character if I think it would either benefit my character build or make the gameplay more interesting. If it's just cosmetic, I will play as a female if I think the male characters look ugly and the game doesn't have a femboy option.

Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield. Oh yeah. <3

I'm a big fan of women kicking ass, and videogames are usually designed to make my character kick a lot af asses. So female-looking character is great for me !

I do both, lol.

I don't, tbh

They're trans and just don't know it yet. There may seem like there other reasons, but that's just the denial speaking.

Young me : because egg