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 prefer looking at female butts over male butts and I find armor far more pleasing on lithe female figures than on males, even if we completely ignore everything else.
Easier to character create someone who you have more specific preferences over. Can’t really get as invested in how aesthetically pleasing my generic human bloke is, but I play more male non-human races.
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
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.
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
I’m not attracted to masculine characters. You want me to care what a dude looks like? You’re barking up the wrong tree. And if I wanted to look at myself, I’d look in a mirror
My avatar is not me… If I’m going to watch a character for a couple dozen hours, it’s going to be someone I find attractive. Hell, if I’m going to spend more than 5 minutes on a character creation screen, it’s going to be a woman, because it’s hard to get invested in a male character for me
If the game has a good enough character creator I’ll play a male. But most games and especially most Western games with character creators don’t allow me to make a male character I’d actually want to look like or at.
My favorite reason is seeing women in roles not explicitly written for women. Either it helps me reframe what women can be (reframing being a great reason to read stories anyway) or it points out how hilariously coded those roles are.
My second favorite reason is about playing something I am not, and examining how that changes my outlook and decisions. It’s the same reason I want to play as a robot, or an alien, or a golem, or a dwarf, or whatever else.
Lastly, but maybe most poignantly, is women tend to have more varied depictions than men. There are far too many depictions of men that are brutish, boisterous, and warlike, which I am extremely not, and usually don’t have any want to play as. Games that give you a character creator are way better in this respect, and I’m much closer to 50/50 male/female characters in those.
I also do not like the way men are portayed in games, though Kyle Katarn was reasonable. Guys like Dwayne Johnson and Jason Mamoa do not intimidate me; they are actors selling their body as a marketable image.
I usually play as a woman if possible because I get to watch a fine ass walking around. The developers know.
Agree with the varied depictions. I did two playthroughs of cyberpunk (before phantom liberty) and female V says similar lines but in such different tones and much more expressive. I.e. when I pick an aggressive dialogue option it sounds like she’s more devious where male V is more of a brute. Stuff like that.
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