No, if a woman wants to play as a man or vice-versa it doesn't bother me. I don't judge. Me personally though, I (being a male) always play as a guy when given the choice. I think its just because playing as some one of opposite gender breaks immersion for me. But if a game has a female protagonist its not a deal breaker, but like I said. When given the choice, I play male

I played an entire playthrough of Halo: Reach as the female Six just for the intent of hearing the different voice acting. So I can't really talk.

Personally if I can play as both genders I usually will, such as go through the game as a girl and then go back and play it has a boy. I don't think you should question someone over it. It's only a game and who wouldn't want to be someone they are not in real life even if it is the opposite gender.

If I'm playing an MMO I'd feel weird about it, but single player types I see no issue at all. In fact I'm vying for more Female Protagonists. Big busts are an option but not necessary.

I am a male that usually plays as a female. I have many reasons.

One reason is I am a male that was raised by women, I never had a male in my life growing up, I had a mother, I had an Aunt and I had a Grandmother. As a result I turned out to be rather feminine.

Second reason is I was bullied a lot in highschool, bullied by boys. I grew up with mostly female friends. That's not to say I didn't have male friends and that I dislike males though.

Third reason is I am built very slender and I look rather girly for a male, so playing as a male with big muscles doesn't really suite me sometimes, unless I want to be something different.

Fourth and most important reason. The people I looked up to most in life, whether they were singers, actors, role models, what have you. Were all female. So playing as a female makes sense to me.

My two favorite types of characters I like to create in RPG's are Feminine males, or Tomboy females. Gender just really isn't that all important to me, if I can shoot fire balls out of my hands, why can't I play as a girl?

I once questioned one of those people.... myself. Mainly because this forum asked "why?" Otherwise, no, I don't question it. It's not weird or strange, and while there are some people who may do it for odd reasons - they are a minority and even then, that's their business. It doesn't really make a difference in my eyes, it's just another way of viewing the story at hand. To me, it is no stranger than someone watching and enjoying a movie starring a member of the opposite sex.

No, because I am one of those people...

Sometimes the odd person asks me why... It's boring playing just male characters, especially in RPGs or where you have an option to create your character from scratch!

Not at all! I don't see other people online as boy/girl (more like floating voices. For all I know, they could be some advanced A.I. that has yet to reveal themselves to the world...like Jane from the Ender's series.)

As for me...it may sound silly, but I think up a badass name first, then depending on if it sounds masculine/feminine, I go male/female.

Yes, they make me suspicious just like women wearing trousers. This ain`t right and i fear what will become of the world.

Is this serious? If so then no. I tend to play male characters but i have no problems playing the role some games force onto me (as little as they showed from Faiths character in Mirrors Edge i liked it a lot).
If a game features character customization i like the male options most of the time more. Creating a female i want to play is harder for me than creating a male. Besides most of the time i prefer male clothing/armor.

I`m a woman by the way
...maybe not i`m not sure anymore. Cross-gender gaming always confuses me.

No I do that on occasion too...

im a girl and if i can choose genders i always choose girls just because for online reasons im very girly when i talk so, it would be weird if my character was a guy, also. male characters are always huge armed and beefy and ugly, i prefer to play lithe characters and sadly its always chicks :(

I'm surprised the "nos" are that high. Though this is kind of a weird site.

distortedreality:
Hello discussion value?

Where have you gone?

There seemed some obvious discussion value right in the beginning of the thread. It's bad enough when people ask for discussion value (because seriously, you can't figure out what to talk about without strictly defined boundaries), but when the only hindrance seems to be that it's not explicitly pointed out, it's getting pretty ridiculous.

No, not at all.

If it's in a game with a Female protagonist, they obviously don't have a choice. I'd be more questioning of someone who deprived themselves of a good game just because they didn't want to play as a girl

If it's a fighting game, I again see no need to question it. Fighting games are full of varied characters, and most people try to find a character that they are either good with, or that they really like. Either way, I see no need to question it.

An MMO...I admit, I often play female characters in those myself. If I am gonna spend hours grinding in an MMO staring at somebodies ass, it may as well be a nice one.

and so on, and so forth.

Only when they are the type that go look boobies i love those things so much im going sit here and fantasize about them

If I did, I'd be a hypocrite. Which gender I choose to play as depends on the game. For example: in Mass Effect, I much prefer Shepard to be female (I will not use that nickname, it sounds stupid), but in Dragon Age: Origins, I favor a male Warden.

I'm not in the habit of questioning myself, no.

Depends on the person really. Like if it's a huge nerd or a guy that fancies himself a manly man's man, it's funny.

I only question it when they use it for some kind of gain, like to bully or bribe people and get away with it cos "they're a girl". So basically I don't like it when they use it as a "disguise," as apposed to "playing as". People that lie about their sex to get an undue advantage for whatever reason, or to deceive and trick people.

But even then, I wouldn't expect transgendered people to not lie about what their sex is, in fact I'd downright encourage it. So it's not an airtight assumption by any means.

NeutralDrow:
No. I am one of those people.

You and me both. When it comes to RPGs like Mass Effect I find it actually helps me role-play as a renegade/evil character. Not sure why honestly. Generally though I don't play enough games with other people to really care or, notice. Also, when I was a kid playing fighting games out and about, I knew why some guys chose to play as Chun-Li...because of those wicked kicks.

No, I even sometimes play as a female in some RPGs such as Skyrim, and I use Party Girl and Lupo in Operation Raccoon City. It's perfectly normal and there is nothing to question.

No, although when one of the players in my games during my DnD games go all like, hehe I HAZ B00BIEZ! I will make them suffer. But other than that I have no qualms with them.