Is it weird for female players to play male characters?

I've been playing GW2 for two years, and I have six characters. All female, and I've enjoyed every single one of them. ( Except the Norn. I hate that voice actor. )However, I'm starting to get bored. Replaying the story on different characters, I find myself getting bored of the voice acting that I've already heard before. Making outfits for my characters is a chore because I always try to make it so they look as far away from sexy as possible, which is extremely limited with my mains, which are all light armored. It's getting stale.I've wanted to try a solution, but I'm anxious about it. I'm thinking about playing a male character. Just to mix things up for once. But I just can't bring myself to do it. It just seems weird. Men, of course, play girls in games constantly. When you see a female human elementalist in-game wearing a bra, you immediately know it's a guy. If you see a guy in in-game, you know it's a guy. I'm afraid that if I join a guild or something and appear as a male, all my other characters will become redundant and I'll be mistaken as a creepy dude who solely plays girls. Which is why I dress all my light armors in the Seer's coat and give all my heavy-armors giant helmets with face covers. I play mostly Sylvari so the skin showing will become less obvious.It's frustrating. The issue is mostly with my perception, I understand that, and I want to try something different, but I'm just too paranoid about how I'll be perceived...

so guys can play both male and female chars and it’s not weird but females can only play females because playing guys is weird?

How limiting. :/

I have both sexes. They’re not me and they don’t represent me and I don’t expect people to think that whatever pixels I push around the screen is a reflection of what I look like.

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:so guys can play both male and female chars and it’s not weird but females can only play females because playing guys is weird?

How limiting. :/

I have both sexes. They’re not me and they don’t represent me and I don’t expect people to think that whatever pixels I push around the screen is a reflection of what I look like.

Wait. So are you telling me you're not ACTUALLY just a sentient flesh wound? I've been lied to! I'll never trust again!

Play as a charr. No one would really know what sex you are! Seriously though, it's ok to have both sexes.

It's not weird for either gender IRl to play both. I'm male and I have more females because.. I just do, no more questions!

Why would it be weird? You think all those human females in bikinis are played by women? Lol. Play a dude, who cares, have fun!

Is it weird for anyone to play cat people with cow horns?

It's not weird, make a big male norn and have fun.

You may be dramatically overthinking your character's gender. ;)

why should that be a problem? I'm a girl myself and I have to admit I only play with females (unless its for key farming, then it doesn't matter) but only because I relate more to the females. Imo everyone needs to play with whatever race/sex/prof they like. and idd my chars do have clothes on but only because they look the prettiest in the clothes I give them :)

I'd be very surprised if you've never played a male character in a game before. Unless you stick to RPGs that let you design your own character female player characters are relatively rare. OK it's a bit different when you don't have a choice but not much.

Also a lot of women exclusively play male characters because they assume the opposite - that if they play a female they'll "out" themselves as female in real life and people will give them a hard time over it.

But as someone who plays both genders in this and a few other games my experience has been that most people don't care. I get mistaken for a man regardless of the character, and when I correct them it's no big deal. Oddly enough I can't remember anyone assuming I'm female, they either ask or default to male but I guess that's because female gamers are still seen as something of a rarity.

As for why I play both, for me it's because they are simply a character, not a representation of me. Just like I don't find it weird to play a charr even though I'm human, or mage when I can't do magic I don't find it weird to control a male character. I just pick whichever gender fits the character concept I have in mind.

(And by the way, sometimes that includes females in very revealing clothing. In real life I'm a band shirt and jeans girl, but my characters all have their own ideas. I swear my ranger glares at me if I even preview something like the Vipers mini skirt on her, but my Sylvari ele doesn't "get" clothes and wants something minimal that won't get in her way.)

It's not weird at all.Every so often I play on my friend's account and all he got are male character.I even designed his Sylvari for him.

The only reason I don't have a male character of my own is:

Human Males:1) I hate their voice.2) I hate how they jump. Have you seen their jumping animation? What's wrong with them?3) I hate how they idle. STOP PLAYING WITH YOUR HANDS LIKE THAT! STOP NUDGING YOUR NOSE IN YOUR SHOULDERS LIKE THAT!

Norn Males:1) I don't want an Oleg Simulator.2) I don't like hairy men and their arms, legs, and chest is all hairy. No thank you.3) Can't even make them green to make me even like the body shape of them.

Sylvari Males:1) I got nothing. Really. I just don't have one I would assume... but if I wanted to be picky... it would be:2) I don't like the line "I dare you. Hit me." that they say. It sounds like Robin Williams taunting someone in a playful comedy.

Asura Males:1) I like the females too much. That's about it really. The Asuran voice actor is like perfect to me which just makes the male feel "meh". The male voice actor sounds nice, but just not like the female one. Bias? I'm sure.

Charr Males:1) I can't do anything with their face/hair. That's all. I can't make a Charr look good for me, but the thing is... same for the female Charrs. I just can't get one in the way I want them to look. The bodies I can get the way I want, but then the faces are as bad as the Sylvari faces. I just can't find a single face within them I like at all. Not a single one. Don't make me get into the hair. The hair is just horrible. There's no good hair for any Charr (inb4jokeaboutgettingsayianhairwhichlooksatrocioustome).

If I had to make any male character, I think the only one I would make have to be Sylvari.

IRL I suppose I've always been a bit like that.... ( I wear a blazer and dress pants instead of a dress to every fancy occasion... ) I'm petrified of attracting any attention. That may also be influencing it.I was also a bit anxious as to what this community thought of it versus other MMOs... Thanks for relieving my stress.

@artemis.6781 said:Play as a charr. No one would really know what sex you are! Seriously though, it's ok to have both sexes.I was actually thinking of going as a giant ridiculous charr, you're right on the mark.

@Chorne.8195 said:I'm afraid that if I join a guild or something and appear as a male, all my other characters will become redundant and I'll be mistaken as a creepy dude who solely plays girls.

Guild members usually know each other well (at least that's the case in my guild) so your character's gender doesn't matter. I'm a female playing females only and I don't care when random people call me dude (in squads or someone I randomly revive), I'll probably never meet them again so whatever. :P

Play what you feel comfy playing, don't let what you think other are thinking dictate to you.

As another female gamer, and a confirmed altoholic i admit to having more female toons than male ones, but there is a selection of males available if I feel like them, I do however tend towards the human option.

As for what they wear, it is what I think they look good in.Female Norn Guardian in full draconic, with long flowing black hair, that's one of mine.Female human thief in skimpy bra and skin tight leggings, mine again.Female human mesmer in an outfit that looks she threw it on and missed, (winged I think it is), yep she's played by me.Male human ranger in triumphant medium, one of the few non trench coats, is mine again.Male human warrior in skimpy heavy armor, showing off those bronzed oiled abs, who says only men dress their toons as eye candy.Male human weaver in a Big Blue Dress (for those that don't get the reference look up Cranius on You Tube its an old WoW video).Male Charr guardian, i can't remember the armor, but his look was based on our old Ragdoll cat which we had to have put to sleep.Male human Scrapper, in one of the scruffier looking trench coats armed with a rifle, which could always lead to an interesting time in a group as my husband mains a female human engineer, I can imagine some awfully confused party members on teamspeak or similar if we both joined

I don't play Norn males as they are too lumbering for me, and all my Assura are females, but for no particular reason, no characters have really come to mind,

As you can see there are plenty of reasons to play whatever you want. As long as you are enjoying yourself it doesn't matter and unless they hear you on some voice chat system they will never know if you are male or female and to be honest they shouldn't care.

@Mea.5491 said:

@Chorne.8195 said:I'm afraid that if I join a guild or something and appear as a male, all my other characters will become redundant and I'll be mistaken as a creepy dude who solely plays girls.

Yeah, that happens all the time. And sometimes I do correct them and they are like what but who cares. :)

I had a great moment once when I revived someone, he said "thanks Bro", I said "I'm a girl and no problem" and his reply was "oh, thanks lady-bro", then some random replied with "wow, if only there was a word for a female brother". :D

That kicked off an amusing conversation about assuming all other players are male and the pros and cons of gender neutral pronouns.

Normally I don't bother to correct people but that time I was glad I did.

There's a difference between something that doesn't happen often and something that's weird. It's my experience that most women tend to play female characters. That doesn't mean a woman playing a male character is weird. It's just not as common. There's certainly nothing wrong with it.

One of the reasons that I play female characters is because generally they have a better/more interesting wardrobe. I don't like male styles as much from a visual point of view. On the other hand, almost half my characters are male. If I can get a look I want I go male, if not I go female, because I find it easier to make a look. I have a male norn pirate that looks amazing. But I find there's just more interesting variety in the female characters, so I make some of those too.

Just play what you want. Don't worry about if it's weird.

I'm glad you've decided to try a change! It's no odder than a fiction writer doing a main character who isn't the same gender as the author.

I currently have 5 male humans, 6 female humans, 2 male sylvari, 2 female sylvari, 1 male norn, 3 female norn, 1 male asura, 1 female asura, 1 male charr, 1 female charr, and 1 male sylvari who doesn't count because he's a name placeholder for my male sylvari mesmer's real name.

Of those, the RP-heavy ones are 4 male humans, 3 female humans, 1 male sylvari, 2 female sylvari. RP-light (as in have had some scenes with others but don't have ongoing stories) are 1 female human, another female human that I haven't made in game, 1 male norn, 1 male asura, 1 female asura, 1 female charr.

As you see, I write from many viewpoints :) This despite my being RL female both physically and in mental identity. My four male heavy rp humans are: a showboating, limelight stealing, super-charming super-handsome ladies man conman Daredevil with a heart of gold and an ego the size of Tyria; a lazy, low-self-esteem ex-Seraph Guardian who's made a living bodyguarding nobles that just want to look important (and he is a terrible man with a metaphor, he has no verbal agility at all); a young Mesmer vineyard worker from Kessex who has been unraveling a complex secret family history as he slowly comes to grips with being worth more than his 'father' (actually his uncle) ever raised him to feel; and a semi-mobster style Ministry lord Elementalist who adheres to Ascalonian ancestry and principles, believes the ends justifies the means, and holds grudges for life, though he does love his daughter (she is a velvet glove to his iron fist, but she's as nasty as he is).

I don't feel weird because I play and write these male characters. I have plenty of females too. Not one of my characters is me, though some will incorporate aspects of my personality.

Enjoy seeing Tyria through other eyes, Chorne. It should extend the game's lifespan for you quite a bit.

@artemis.6781 said:Play as a charr. No one would really know what sex you are! Seriously though, it's ok to have both sexes.

Lion tail = male, fluffy tail = female.Blasted humans ;P

No matter what gender of character you play; for the most part, it will be assumed you are a male gamer. /shrug

Who cares, really?

No, it's not weird. Play whatever you like to see on the screen.

@Chorne.8195 said:I've been playing GW2 for two years, and I have six characters. All female, and I've enjoyed every single one of them. ( Except the Norn. I hate that voice actor. )However, I'm starting to get bored. Replaying the story on different characters, I find myself getting bored of the voice acting that I've already heard before. Making outfits for my characters is a chore because I always try to make it so they look as far away from sexy as possible, which is extremely limited with my mains, which are all light armored. It's getting stale.I've wanted to try a solution, but I'm anxious about it. I'm thinking about playing a male character. Just to mix things up for once. But I just can't bring myself to do it. It just seems weird. Men, of course, play girls in games constantly. When you see a female human elementalist in-game wearing a bra, you immediately know it's a guy. If you see a guy in in-game, you know it's a guy. I'm afraid that if I join a guild or something and appear as a male, all my other characters will become redundant and I'll be mistaken as a creepy dude who solely plays girls. Which is why I dress all my light armors in the Seer's coat and give all my heavy-armors giant helmets with face covers. I play mostly Sylvari so the skin showing will become less obvious.It's frustrating. The issue is mostly with my perception, I understand that, and I want to try something different, but I'm just too paranoid about how I'll be perceived...But that's not a problem if you play Sylvari.

Most plants are both male and female as they have both sex organs (relatively speaking for a plant).

Canach could actually be an angsty teenage girl for all we know. A girl with... extra assets.

I have mostly female chars myself but a lot of that is I don’t like the male char models. I made a male human a couple times and deleted it about level 4. They run like they have a stick inside them. Male Charr have teeth everywhere so I waited till there was a face added with small teeth. So now I have a male Sylvari, Charr and Asura with the rest female.

As to clothing, some females show as much skin as I can get away with and some are modestly covered with only the face showing. It all depends on the look I find for them. For example my human female Mesmer is covered up because whenever I put a skimpy outfit on her it didn’t fit how I thought of her, which is a tomboy type person. My Sylvari female Mesmer though shows a lot of skin. But really, no one cares but you how they look and what sex they are.

It makes no difference. Even if you play a female people usually just assume the player is a male anyways. Your actual gender has no effect on the game.

The male norn voice actor for the commander sounds cool to me. Sounds a bit forced, but manly.

Why would it be weird having a male character played by a female player?Likewise to female character played by a male player.

I have all races and all sexes, just because I love options, different armor, voice actors, etc.I have 3 Charrs (male, male and female) and 3 Asuras (female, female and male).I have mostly Humans, Norns and Sylvaris since they all uses different armor, appereance etc. Also as you can see below in my title, I have 71 characters in total, :)

But then again, you have no idea how many times I've met people, friends and enemies in this game and GW1 who are playing a specific character gender but who are the opposite, :tongue: