From Quake to StarCraft 2: The Female Avatar or Lack Thereof

As for the assumption of so many that women don’t like to shoot things and if they do then they must be butch or bitch, I am a godly hippie raised by a preachers daughter and a hippie and there is nothing quite like grabbing a 357 and popping the head off of the paper target at the range. I must say, it doesn’t get much better than that at times ;)

In offline games I play a girl, and online I play a guy, just to avoid any potential guild drama. I can’t say for sure whether it would matter or not, but I like to cut out the possibility.

I was officer in a guild on one game, they never knew I wasn’t a guy.

I don’t think I’d intentionally avoid an offline game that didn’t let me play my own gender, but I’d probably not connect with the character quite as much as say, FemShep.

Definitely. Ragnarok Online was my first MMORPG, and the class I wanted to play as (priestess) had heels and a high-slit skirt. Yuck.

So I had to make a whole new account (accounts are gender-locked) and play as a male instead. Strange as it may sound, it felt far less uncomfortable to pretend to be a male than to play true to my gender with an avatar that I feel did not represent me.

As much as I love minecraft I hate that I can’t change the voice. I’ve changed the avatar to look like me but I’m still left with this freakishly deep voice every time I fall. It is disconcerting to say the least

I actually just, for the hell of it, tried to make a male avatar on the XBox 360. I had already made a reasonable likeness of myself in a female profile but thought what the hey. I was rather pissed to see the clothing options I’d been missing out on. You don’t get non form fitting pants as a female avatar, you don’t get loose button down shirts, you don’t get XBOX 360 sports jersey’s either! There isn’t even a cute baby doll with an xbox 360 logo on it but as a guy you can even get matching shoes in that pattern. Surprisingly men and women have access to all the same hair styles, lips, eye and nose combinations. I do have to say my dude with hiking boots, cargo pants and a t shirt looks just like me.

On a related note, sexuality is another one that gets played differently. I’m glad that games have homosexual options now.
Ben “yatzee” Crowshaw did a good article on gender and sexuality as a guy role playing a homosexual character.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/8768-Extra-Punctuation-Roleplaying-Homosexual-in-Dragon-Age-2

What I never understood is why exactly it MATTERS whether the game’s avatar looks like you do. I highly doubt a fat woman with bad eyesight (like me) would pass the requisite training to become a Space Marine, and I would be excruciatingly bored if she did. Stop for breath every few yards and try not to be shot while doing so! Attempt to set your aiming reticule in the general vicinity of that dark blur’s head-area! Don’t sprint or your racing heart rate might do damage to you!

I (like probably most of, well, anyone who plays games) does so for the sake of escapism. It’s a fantasy where one can be away from real life, not jarringly dragged back into it.

The ideal scenario? Apparently one in which we never see the silent (to avoid offending those who would shriek about there being no voiced female dialogue or voiced male/tree/cat dialogue) protagonist–who is named something nicely-androgynous like Alex or Sam–and in which there’s no romance option at all. This way the whole mess can be avoided.

Hoy, Guest! Get a named account so I can stalk your other comments.

I must admit that I’m one of the women who used to chose the male avatar in order to avoid the harrasment. Plus I like armour options that involve more than a bikini. As I got older I stopped doing it though. I eventually figured out that I feel less like a puppetér when it’s female.

I always play a guy. Why? Because they have all the cool shit. I don’t want to battle in form fitting leather. I don’t want to battle in a chain bikini. I want a full suit of kick ass shadow armor, just like the guys have. And until I get a game that allows that, I’ll play a guy.

The non-drama aspect of it is a bonus. My 360 avatar is a freak ass looking dude. I wear mostly comic/geek t-shirts and jeans with a hoodie. The female stuff just doesn’t match me. I don’t like tight clothes. I don’t like “showing” much of anything. But I don’t play on XBL with people I don’t know either. Too many fuckwads out there.

You’re not alone, but I’m afraid I’m not in your camp. I’ve never understood the desire to be physically represented in my entertainment. I mean, I grew up reading things like The Animal’s of Farthing Wood, Bambi, Watership Down or watching TMNT, The Rescue Rangers and Thundercats (amongst other things). I’m certainly not physically represented in any of those, what with not being a talking furball.

I don’t care all that much what the characters look like in my fiction. I don’t relate to their physical appearance but to what’s going on inside their heads and hearts (to get all twee about it). I don’t need a character to have boobs for me to be able to understand what they’re going through. And likewise, just because a character has their reproductive organs on the outside it doesn’t mean I can’t follow they’re trials and tribulations. Hell, they can have pointy ears, purple skin and a tail and as long as they act in a similar fashion to me, I consider myself represented.

Not that I feel I need to be represented or to relate to characters at all. It’s fun when it happens but it’s completely unnecessary. I don’t want to watch me run around and be ineffectual in a war zone/zombie apocalypse/space battle/political espionage thriller/surgical unit etc. That’s just not my kind of fun. I want to watch OTHER people run around and be utterly useless in a crisis.

Now, the argument could be made that, in a gaming environment, especially an MMO, you want to be you, with a few improvements so that you don’t die as soon as the local fauna looks at you.

Meh.

Maybe it’s because I mostly prefer JRPGs and a range of TPS/Action-adventure games, where the main character is pretty much set and has a pre-set personality to boot. I don’t make avatars that look like me when I do play RPGs and MMOs. My 360 avatar bears very little resemblance to me (she has white hair, I have blue XD ). I play and make characters that look and act differently to me the vast majority of the time, because playing a different personality type is fun. And if I do want to play a character that would make the same decisions I would make, they still don’t have to look like me, because (to be all twee again) it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

I understand your frustration, but for me it’s a non-issue. I just don’t care… that and I almost always relate better to the male characters anyway :P

Like this one?

Weird. On my Disqus dashboard it’s showing you as AverageJane but on TMS all I see is Guest. Still, now I can stalk you through Disqus. Huzzah!

I’ve never had any negative remarks playing females but everyone insists on addressing me as ‘dude’, so there is clearly a general assumption that it’s all guys in-game. I had six or seven different characters on WoW before it even occurred to me to create a male (Dranei, Palladin). I felt like I was letting down the sisterhood but he’s kinda hot which somehow made it ok. Fav is my main, a warrior gnome, because I too am short, cute and vicious. So, yeah, I guess I do want to be represented!

I had thought it would be nice to select a body type as well for further customisation; but I guess if it isn’t important for our fellow male gamers (each and every one a chiselled Adonis, right?) then maybe I should just concentrate on my tanking…

BTW: I have noticed that the majority of first aid trainers are female but the only ruler (that I’ve come across thus far) is the mother to the heir-apparent and rules in conjunction with two males. Come on, WoW, you can do better!

These days I’m playing Dead Frontier which has excellent female avatar support … same clothes as the boys, including baggy pants if you want ‘em :-)

I want to be represented by my Avatars, I felt a certain amount of glee when I could play Quake 2 as a girl (no girl cyborg option though, IIRC :-/) and in Test Drive Unlimited I spent a lot of time clothes shopping for stuff like I wear IRL … maybe it’s a nurture-induced desire programmed in from years of being expected to like dolls (?)
In other news I’ve never felt more than slight annoyance at boys’ sexist drivel during play, but maybe that’s ’cause I used to be a crack shot with a rail gun so I could take care of them in a fitting manner :-)

‘Dude’ is sometimes gender neutral. Not often, but sometimes. As is ‘guys’.

I get insanely frustrated when I see no female avatars. I play video games for the escapism aspect, so if I can’t pretend I’m the character, I do find less enjoyment in it. Plus, as a newbie cosplayer, a female option lets me add another costume to my closet.

It’s frustrating, yes. I did get called “mate” a lot when I played WoW on a Kiwi server. My current pet peeve is Dragon Age Origins; all females are just skins over a male frame, so they all walk like men. Lazy, guys, lazy.

I do the same as Shard – dude/guys is generic as you.

It seems like some girls don’t mind male avatars while playing video games. One of the commenters mentioned that they play because of escapism and fantasy. I completely agree. And in my fantasy I’m not a guy.

In MY fantasy I have atomic pink hair, at least three inch tall big black boots, a buckled corset that accentuates my breasts, and a lightsaber. No back hair please, no penis either – *ewww* I love my avatars to be as sexy as possible. If another anonymous gamer with a male avatar wants to harass me. Let them. Because frankly, I’m not playing for them – I play for me. And I see it as they are mostly jealous that I see boobs every day and they don’t. (Thus the ‘tits or gtfo’ – what a pathetic way to try to see my breasts.) I’m also a little upset that more girls don’t want to pretend they are girls! The Nineteenth Amendment girls. Other women fought so you could have the right to vote… so vote for being a girl!

I’ve always picked games that gave me a choice–and usually end up picking female avatars, with short, boyish hairstyles. I never mention my gender unless it is specifically questioned…and it is perversely delightful to see the player next to you realise the short, boobless, monster-hitting thing next to them was a girl all along. Dun, dun, DUNNN!

With that being said, I’m all for choice. You should be able to play your game with an avatar that looks the way you wish it to look, dressed the way you wish to dress it. Sexy, practical, physically impossible, whatever.

Incidentally, you used a poor example in terms of MMO gaming. I believe at last count–or even a year or two ago–WoW in particular had a split of around 57% male and 43% female, which is just awesome. It just makes me kind of laugh sadly at the people who still toss around “G.I.R.L.” jokes.

I’ve played WoW for a while and my main is a female, and from my experience I can understand why women want to hide their sex in game. I have been hit on by several players on several different occasions and while for the most part it was polite there were a couple times were I was given the “Tits or GTFO,” fortunately for me at that point I was in group with several guild mates and the offender was kicked.
I have found that the best way to avoid harassment in MMOs is to be in a good guild that supports you so you can stay out of the PuGs and not deal with the idiotic players that can be found there in.

But I already have tons of experience with two X chromosomes, I don’t need to pretend that bit.

The thing is with most RPGs and MMOs you can have several characters that you’ve created to play with. I generally have three, if the game allows. A human man, a human woman and something cute and fuzzy or gnarled and strange looking. The female might look like something I’d want to be in that world, or I might decide to make her a little dainty thing running on pure pluck, or a willow-y woman with dignity and grace, or a willow-y woman that’s a got the personality of a mad fish. Because I’m none of those things.

I also sometimes play villainous characters, if the game permits. I kill fluffy things and people (setting fire to nurseries, that sort of thing XD), which I can’t do and would never want people to do.

That’s just me though. Just trying to explain why I chose to play more than just female humans.

Yeah! That’s really pissed me off! There is a lot you can tell about a person from their walk. Sten shouldn’t walk like Zevran, the same as Wynne shouldn’t walk like Morrigan.

As well as the fact that the majority of the mage clothing (though not skimpy [unless morrigan] , which I’d say is a blessing compared to the majority of games) does look crap. I’m going to try to make a mod for that over the holidays, I’m gonna try learning maya and base the design on some medieval robes. If I work it out quickly, I’m going to try re-doing some of the nobles clothing too.

I’ve played numerous mmrpgs and always pick a female avatar. Currently I am playing Rift, with the fear that I will be healing in a gold bikini come endgame. The most important lesson I’ve learned is to not play on a rp server. As much I am an old time pen and paper role player, without fail everytime I have created a toon on a rp server, within hours, someone asks “wanna cyber”. I usually reply I am old enough to be your mother and you are up past your bedtime, and then promptly log off never to log onto that server again.

Cool! I’ll check that out, thanks!

I remember being upset when Nintendo didn’t fulfill their promise to have female trainers in Pokemon Gold and Silver (it had to wait until Crystal). I knew way more female trainers than male trainers by that time!

But honestly, in online games, it’s better to just be a dude. I remember getting trailed by weird guys in Runescape asking me to marry them (or worse) until I finally gave my character away to a male friend of mine who proceeded to exploit all the proposals for money and items and then run like hell.

I match the avie gender whenever it’s available. It’s a fun way to explore different looks. “Oh wow, THAT would be fun to do in RL.” That, plus in the spirit of escapism, I need a bit of attachment and for me it’s easier to lose myself in a world if the avie feels closer.

To both @twitter-19072797:disqus and @twitter-888981:disqus

Dragon Age: Origins gives you lots of options for your appearance and background.

Who cares if all the characters march like a solider? All the party members essentially become one. I
like the male walk better than the exaggerated hip-sway they came out with
in Mass Effect 2 and pasted into Dragon Age 2 to save time. While very
enticing, I don’t think a warrior like the character I made would walk
like that. Also, your character’s mom, and every other human lady, has E-cup boobs. I’m not averse to large breasts, but an option
to change their size would be nice, especially if you want to opt for
realism.

I enjoy playing single player RPGs, such as Dragon Age (1 or 2) and Mass Effect (1 or 2) and all of the Fables :) I was happy to be able to customize my characters’ genders to match mine. Admittedly, I haven’t had the MMORPG experience, so I can’t comment as to female avatars and harassment, but I love it when I can make my game character just a bit more like me. I grew up playing games like Zelda and Final Fantasy, and I appreciate being able to have a customized female main character. Also, I play a bit of Rainbow Six Vegas 2, with a customized female avatar, and I secure my games so I only play in matches with people I know (usually my brothers or friends from the Navy). No harassment except for the occassional sh**talking between sibs/good friends lol

Sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesn’t. Some games (especially RPG) have a huge part in developing your character into whomever you want–in that case, more freedom is better (or as much as practical). Creating a female skin for a game like that really isn’t hard (when designers go the extra distance, as with FemShep, it’s fantastic–changed my attitude toward games).

I think the real issue is besides the actual gender of a game. Thousands of men and women played as female Chell in Portal 1 and 2 and they’re hailed as great games in the gaming community. Clearly, her gender didn’t matter. What matters more is the ‘TITS OR GTFO’ sort of harassment that occurs from other players, as Marie was describing in her article. Obviously, it’s the fault of players who would rather protect their boy’s club than create a fun experience for all people involved, regardless of who they are.

Do game designers play a part in creating a male-centric environment where this sort of thing happens? Absolutely. Well, you just read the article…

Sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesn’t. Some games (especially RPG) have a huge part in developing your character into whomever you want–in that case, more freedom is better (or as much as practical). Creating a female skin for a game like that really isn’t hard (when designers go the extra distance, as with FemShep, it’s fantastic–changed my attitude toward games).

I think the real issue is besides the actual gender of a game. Thousands of men and women played as female Chell in Portal 1 and 2 and they’re hailed as great games in the gaming community. Clearly, her gender didn’t matter. What matters more is the ‘TITS OR GTFO’ sort of harassment that occurs from other players, as Marie was describing in her article. Obviously, it’s the fault of players who would rather protect their boy’s club than create a fun experience for all people involved, regardless of who they are.

Do game designers play a part in creating a male-centric environment where this sort of thing happens? Absolutely. Well, you just read the article…

What really disturbs me is that, in RPGs (where you almost always are allowed to select your character’s sex), the male character is nearly universally the “canonical” version. This’s true even in _Mass Effect_, where the male voice actor’s delivery is so ear-bleedingly nasal that practically everyone I know rolled female Shepards.

I totally agree with you Ashley Sue! I’m also a cosplayer, and while I don’t mind crossplaying, I kind of like staying true to the actual character. However, I’m Black, and that makes true anime and gaming cosplaying a bit harder (and commenters even bigger jerks, ie “Videl’s not Black” type of comments i get on my pics.) >_<

As an “older” (58) woman gamer who has been playing computer games for many years it’s been interesting reading through the comments. My experiences date back to the days of the Radio Shack TRS 80 and the Commodore 64 and carry through today. I did regret and even resented the lack of gender choice early on. As soon as a choice became available I always opted for female avatars. No, they don’t look anything like me. And yes I had both positive and negative experiences as female characters. I was also very aware of the images my daughter and son saw, and how women were represented. I wanted them both to know a woman could be strong and be a hero. The main objective was, of course, to have fun. But the images games present, as well as those in society as a whole, do have an impact. My kids are adults now and proud nerds. The perception still remains that girls don’t play games. My daughter still walks into a game shop and watches the young men’s eyebrows rise into their hairlines as she speaks knowledgeably about games past, present and soon to be released. Still a surprise. Wouldn’t it be nice if the game industry recognized just how many women play their games? And opened up more choices for all of us.

Everyone who knows me knows I have two rules for playing a video game:

1. I hate controllers, so I must be able to play on my PC.

2. I must be able to play as a woman. Now there are a few exceptions to this, such as if the game very specifically revolves around the story of a particular protagonist that happens to be male.

(I will also spend about an hour customizing my avatar’s appearance. I was terrified during the first 10 minutes of Dragon Age II that my avatar was going to be stuck as a brunette with a scar across her nose.)

Hmmm…why will they represent markets that are not their target audience? You might like Starcraft2 and it is ok but maybe the game wasn’t intended for female users.

Not that all the women should play the Sims or anything like that, after all the Unreal Tournament series include a lot of female avatars for instance as do some races in Warhammer 40k Dawn of War 2, they try to target female users as well (maybe not as successful as they thought at first), whereas Blizzards rather keeps battlenet as a Sausage Party for now.

Or maybe they were just oblivious.

 On a similar, but somewhat opposite note, I am frightened by (the vivid femininity of) my SecondLife avatar. When it comes to female avatars, SL takes the cake…and eats it, too. (Yikes.)

yep. there’s me. i’m a spindly female, my husband would consider me girly despite my nerdiness. i’m fairly conservative and religious. i own dresses. yet i like games – RTS and sometimes FPS in my younger days, now more towards RPGs. for the record i like playing archers/range attackers even in RPGs, e.g. Diablo. it’s probably true that to get the rest of the female market you might need to design more co-operative games. but the minority of women who are already gamers despite the lack of such games (like me) rather like shooting things and sending swarms of tanks to storm wall turrets.