acheros Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 For those not into the lingo. Cross-playing is when somebody plays a character of the opposite gender(only counts in games where you CAN pick..No, playing metroid doesn't play you a crossplayer). I've always wondered why do people do it? the most common response is "If I have to stare at an *** all day it may as well be a good looking ***", however. The camera is centered around your characters HEAD - every MMO does that, the camera is always centered around the head of your character. Why are your eyes being drawn to the *** of any character? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucentBeam Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I made a toon of each class and half of them are female and half are male. I think it's fun to play as either one and it just depended on what I wanted to make my character's personality out to be. I was surprised in the "Are there any girls that play" thread that some people were saying that they were disturbed when a girl plays as a male. Aren't there Ken dolls? Does that make a little girl weird for playing with and dressing up a boy doll? It's basically the same on here. It's like playing with a glorified doll except they get to have their own personality via their dialogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock_Spider Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Why does there have to be a reason? Ive got 2 female toons and I love playing both of them. Maybe there is some wierd wonderfull psycho babble reason why people do it, but I just do it because its fun and I enjoy it. And yes... they are sometimes more enjoyable to look at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acheros Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I made a toon of each class and half of them are female and half are male. I think it's fun to play as either one and it just depended on what I wanted to make my character's personality out to be. I was surprised in the "Are there any girls that play" thread that some people were saying that they were disturbed when a girl plays as a male. Aren't there Ken dolls? Does that make a little girl weird for playing with and dressing up a boy doll? It's basically the same on here. It's like playing with a glorified doll except they get to have their own personality via their dialogue. See, that I do kind of get. I'm a roleplayer myself, and I can see how, when you make a character and put their personality together, sometimes it just feels "right" that they'd be a woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArawnNox Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 The "looking at the butt" excuse is probably the easiest answer for one to make and not have their sexuality called into question (I once encountered someone who was convinced that any guy who played a girl was gay on some level.). For me, like I said in the other thread: strong female leads are sexy as hell. I shall further elaborate: This is something I've found more in Bioware RPGs, but it creeps into some other games where you have the option of selecting a female protagonist. Frequently, the lead is written as gender-neutral to accommodate both roles, with the occasional nod to gender/race/class. What you get, as a result, is a female character who possesses typically masculine traits. Examples: Commander Shepard (Mass Effect): This is a driven character. Outside the Renegade/Paragon dynamic, you have someone who endured hardship in their life (even the War Hero/Spacer background counts) and joined the military, rose through the ranks and now pushes themself to fight a menace that has culled life from the galaxy time and again over the millenia. The Player (Saints Row 2): The character is an uncompromising ******. She's warm to her friends and unyealding to her enemies, even outright cruel in her retalliations to take back Stillwater. Nothing daunts her and nothing intimidates her. Also, my personal feelings boils down to some childhood influences, that only recently dawned on me. Growing up, one of the first rated-R movies I owned (and watched repeatedly) was "Aliens". Sigourney Weaver's performance as Ellen Ripley cemented what "sexy" was in my young mind and it didn't really occur to me until recently. So yes, I play female characters so I can see women being ******. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Explosive_Lasers Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) Because it doesn't matter? Giving somebody **** for their gender in game is about as bad as giving somebody **** for their gender in real-life. First of all, it doesn't influence whether the person is nice, a good player, etc. Second of all, it doesn't matter what they play or what gender they are in real life. My main in WoW was a female orc. Everybody knew the moment they talked to me I was a guy, so it didn't bother anybody that didn't somehow get upset about somebody wanting to play a different gender character. So, as a retort, I ask you 'Why NOT cross-play?' Edit: Now, if somebody played the opposite gender and lied about their real gender... Maaaaaaybe I could see your point. Edited January 31, 2012 by Explosive_Lasers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlyxDinas Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Some of the character concepts I want to RP just work better as women. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikModi Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I agree: why not? If I am a hetero male secure in my sexuality, why not play a female character? Is there some reason that I should enjoy playing a female character less than a male one? Are male characters inherently "better" at making my game experience enjoyable than female characters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReFlexionn Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) i prefer to stare at a female all day than a man Edited January 31, 2012 by ReFlexionn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtylobster Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 If I am going to spend 1000 hours looking at someones behind it might as well be a female... nuff said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lividcalm Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) My BH/Merc is a female for two reasons: 1: I am taking her full light-side. My male Sith Marauder is already Dark 5, wanted to see the LS options first hand. Just feels more natural to me to take a female imp down the LS path. 2: I've been reading how female BH has the LEAST amount of flirt options. I personally despise the "flirt" and romance options in this game, don't feel it has a place. To each his own, but I ignored then on my male Mara, so I wanted to minimize it in my second go around. So far I have only seen one option, and she's lvl 25 now. So far so good. EDIT: Incidentally, when playing on my Mara, I am pretty much left alone. But when playing my BH, I get more "so-and-so blows a kiss", "so-and-so dances with you", and people whispering if I need help, if I am ok, etc... This is exactly why some females play male avatars, so they don't get bothered like I describe above. Just because they see a female avatar, what makes some people think they have the right to "virtual cat-call" or what have you? The kicker is my BH's name is Nadachiq, and yet I still get hit on and flirted with. Sound it out aloud and you'll get it. Edited January 31, 2012 by Lividcalm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyberguard Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 For the most part this: I'm a roleplayer myself, and I can see how, when you make a character and put their personality together, sometimes it just feels "right" that they'd be a woman. Some characters work better as either male or female. Sometimes I choose it on the coin toss. Sometimes I'll have a discussion with friends on Ventrillo while building characters. To be quite honest, the thing that influenced me most for my Trooper was the voice. At the bottom of my list, though not the least reason of all, was the amusement I get from watching a tiny woman deck a massive battledroid by smacking it in the face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acheros Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 My BH/Merc is a female for two reasons: 1: I am taking her full light-side. My male Sith Marauder is already Dark 5, wanted to see the LS options first hand. Just feels more natural to me to take a female imp down the LS path. 2: I've been reading how female BH has the LEAST amount of flirt options. I personally despise the "flirt" and romance options in this game, don't feel it has a place. To each his own, but I ignored then on my male Mara, so I wanted to minimize it in my second go around. So far I have only seen one option, and she's lvl 25 now. So far so good. ..So you don't like having an option to do something? I mean, it is just that. An option.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lividcalm Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) ..So you don't like having an option to do something? I mean, it is just that. An option.. I could do without it, ya. It does not enhance the game at all for me. Personal preference. You get three speech options, one is usually positive, one is negative, and one is neutral. Add in a flirt and I lose one of my speech options, and perhaps an option to gain affection with a crew member. Affection for me is about crafting skills, not romance. Edited January 31, 2012 by Lividcalm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekas Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Because it doesn't matter? Giving somebody **** for their gender in game is about as bad as giving somebody **** for their gender in real-life. First of all, it doesn't influence whether the person is nice, a good player, etc. Second of all, it doesn't matter what they play or what gender they are in real life. I think you have a good point. My philosophy when it comes to things like this, is "whatever floats your boat". Someone wants to play a character character of the opposite gender? Fine. It is their character, their experience, and they should be in control of it. It's none of my business how someone else chooses to play a game. i prefer to stare at a female all day than a man If I am going to spend 1000 hours looking at someones behind it might as well be a female... nuff said :| Did you even read the original post? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtylobster Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 he asked and the only reason I got is the one I provided which he already knew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elloa Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) I'm a girl in real life and have always difficulties to like and feel connected with a male character. I alwasy ended by dropping them. I prefer to play a character I can identify myself (atleast partialy), or a cute/sweet character. I'm not much into playing a super sexy female either. But in SWTOR, for the first time I'm playing a male character and I enjoy it a lot! It's not my main character, so my need of identification, I got with my (uber cute and sweet) Jedi Sage. My male character had been made as a joke together with my boyfriend. It's a smuggler, and we played with the char creation to make a guy that could have been a hero or a gangster in a american TV serie of the 70ies, like Startsky&Hutch. I found him so awesome, that I wanted to play it, and I deleted my female smuggler. So far I really enjoy it. I'm playing a bit the cheezy kind of smuggler, flirting with all woman he meets, and rolling on the floor to find a cover with his leather jacket. I really have the feeling to be back in childhood, playing the gangster. I almost want to sing on of those cheezy opening song So, well...The way I'm playing a male char is very different from a female char. I'm not indentifying myself. I'm not playing a char because I find him sexy (not really my type of guy). I'm just having fun with my disco-gangster! And he is awesome. In addition no one seems to play a black character (atleast not in Europe), so I'm also original. Yeaaaaaah Edited January 31, 2012 by Elloa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alithyra Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 ..So you don't like having an option to do something? I mean, it is just that. An option.. Same as clicking Male or Female at the create a character screen is just that, an option. Personally, I've never understood why it's suddenly become an issue for people, is there a lot of post-ERP anguish out there or something? When I started RP over 10 years ago, we were IC all of the time, nobody cared what people were in RL, certainly to my knowledge nobody hid it (hard to with 40-50 of us all at a RL meet), it just never came up because when you're IC all the time, you just see the chars not the players, it simpy wasn't a factor. Then people come up with that amateur psychologist "sexual insecurity" nonsense. It's not those who choose to cross-play that are insecure, it's the ones that have issue with those that do. And yes, I have some female avis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrong_turn Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Because I want some variety in the appearance of my characters. Why does this question even keep coming up? Who cares, because its not like your going to ask "why does someone play a healer" or "why would you roll a DPS toon." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obic Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Because I like to make men who aren't comfortable with themselves uncomfortable. Is that what you want to hear? Come on, why do you even care? It's pixels on a screen in a fantasy game. Why does no one ask about people who aren't really force sensatives playing jedi? Or *gasp* someone on vent who's playing a twi'lek admitted they don't have lekku in real life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimplyKupo Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'm a girl in real life and have always difficulties to like and feel connected with a male character. I alwasy ended by dropping them. I prefer to play a character I can identify myself (atleast partialy), or a cute/sweet character. I'm not much into playing a super sexy female either. But in SWTOR, for the first time I'm playing a male character and I enjoy it a lot! It's not my main character, so my need of identification, I got with my (uber cute and sweet) Jedi Sage. I agree with this... I have rolled male characters in several different MMO's and never felt like I could identify enough with them to really get into it. They always ended up not being played or being rerolled as chicks. But the one time I finally did play a guy, it was as a funny character and a joke of sorts. I did try to make the hottest dude I could to see if that would be fun and it really wasn't. XP I've given my husband crap sometimes when he plays female characters but it's only in good fun and he knows I don't really care. Perhaps sometimes it seems like some one means it and they're really just joking? Oddly enough, male or female toon, I've never experienced that sort of "harassment," or whatever you'd call it. Maybe sometimes it'd be nice for some free credits! =p But like the above post said, I don't make my toons overly sexy because I wouldn't identify with them that way. In fact, my main kinda looks like a butch les now that I think about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyrkur Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I pick the gender of my characters based on the story. I don't base their identity on myself but on other existing characters. I use those other existing characters to build the personality and look of my characters and then I expand on it and add my own ideas. So whatever gender the base Identity is, is what my character will be. My Bounty Hunter was based, and named after Arnold Swarzeneggars character 'Dutch' from Predator. He looked like him, and acted like him. I loved the idea, but didn't love the playstyle of the Powertech Bounty Hunters. I should have made him a Commando, but my friends were playing Empire. Then I rerolled on another server on Republic and made a Shadow. Satele, the Jedi Leader and poster-person for Shadows? Female. My Shadow? Female. I also am a fan of the Anime 'Berserk' and loved the Character 'Caska' from that. A strong willed woman that will do anything to help her family, even if it means killing or dying for them. So thats what my Shadow is based off of, although I couldn't get the name. My Trooper on the other hand is an old black guy. I think he looks really cool, and I can't wait to start leveling him. He's not based off of any existing character. His name is Tyrese, and he's simply seen some ****. An old hardened warrior, with the grenade scars on his face/head to prove it. He is just a general bad *** with a big gun. It has nothing to do with "staring at a [gender] *** all day" or being attracted to my characters in some way, or identifying myself with them. They are their own characters and I am interested in seeing their story play out in the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erevan_Kindelar Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I made a female IA, loved the voice... did the same with a female BH and Jedi Consular, loved the voices... the BH in particular is getting a lot of play time at the moment. My 10 male characters are not complaining, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZanriI Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) I'm a male that has a female main (guardian) because lorewise, heroic jedi males highly outnumber the females. It has nothing to do with me looking at behinds (seeing as how all my other chars are males), nor with me being in the closet, married with a kid thank you very much, it's just storywise I like having a female character for my role as a jedi. To me, this MMO is as much about writing your own story as it is playing the story Bioware has set for you; you don't question male authors who write out stories about heroines or vice versa do you? People look way too deeply into simple stuff like this. Edited January 31, 2012 by ZanriI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaskull Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Sorta planning to make a male & female for each Imperial Class and try out the archtypes,,[will see about that] but anyway..I went and made a Sith pureblood SI-sorceress, and I got rather stuck, really enjoyed the story so far, lvl42 allmost 43. Got a male-SPB etoon ready so that I might try out "Assassin" later on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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