Why do people cross-play?

[Delrael]

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.

 

I'm similar to this. I have eight slots, so I have a male and a female of each class and I try to have at least one of each race amongst them. What does that make me, then?

 

A little OCD, maybe? Altaholic, definately. I don't see how any wannabe Freud can psycho-analyze that, but feel free to try. Also don't see why that should matter to anyone else, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

 

Now if someone lied to others and tried to pass themselves off as another gender for some kind of manipulative reason, then you may have a case to be concerned. Otherwise, the question speaks louder of the questioner than the one being questioned.

[Cynomen]

I have played a male toon before because I wanted to see how I was treated. I learned a lot from that experiment for sure. lol

 

Lets just say, expectations, language, chat topics, and even your own roles in groups are all different when they think it's all guys playing. Once they know your a rl female, things change but not always for the worst.

 

Each person is different in how they react, as well as, how they interact with you moving forward.

 

I try to let my game do the talking for me, but it is not hard to figure out I am not just one of the guys if you chat with me long enough. lol =P

[Derfmiolleh]

I don't think it matters and nobody should care. This is one space in our lives where we just come to relax. The centerpiece to this table is the game and not who or what we as individuals are in real life. I never even think about the voice I hear in Mumble in relation to the toon I see. I'm a fat guy that plays thin avitars, he's a small guy that plays a muscle man, she's a nerd that plays a cool smuggler...whatever. Being able to fill a role in a group and getting along with everyone are the only two things I care about.

[monkeydud]

you're annoying

 

Righty ho then. Thanks for sharing your well thought out intelligent reasoning of why I`m annoying (and felt it nessecary to tell the world). Glad you bought it up. I shall now retire with Grace from the internet and possibly SWTOR all together as I wouldn't want to upset youre delicate and sensitive nature. May I suggest a course of Anger Management if you so easily offended by other people? Obviously the internet is WAYYYY to small a space to accomodate both of us.

 

Note: Please dont stick up for me anyone or he may Hyperventilate or summit..

[Cleet_Xia]

People who care about a players IRL gender = people who are homophobic but would really like to do some ERP.

 

People who don't care about a players IRL gender = people who are probably already doing ERP.

[Dhaenon]

As far as I can tell, some people just find it pointless to play as a gender not their own. Personally.. I don't know why I would play a female. I am a man, and I like being a man. It is easier, and just more natural for me to assume the role of a man. In fact I simply CAN'T understand why I would play a woman. Does that make any sense? I can understand the reasons people would...

 

Rather look at a girl

Rather role play a girl

Fits the character

 

I understand... but those all seem like pointless reasons.

 

Maybe it is a personality thing? What is everyone's opinion on this and their Myers-Briggs personality type?!

[Twilightbourne]

The truest answers you will get is not an answer, but another question, or several rather.

 

Why does it matter? Why do you care? Does it bother you that the hot twi'lek female character your PC is hitting on may possibly be played by a hairy 200 lb dock worker, or an FBI agent pretending to be a 12 year old girl?

 

Because the only answers you'll get from the so called "cross players" are going to be the ones already stated.

 

Why? Because half of it, at the very least is true. Its not a big deal. Some people want to play a game with a strong female (or male) lead. Some are more comfortable with a female (or male) character. Others simply like to look at their character every once in a while. Some honestly don't care what gender their character is, and often pick female ones because they like the appearance options better than the male options, and vice versa. And for some, its escapism and wish fullfilment.

 

Are any of these reasons wrong? No. In fact, they're more normal than you may realize.

 

Here's another interesting tidbit that might help you put the puzzle pieces together more nicely.. or jumble things up worse.. depending. Did you know Physical and Mental Gender have very little to do with each other? That there are Men with feminine personalities and women with masculine ones? And there are countless variations/mixes between them? I'm not talking about which physical gender they prefer in bed, no.. that's a completely seperate can of worms that some other man/woman/ewok/sentient being can open.

 

Its not always a conscious decision either.. people just gravitate to what they want to play and we have no right to judge their choice.

 

Why do I play female Chars? I like them more. I am more comfortable playing them. That is all that I will share, and should not have to justify myself or others.

 

/End discussion.

[Baalazar]

Because roleplaying for me is about being someone who you aren't. Playing another gender adds that much more of a different feeling to your character.

 

On the plus side more fun to look at a female avatar.

Edited February 28, 2012 by Baalazar

[YolDovah]

for me i play as female for when i wanna be a good character depending on side an class except for mass effect as my fem shep is one mean son of a well you get the point an so far i only have 1 female an thats a jedi consular but i may end up making a female imp agent or smug.

 

but i dont think there is a reason why but then it can be funny as hell when your playing a republic jedi who has a bounty hunter brother like i do as ive got a twilek jedi an d a human bounty hunter with the same last name so of course they were adopted an im sure they had a sister or 2

[ryuukhang]

Are you paying or going to pay my subscription? If so, I'll play male characters only since I am a male. If not, then I'll play how I want to play - how I envision the character.

 

My main is a male sentinel because he is based around my pen name as well as self-created personal avatar. My alt is a female shadow tank. I like the idea of having women be tanks because it makes them less dainty and more down-to-earth, imo. But that doesn't mean I think male tanks are bad. I have a male vanguard tank who happens to be a gung-ho Imp hater and will stop at nothing to kill Imps. I also have a female scoundrel who had a rough childhood and will work at amassing riches to help kids who suffer like she did. I based my character's gender around their background story and how I envision them. Will I ever only play male characters? No. As long as there are choices, I will never choose only one gender/race/class/etc.

[Armourboy]

Ultimately for me it boils down to what the characters look like and the options provided.

 

In SWG all my characters were male. Why? Because I like how male Mon Cals looked.

 

In FF online all my charcters were male. Why? They looked ok as males *shrug*

 

In WoW all of my characters minus an Orc and Troll were female. Why? Because most of the male animations and looks were horrendous ( especially on the alliance side).

 

In SWTOR I have a mix of both, but mainly go with female. Why? Well I have a Sorc and a Sage, hate males in robes. I have a female Trooper ( like the look and voice actor), a female Smuggler ( the male twileks look really bad), and finally a male Jedi Knight.

 

I think for most it boils down to looks, and what class you may be playing. Never understood how anyone could stand seeing a male Priest, or male mage in robes tbh.

[PulseRazor]

Why play a T'wilek/Orc/Whatever if you are a human?

 

Why play a Jedi if you are a Used Car Salesman?

 

Why play a video game if you have a life?

 

Why join a guild if you have friends and family?

 

 

None of these questions are any less asinine then 'Why play a man if you are a woman?'.

 

 

Consequently, the answers to these questions are all the same: Because I want to.

 

 

My first female character (apart from Samus Aaron or Lara Croft) was a kotor toon, because I wanted to see how different the story was from a female perspective, then I rolled females exclusively in wow since the avatars took up half the screen space as a male.

 

 

I will continue to roll what pleases me, its not like I am role playing a woman, or letting on as if I were a woman irl.

 

It is also a maturity thing. I probably wouldnt have thought of rolling a girl toon 15 years ago, I didnt read books written by women, listen to bands with female singers, or watched TV shows with women lead characters. Then I grew up.

Edited February 28, 2012 by PulseRazor

[Armourboy]

Why play a T'wilek/Orc/Whatever if you are a human?

 

Why play a Jedi if you are a Used Car Salesman?

 

Why play a video game if you have a life?

 

Why join a guild if you have friends and family?

 

 

None of these questions are any less asinine then 'Why play a man if you are a woman?'.

 

 

Consequently, the answers to these questions are all the same: Because I want to.

 

 

My first female character (apart from Samus Aaron or Lara Croft) was a kotor toon, because I wanted to see how different the story was from a female perspective, then I rolled females exclusively in wow since the avatars took up half the screen space as a male.

 

 

I will continue to roll what pleases me, its not like I am role playing a woman, or letting on as if I were a woman irl.

 

It is also a maturity thing. I probably wouldnt have thought of rolling a girl toon 15 years ago, I didnt read books written by women, listen to bands with female singers, or watched TV shows with women lead characters. Then I grew up.

 

 

 

Gotta agree with your last statement as well. When I was a teenager and in my early twenties I probably would of never rolled a female character. Now that I'm older I could care less, mainly because as I've gotten older I care less about what other people think

[DataBeaver]

An interesting question, and one I haven't given much thought to before. I suppose a large part of it is the looks. I kinda like playing virtual dress-up with my characters, trying to find well-matched sets of armor, to the extent that I may eschew technically better gear if I think it doesn't look as good. Female characters tend to have nicer hairstyles as well.

 

Playing different genders also doubles the variety of characters available, and I like making my characters distinct from each other. Previously it has been just looks; now that I'm given meaningful conversation choices, I try to give them different personalities as well.

 

Thinking back, SW:TOR is the first game where my first character has been female. Previously I've always started with a male character and created female alts later.

 

In real life, I don't much care about traditional gender roles. My mental gender would probably be best described as asexual. I'm well aware of being biologically male, and favor females when it comes to hugging someone, but I lack a sex drive almost completely. Personality-wise I'm rather ambiguous; online test generally diagnose me as weakly female. I've also been a cross-dresser for several years, because I think skirts are more comfortable than pants.

[Fantazm]

They're characters in a game. Who cares? People looking way too much into this for whatever reason.

[Timarick]

I'm a guy and my main character regardless of what I am doing is always in some capacity or another is based on myself mostly because when looking at myself, I'm practically a walking comic book character of the hotheaded heroic archetype who goes on a journey who learns to be tempered into something useful, strong, and vital. I've always loved that tale, which is firmly embedded in Japanese culture, but is also the classic tale of Luke Skywalker. I'm also an avid roleplayer and storyteller as I write comic books as well. It sickens me that we as western culture see our hero types as the quiet, slightly cool kid who becomes the hero which I find sooo unrelateable.

 

That said I do play a ton of female characters and in fact there are more female supporting cast members than male. This is based on my own experiences and my supporting cast is really based on very distilled versions of people I know whether good or bad. That's not to say I don't have a male supporting cast, but each male role I feel must serve a major purpose because like in our society, why is there a male character when despite what feminists would have you believe, when we live in an oversaturatingly so female society? But each character is there, male or female, to serve a purpose and almost never do I find myself across any medium to have a "damsel" in distress regardless of the gender role.

 

If people want to cross-play, by all means. As a storyteller I do because I try to tell a tale as a whole with each piece. But as a guy, you can be damn sure I put myself in the game in one capacity or another.

[Endora]

"Jennifer Hale"

[deusBAAL]

I would never want to be represented by the opposite sex in a virtual, or otherwise, world. I don't get the idea either. As soon as my character enters the world he's an extension of me somewhat and I'd rather try to represent aliens in all fairness. =p

 

^^This.

 

Plus I can not identify myself with a female char the way I can identify myself with a male one, even though the female one is better to look at... the improved "visual experience" gets old rather fast and I dont like acting female ingame.

[Sweeet]

I play a female character because a duel wielding female sentinel in a slave outfit looks HOT!! And naturally I like perving over hot looking things...any man that says otherwise is lying...they just think no-one can see them making those quick little glances.

 

One thing that does disturb me slightly is the amount of adolescent teens making inappropriate gestures and sending inappropriate messages... But I can live with that. The one major advantage to looking smoking hot however is in PvP. Sometimes people will literally just stop playing and stare as I cut them to pieces in my slave outfit, it's pretty cool.

Edited February 28, 2012 by Sweeet

[buhlake]

I have a jedi shadow male and i am male, but i just made a female bounty hunter. It is just fun to create a different style of character. To me its just a character which i dont identify with at all. Plus i have seen bounty hunters such as bobo and jango and thought the idea of a bad *** female one would be fun to try out and it has been so far. Overall it is just a game, and I like to experience the games different perspectives. Edited September 6, 2012 by buhlake

[Ameepa]

You know, MMOs suitable for whole family are not xxx games or dating sims and the characters in game are not us even if you wish real hard. We are playing freakin' jedis with lightsabers out there saving the galaxy, not desperately trying to find true love from republic fleet.

 

Cross-play topics with this tune belongs to some daiting site forums where it really matters what gender people behind their names are.

[Malles]

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?

 

Because devs design characters to make someone do that and have been doing it since Tomb Raider.

[Asavrede]

Why not? I have a mix of both genders - I pick what I think looks best for a particular role and class. Nothing more to it.

[Vemtaz]

I enjoy the Female characters more than male. All 8 of mine are female. I tried a couple of males, and ended up deleting them because I didn't like something about them (voice, looks, animation, etc...)..

 

I don't think of the character as an extension of me personally any more than a movie director thinks of actors and actresses as and extension of themselves.

 

I look at it like I'm a movie director directing a lead character through a story. Most of my female characters are small bodies (1 or 2), and I play them as bad-*** butt kickers, because that's what is fun for me.

 

Everyone feels differently about this. I'm an older player (49) and quite comfortable with myself and my RL gender and heterosexuality. I've been playing MMO's for a long time (since EQ1 launched in '99). My first, and long standing main character in that game was a male wood elf ranger, but I did play female alts during that time as well.

Edited September 7, 2012 by Vemtaz

[RAVM]

As tempting as it might be to create a great looking curvy female that would be the center of my view every second, I'd much rather have the romance with Kira.

 

Plus I play like it's an extension of me, so I only ever create male characters.

Edited September 7, 2012 by RAVM