[MUD-Dev] The Price of Being Male

[Paul Schwanz]

Rayzam wrote:
> From: "Paul Schwanz" <pschwanz at comcast.net>
>> Marian Griffith wrote:
>>> In <URL:/archives/meow?group+local.muddev>  on Mon 30 Jun, Mark 'Kamikaze'
>>> Hughes wrote:

>>> Most men do not want to appear female you say, and I have no
>>> doubt that is true, but how much has that to do with their self
>>> image, and how much with a cultural bias that it is ultimately
>>> shamefull for a man to appear feminine? In other words, do men
>>> (in general) chose male avatars because they want to, or because
>>> they fear that female avatar will make other people (men!) think
>>> they are girlish or even worse, gay. Note that there is a
>>> reverse bias in women but that is not nearly as strong.

>> I want to play a male because I *am* male.  I wear male clothing
>> because I *am* male.  It is really as simple as that.  I see
>> nothing in the data presented that would indicate conclusively
>> that the same is not the case for the vast majority of those who
>> purchased male avatars.

> But if it's that simple, would you never play a game where you
> were a female? I'll toss out Tomb Raider, again. If males want to
> play males because they are male, then I would expect Tomb Raider
> to have changed from Lara Croft to Larry Croft.

I've never really enjoyed the Tomb Raider games.  I tried a demo
once. I don't think my unenthusiastic reception of the game had much
to do with the gender of the avatar, but I'm also pretty sure that
if a male avatar had been available I would have chosen it.

In party-based single-player RPGs, I often do choose to have female
party members, but I also have a "party leader" who is always male
and usually fits into a specific archetype that I enjoy playing.  In
some way, I consider that particular avatar "me" in a way that the
others are not.  Interestingly enough, when it comes to other party
members I am very concerned about capability, not gender, and will
readily select a capable female over a less capable male when
offered by the gameplay. This isn't to say I don't discriminate at
all or that nothing but capability ever effects my choices.  I will
discriminate on looks, on personality (where the game attaches one
to the character), on alignment, on how long a character has been in
my party already, and perhpas many other things.  Given a
preponderance of such factors, I may indeed pass over a more capable
character in favor of one I "like" better.

--Phin
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