Playing the opposite gender - what are your thoughts?

[John]

Malifaxis asked for people to make a new thread so I have. All I really wanted to say was, is that "women have it easy." I played a female many moons ago (2 years now) and found it boring. Because EVERYONE was so happy to do everything for me. I didn't have to lift a finger, cause everyone was falling over themselves to do it for me. The challenge in playing a female is only in learning how to act like a female. Cause the rest of the game becomes dead easy (at least in my 2 tries anyway).

For reference, here's Mal's post in case people want to discuss other things.

As I don't mudsex anymore I can't really contribute to it much, though during my dazzling, epic spree of pr0ntext, I honestly have to say I never really considered the possibility, or cared.

Not to derail, but jhunter, I'd really suggest playing a female PC if you haven't.  It's a terrific challenge, and I've found that the real women are almost always more than willing to help you act a bit more ladylike if you want to.

And why not play a woman who is just VERY picky?  Play for a while, get used to the skin you're wearing, and then attempt the romance schtick.  Or perhaps a woman who's so concerned with her physical condition that she'd never risk the complications that come with non-medically assisted pregnancies and births?  Later on, when you decide that maybe you're ready to tackle that hurdle as a player, your character can develop the desire as well.

I'd honestly suggest to any male player to play a female, and vice versa.  At least for me it provided some insight I'd not even considered before.

-End derail, please start a new thread if anyone really wants to discuss this side.

[Ktavialt]

Malifaxis asked for people to make a new thread so I have. All I really wanted to say was, is that "women have it easy." I played a female many moons ago (2 years now) and found it boring. Because EVERYONE was so happy to do everything for me. I didn't have to lift a finger, cause everyone was falling over themselves to do it for me. The challenge in playing a female is only in learning how to act like a female. Cause the rest of the game becomes dead easy (at least in my 2 tries anyway).

As far as muds3x0ring, hadn't done that before until recently. Awkward to
get into it the first time, and would normally avoid it, but if its the natural
order of what my character would do, I'm cool with it. Most of the time its
fade to black stuff, but occasionally not.

If I played a female character I'd have to be butch. There's no way I could
pull off good femininity. And if I can't pull off good femininity, no way in
hell I'm going to be able to pull off the female side of the mudsex
equation. For those who can, more power to you, but it would make me
weirded out.

On other *cough* RP... *cough* *laugh* RP muds... like Carrionfields
which I haven't played in a long time since I'm addicted to Crackageddon,
I can play and RP a female character very easily and do often. Of course
their definition of RP is: (1) Talking to a player after you've killed or
been killed by them, in either a chivalric, paladiny way or an evil magician
manner; (2) saying "would you like to slay some dastardly trolls in the
forbidden forest" instead of "d00d lets meet market square and gain some
levels and PK"; and (3) Don't kill good aligned people if you are good
aligned, but if you happen to, show some remorse.

In other words, because of the effort I like to put in fleshing out a
character on Armageddon, I wouldn't feel just in half-assing a female PC.
I'm one of those kinds of guys with the "Acting in a potentially gay fashion
makes me feel awkward, but others can do it as much as they please"
mentality.

My two cents,
- Ktavialt

[jhunter]

I prefer not to. I haven't the slightest understanding of RL females...so I doubt that I would be able to roleplay a female properly. Maybe someday I will give it a try...it would probably be a pretty pathetic attempt though.

[flurry]

Cause the rest of the game becomes dead easy

I don't think the bahamets got that memo.  

:wink:

[Angela Christine]

I played a guy once, it was fun.  A kind of swishy, bisexual former catamite (catamites are young, the market for OLD male whores isn't so good).  I figure there must be some swishy guys, but very few actual manly men are willing to play a guy in touch with his feminine side.    


I think playing a non-human might make gender-bendering easier, because oddities can be passed off as racial differences.  Most female dwarves are not all that "feminine" by earth standards, possibly because they have no eyelashes to flutter nor hair to toss.  An hourglass figure is possible, but it is going to be a squat, muscular hourglass.  Nobody really expects a female dwarf to be girly.  Likewise, most female half-giants I've seen are almost charactures of femaninity.  That may make sense since they are merely immitating their favorite people, lacking cultural norms of their own.

Elves might be a good choice for women trying male characters for the first time.  Elves rely more on cunning and manipulation than brute strength, not that I'm saying women are cunning and manipulative.  :roll:  And with those supermodel physiques (tall, thin, angular and arrogant) even the guys all look a little swishy to me.  


Angela Christine

[Rhyden]

Hell, I played a female once, being myself a male player, and it was easy. I think I (along with many other male players) know enough about females to play them, it's just that some don't have the (pardon the irony) balls enough to play one. But if you're really struggling whether or not to make an opposite-gendered character, just make one that's your ideal. Ex. I'd make a hot babe character who can unleash a can of whoop-ass, but that's just me.

-Rhyden

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

Angela Christine wrote:

former catamite

That is so going to be the background for my next character...
Anyway, I don't have much to say on the issue at hand, except this one little bit:
After I had played Armageddon for a couple of months, I attempted to get my sister involved in the game too. She made an account, made an f-me PC with a fairly unlikely background involving an independent merchant caravan, and began to play. I was guiding her through her first newbie steps, but since she had insisted on picking a starting location I wasn't familiar with, we couldn't find anywhere to get her out of her newbie gear. So we wandered into a tavern and sat at the bar, hoping for either directions or employment.
Within moments a couple of male characters began chatting with my sister, and one of them suggested she get herself a drink, and promptly handed her one hundred coins.
Now, to me, a newbie whos current character was a dirt-poor Runner in the T'zai Byn, one hundred coins was a ludicrous amount to simply give. Polite banter and suggestions for finding employment followed, and I got the impression that female PCs were treated a bit nicer than male PCs.
However, it should be noted that this tale takes place in Tuluk, during its transation from Old to New, and a horrible bunny-hugging epidemic gripped the playerbase. So it could very well of been that.

[Yokunama]

I'm a guy and My first character on Armageddon was a female. I hate to admit, but it is fun playing a character of the opposite sex, because you'll get to experence things through their eyes, instead of ones like your own.

Note: This is not the only time I have roleplayed a female character. Also, I currently have have a character on the mud I came from.

If you have ever tried, you will realise that roleplaying a "female" will have its perks. You will notice how much easier it is to make friends and manuiplate the opposite sex of your race. There will also be those gifts(such as obsidian, clothing, jewlery, and etc.) that seem to come out of nowhere.

Whenever you try to roleplay a character, you should try to look into their race see how the race act towards one another and towards the other beings that inhabit the world. Just trying to know how "females" act in real life will not get it all the time, because every being is unique in every way. Try roleplaying your character according to their race instead of their gender, because some girls (referring to those in the real world) are more masculine that males out there ~winks~  :wink: , and there are those who try to be and wish they were males.

-Thats my two obsidian