Off Topic Discussion Megathread

[SturmChurro]

I'd actually be interested so see this stats ? Not because I don't believe you (and I searched as well, didn't find it), but because I would have think that most players actually prefered fem characters.

In ffXIV for example there is a majority of male players... and an overwhelming part of the characters I see IG are female.

Male characters look dumb in this game, and catgirls are a cultural phenomenon for weebs.

Just a couple examples off the top of my head:

Mass Effect: Legendary edition


AC: Odyssey

Who is played more Alexios or Kassandra?
Nearly two-thirds of the player base for Odyssey chose to play Alexios as their protagonist. In an issue of Game Informer, the game's director Scott Philips revealed that the majority of players favored Alexios over Kassandra.

There is a reason that a male midlander is the canon WoL, and the face for this game.

[Merrigan]

Male characters look dumb in this game, and catgirls are a cultural phenomenon for weebs.

Just a couple examples off the top of my head:

Mass Effect: Legendary edition


AC: Odyssey


There is a reason that a male midlander is the canon WoL, and the face for this game.

Just to be clear: I'm really curious to see the full stats, it was an unbiased question.

What you're quoting is a single player game, it's a bit different in my opinion. Do you have numbers for MMORPGs?

[SturmChurro]

Just to be clear: I'm really curious to see the full stats, it was an unbiased question.

What you're quoting is a single player game, it's a bit different in my opinion. Do you have numbers for MMORPGs?

I never stated specific to mmorpgs in the first place, I stated most 'gamers' - which is in general. For that matter, all that's needed to see is the marketing. Publishers have gone on record and stated that male characters sell better - Ubisoft specifically. I even conceded in my initial post "in this game perhaps", which I largely place the reasoning on stupid looking male characters, stupid looking armor sets, terrible hair design for males, the large weeb playerbase, and so on.

It can be seen in many games online or otherwise that male characters are favored, and if a female character is favored it's usually due to sex appeal - or a high population of female players (like in FF as well).

[ZedxKayn]

Male characters look dumb in this game, and catgirls are a cultural phenomenon for weebs.

Just a couple examples off the top of my head:

Mass Effect: Legendary edition


AC: Odyssey


There is a reason that a male midlander is the canon WoL, and the face for this game.

I don't know anything about ME but I wonder if for AC it's not because it has a history of male MCs.

I usually play females when I am given the choice in a franchise with a long precedent of giving the player a choice (ie Pokémon, The Elder Scrolls, Animal Crossing) but never could bring myself to play a female character for very long in AC because it just felt kind of wrong.

[SturmChurro]

I don't know anything about ME but I wonder if for AC it's not because it has a history of male MCs.

I usually play females when I am given the choice in a franchise with a long precedent of giving the player a choice (ie Pokémon, The Elder Scrolls, Animal Crossing) but never could bring myself to play a female character for very long in AC because it just felt kind of wrong.

For ME, I'd be part of the female demographic since the character I made was femshep - at the time I was interested in playing as the default female since they made her me3 appearance available across all 3 games. AC, probably to an extent yes, but Alexios isn't even canon, and neither is male Eivor for Valhalla. The females are put in and made the canon protagonist for current era PR, in my opinion. Like I said, most 'gamers', at least these games targeted demographics, are males, and males generally prefer to play males. In FF, the playerbase is a bit more mixed.

Like I've said before, I play both. I like playing both for whatever look or character 'feel' I am going for. So on any given day in Skyrim, for example, I'll be playing a male nord warrior, and the next day be I'll be playing a nord shieldmaiden, etc. In RPGs, I do like to go through the games as both, to see different interactions or available romances. Also, I like both to be able to be good looking or cool. So, sometimes I will favor female, like in this game, since I think male characters are ugly. For things like The Division, I played exclusively male, because the female characters looked bad.

[Vahlnir]

For ME, I'd be part of the female demographic since the character I made was femshep - at the time I was interested in playing as the default female since they made her me3 appearance available across all 3 games. AC, probably to an extent yes, but Alexios isn't even canon, and neither is male Eivor for Valhalla. The females are put in and made the canon protagonist for current era PR, in my opinion. Like I said, most 'gamers', at least these games targeted demographics, are males, and males generally prefer to play males. In FF, the playerbase is a bit more mixed.

Like I've said before, I play both. I like playing both for whatever look or character 'feel' I am going for. So on any given day in Skyrim, for example, I'll be playing a male nord warrior, and the next day be I'll be playing a nord shieldmaiden, etc. In RPGs, I do like to go through the games as both, to see different interactions or available romances. Also, I like both to be able to be good looking or cool. So, sometimes I will favor female, like in this game, since I think male characters are ugly. For things like The Division, I played exclusively male, because the female characters looked bad.

From what I've been told, the female protagonist in Odyssey had way better voice acting. Alexios' voice was that of some guy trying to do his worst Ezio impression and failing miserably to even manage that. So I think it worked out, at least for that one. It was a fun game but it was one of the rare few where I legitimately didn't enjoy the main character at all. If I had gone through it with the female character I probably would have enjoyed it better. I like the male Eivor a bit better in Valhalla. The female version's voice just feels...forced to me, for lack of a better way to put it. It's just doesn't come off as natural like the male Eivor's voice does.

[SturmChurro]

From what I've been told, the female protagonist in Odyssey had way better voice acting. Alexios' voice was that of some guy trying to do his worst Ezio impression and failing miserably to even manage that. So I think it worked out, at least for that one. It was a fun game but it was one of the rare few where I legitimately didn't enjoy the main character at all. If I had gone through it with the female character I probably would have enjoyed it better. I like the male Eivor a bit better in Valhalla. The female version's voice just feels...forced to me, for lack of a better way to put it. It's just doesn't come off as natural like the male Eivor's voice does.

I really like Kassandra. I think she is a female protagonist done right. In looks, voice acting, and personality (writing). I have played a quarter way through as Alexios one time, his voice acting can be really jarring at times, for sure. Valhalla I played female Eivor as well actually. Never played male in that one.

[Lauront]

Just to be clear: I'm really curious to see the full stats, it was an unbiased question.

What you're quoting is a single player game, it's a bit different in my opinion. Do you have numbers for MMORPGs?

You will probably have to look them up by MMO. This game isn't as skewed as it once was based on recent stats. I think it's something like a 42/58 male/female split, using the Lucky bancho figures (in the absence of anything more reliable) just before EW release, and closer to 45/55 excluding Japan, with the figures shifting slightly more favourably for male toons ever since the WoW "refugee" influx. We'll see where the next stats take us now that male Viera are out and that there's been some time for people to see if they like them enough to stick with them, or not.

WoW tended to skew more male (almost flipping the ratios 14 has) in its character distribution from when I last looked (BFA), but I don't recall if those stats accounted for alts, which are more common in WoW.

Personally I'd consider it difficult to generalise this sort of thing too much. It varies a lot by genre and design aesthetics. It's obvious that companies will focus on the desires of their main audience (and I do not consider that a bad thing), but I think that's down to the type of product in question. I personally prefer games where I like the male character design options, but there's a few where I'm also willing to play the female ones (e.g. Tekken series.)

[Theodric]

I predict a sharp rise in the number of male characters in FFXIV once the older character models are given a new coat of paint. I like playing tall, well-built male characters who have attractive facial features but that's hard to accomplish in FFXIV without sacrificing something. I really like my Midlander's face, for example, though he isn't as tall or well-built as I would like him to be. Equally, if I went Highlander he'd have the perfect height and physique...but look like he'd been in way too many barfights. Raen and Xaela men can be made to be pretty attractive but their tails and horns lead to clipping and the hourglass figure is a bit...off to me. Elezen have awkward proportions and despite playing a Blood Elf in WoW, I have no desire to play an Elezen in FFXIV. Miqo'te are too short for my liking. I have no desire to play a Lalafell and Roegadyn are too bulky. Viera do nothing for me, especially given certain aspects of their lore.

[Caurcas]

Personally it comes down to art direction and character design when it comes to choosing male or female in a game. Kind of a far cry from the games of my youth when the whole game would change. Now it's what looks better.