The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

[nexus]

Well, it seems to be in most of my games. Almost all the character in any Champions games I have run (after the first two) have been female. By at least 2 to 1. I've a few all female teams. Mostly played by males. In fact, some of the few male supers are played by females. Anyone else ran into this?

[laxrulz777]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

are you sure you're not playing Everquest or City of Heroes??

 

Seriously, I've never had this problem. I've found that the male playing a female character is not very common FtF... PBEM might be different...

[lemming]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

Well' date=' it seems to be in most of my games. Almost all the character in any Champions games I have run (after the first two) have been female. By at least 2 to 1. I've a few all female teams. Mostly played by males. In fact, some of the few male supers are played by females. Anyone else ran into this?[/quote']

I've got a more 50/50 split with a slightly more male characters than female. However it seems except for a few cases, the female characters seem to be in the longer campaigns.

 

Currently in the two games I'm active with: Zornwil's and I'm just going to count mine for arguments sake, predominatly male team members.

[Dynamo]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

Most FtF players I've met play their own gender exclusively. I enjoy playing cross-gender, but it seems to make most male and some female players uncomfortable.

 

I've had better success avoiding others' discomfort playing a genderless shapeshifter who maintains a female super identity. Weird, because Plastique's character development has delved into psycho-sexual themes to explore it's utter lack of hormone-driven behaviors. You'd think those themes would have triggered the cross-gender woogies much more readily than playing a woman just because the costume concept looked better on the female pose in Hero Machine.

 

I guess the depth of a group that plays character-exploring plotlines just might exceed that of a group out to bash baddies and argue about the rules.

[Rapier]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

I've got a more 50/50 split with a slightly more male characters than female. However it seems except for a few cases, the female characters seem to be in the longer campaigns.

 

Currently in the two games I'm active with: Zornwil's and I'm just going to count mine for arguments sake, predominatly male team members.

Depends. When I play video games (or MUD) I ALWAYS play a girl. The girls tend to be faster and more agile...while doing less damage. This suits my play style more. It is also quite fun (since I am EXTREMELY tall) for me to play a lil bitty girl and be standing victorious over the very beefy, male, defeated, furiously leaking pixilated blood opponent.

 

The only case where this isn't so is when I play Samurai Shodown. Then I play Galford (see avatar), because he's gay (he's from San Francisco and he wears either tight blue or tight purple clothes) and he has a DOG!

 

When I RPG RP I am almost always male. Not that I haven't played a few female characters here and there, but I am usually male.

[Guest Champsguy]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

The only case where this isn't so is when I play Samurai Shodown. Then I play Galford (see avatar), because he's gay (he's from San Francisco and he wears either tight blue or tight purple clothes) and he has a DOG!

 

...

 

You... no...

 

Galford isn't gay. Next you'll be telling me that Ken from Street Fighter...

 

YOU TAKE IT BACK!!! YOU TAKE IT BACK!!!

[Rapier]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

...

 

You... no...

 

Galford isn't gay. Next you'll be telling me that Ken from Street Fighter...

 

YOU TAKE IT BACK!!! YOU TAKE IT BACK!!!

Check the avatar, baby!! Besides 'us gays' can recognise each other. There is a secret hand-signal language, a special colour and a secret handshake...and if all else fails I can always check the directory in the back of our newsletter.

 

Ken and Blanka (sp?) were very close. Its the electric thing. Tres kinky.

 

Phppt!

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

Two main thoughts:

 

1) FtF, it's just _annoying_ to have crossgender play. You use the wrong pronouns, and people get huffy. Maybe with costuming.. but at that point, ewww. So PBeM is a chance for people to use their cool female PC ideas without stigma.

 

2) Maybe it's you? Maybe you tend to play with the subset of PBeMers who prefer female characters... either because they seek you out, or you are on the same wavelength.

[Rapier]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

1) FtF' date=' it's just _annoying_ to have crossgender play. You use the wrong pronouns, and people get huffy. Maybe with costuming.. but at that point, ewww. So PBeM is a chance for people to use their cool female PC ideas without stigma. [/quote']

It's all in the practice. Believe you me. When I drop into role as a woman...my pronouns always work. Hmmmm. Wonder what that says about me?

 

Ah well.

[Publius]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

As a GM I strongly discourage gender switches in FtF play. It might seem hopelessly out of date or something but Bud the 6'6 450lb hairy fellow playing the beautiful elven princess in his deepest baritone just does not work. It’s the suspension of disbelief that suffers and that means that the play is more likely to dissolve into comedy or nonsense. It also tends to be the case that only the rare guy can play a female character sufficiently well to justify the switching. They act like... well males in female bodies rather than as females.

 

There are always exceptions of course. One of the best examples of this was in an Amber game, when a male player wanted to play a slightly effeminate male character (Strong Xander! Strong Xander!) that happened to be a female that simply masqueraded as male (for a reason I only half recall, suffice to say it was actually a valid plot device integrated into his character’s personal history). So he was a man playing a woman that dressed and acted like a man (kind of).

 

This became really confusing when the character disguised herself as a woman when breaking into a stronghold. I kept passing notes to the other players like "He really seems to be amazingly comfortable in those clothes" and “he makes a completely convincing female†etc. I told one bad stuff character (they use up more than their allotted points during character gen and GMs can mess with them more freely) that he started having a "crush like feeling" for the character he thought was a male once he saw him as a female (albeit one he thought was a male in disguise). This of course continued when the gender-switched character went back into his ‘male persona’ and I kept sending the bad stuff character notes like “Marion looks kind of sexy in the tight leather outfit he picked out todayâ€. Great shades of Shakespeare!

 

The only time I had female gamers outnumbering male gamers was in a Vampire campaign. That ended up being quite long running and it was extremely satisfying in terms of our collective role-playing. I wish I had more female players now.

[Kristopher]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

As long as the groups is a mature set of good role players, who can convincingly portay a character and remember that these are characters, not simple identity/ego extensions of the players, there shouldn't be a problem with someone playing a character of a different gender.

 

People play wizards, cyborgs, elves, Klingons, trolls, space marines, and whatever, and that's OK, but playing someone of the opposite sex isn't OK?

 

"I don't think so." (I still have The Increadibles on the brain.)

 

My two long-time gaming groups, who have since drifted apart, had no problem with this. I left a group after my attempt to play a female character generated a continuous stream of juvenile muttering, stiffled giggles, and odd glances -- I wanted nothing to do with jr high minds in college-age bodies.

 

As a GM I strongly discourage gender switches in FtF play. It might seem hopelessly out of date or something but Bud the 6'6 450lb hairy fellow playing the beautiful elven princess in his deepest baritone just does not work. It’s the suspension of disbelief that suffers and that means that the play is more likely to dissolve into comedy or nonsense. It also tends to be the case that only the rare guy can play a female character sufficiently well to justify the switching. They act like... well males in female bodies rather than as females.

 

There are always exceptions of course. One of the best examples of this was in an Amber game, when a male player wanted to play a slightly effeminate male character (Strong Xander! Strong Xander!) that happened to be a female that simply masqueraded as male (for a reason I only half recall, suffice to say it was actually a valid plot device integrated into his character’s personal history). So he was a man playing a woman that dressed and acted like a man (kind of).

 

This became really confusing when the character disguised herself as a woman when breaking into a stronghold. I kept passing notes to the other players like "He really seems to be amazingly comfortable in those clothes" and “he makes a completely convincing female†etc. I told one bad stuff character (they use up more than their allotted points during character gen and GMs can mess with them more freely) that he started having a "crush like feeling" for the character he thought was a male once he saw him as a female (albeit one he thought was a male in disguise). This of course continued when the gender-switched character went back into his ‘male persona’ and I kept sending the bad stuff character notes like “Marion looks kind of sexy in the tight leather outfit he picked out todayâ€. Great shades of Shakespeare!

 

The only time I had female gamers outnumbering male gamers was in a Vampire campaign. That ended up being quite long running and it was extremely satisfying in terms of our collective role-playing. I wish I had more female players now.

[nexus]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

Check the avatar, baby!! Besides 'us gays' can recognise each other. There is a secret hand-signal language, a special colour and a secret handshake...and if all else fails I can always check the directory in the back of our newsletter.

 

Ken and Blanka (sp?) were very close. Its the electric thing. Tres kinky.

 

Phppt!

What about Eliza? What about her?!

 

Edit:Interestingly enough, Zangief is gay. There's another gay character among the Streetfighter characters but his name escapes me.

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

As long as the groups is a mature set of good role players, who can convincingly portay a character and remember that these are characters, not simple identity/ego extensions of the players, there shouldn't be a problem with someone playing a character of a different gender.

 

People play wizards, cyborgs, elves, Klingons, trolls, space marines, and whatever, and that's OK, but playing someone of the opposite sex isn't OK?

 

"I don't think so." (I still have The Increadibles on the brain.)

 

My two long-time gaming groups, who have since drifted apart, had no problem with this. I left a group after my attempt to play a female character generated a continuous stream of juvenile muttering, stiffled giggles, and odd glances -- I wanted nothing to do with jr high minds in college-age bodies.

 

I can keep in mind what the character does, how the character acts, and even how they sound... but I will screw up on the him/her pronoun 90% of the time for cross-gender.

 

"Male/Female" registers deep on the primordial brain. It's an unconscious problem.

 

I'd try it (again) face to face, but I'd want something like pictures of the PC in front of everyone at all times. Because I _look_ at the Player when I talk about the character.

 

It's not impossible, but it makes things harder.

[zornwil]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

As a GM I strongly discourage gender switches in FtF play. It might seem hopelessly out of date or something but Bud the 6'6 450lb hairy fellow playing the beautiful elven princess in his deepest baritone just does not work. It’s the suspension of disbelief that suffers... (snip)

 

FWIW, lemming is very "male" and so are others I've seen play female characters. No problems at this point, and the suspension of disbelief seems fine. Then again, they're not roleplaying seduction or roleplaying romantic moments in details, and I think that helps. It's simply mentioned. They don't dwell on things that would be "weird" coming from them as men. I'm not suggesting you should change, just giving feedback.

[rjcurrie]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

My experiences are very similar to Zornwil's. I have never seen a problem with cross gender play and, in fact, when I first came across the idea that some people did not allow it, I was surprised. It would have never even occurred to me. Several other local gamers, to whom I have mentioned the concept of GMs not allowing or discouraging cross gender play, were similarly surprised.

 

At conventions, you constantly see cross gender play. I have never seen a GM discourage or ban it. In fact, my main convention game, SuperSquad America, currently features a team that has 5 women and 3 men (and that team has never had less than 3 women). As a result, male players often end up playing female characters and, occasionally female players end up playing male characters -- even though the lower percentage of female gamers at cons and the high percentage of female characters in my game usually means that females could almost always play females if they wanted to. I have rarely seen a problem -- most of the bad players of female characters would have played male characters just as badly -- and have never received a complaint about the ratio of characters available or about how anyone played a character of the opposite gender.

 

Just my two cents worth,

 

Rod

[tkdguy]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

Some of the people in my old group (all guys) played female characters. We never had any problems with that. The female PCs tended to be on the obnoxious side, but then again, so did the male PCs.

[Mutant for Hire]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

On the subject of cross-gender playing, I have to admit that this is one of those areas where using a computer generated world ala Neverwinter Nights or City of Heroes, makes things easier.

[rjcurrie]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

I just don't get it. Why is a guy playing a female character (vice versa) any more of a problem than a human playing an elf? Or for that matter, someone who has never been outside downtown Manhattan playing a farm boy from Kansas? And if you've never been a nuclear physicist, should you be allowed to play one in a game? In fact, should you be allowed to play anyone other than yourself?

[Enforcer84]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

What about Eliza? What about her?!

 

Edit:Interestingly enough, Zangief is gay. There's another gay character among the Streetfighter characters but his name escapes me.

 

Eagle.

The Freddie Mercury looking fellow (he also use FM's lines occasionally).

[tkdguy]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

Question about Zangief: Is it explicitly stated he's gay? I heard he hates pretty, young girls, but it's possible he just resents them for having been rejected by them once too often. Never mind the fact he's ugly and obnoxious!

[sinanju]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

Yeah, the cliche is some overweight socially retarded fanboy playing a female character as an oversexed bimbo with huge breasts. And there's some truth to that--I've seen it myself. But it's no more a cliche than that same fanboy playing a massively muscled Barbarian Swordsman who thinks every problem can be solved with his sword. I've seen that too. It has a lot more to do with the individual player and his willingness or ability to try to play a character realistically than with his gender.

 

I've played a few female characters over the years. I'm playing a couple online now. One in one of your games, another in the Global Guardians universe. I've also got two male characters in online games. Which, unless the GM objects to cross-gender PCs, strikes me as about right--half the world is female, and about half the character concepts I come up with are likely to be female.

[gewing]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

One of my friends often played cross-gender. The characters were often annoying, but...

 

So were most of us.

 

Some of the people in my old group (all guys) played female characters. We never had any problems with that. The female PCs tended to be on the obnoxious side' date=' but then again, so did the male PCs.[/quote']

[nexus]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

I think I have given the wrong impression. I don't have a problem with cross gender play. I do it myself. I just noticed the majority of PCs I have at the moment are female and thought it was mildy interesting.

[yamamura]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

I have a "friend";) who tend to play female characters too and because of that when this "friend" decides to play a male character the pronouns get all messed up.

 

G

[Doug McCrae]

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

 

I prefer to play female PCs and all my roleplaying is FtF. I fully accept that this is sick, weird and wrong.