What Percentage of opposite sex characters do you play?

[randognsac]

4/15 females, I am male. So if I did my math right, it's about 26%.

[KAOS]

And if a woman behaves in a slightly masculine way, she's one strong girl, thumbs up for her. Guys acting in feminine way would get Looks, in the best case.

that would be an explanation..

however, imho cantr is the best place to try out things you won't do anywhere else, e.g. a behaviour your environment would not accept.

[Illidan]

No female characters, i'm male.

[gejyspa]

Currently reading the book "the Male Brain". I think that MIS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullerian_ ... ing_factor) may be at play here (see footnote 9) as to why males don't usually choose to play females.

[blutolpinxe]

I am male*, have not played a male char yet, and at this point don't intend to (though so far I only have five).

*[classified]**
**Actually, I'm just trying to seem suspicious. I hope it works

[returner]

Currently reading the book "the Male Brain". I think that MIS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullerian_ ... ing_factor) may be at play here (see footnote 9) as to why males don't usually choose to play females.

Huh? Where are you getting that from? It would seem a large majority of male players have at least 1 female character, and more than half of that figure play many females... The very fact that players are playing one, let alone several, characters of the opposite sex is significant enough..

And let's say for a moment that 'males don't usually choose to play females' (which is incorrect - according to the statistics, males choose frequently to play females), you can hardly apply what you suggested (MIS) being a factor at all here. If there was a vote, you'd quickly realise the cause is human reason and intellect, not MIS or anything to do with the 'wiring' of the male brain. As this is a role-playing game, one reason males and females choose to play their own gender is for comfort, as it is easier playing your own gender than it is another. A second reason is in-game relationships - not everyone who is male wants to have a relationship with a male character in-game. It's a little gay, for those who are silently / slightly homophobic (not in the derogatory form of homophobic). So human reason aside, we turn to intellect. In my own situation, I know that females in game have a higher success rate when it comes to coercion of male characters and thus it is easier to get ahead in-game. Most male characters bend over backwards for female characters which makes female characters favourable.

[gejyspa]

Currently reading the book "the Male Brain". I think that MIS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullerian_ ... ing_factor) may be at play here (see footnote 9) as to why males don't usually choose to play females.

Huh? Where are you getting that from? It would seem a large majority of male players have at least 1 female character, and more than half of that figure play many females...

Well, I guess we can quibble over whether 59% (the current number) is a "large majority", but you will certainly concede that it's much smaller then the 79% of the females who do. You also can't tell how many females are being played. Your claim of more than half are playing many females is based on what? Some random assumption that everyone is playing 15 characters? If I have 2 characters (which I do), and one of them is female (which it's not), that puts me in the second highest category.

The very fact that players are playing one, let alone several, characters of the opposite sex is significant enough..

But the facts are a) you can't tell how many are being played, just "at least one by 59%" and b) females play males at a much higher percentage rate than the reverse. (taking an arbitrary midpoint of the range as a basis of calculation, the average male has 23% female characters, whereas the average female has 42% male characters).

I concede my phrasing was clumsy. I should have said the "overwhelming majority of characters played by males are males, whereas a significant minority of characters played by females are males"

And let's say for a moment that 'males don't usually choose to play females' (which is incorrect - according to the statistics, males choose frequently to play females), you can hardly apply what you suggested (MIS) being a factor at all here. If there was a vote, you'd quickly realise the cause is human reason and intellect, not MIS or anything to do with the 'wiring' of the male brain.

You seem to not understand, though, that much of what we think of as "reason and intellect" is heavily influenced by neurotransmitters and hormones. There is good biological reasons why boys and girls are not alike, not only physically, but in the way they process information and experiences. Neither is "better" than the other, just different. To gloss over that difference, whether it be in the name of PCness or soemthing else, is intellectually dishonest.

As this is a role-playing game, one reason males and females choose to play their own gender is for comfort, as it is easier playing your own gender than it is another.

No doubt, no doubt. No argument there. But it's clearly more comfortable for females to play males than vice versa.

A second reason is in-game relationships - not everyone who is male wants to have a relationship with a male character in-game. It's a little gay, for those who are silently / slightly homophobic (not in the derogatory form of homophobic).

Also no question... and guess what determines that? And also the reason that females are statistically more liberal in views toward homosexuality than males? Hormones and brain chemistry again. So I stand by my assertion.

So human reason aside, we turn to intellect. In my own situation, I know that females in game have a higher success rate when it comes to coercion of male characters and thus it is easier to get ahead in-game. Most male characters bend over backwards for female characters which makes female characters favourable.

The fact that we reason rationally about it and choose to make choices based on something other than brain chemistry is why we are humans, not animals. That kind of rationality (and other things, such as wanting to experiment with something different than yourself in a consequence-free environment, and so forth) probably goes a long way to explaining why opposite sex characters are played at all by people. It doesn't mean that neurological explanations are invalid, or the hormonal influence is nil.

[Voltenion]

You guys are all twats!

Male is the better sex and that is the only reason!


...

[Addicted]

You guys are all twats!

Male is the better sex and that is the only reason!


...

Sure, I'm happy to let you think that, but us girls really all know better. *winks*

[Genevieve]

You realize this poll is very off since many people have not responded and many people don't check the boards. The best way to do it would be to look at the actual database.

[MikeH]

Agreed. The sample size is (a) far too small and (b) self-selecting. One certainly can't make any reasonable assumptions about hormones or other biological factors.

[Doug R.]

Unfortunately, looking int the DB won't help, because player gender is not recorded on player accounts.

[Slowness_Incarnate]

I know there are a few characters out there with an ambiguous gender...

[Elros]

I am a male and I play 100% males... I guess I figure I might as well stick with what I know best.

[gejyspa]

You realize this poll is very off since many people have not responded and many people don't check the boards. The best way to do it would be to look at the actual database.

Of course I realize that.. that's why my very first post included the words "Totally unscientific survey." And before I ever made this poll, checking the database is PRECISELY what I asked about in the chatroom. And I was told, as Doug said, that player sex isn't recorded, so this was the next best thing.

EDIT: "post" -> "poll"