What Percentage of opposite sex characters do you play?

[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 post, 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.

Nonetheless, despite its being self-selecting, the results were pretty much in line with my hypothesis, so I doubt it's too off....as for the sample size? No way, it's very large for the amount of players we have, to be able to have a high confidence level, IF it were a random sampling, which of course, it's not.

[returner]

Just because an inaccurate statistic matches up with your hypothesis, does not mean it is correct in any way. You really can't make that claim.

despite its being self-selecting, the results were pretty much in line with my hypothesis, so I doubt it's too off.

For example. Let's say I have a hypothesis that ONLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN will walk past my house, EVER. So I go outside at about 4pm (school finishes at 3:30pm here) and mothers and children walk past.
The results were pretty much in line with my hypothesis, so I guess I'm right! Only women and children ever walk past my house. No man will ever walk past my house.

So that's why you can't make that claim. Yes, I've exaggerated it for the sake of explanation.

Also, the first option "I'm male, I play 0-10% female characters" falls into three categories:
1) Someone who has no female characters (and is male)
2) Someone who has 1 female character (and is male)
3) Someone who has 2 female characters (and is male)
And some might mistakenly be:
4) Someone who has 3 female characters (and is male).

Not to mention the fact that some may have lost their female characters, perhaps because they were too hard to play and let them die off.

It's extremely hard to test your hypothesis with such a basic and inaccurate statistic.

[gejyspa]

Just because an inaccurate statistic matches up with your hypothesis, does not mean it is correct in any way. You really can't make that claim.

despite its being self-selecting, the results were pretty much in line with my hypothesis, so I doubt it's too off.

I can make the claim that I DOUBT anything... I never said "proves" or "proves within a statistical likelihood". I doubt that the returner is human....I can make that claim...

Also, the first option "I'm male, I play 0-10% female characters" falls into three categories:
1) Someone who has no female characters (and is male)
2) Someone who has 1 female character (and is male)
3) Someone who has 2 female characters (and is male)
And some might mistakenly be:
4) Someone who has 3 female characters (and is male).

I suppose it could be number 3 or 4, but only if someone has more than 19 characters in total.

It's extremely hard to test your hypothesis with such a basic and inaccurate statistic.

Never claimed it wasn't!

And by the way, I participate in hundreds of surveys a year by marketers, and 90% of them are self-selecting (100% if you count the fact that not hanging up on a marketer is already self-selecting)... yet marketers use them and pay big bucks for them, so they must believe they have some validity.

[Cdls]

For example. Let's say I have a hypothesis that ONLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN will walk past my house, EVER. So I go outside at about 4pm (school finishes at 3:30pm here) and mothers and children walk past.
The results were pretty much in line with my hypothesis, so I guess I'm right! Only women and children ever walk past my house. No man will ever walk past my house.

You saying men don't bother to pick up their children, or are you saying that it is purely a woman's job? What an ass.

:lol: :lol:

Also, the first option "I'm male, I play 0-10% female characters" falls into three categories:
1) Someone who has no female characters (and is male)
2) Someone who has 1 female character (and is male)
3) Someone who has 2 female characters (and is male)
And some might mistakenly be:
4) Someone who has 3 female characters (and is male).

I see four categories there....

And besides, you are making a giant statement of fail on your own with your "categorizing" in that:

Option 2
Well, what if they have one female and only have three characters total, that would make the count be 33.3%...so fail assumption there...

Option 3
2 female chars out of 4 total chars...well, that equals 50% by my calculations....

Option 4
3/6 = same result as option 3.

Option 1
Well...considering you got one right out of four (which was supposed to be three) I would think it is time to go back and rethink the post.

[Addicted]

Just curious as to how many characters (percentagewise) of those you play are of the opposite sex from you, and comparing the finding between male and female players.

Also, if you want to leave any comments as to your motivations for choosing to play the amount of gender-bending characters that you do, feel free.

Totally unscientific survey.
Thanks,
--gejyspa

Initially, I found it extremely difficult to play a male character. It's actually getting easier to emote him. Someone suggested modelling him on someone I know and it works to a degree. He was the first character I had as I didn't know what I was getting into with Cantr. My next char was female and was much easier. So all subsequent chars are female. When this post appeared, I was thinking I'd never willingly play a male char again and he was a huge mistake. By now, though, I feel I just might. He seems to be working out as my role play is improving by watching and learning. His personality is rounding out and I'm enjoying playing him more and more.

[MikeH]

For example. Let's say I have a hypothesis that ONLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN will walk past my house, EVER. So I go outside at about 4pm (school finishes at 3:30pm here) and mothers and children walk past.
The results were pretty much in line with my hypothesis, so I guess I'm right! Only women and children ever walk past my house. No man will ever walk past my house.

You saying men don't bother to pick up their children, or are you saying that it is purely a woman's job? What an ass.

Also, the first option "I'm male, I play 0-10% female characters" falls into three categories:
1) Someone who has no female characters (and is male)
2) Someone who has 1 female character (and is male)
3) Someone who has 2 female characters (and is male)
And some might mistakenly be:
4) Someone who has 3 female characters (and is male).

I see four categories there....

And besides, you are making a giant statement of fail on your own with your "categorizing" in that:

Option 2
Well, what if they have one female and only have three characters total, that would make the count be 33.3%...so fail assumption there...

Option 3
2 female chars out of 4 total chars...well, that equals 50% by my calculations....

Option 4
3/6 = same result as option 3.

Option 1
Well...considering you got one right out of four (which was supposed to be three) I would think it is time to go back and rethink the post.

Well, no, although the metaphor could be better, it's still trying to say something accurate -- that there is absolutely no way one can reasonably suggest that this poll in any way supports the suggested hypothesis, or any other, actually.

The sample size, regardless of the player base, is still too small for reasonable extrapolation. The categories of the poll aren't the same size. There are no controls for other issues that could equally bear on the question of whether or not there is a difference in opposite-gender roleplay in men versus women, or what might be correlated with that difference. Certainly bringing in the idea of hormones or other biological or physiological factors into this question is completely unsupported by the current "unscientific poll".

It's an interesting "thought experiment", but even if there is a significant difference between male and female roleplay, there are many other factors to consider that could be the cause. If the effect truly exists at all, of course.

[Cdls]

*sigh*


Had a post typed up to respond, but many would probably take sarcasm as flaming...so I have to settle for this.

MikeH, you seemed to have missed completely my point. Anyways, if you want to tear apart the poll's validity, believe me...it is quite easy to do. For one, the way it is set up, if you can select the >60% option, in theory that means that all the other options (within the designated sex) that are above it are selectable as well, and well...you get the idea.

[gejyspa]

The sample size, regardless of the player base, is still too small for reasonable extrapolation.

Ummm.. no, it's not, IF the sampling was random (which I concede it's note)... if the total population size of cantr is 3000 players, then you can get a 95 confidence level with +/- 13 percentage points with a sample size of only 56 people. We already have 63.... but in any case....

The categories of the poll aren't the same size.

If you mean the intervals, that's very true.. they were chosen for a reason.. but for purposes of comparison BETWEEN males and females, they are valid, because they are the same for both sexes, and you can still things like chi-square tests to check for the probability that the two populations have parameters, etc. (again, IF they were random samples)

There are no controls for other issues that could equally bear on the question of whether or not there is a difference in opposite-gender roleplay in men versus women, or what might be correlated with that difference. Certainly bringing in the idea of hormones or other biological or physiological factors into this question is completely unsupported by the current "unscientific poll".

No doubt, no doubt.. That's why they are called hypotheses.. and unless cantrians are willing to subject themselves to hormone therapy witha very llong range longitudinal study, it will hard to test.

It's an interesting "thought experiment", but even if there is a significant difference between male and female roleplay, there are many other factors to consider that could be the cause. If the effect truly exists at all, of course.

Of course, and I never presented it as anything other than a thought experiment.. I'm not sure why there has been so much animosity.

[MikeH]

The sample size, regardless of the player base, is still too small for reasonable extrapolation.

Ummm.. no, it's not, IF the sampling was random (which I concede it's note)... if the total population size of cantr is 3000 players, then you can get a 95 confidence level with +/- 13 percentage points with a sample size of only 56 people. We already have 63.... but in any case....

The categories of the poll aren't the same size.

If you mean the intervals, that's very true.. they were chosen for a reason.. but for purposes of comparison BETWEEN males and females, they are valid, because they are the same for both sexes, and you can still things like chi-square tests to check for the probability that the two populations have parameters, etc. (again, IF they were random samples)

There are no controls for other issues that could equally bear on the question of whether or not there is a difference in opposite-gender roleplay in men versus women, or what might be correlated with that difference. Certainly bringing in the idea of hormones or other biological or physiological factors into this question is completely unsupported by the current "unscientific poll".

No doubt, no doubt.. That's why they are called hypotheses.. and unless cantrians are willing to subject themselves to hormone therapy witha very llong range longitudinal study, it will hard to test.

It's an interesting "thought experiment", but even if there is a significant difference between male and female roleplay, there are many other factors to consider that could be the cause. If the effect truly exists at all, of course.

Of course, and I never presented it as anything other than a thought experiment.. I'm not sure why there has been so much animosity.

Animosity? No. More accurately, I *am* a bit irritated at the inherent contradiction of admitting that (a) the poll was unscientific and (b) that the sample wasn't random, and then STILL (c) trying to make something out of it that it cannot be.

[MikeH]

*sigh*


Had a post typed up to respond, but many would probably take sarcasm as flaming...so I have to settle for this.

MikeH, you seemed to have missed completely my point. Anyways, if you want to tear apart the poll's validity, believe me...it is quite easy to do. For one, the way it is set up, if you can select the >60% option, in theory that means that all the other options (within the designated sex) that are above it are selectable as well, and well...you get the idea.

Apologies if I misconstrued your post. I participated in the poll and have no issue with discussing the issues raised as "thought experiments", for example.

[Surly]

I play an even split.

[Snickie]

I am female, have four characters total, and play one male.
I find it quite interesting with the male; he's the only one in town with an accent and a really long name, so it's fun to watch people's reactions when I introduce him.
My other characters....well, the last two are almost clones in terms of personality, and the first female I created is essentially a blonde, which is also quite intriguing to watch.
It is easy to roleplay my characters the vast majority of the time, regardless of gender.
Oh, and the reason most guys don't roleplay many girls or simply let them die out is because girls pwn more than a guy can ever comprehend. xD

But as far as the whole 0-10% thing goes, perhaps a slightly more specific poll's options would look like this:

[*] I am male and roleplay no females.
[*] I am male and roleplay 0.01-9.99% females.
[*] I am male and roleplay 10-29.99% females.
[*] I am male and roleplay 30-49.99% females.
[*] I am male and roleplay 50-69.99% females.
[*] I am male and roleplay >70% females.
[*] I am female and roleplay no males.
[*] I am female and roleplay 0.01-9.99% males.
[*] I am female and roleplay 10-29.99% males.
[*] I am female and roleplay 30-49.99% males.
[*] I am female and roleplay 50-69.99% males.
[*] I am female and roleplay >70% males.

This way the results are slightly more accurate.

[randognsac]

Snickiedoo said:
Oh, and the reason most guys don't roleplay many girls or simply let them die out is because girls pwn more than a guy can ever comprehend. xD

I say:
Being a man sux! Nuff said.

[gejyspa]

BTW, while I was looking for something totally different, I came across these poll results for a different site, Everquest, with a much larger response rate, and with opposite results: http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/genderbend.html The insights quoted there are very interesting.

[KAOS]

thanks for the link, gejyspa!

i can only guess why the figures there are so different from ours - but much more interesting are the quotes imho.

they partly confirm my experiences in cantr, and even more my experiences with online gaming in general. before i started playing cantr i played strategical games, where gender is not important ingame, but nevertheless on the forums and IRC (just as in RL^^), where organization of teams and alliances and diplomacy among them takes place.
when i chose the name "KAOS" almost 6 years ago, this was an idea of the moment and i thought it could be better to have kind of a "gender-neutral" name. that simple decision which i considered to be unimportant caused lots of situations over the years which forced me to reflect more about gender stereotypes and also about my own gender identity.
and today, THIS is what attracts me about playing both female and male chars. in general, i think, the more your characters differ from you, the more you will learn about yourself.

(quotes from that poll posted by gejyspa)

I felt that I was taken a little more seriously. When I play my male characters, other male members of the party will listen to me better, take me more seriously. In my male form I could give orders and have them listened to, where as a female, my characters aren't always taken quite as seriously.

I'm amazed how throughtless some people can be, how amazingly inept men are at flirting and starting a conversation with a female, and how it really does take more effort to be taken seriousely as a female versus a male.

so true..

Personally, you recieve a LOT more stuff when you start out as a female.

also true^^

one of my male cantr-chars lives in a town with a guy who treats him in a polite, but very indifferent way (i have the feeling of a "hidden rivalry", but i can't really tell), while there is a woman, not paying much attention to this guy, who is treated much better by him. so what happens? my character doesn't care at all, so this will have no effect on my rp, but I DO CARE! i caught myself getting really angry about this situation, though i know it's ridiculous.

but it's still worth thinking about it: seems, that i am used to get attention just for being female. i'm not exceptional pretty or something, just "normal" and i don't dress up ..uhm.. so much, you know, like all the girls do today this is partly because i just like dressing up when i'm in the mood for it (and that is NOT every day^^) and partly because i am a technician and am mostly with males, even in my free time, so i think i wouldn't be accepted so well and wouldn't be taken seriously if i'd look sexy. however, back to that attention given to me no matter how i dress: even if i hate it sometimes, i feel like something's wrong when i don't get it. so, that shows i am more involved in "that gender stuff" than i realized before. can't be wrong to remind myself from time to time.^^