I have never understood why this always comes up as an issue. OP, I can see your points and empathize but I really think you need to unpick the "creepy!" and the "it just feels weird" a bit more. it sounds as if you have some undelying issues.
In the end it's all just art to me. My main in ToR is a female. My seconds alt was male, my third female, my forth male...You get the picture? Sometimes I want variety.
As for playing aspects of my personality, I confess that rolling females appeals very much to the more feminine side of my nature and I can be very feminine. I have no problem with that as my wife can be very masculine at times and we get like a house on fire.
When I roll males, I have to confess that i go for broad shoulders and beefy thighs. Is it my ideal? Maybe but sometimes I just feel that the story I have in my head needs a guy. I have Sister Zealot and Brother Grifter bickering in my skull and it's a coin toss as to which one comes out on top.
I realize that my post is a rambling mess and I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are many reasons why I may choose a particular sex to play ( I won't use gender because sex and gender are different things to me). I can say categorically that my choices have nothing to do with how others may react to my choice of avatar. Maybe it's because I grew up with a distinct lack of sex roles or maby it's from living in Woodstock during my childhood. How you expressed your sex and gender was a bit of a non-issue. I have come to realize that for many digital males this can cause confusion and angst. It can lead to them feeling creeped out or weird. While this is regrettable for a variety of reasons, it really is their problem and not mine.
There is NO miracle patch.
95% of what you see in beta won't change by launch.
Hope is not a stategy. ______________________________ "This kind of topic is like one of those little cartoon boxes held up by a stick on a string, with a piece of meat under it. In other words, bait."
Aesthetics - females are pretty and I like looking at them. I don't find anything about male figures remotely interesting to look at, from the front or the back. Even when I was younger and developing my drawing talent, I would always prefer to be drawing female forms rather than male. They were also much more challenging to me. For men, just throw a bunch of angles at the sheet. How they fit together wasn't that important. But getting those curves just right took a lot of practice, but it was practice I really enjoyed.
Emotional investment - it sounds odd but I lose interest in my male characters quickly. I just stop caring whether they live or die or how well they succeed. I'm always a lot more attached to my female characters because I want to see them doing well. I react the same way to fiction featuring a female heroine, like The Fifth Element, La Femme Nikita and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love that stuff because they feature great female characters. My gaming bias is an extension of this.
I play both genders in MMOs, typically I have female casters simply because they tend to look better in cloth armor. Guys running around in dresses and robes creep me out. Lets be honest, they look like pedos.
My fighters are always male, because I think they look better in plate armor than females.
Rogues / scouts for me can go either way, depending on who looks better in chain / leather. Although I tend to have female assassins and male rangers.
I dont play games as a dating site, and being completely honest I find people that expect female avatars to be female players to be rediculously creepy. Go meet a real woman if you want to get a date.
In many guilds I have known female players who use male avatars. They are 'role playing' games. You arent making copies of yourself, you are playing a role.
I think you are assumming that a male with a female avatar is playing a "love interest".
For me, I primarily play males if they look good as I feel a closer kinship toward a male character as it feels more of a representatoin of "me" in the game.
If I like what the female characters look like and if I think they are better than the male characters, I'll play a female. However, for me, since I don't feel the connection the same way, it is more like actually watching a separate character or person.
Because it's a role playing game, I imagine what a female character might do differently from a male character, how they would be perceived depending on the class, etc.
For me, a female character is like watching someone else's journey, maybe even the affinity of what one might have for a daughter or more aptly a sister or female cousin. Or just a woman in the world, so to speak.
When I see threads like this I usually think that the op is taking his/her own conceptions and believing that they are universal. It really is a personal thing and I don't really judge another for playing a character no matter what their reasons.
Ah, yes, I can relate to that "spectator mode". I know in "Witcher" games, I felt that way with Geralt. He was way off anything I could relate to, so I always felt like the "invisible old friend following him". Hm. Still, why would someone make such a distant char on purpose in a MMO? Or maybe some people prefer to be more detached? It's why I never could "play evil", I just can't detach myself without losing interest in a game.
Originally posted by Kyleran
+++snip++++
Now they are just figurines that I manipulate on the playing field, not personifications of me in any way. In fact, I interact so seldom with players in MMO's anymore no one even knows what my avatar is or whether I'm actually a female or not.
Take SWTOR for example, if they didn't hear me on vent they'd never know what my gender was. And on vent I go by a more standard male name whereas I can have 3 alts, some male, some female. In game, except for random drive by's only a handful of people have actually seen my avatar in game. (Remember the old days when guilds would actually all gather in the same place in the game world for a guild meeting?, Now it's all just vent chats and the like)
+++ snip+++
Ah yes, that is a development I greatly bemoan too. People are way too Vent/TS focussed and way too less ingame meet and greet. Sigh. (Sidenote: don't be mad at me, but for a long time I thought you were a girl. You have more understanding responses... and you have cat as icon! XD)
If I read the statements here, it seems as if the male avatars look in a way bad to many players. A notion I can agree to. It seems too many MMOs have either just "buffed up Schwarzeneggers", like all those horrible, horrible WOW males with their arms like a tree. Even a supposed skinny mage or rogue has super thick arms! Terribad. Or they look so damn feminine, like the typical Asia Elfs. Both are extremes I do not like, but if that makes a lot of male gamers play female chars, I assume something in the design philosophy of MMO devs is very, very wrong. Something they should maybe think about. It is true that usually more "love" went into the details of female looks in games.
Hm, interesting insight. I wish developers would read more what players say, heh.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I think that most people need to realize that Players like myself are *not* our characters. I am Robert Downey Jr.; a dude playing a dude, playing another dude... playing a chick.
Also figure on a game with multiple classes and emphasis on maintaining alts. How many "you"s can you make for that? At some point, people adhere aesthetics to the underlying theme of the class itself. Some are more fitting to being female, unless it's one that drives or earns more than other classes.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
- Many people (younger people) think it is gay to look at a male character infront of their friends when there is a hot female char with barely any clothing possible to pick.
- Many guys wonder how life would be if they were female and they will choose and ACT like a girl in the virtual worlds. Some even get a fake webcam or a program that changes their voice to a female one.
- Many people find it awesome to create a cute girl and having them walk around with huge ass blades.
- Roleplay I used to roleplay myself (the time mmorpgs actually were any good) and its fun to do diffrent things.
I am a guy i play male and female characters and when asked i always say im a guy. i play
If you are completing a quest and you see this hot pixelated girl talking to you and you think SCORE!! always remember MMORPG: Many Men Online Role Playing Girls.
I dont care what people do in a mmorpg if a 40 year old would want to play like hes a 12 year old girl and he does not harm anyone with it id say let him. ITS A GAME a virtual world full of fantasies and these fantasy games drive the fantasy of a human being.
Humm, I had better pass on this one, I get into trouble with the Mods here all the time by giving an honnest opion on some things. Im almost to the point that i think im some how flaged and here recently noticed some of my post being deleted but no warning given. If i really hit a nerve im given a 2 week time out. Im gonna think on how i want to state the obvious answer here.
" Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Those Who Would Threaten It " MAGA
I like to make each character it's own really. I usually have an idea of what I want a character to 'feel' like rather than an exact idea of what they look like. While I generally prefer female characters there are some characters I have made in the past that couldn't possibly be female simply because it didn't sit right creatively.
That and most male characters are either too poncy or meaty.
Play for fun. Play to win. Play for perfection. Play with friends. Play in another world. Why do you play?
I think that most people need to realize that Players like myself are *not* our characters. I am Robert Downey Jr.; a dude playing a dude, playing another dude... playing a chick.
Also figure on a game with multiple classes and emphasis on maintaining alts. How many "you"s can you make for that? At some point, people adhere aesthetics to the underlying theme of the class itself. Some are more fitting to being female, unless it's one that drives or earns more than other classes.
Well if you say so, I assume it is so. But for me that is incomprehensible. I can't understand playing a game character that is not "some sort of me" or "some sort of buddy whose adventures I follow over the shoulder". All MMO chars I create and play for real are always aspects of me. I can't imagine for the world how I would be motivated otherwise. Hmm. I would lose interest in no time if it were just "made up something".
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I play a male toon because this is not a romantic princess picnic. This is a manly picnic. No glasses. No napkins. Whiskey only. And pretzels. Oh, and... women are terrible at stabbing things. It's all part of the vast feminist conspiracy....
I sometimes ask males why they play female toons and usually the answer is I would rather look at my female character rather than a male while I play.
I always get them with this statement though much to my amusement.
So if that's the case did you play with Barbie dolls instead of G.I. Joe?
So yes I find males playing females a little off. Although I could understand a male playing a female in a scam situation to play up the poor helpless female used to gain trust and bring out the chivalrous nature of males to help females - good example "EvE".
Well if you say so, I assume it is so. But for me that is incomprehensible. I can't understand playing a game character that is not "some sort of me"...
I know a lot of victims of predatory loans (read: psychology students) that would suggest you have some kind of narcissism issue then.
I have never and will never play a female character. Call me a homophobe if you want, but I think it is just plain wrong to do it. Besides, I have a son and I would never want him to think his dad was some cross dresser wannabe.
I sometimes ask males why they play female toons and usually the answer is I would rather look at my female character rather than a male while I play.
I always get them with this statement though much to my amusement.
So if that's the case did you play with Barbie dolls instead of G.I. Joe?
So yes I find males playing females a little off. Although I could understand a male playing a female in a scam situation to play up the poor helpless female used to gain trust and bring out the chivalrous nature of males to help females - good example "EvE".
I used to play Conquer online a long time ago a guy pretended to be a girl for more then 6 months and got many trust of the top players in the server and stole items worth more then 6000 thousand euro (no joke) he stole a couple of +12 sets and everyone that played that game can tell you how much money you had to pay for that since it was impossible to get trough gameplay.
After many reports the guy got banned and since it is one of the most corupted companies he was able to get the trust again of one of the guys he scammed wich made him send TQ digital a email to get the scammers acount unbanned (he believed he would get the items back)
TQ unbanned him and closed the case after that email and he had acces to the gear again and he sold the gear for real money.
He made good friends with guys in the server and then when they all were close he said he was found having breast cancer and then one thing of another he asked if he could loan someones gear (since they were better) to do arena and did the same with other people that didnt know he already loaned someone elses gear.
This guy is ofcouse a asshole but i give him credit for is mind control. + the guys he scammed were in a guild that were my biggest enemies and i ended up having the strongest guild in the server.
I sometimes ask males why they play female toons and usually the answer is I would rather look at my female character rather than a male while I play.
I always get them with this statement though much to my amusement.
So if that's the case did you play with Barbie dolls instead of G.I. Joe?
So yes I find males playing females a little off. Although I could understand a male playing a female in a scam situation to play up the poor helpless female used to gain trust and bring out the chivalrous nature of males to help females - good example "EvE".
I used to play Conquer online a long time ago a guy pretended to be a girl for more then 6 months and got many trust of the top players in the server and stole items worth more then 6000 thousand euro (no joke) he stole a couple of +12 sets and everyone that played that game can tell you how much money you had to pay for that since it was impossible to get trough gameplay.
After many reports the guy got banned and since it is one of the most corupted companies he was able to get the trust again of one of the guys he scammed wich made him send TQ digital a email to get the scammers acount unbanned (he believed he would get the items back)
TQ unbanned him and closed the case after that email and he had acces to the gear again and he sold the gear for real money.
He made good friends with guys in the server and then when they all were close he said he was found having breast cancer and then one thing of another he asked if he could loan someones gear (since they were better) to do arena and did the same with other people that didnt know he already loaned someone elses gear.
This guy is ofcouse a asshole but i give him credit for is mind control. + the guys he scammed were in a guild that were my biggest enemies and i ended up having the strongest guild in the server.
Wow, that's really horrible. I never would think of such a thing. Guess I am just naive at how rotten some people actually are.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Joking aside, your average straight guy isn't playing a female toon because he thinks of it as his gf. The #2 post answers the question. If a player is going to be spending hours and hours looking at a toon, why wouldn't they want to look at a toon that they enjoy looking at?
I'll be honest here and say that I can't take females performing feats of strength seriously. These tank top clad, 100 lbs heroines knocking out full grown men in movies and on television are just a farce; visual accessories.
Of course I grew up in an era where Schwarzenegger, Hogan, He-Man & Optimus Prime were the masculine idols of the day.
I guess most of us dont make a character so we can fantasize about boning them. Maybe we just want a good looking character. For alot of straight guys, a good looking character is a woman.
Bingo. Right on target. I make both types of characters but I lean toward female toons because I like having attractive characters and I don't find men attractive. I don't play a character like it's a part of me, at least not in physical appearance. But then, I don't roleplay my characters either. When I do that, that's when I choose a male toon that represents me in some way. A better way to look at it is my dream car. I don't pick giant bulky monster trucks (although they can be cool) I would pick a sleek, sexy ultra fast sports car like an Aston Martin Vanquish. When it comes to aesthetics I'm going to pick what I like to look at. It has nothing to do with wanting any "sexual" attraction but just wanting something I find beautiful. Hope that makes sense.
If i roll a male of female character, it mostly is because of the casting or fighting animations. For example a human female paladin has better healing animations & and a male undead warlock had better caster animations. And for a hunter night elf females look better because, the male was dancing around while standing still. And so on, this has always been the issue for me in games.
And the thing that is important. The sex that has better looking versions of the armor sets, also get my first pick.
I do play a lot of female characters. Sometimes its awkward because i love to roleplay as well. And when it comes to sexuality related stuff - it can get pretty bad, because honestly flirting with guys is not my cup of tea.
So i try to limit my female characters to non-roleplay games/guilds.
So why do i do it?
My motivation is totally different than yours.
When I create a character its like i am trying to make new super cool comic hero.
My characters are stars of my story. Main actors of the game.
They are not me, neither they have any relation to me.
So why girls ?
Because i love female comic/fantasy characters. They could be so kick ass cool.
The combination of sexyness , frality but on other hand deadly and dangerous.
Tank Girl , Beatrix Kiddo , Nikita ...
One more note.
As you , I am visual designer. And I do tend to choose model that has better design&animation.
Comments
I have never understood why this always comes up as an issue. OP, I can see your points and empathize but I really think you need to unpick the "creepy!" and the "it just feels weird" a bit more. it sounds as if you have some undelying issues.
In the end it's all just art to me. My main in ToR is a female. My seconds alt was male, my third female, my forth male...You get the picture? Sometimes I want variety.
As for playing aspects of my personality, I confess that rolling females appeals very much to the more feminine side of my nature and I can be very feminine. I have no problem with that as my wife can be very masculine at times and we get like a house on fire.
When I roll males, I have to confess that i go for broad shoulders and beefy thighs. Is it my ideal? Maybe but sometimes I just feel that the story I have in my head needs a guy. I have Sister Zealot and Brother Grifter bickering in my skull and it's a coin toss as to which one comes out on top.
I realize that my post is a rambling mess and I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are many reasons why I may choose a particular sex to play ( I won't use gender because sex and gender are different things to me). I can say categorically that my choices have nothing to do with how others may react to my choice of avatar. Maybe it's because I grew up with a distinct lack of sex roles or maby it's from living in Woodstock during my childhood. How you expressed your sex and gender was a bit of a non-issue. I have come to realize that for many digital males this can cause confusion and angst. It can lead to them feeling creeped out or weird. While this is regrettable for a variety of reasons, it really is their problem and not mine.
There is NO miracle patch.
95% of what you see in beta won't change by launch.
Hope is not a stategy.
______________________________
"This kind of topic is like one of those little cartoon boxes held up by a stick on a string, with a piece of meat under it. In other words, bait."
There are two reasons for me:
Aesthetics - females are pretty and I like looking at them. I don't find anything about male figures remotely interesting to look at, from the front or the back. Even when I was younger and developing my drawing talent, I would always prefer to be drawing female forms rather than male. They were also much more challenging to me. For men, just throw a bunch of angles at the sheet. How they fit together wasn't that important. But getting those curves just right took a lot of practice, but it was practice I really enjoyed.
Emotional investment - it sounds odd but I lose interest in my male characters quickly. I just stop caring whether they live or die or how well they succeed. I'm always a lot more attached to my female characters because I want to see them doing well. I react the same way to fiction featuring a female heroine, like The Fifth Element, La Femme Nikita and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love that stuff because they feature great female characters. My gaming bias is an extension of this.
I play both genders in MMOs, typically I have female casters simply because they tend to look better in cloth armor. Guys running around in dresses and robes creep me out. Lets be honest, they look like pedos.
My fighters are always male, because I think they look better in plate armor than females.
Rogues / scouts for me can go either way, depending on who looks better in chain / leather. Although I tend to have female assassins and male rangers.
I dont play games as a dating site, and being completely honest I find people that expect female avatars to be female players to be rediculously creepy. Go meet a real woman if you want to get a date.
In many guilds I have known female players who use male avatars. They are 'role playing' games. You arent making copies of yourself, you are playing a role.
Ah, yes, I can relate to that "spectator mode". I know in "Witcher" games, I felt that way with Geralt. He was way off anything I could relate to, so I always felt like the "invisible old friend following him". Hm. Still, why would someone make such a distant char on purpose in a MMO? Or maybe some people prefer to be more detached? It's why I never could "play evil", I just can't detach myself without losing interest in a game.
Ah yes, that is a development I greatly bemoan too.
People are way too Vent/TS focussed and way too less ingame meet and greet. Sigh. (Sidenote: don't be mad at me, but for a long time I thought you were a girl. You have more understanding responses... and you have cat as icon! XD)
If I read the statements here, it seems as if the male avatars look in a way bad to many players. A notion I can agree to. It seems too many MMOs have either just "buffed up Schwarzeneggers", like all those horrible, horrible WOW males with their arms like a tree. Even a supposed skinny mage or rogue has super thick arms! Terribad. Or they look so damn feminine, like the typical Asia Elfs. Both are extremes I do not like, but if that makes a lot of male gamers play female chars, I assume something in the design philosophy of MMO devs is very, very wrong. Something they should maybe think about. It is true that usually more "love" went into the details of female looks in games.
Hm, interesting insight. I wish developers would read more what players say, heh.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I think that most people need to realize that Players like myself are *not* our characters. I am Robert Downey Jr.; a dude playing a dude, playing another dude... playing a chick.
Also figure on a game with multiple classes and emphasis on maintaining alts. How many "you"s can you make for that? At some point, people adhere aesthetics to the underlying theme of the class itself. Some are more fitting to being female, unless it's one that drives or earns more than other classes.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Reasons a guy would play a female char online:
- Wanting to look at that hot pixelated ass.
- Many people (younger people) think it is gay to look at a male character infront of their friends when there is a hot female char with barely any clothing possible to pick.
- Many guys wonder how life would be if they were female and they will choose and ACT like a girl in the virtual worlds. Some even get a fake webcam or a program that changes their voice to a female one.
- Many people find it awesome to create a cute girl and having them walk around with huge ass blades.
- Roleplay I used to roleplay myself (the time mmorpgs actually were any good) and its fun to do diffrent things.
I am a guy i play male and female characters and when asked i always say im a guy. i play
If you are completing a quest and you see this hot pixelated girl talking to you and you think SCORE!! always remember MMORPG: Many Men Online Role Playing Girls.
I dont care what people do in a mmorpg if a 40 year old would want to play like hes a 12 year old girl and he does not harm anyone with it id say let him. ITS A GAME a virtual world full of fantasies and these fantasy games drive the fantasy of a human being.
Humm, I had better pass on this one, I get into trouble with the Mods here all the time by giving an honnest opion on some things. Im almost to the point that i think im some how flaged and here recently noticed some of my post being deleted but no warning given. If i really hit a nerve im given a 2 week time out. Im gonna think on how i want to state the obvious answer here.
MAGA
I like to make each character it's own really. I usually have an idea of what I want a character to 'feel' like rather than an exact idea of what they look like. While I generally prefer female characters there are some characters I have made in the past that couldn't possibly be female simply because it didn't sit right creatively.
That and most male characters are either too poncy or meaty.
Play for fun. Play to win. Play for perfection. Play with friends. Play in another world. Why do you play?
Well if you say so, I assume it is so. But for me that is incomprehensible. I can't understand playing a game character that is not "some sort of me" or "some sort of buddy whose adventures I follow over the shoulder". All MMO chars I create and play for real are always aspects of me. I can't imagine for the world how I would be motivated otherwise. Hmm. I would lose interest in no time if it were just "made up something".
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I play a male toon because this is not a romantic princess picnic. This is a manly picnic. No glasses. No napkins. Whiskey only. And pretzels. Oh, and... women are terrible at stabbing things. It's all part of the vast feminist conspiracy....
;D
I sometimes ask males why they play female toons and usually the answer is I would rather look at my female character rather than a male while I play.
I always get them with this statement though much to my amusement.
So if that's the case did you play with Barbie dolls instead of G.I. Joe?
So yes I find males playing females a little off. Although I could understand a male playing a female in a scam situation to play up the poor helpless female used to gain trust and bring out the chivalrous nature of males to help females - good example "EvE".
Life IS Feudal
I know a lot of victims of predatory loans (read: psychology students) that would suggest you have some kind of narcissism issue then.
@Saxx0n
Most would say they had G.I.Joes, but would have switched to Barbies if they were still playing with dolls by the time they took an interest in tits.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I have never and will never play a female character. Call me a homophobe if you want, but I think it is just plain wrong to do it. Besides, I have a son and I would never want him to think his dad was some cross dresser wannabe.
I had an interest in boobies at a young age but I kept rocking with G.I. Joe and Big Jim.
Life IS Feudal
But female characters with skimpy armor looking like pin-up girls are fine?
My gaming blog
More than fine. Ideal.
In fact, I have a hard time understanding the problem here.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I used to play Conquer online a long time ago a guy pretended to be a girl for more then 6 months and got many trust of the top players in the server and stole items worth more then 6000 thousand euro (no joke) he stole a couple of +12 sets and everyone that played that game can tell you how much money you had to pay for that since it was impossible to get trough gameplay.
After many reports the guy got banned and since it is one of the most corupted companies he was able to get the trust again of one of the guys he scammed wich made him send TQ digital a email to get the scammers acount unbanned (he believed he would get the items back)
TQ unbanned him and closed the case after that email and he had acces to the gear again and he sold the gear for real money.
He made good friends with guys in the server and then when they all were close he said he was found having breast cancer and then one thing of another he asked if he could loan someones gear (since they were better) to do arena and did the same with other people that didnt know he already loaned someone elses gear.
This guy is ofcouse a asshole but i give him credit for is mind control. + the guys he scammed were in a guild that were my biggest enemies and i ended up having the strongest guild in the server.
If thats what you got from that post you need to either reread it or learn to read.
Apparently stating the truth in my sig is "trolling"
Sig typo fixed thanks to an observant stragen001.
Wow, that's really horrible. I never would think of such a thing. Guess I am just naive at how rotten some people actually are.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
edit:
Joking aside, your average straight guy isn't playing a female toon because he thinks of it as his gf. The #2 post answers the question. If a player is going to be spending hours and hours looking at a toon, why wouldn't they want to look at a toon that they enjoy looking at?
I'll be honest here and say that I can't take females performing feats of strength seriously. These tank top clad, 100 lbs heroines knocking out full grown men in movies and on television are just a farce; visual accessories.
Of course I grew up in an era where Schwarzenegger, Hogan, He-Man & Optimus Prime were the masculine idols of the day.
Bingo. Right on target. I make both types of characters but I lean toward female toons because I like having attractive characters and I don't find men attractive. I don't play a character like it's a part of me, at least not in physical appearance. But then, I don't roleplay my characters either. When I do that, that's when I choose a male toon that represents me in some way. A better way to look at it is my dream car. I don't pick giant bulky monster trucks (although they can be cool) I would pick a sleek, sexy ultra fast sports car like an Aston Martin Vanquish. When it comes to aesthetics I'm going to pick what I like to look at. It has nothing to do with wanting any "sexual" attraction but just wanting something I find beautiful. Hope that makes sense.
Way to showcase that you didn't even read the OP... =/
*Fourth sentence from OP = Now sure, as gay guy, I do not have the appeal to "see a girl's bum" while I play.
If i roll a male of female character, it mostly is because of the casting or fighting animations. For example a human female paladin has better healing animations & and a male undead warlock had better caster animations. And for a hunter night elf females look better because, the male was dancing around while standing still. And so on, this has always been the issue for me in games.
And the thing that is important. The sex that has better looking versions of the armor sets, also get my first pick.
its a simple as that.
Excellent topic as always
I do play a lot of female characters. Sometimes its awkward because i love to roleplay as well. And when it comes to sexuality related stuff - it can get pretty bad, because honestly flirting with guys is not my cup of tea.
So i try to limit my female characters to non-roleplay games/guilds.
So why do i do it?
My motivation is totally different than yours.
When I create a character its like i am trying to make new super cool comic hero.
My characters are stars of my story. Main actors of the game.
They are not me, neither they have any relation to me.
So why girls ?
Because i love female comic/fantasy characters. They could be so kick ass cool.
The combination of sexyness , frality but on other hand deadly and dangerous.
Tank Girl , Beatrix Kiddo , Nikita ...
One more note.
As you , I am visual designer. And I do tend to choose model that has better design&animation.
Very often female models are better.
So - my main requirement -
Kicking ass and looking cool while you do it !