I've been wondering how important character customisation is in a role-playing game. Games like Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia (where the main character is a gender independent of the player's choice) come to mind. Does anyone ever feel uncomfortable when playing them, considering they're playing the role of the main character? Personally, I'm indifferent, but I'd like to find out the general opinion.

If the camera is third person and I get a gender choice, I'll go with female, due to the inordinate amount of time I will be viewing the characters backside. With a first person camera it really doesn't matter, since I'll likely only see my own character in cut scenes, if even that.

It depends on the type of game. In some I'd rather play my own character, and in others like Final Fantasy, I like to play the preset guys and watch their story. If I'm playing Oblivion, I'll change up the whole way I play the game based on whatever character I made up.

I wouldn't classify either Tomb Raider or Prince of Persia as a RPG, so it doesn't really matter what gender the main character is in those games. It's more about the story and whether or not the character's fit well into the storyline (as to if I think a game would be fun to play.) If I'm going to keep playing it has more to do with how well the game controls work. Here I think the best game example would be Resident Evil 2, where you can be a character of either sex, and in fact in order to see as much game content as possible, playing as both characters rewards the player.

In a RPG where a main feature is creating a custom character then it matters big time if I can choose gender. Not that I prefer one or the other but if you can only create one gender type, that's seems pretty limiting. Perhaps in very narrow contexts it would make sense to only allow characters of one gender be created, but more often than not such a limiting design would just seem sexist.

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Original post by Josh Heitzman If the camera is third person and I get a gender choice, I'll go with female, due to the inordinate amount of time I will be viewing the characters backside. With a first person camera it really doesn't matter, since I'll likely only see my own character in cut scenes, if even that.

Exactly my reasoning, in the opposite direction. [wink] Also I'd rather listen to a male voice making whatever sound effects or dialogue the game has.

I think the gender of the main character only matters if there is some sort of romance, or at the other end of the spectrum, sexist attitudes or worldbuilding, in the game.

On the other hand I've often felt alienated by playing a main character whose personality, morals, or priorities are totally different from mine.

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Original post by sunandshadow On the other hand I've often felt alienated by playing a main character whose personality, morals, or priorities are totally different from mine.

Yes, I know what you mean there.

On a slightly different note, is there any need for any character customisation in a single-player game? I guess not much, but maybe it could help the players to immerse themselves?

[Edited by - Sappharos on March 8, 2009 3:00:33 AM]

I found it interesting when looking at the comments for a puzzle rpg with a female hero character. It seemed the majority was turned off by the game because they were "forced" to play as a girl. Even though for decades girls have been pretty much forced to play as guy characters.

I think basically it boils down to a person's security with their sexuality. I'm not bothered playing either gender as it's not a big deal to me. But some people can get offended by having to play as the opposite sex. Either because they aren't comfortable with it or because they don't have the option to choose otherwise.

It seems to be a bigger issue having a female lead character if the game doesn't outright let you know before playing it. I guess because girls can tolerate playing as a guy character since they've been doing it for so long. (not that it makes it right)

I don't particularly care either way or the other. I don't play games to recreate my life.

In games where I can choose my gender, I'm just as likely to pick female as male. My preference basically boils down to this checklist:

• If the characters have any unique abilities, this will affect my choice far more than gender. Super Mario Bros 2 is the prime example game for this: nearly everyone played as the one female character (Princess Peach), because her special ability was just so much more useful than the other three.
  
• If the differences are non-existent or minimal, I will pick the character I think looks the most interesting or fits best for the play style I have in mind. If a first person RPG gives me a choice of seven bland portraits and one interesting one, I'll pick the latter regardless of gender. If I want to play a sneaky thief and all the male 3D models are Mr. Universe, I'll pick one of the female ones. And so on.
  
• If there's an in-game romance touted as a story feature, I'll usually play as a male character first, then replay the second time as female. This is partly because I relate better to a romance with the protagonist the same gender as myself, but it's also strongly influenced by my experience with games not really fleshing out the female romance options that well. This is becoming less of an issue because I'm somewhat sick of how all standard RPGs handle romance, so it's less of a drawcard feature.
  
• If the voice actor for one gender annoys me, then I'll play as the other gender. Sometimes it's the other way round and one voice actor really appeals to me, but sadly that's not as frequent.
  
• I've a bunch of stock characters for RPGs that I like to play as, half male, half female. If the game gives me the option to make my own up and I decide to play as one of these stock characters, I'll pick the appropriate gender.

Basically, it boils down to whatever characters I find most interesting to play as. The difference between playing a warrior or a diplomat is far more significant to me than something like gender.

I'm almost completely detached from my character during gameplay. Unless there's a cutscene or a lot of dialog, I think of them purely as a gamepiece, and have no more emotional bond with them than with the racecar or wheelbarrow in Monopoly.

If the character has a lot of backstory already, I'll stick to that (Cloud Strife, Lara Croft).
Otherwise I might aswell recreate myself (make the character look like me or at least name him like me).
If the male version looks really bad/silly (pink hair with goggles for example) I tend to pick the female version.