Video games for exploring gender?

[Was here]

Probably last post about it and then I'm done posting about gender, idk. I know people have recommended other the pronoun dressing room website, but I was just curious to try things not irl, and going on an mmo and saying I'm another gender would honestly feel like I'm lying. Maybe I should just shtfu because I've exhausted gender and I'm an obsessive, weird, possibly delusional, annoying, confused....person.

 

i'd kind of not prefer mmos by the way. i don't talk much anymore and like i said, i feel like i'd be lying to people although then again i could always say i'm exploring my gender, that i'm a girl that's playing as a guy, or that i just like playing male characters,idk.

[Was here]

and suddenly i feel uninterested, selfish, and pessimistic about what I just wrote. I should forget about questioning and just try to accept myself for whoever i am, or just give up entirely.

[Guest]

This topic reminded me of this article:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2014/jan/23/how-world-of-warcraft-game-helped-me-come-out-transgender

 

it's not uncommon to do this for trans people

 

before I transitioned (or knew I was trans) I began to play as female characters in videogames because it felt better, then also did that on online forums.

 

[EmotionalAndroid]

You're not being selfish! Don't worry. You are exploring who you are, and this is a great place to do it. AVEN is here to help!

 

I am biologically female and identify as agender. Still, for as long as I can remember I have always chosen to be male characters in video games when given the chance. Always. I just enjoy being male in these alternate realities/ virtual worlds. In fact, when I started playing online FPS games, I never used a mic and my Steam name is gender-neutral, so all my steam friends thought I was a guy and referred to me as such. I actually really enjoyed that.

 

I don't think you should feel it is lying. Even when my friends thought I was male, I never said I was, so I never lied. That was their assumption, and they are free to believe what they wish. Also, it is very common for people to play as a character that is not their same gender. One cannot assume anything about a person based on the character they play in a video game. They could be playing that character for a million different reasons.

 

There are a lot of video games where you can choose your gender and even your appearance. My personal favorite for choosing appearance is Fallout 4, as it allows you to get incredibly detailed in creating faces. Fallout 4 is not online, though, so if you want interaction with other people, you might want to look at some MMOs. As Maya mentioned, Warcraft is a good one. If you want to play one that isn't pay-to-play, try some free MMOs, like Champions Online. There are actually quite a few out there.

[IntellectualAsexual]

I always used to wish there were video games with stronger female characters who weren't aimed at guys sexually and were not lesbians. It seems like the main character is always a guy, anyway.

[Sage Raven Domino]

In 2015, I played a (now defunct ) 3D multiplayer game where I was identifying exclusively as a woman (though it was possible to switch between male and female avatars at any time) and, actually, it was clear that, though there was a number of cis-women in the game, a substantial part of female avatar wearers were cis-men IRL (some were even out as cis-men, incl. one of the former faces of the producing company), just because that game genre is known to be unpopular with women.

 

On the forum of that game, there were many jokes about some of the female avatars probably being crossdressers, but all in all, the community was very tolerant for gender identities and mostly referred to fellow players by their avatar genders. I was never alleged of being male-born IRL.

 

My avatar was very colourful, borderline vulgar (but hyposexual / asexual in behaviour), because I liked it that way and intended it as my own eye candy, however, the freedom of customisation was vast and, actually, most of the fellow female avatars had moderate looks just like women IRL, and I didn't encounter any openly lesbian avatars. When I had to anonymise myself, I switched my avatar to a nondescript mildly feminine look too.

 

I don't know a game like this anymore in 2017. Perhaps The Sims 4 (that does have the freedom of gender expression, unlike version 3) is my best option now. I haven't started playing it because I'm busy with other things, but I intend to play it one day. It doesn't allow social interaction with other users, but it least it allows a big deal of character customisation and can be used to create outfits and see if they suit me before spending money on clothes IRL.

[ChillaKilla]

Not a paid game that you can own a copy of, per se, but The End is a nice online game where you don't have a gendered avatar at all- you just customize and choose your name how you want and can change it at any time! 

http://playtheend.com/

[-Lex-]

I discovered a lot about myself and my preferences playing the Sims.  Make a character like you or how you'd like to be, see how it goes.  Mix it up, try different things.  I don't know, kinda random but it was sorta helpful for me.

[Kimmie.]

On 2017-08-14 at 6:41 PM, ChillaKilla said:

Not a paid game that you can own a copy of, per se, but The End is a nice online game where you don't have a gendered avatar at all- you just customize and choose your name how you want and can change it at any time! 

http://playtheend.com/

Thanks for the tip. Have played for a couple of minures seems fun.

[MMD]

Second life can be a fantastic way of exploring who you are or if you are what you think you may be

[Nylocke]

Well in games I always play as guy characters so that's a thing. Like if its the kinda game where you make a character or something I mean

[StormySky]

Games I've played that involve the main character being a literal "genderless blob"

-The End Is Near

-Nihilumbra 

[Mezzo Forte]

11 hours ago, StormySky said:

Games I've played that involve the main character being a literal "genderless blob"

-The End Is Near

-Nihilumbra 

Wow, hearing the name Nihilumbra just made all the memories of that game come flooding back. I genuinely forgot it existed until now. You can also add Journey by thatgamecompany to the list of genderless protagonists, especially since it does such beautiful things with anonymity. I don't know if I'd recommend it for gender exploration as much as I would more abstract introspection though. 

 

More directly on the topic, perhaps more open-ended non-MMO titles could be helpful for gender exploration. Something like Monster Hunter or The Elder Scrolls games. I know I used games like Oblivion and Skyrim to toy around with character creation and role exploration before I was even aware I was doing that.

[LuckofTheChuck]

I play games with Miis.

 

[Nylocke]

I always like to make male characters that are either really feminine looking or androgynous

[Zacharie]

On 16/9/2017 at 8:11 PM, MMD said:

Second life can be a fantastic way of exploring who you are or if you are what you think you may be

I entirely agree. I've been in second life for like 3 years now and the amount of avatars you can choose and buy is insanely big. The variety is enormous, from your normal human to blob, furry, pixie, skeleton, cartoon character, potato, etc. And there's many roleplay zones, or just stores where you can go and talk to people or hangout. The only downside is that you probably will have to investigate a little bit beforehand because the tutorial of the "game" is kind of terrible.

 

right now there are hunts for free items in various stores and locations because of Halloween. A lot of parties