Do you play as same or opposite gender?

[Fox Lee]

I usually wind up playing women in Western games and guys in Eastern games, because the options Western games typically provide for guys are way too manly for my tastes, and the options Eastern games typically provide for girls are way too girly for my tastes. This is usually true when I have to choose between pre-made POV characters too; in Eastern games I often find the girl unbearably cutesy, in Western games I usually find the guy ugly/boring. A good example is Atelier Escha & Logy, where I quite fancy Logy, but I played Escha strictly for completion.

If I get REALLY frustrated with the gender dimorphism in character creation - or if costume/mechanical options are limited by gender, something I hate with passion - I will make a crossdressing avatar, and the hell with what the games thinks their gender is >:\ This is the only way I'm able to stomach playing males in WoW, for example, and on the flip side I regularly use it to keep my Fire Emblem "My Unit" from being kept out of "big dumb brute" classes.

In the rare case where a game provides me with aesthetically satisfying options for more than one gender, I tend to make craptons of characters; I don't play "myself" in games, but rather make characters to roleplay, so as long as I have more than one concept I'll have multiples characters. In City of Heroes I had like forty-something characters before shutdown, and my current Baldur's Gate II characters are a doppleganger boy mage/thief and a female "shapshifter" (read: permanent werebear) druid.

In case it informs all of that - I'm a woman, I'm bisexual, I prefer queer romances to straight ones, and I have no respect for alignment restrictions.

[Keryee]

It really depends. I like to play as my own gender, but in plenty of games there just isn't an option to play as a girl, y'know? So I'll play as a guy if I have to, but in general I'd much rather play as a girl. Easier to identify with, I guess... and honestly, I like cute things, so aesthetically the female options tend to be more appealing to me.

[Ken Ken]

sometimes i just kind of go back and forth?? it really depends if i like how the character looks or whatever!! honestly, i usually choose female if they are crazy or adorable or maybe even both at the same time!! i choose male if they look awesome and radical or are adorable or crazy!! it's hard when both of the characters to choose from are adorable and crazy though ahaha...

[fmjaye]

I'm genderless so there's usually not an option for me. =w= Normally I'll choose to play as a boy. Unless it's a game like Harvest Moon with romance options, in which case I choose based on whether the female or male love interests are cuter. hehe...

[Vauxite]

It kinda varies for me, if playing a game with romance options, I generally have to work out who I'm going to romance first, and choose based on that. If not, then I just decide on what gender gets the prettiest outfits, which is usually female.
I'm not really the sort of guy who ever bases characters on myself anyway (I roleplay a lot instead), so it's not an issue.

[Chancellorchile]

Always pick female cause their clothing options are usually more varied.

[LukaHastune]

When I play one of those games I always the girl. Mainly because I want to play as myself in them and that's it. And yeah, I can play a guy too, but just to see if there are any difference in the the story line or something, but I always end up not doing that by deducing things and assume little things were different between the two.

[Ghost of Crux]

When playing online in some MMOs, I tend to go with dudes because their clothes are less ridiculous. When the game gives me the option to not wear skimpy outfits, I go with girls, because girls are cute.
I tend to play male avatars because of roleplay, though, while the girls more based on aesthetics and such.

[Kokoro Hane]

For MMOs, I always play a girl because I am a girl. Since it is an online game where you might be socializing, then I prefer for other players to know I am a girl, and I am more comfortable playing a girl. I kinda see MMOs as me being in the game, which is why I always find it weird to see guys running around as girls. Same goes for when I play FPS games like Unreal Tournament--one of the reason I always loved UT as there isn't many FPS where you could play a girl so I was always happy with this game.

Only time I would play a male character is for storybased non-MMO games, like if I had no choice, or if all the available playables have their own personality and stories, or I really want to hear ALL the available voice acting for the MCs. Like if I ever play Diablo 3 again... I might play the male Wizard because his voice actor is one of my favorites.

[MoonByte]

It really depends on the game, because I don't care.
In Harvest Moon, I usually play the girl in one save slot, a boy in the other and then just go through with it.
In single player games with character customization (eg. Elder Scrolls) I often go with male, but since I don't see myself, I only do it because why not.
In MMO I have two characters, one male one female. I usually end up mainly playing with the one that ends up better, no matter the gender (in The Secret World, it's a guy belonging to the dragons, in Stone Age 2 it was a girl, in WoW it had been a female darkelf).
and VNs are the kind of game where I want all endings, if I enjoy the game, so i will end up as every gender with every gender. My first decision will usually depend on the romance options (or, if all options are open for all protagonists, on the type of protagonist since I don't really like Tsundere characters which seems to be the standard for female protagonists in VNs).

I would say, if I look at ALL my games where I had to make a character, most of them are male? Can be coincidence, doesn't have to be, I don't know.
I don't see any relation to my gender though, because I always end up playing both genders at least for a while (except for Elder Scrolls, but as I said, FP, so I can't tell that I am male there to begin with).

[DianeWorld]

Usually I choose my own gender, but sometimes the opposite sex makes more sense, especially if I am role-playing/have some idea about this particular character. Fallout New Vegas, but also Archeage are primary examples.

[Ladythief1997]

I typically like to play as a female character first but I find that females stats in the games I play tend to be lower than males so when I finish playing female if I'm in he mood I go on ahead to play a male. Fore some reason I really dislike games that only have male character choices so I've never been "forced" to play as male by the game. Either I'm female or I do both.

[haxsu]

I almost always pick female if there's an option for it within the game.

I also would like to note that playing a game with only male characters is not a game breaker for me. Gameplay matters more to me than gender roles in my opinion.

[Toothpaste]

Both? Whichever character has the best design. I don't usually see myself as the character I'm playing. The closest way to describe it is it's as if the character is my pet or my child. I care for them but they're not me. With MMO I'm forced to use female characters if my bf plays the same game, too.

[SueshiRoll]

I am a female myself and I generally play both. Lol I always have different save files and see how playing them changes gameplay. It usually doesn't, outside of romance choices. But I prefer playing femShep for Mass Effect, mainly because Jennifer Hale is such a wonderful VA. I personally enjoyed playing a male in Fallout 4, but mostly because I'm tired of the "mom saving son" scenario. Wanted a dad to do the saving this time.