Warning: It's literally 5a.m, so my ranting might not be my best writing.

 

Years ago, I played an MMO called Ragnarok Online. I had a friend who played. He played all girl characters. This is a game that bases all of the characters on your real life gender. Whatever gender you chose when you created your account was the only gender your characters would be. This meant that my friend purposely labeled himself as female just so he could have female characters. He was a dancer, the most scantily clad character class in the game, and his name was "Trixie McAmplebosom."

Now I was forced to play all guys, but little did I know I would fall down a similar path just on the virtue of being a guy.

 

My first female character was a Selkie in the original Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (a game that has was so awesome, Square Enix has not been able to replicate it as well in the sequels...Echoes of Time comes close). Her name was "Noni." Noni was my nickname at the time, so the only reason I picked her was her outfit...a truly guy maneuver.

My second female character was a Druid in Warcraft. She is very well-dressed, and had a very classy character. She only made it to level 40. My level 80 is very much a male character. Why I chose to make a female character in WoW I don't know...the male Night Elves looked ugly. This led to about 3 more female characters before I quit the game. Note that her name is Sytheria. I use this name with my Echoes of Time character, and my Guild Wars character. I didn't realize when I "invented" the name that "Cytherea" is a porn star...seriously I didn't. Everyone in game thinks I knew this fact, however. I usually reply with a frustrated "I'm aware."

Both of my Guild Wars characters are female. This is Sytheria Nightwind's sister, Arathia Nightwind. I just made her two days ago with my clearance purchase of GW: Factions (the price was so low I bought a copy for me and for a friend). The characters are so beautifully rendered in GW that I can't help buying the most revealing armor I can find. She's the sexiest Assassin I've ever found...I wonder if male characters will come onto me.

As you can see, I've had multiple reasons for representing myself as a woman in various MMOs. When Star Trek Online comes out, I even plan on representing myself as a female Vulcan. I do this to either enjoy the character I have to look at, or there's a deeper story I invent for the character. Do I flirt with guy characters to play with their minds? Absolutely not. Am I misrepresenting myself by doing this? Do these actions offend actual female gamers? What are other motivations for males playing females in game? Have you ever done it? I'd love to hear your stories and thoughts.