for me it all depends on the story I'm going through with that particular character, appearance, body size, and gender are all tools used to fit the characters into their roles. If I don't have much of a story set out beforehand I tend to pick somewhat sterotypical roles, playing male characters for warriors, while most of the mages and some thieves tend to be female.

You are, or fantasize, about being a cold-blooded killer? I don't, but some of my characters certainly are...

It actually happened to me once. I tried to play the iconic Nord barbarian with an axe, but having camera in first person and all I completely forgot how he even looked like. Until a killmove triggered... I was seriously shocked, and my character felt like a complete stranger to me. I abandoned that playthrough and went back to my female Bosmer assassin - feels much better to be her

I think you've got a very good point when it comes to what one does as a character and what one's traits are - but not the gender part. I firmly believe that, contrary to popular belief, the playing of female characters and feeling comfortable with it does not imply that the player wishes he were female. In fact, the concept is often so obscure I wonder how the theory came to be in the first place.

See, the first thing you have to think about is that men and women really aren't that different from one another, especially not in a setting like Skyrim. I used to think the differences were massive, but a few years of roleplaying in MMOs has taught me otherwise. Basically, the approach taken by those who know what they're doing there is, "Act like you would on any character and you'll make the most believable female."

I'm not saying there are no differences, of course, but that the differences are slight enough that they don't make any significant difference in what character you play. They only change the way you think you are perceived in the game, and thus change your way of thinking about it. Therefore playing a female character can be a very fruitful experience, even if it isn't really all that special.

Yeesh. If someone joins a specifically RP-heavy game/event, and then gets upset at actually, you know, roleplaying.... they're an idiot.

Because I resent the fact I was born the gender I was.

Don't resent it, take pride in the fact that you are one of the few lucky ones that can connect to both genders in different ways! The rest of the world carries the resent towards your gift, you don't need to add to it yourself.

I have a theory (or a couple of them), but I'm going to keep it quiet to keep this thread from turning nasty.

Doesn't feel like a gift, but this is not a LBGT help centre.

...well most places in the world are LBGT hate centres...doesn't hurt to try and balance it a bit...

My father wanted a son and got 2 daughters. He used to get me boy's toys when I was very little.

Then as I started playing MMO, there were some unfortunately incidents of harrassment when I played female. The worst part is I think some of the boys catcalling me were much younger than me. Very uncomfortable feeling there.

So I play male, even on single player games.

So to group roleplayers and their attitudes towards roleplaying someone of a different gender we could establish these different categories:

-Those who identify themselves with their physical gender and find it uncomfortable or not desireable to roleplay someone of a different physical gender
-Those who identify themselves with their physical gender, but can roleplay someone of a different physical gender
-Those who identify themselves with their physical gender, but prefer to roleplay someone of a different physical gender
-Those who do not identify themselves with their physical gender, and prefer to roleplay someone of the gender they identify with
-Those who do not identify themselves with their physical gender, and can roleplay someone of either gender

Conclusion being that though people who do not identify themselves with their physical gender tend to often roleplay someone of the gender they identify with, there are so many people who strongly identify themselves with their physical gender that prefer or do not mind playing someone of a different physical gender that there seems to be very little connection between gender identity and gender selection in roleplaying games.

I like the eye candy and visual variety.

It makes me play in a different style instead of my normal upclose crush everything melee male warrior archtype.

Its fun going beyond female stereotypes and playing a character that can be anything she wants to be.

For me, I've been playing RPG's both back to Pen and Paper and then computer games so long, that I play a mixture of both. I enjoy the challenge of trying to rp a player of the opposite six occasionally and seem to have settled on a balance of about 65% male character and 35% female. I must admit, that I probably play more female characters in computer games than in tabletop/pen and paper with others just because if I 'slip' in persona its not witnessed by a room full people. But its a fun and interesting challenge to try to determine how your character would react to situations that you, yourself would never be in. That applies to opposite six characters as well as different races and backgrounds.

Reading through this thread made me think of that episode of Farscape where the crew of Moya all get their minds switched to different bodies. It goes beyond the whole cross-gender thing (cross species) but there are a few bits I thought were very relevant. Um, I watched this (youtube) clip and there really shouldn't be anything "offensive" to any humans over age 12, but just in case, use viewer discrection. They use the 'terrible' hand-and-a-half sword and female-dog "B" words, but I think that's it.

http://youtu.be/GfHS4LBEJ-g

Such a great show. I love Cricton's 'typical male' reaction to being in Aeryn's body...

In a good RPG, you'll be able to relate to the male lead, too. Or at least I can. I'm playing The Witcher 2 right now and I've always liked Geralt. I do always play a female if I have a choice, and if it seems like it's plausible for a female to be the lead character.

When I play a male character I try to relate to them on the human level. We're not that different, you know. Like in writing for male characters, the way I approach it is to focus on the humanity and then I think the gender takes care of itself. If you do it the other way around, you can slip into either stereotyping or overcompensating for stereotypes. In a romantic story line I think about the men I know, the individual character, and it's usually pretty clear what's right for that character. In romances I could always identify with the woman in the story for the fun of it. In Dragon Age Origins, for example, I got a kick out of white knighting for Morrigan and actually getting to slay a dragon for her.

In a game that has actual gender choices I like to play both to see how parts of the game are handled. I typically play first person so I don't look at my character much. If I wanted to see virtual booty I'd take a female companion. I haven't tried a female in Skyrim so I have no idea if you have different choices.

I actually think its a little creepy playing a different gender, but oh well, to each their own.

Gets even weirder when people add all kinds of mods to make them more attractive.

This I can agree with, though 'weird' might not be the word I'd choose. It just seems a bit excessive to design mods dedicated to showing more cleavage or nipbles, or quite directly enlarge both bottom and bossom. Kind of makes you wonder why some people play the game.

I personally use mods that enhance the characters' faces. Not makeup or anything, but to remove the blockyness/oldness from every character.
As for the body mods, I don't feel anything particular for people who use them for whatever reasons. Drooling over pixels is hardly serious business (and if we are talking about downright sixualizing your game - well - drooling over pixels is exactly what all porm is), though I am concerned about all those pedophile mods for Fallout 3/NV. That stuff truly makes me sick and I'm amazed Nexus mods let those mods float around, despite their otherwise strict rules.

Mods to make the faces look better are fine, it can be hard to get the look you're going for with the in-game editor. But as you've said, some of the things people do with mods gets a little sick.

Five minutes in my math class, and I guarantee you will.

I wanted to hear the female shouts. Also I like to look at the female character, its chill.

I like to play female Mages, It's kinda sixist but it seems traditional. That is about it, unless it's for a separate motivation that doesn't suit a man, I play male (IE my gender)