When given the choice of male or female, you choose...

When given the choice of whether you will be a male or a female (Character Creation) what do you choose?

I usually go with males, but I decided recently to switch it up and I'm going though Saints Row The Third with a female. If I ever start Skyrim again i think I will also create a female. Due to my sexual orientation, I guess I get out of the "Oh dude he's just playing as a chick to stare at her boobs all day!"

I never play as a woman unless the game forces me to.

Male, because I like playing as my own gender.

Female first time, male second time if I make a second character.

Always male.

male

Just use Dave's law of MMOs

Males who play as females in video games has always made feel uncomfortable

I voted male because that is what I almost always choose first, and I tend to try and get it similar to me(as close as I can, at least). In games I play multiple times(Mass Effect, Dragon Age, probably Skyrim, etc.) I usually make a female for the second character.

I honestly think it's weird when a dude plays as a chick, so I always pick a dude.

Ryan always seems to be a chick. He's weird.

First playtrough male, second female.

As a guy, I always choose a male for the first go round. If I play a second time I may choose female, but I usually never finish those playthroughs.

Male if it is a silent protagonist, however if my character will be doing a lot of talking I go with my most preferable voice actor. That is why I'm a femshep in Mass Effect.

It's weird to me how people choose femshep in Mass Effect, when to me they both do the same level of acting, though a bit different, femshep always seems to be a bit bitchy and forced, while the male shepard seems to be kind of boring most of the time. I always choose male if I'm taking it serious.

Always female. I have played as a female character in games for so long now that it actually feels weird to play as a male if I can choose to play as a female.

Depends. I used to play as a girl whenever a game would give the option because

1. It was relatively uncommon (still is I guess, but it's now lost its novelty for me).
2. In games with multiple characters, females were often the "quick but weak" type, which I enjoyed more than the "slow but powerful" type.

I stopped doing that at some point, for some reason. In game's with heavy story where my character has a characterization which includes their gender I usually pick Male nowadays, while games that have no characterization I could go either way.

For instance, what I played of Mass Effect I played as a male, while most of my Dark Souls characters are female. It helps that the latter aren't particulary sexualized, since I tend to get...distracted, rather easily.

@ShadowConqueror said:

Male, because I like playing as my own gender.

Male (my gender) in most cases, especially silent protagonists. But in special cases, if the female voice actor is better, I'll go in that direction.

Case in point: Commander Shepard.

For me, it depends on the game and the character I'm trying to create.

Saints Row series I was a dude. However I rocked Femshep, female Fallout characters and female Dragon Age characters in each series. When I played PSU, my main (fortegunner) was a Male but my favorite alt (fortetecher) was a female. It's not weird to me??

I choose me. I'm the hero. The oedipus in this complex.

I'm a guy so I play as a guy.

Playing with a female avatar feels like cross-dressing ...

Male the first time through.... usually. But lately I've been going female first-through, as in the case of mass effect.

Male. I tend to get quite chauvanist-y in my vidja games.

Female 'insert famous quote about staring at an ass for over 50 hours and that ass might as well be female'

Female. Just because. I don't really understand the stigma behind guys using female toons. I mean, I guess if you're pretending to be a female and flirting with another dude and shit then that's weird, but if you're playing as a female simply because you want to play as a female then I say go for. I could give a fuck really.

Male. Never understood people who play as opposite sex - I mean, I don't believe you really stare at the characters ass (instead of enemies/locales etc.) even if it's a 3rd person game, so that argument is somewhat moot.

For me, I always like to put a little bit of myself into the game (or book/movie), so the protagonist has to be a male for me to get most enjoyment. There's just something fundamentally different about how I enjoy stories with female protagonists - I'm much more of a observer in those and as such, not as immersed in the story.

I used to go male, but now female. I guess having a female protagonist is rare in games still, might as well pick female when given choice for something different.

Male. I'm biased that way.

I choose dude because i'm a dude, dude.

Female, as females are so much more awesome than males ...... end of story.

I like playing women vaguely because of my attraction towards them.

Female, if your going to watch a characters back through an entire game, I prefer watching a lady.

FemShep 4 lyfe.

In story heavy games, female.
 
If it's just gonna be a characterless avatar, I go with a male. 

It depends. Usually I play females but sometimes like to mix it up. Usually if I can make a dude look really badass I will play him, if not then female.

Female. Guy playing a female in games shouldn't be weird as it is simple logic. Why stare at a fake mans ass while playing games when you can stare at a fake girls ass.. Also, since i played wow when it first launched, females usually look better then the guy models so I dont like playing males anymore..

Female, because I like playing as my own gender. And females are often quicker than male and not as clumsy.

In Skyrim at the moment I'm playing a girl. Just because. And in Saints Row i'm playing a girl. Because Space Pants.

Whatever the default is. Including what the character looks like. If I'm the only one seeing it, what do I care?

Also, since i played wow when it first launched, females usually look better then the guy models so I dont like playing males anymore..

It depends on what I think will be better for the story. I actually role play my characters, I assign a personality to them and then I play the game based on it. I'm not playing as me in girl form, I'm controlling Catherine Shepard.

Always played as a female character even though I'm a dude

They always seem more awesome, and I seemingly always play male in games where there is no choice so I change things up

Male. I'm a dude. Also, I think "Dave's Rule" is really dumb.

Actually, it usually depends on the game.

Dragon Age 2: male, because I like the look of the default male character and the voice actor.

Mass Effect: probably male, because they have an actual human model for the character, but I like Female Shepard's voice actor a lot better.

Skyrim: Female to start, because Lifts-Her-Tail is not a crossdressing male. Wait... actually, knowing Crassius Curio, (s)he very well could have been.

So usually it's the one that fits the situation, or the one that puts more effort into supporting (like the general lack of decent female romance options in all games besides Mass Effect). All things equal, I might lean towards playing a female character, I guess.

Female. Most of the time the dialogue is written with a male in mind so when a female is saying the lines it makes her sound like a complete bitch. :D

My Shepard has always been male. But in games with more of an open story / world I usually go female. My female nord thief/assasin with a buzz-cut is bad-ass in Skyrim.

While I'm a firm believer in Dave's rule of MMOs, my main in WoW for 5 years was a male dwarf.

Male first try to make it look like me , then I play as a female character who always looks the same in every game so my Female Shepard has also been a fighter a Monster Hunter and a Rockstar.

Really, depends on the game. When I feel like my avatar is supposed to represent me, and if I can really craft the character and make them me, then I play a male character. I've done this in Mass Effect and Skyrim. When I don't mak a character that represents me, I'm not "playing a roll," I usually go female. So, if there is a selection of pre-made characters, and one is a hawt chick, that's my character.

I like playing as a lady.

I never play as "me". I create a character. And most of the time I just find it more interesting to play a female. I try to see stuff out of different perspectives.

I always choose the female avatar first. One reason is I just find them more attractive. Another is, I like the idea of a strong female lead in a game. Finally, since I tend to go "light side" the first time through, I am more comfortable with a female in that role. When I go "renegade", I tend to pick a male. A guy can be a real rat-bastard in a game and still be acceptable, while a female being "bitchy" sours me. I have an imagination so I can pretend to be a girl in a game, but perhaps there's some idealism still that keeps me from committing to an evil female. Well, as evil as evil is in these games since that tends to be more punk-thugish rather than really evil.