Mc always, because for me that is a must, i dont play gender locked female even though i have tried, i just simply dont enjoy it at all, unless they are games with visuals like beyond, life is strange, detroit etc
One thing never changes is that if i play a female lead they end up being g/g 
I loved playing max and ro cloe, was pretty good but i dont see it happening in text cyoas.
I think cog have made me being picky and used to have the choice to play as male 
For me I have to say that I would probably only enjoy gender swapped ROs if I can pick my own gender too. Gender specific ROs I think tend to be more descriptive and distinctive in the long run, though I can definitely enjoy swappable ones if they are written well. I do suppose that many of us play the games with a specific gender and sexuality so it isn’t always easy to tell outside the writers? 
Really? But that’s practically the majority of games outside CoG so are you sure it’s CoG what spoiled you?
Sorry, I know I shouldn’t pick fights and that my tone definitely isn’t alright here, but I just couldn’t leave this without saying anything.
4 Likes
Yet, this is not true at least for me and @malinryden; 95%+ of the material is the same and unless you have a fetish for facial hair there really isn’t any differences in description and distinction between the male or female versions.
I find this aspect of writing both frustrating and exciting. Sometimes the audience takes the character to places I, as the author, would not think that they do.
Perhaps he meant that before this would not even be an issue he thinks about but now that he is used to having the choice when it isn’t there, it hits him. There are the game genres that are female protagonist dominated – Steam even has a “female protagonist” tag to search their store with if you want.
Next time, please do not direct your post at a specific individual – that is the safest way to ensure that the discussion stays on track and does not get side-tracked.
6 Likes
Can’t argue with this. Sure if you are into visual novels for example then you wouldn’t have problems finding female genderlocked ones and it might be harder to find ones which allow to play as male?
But I guess the reason I’m so salty about this is bc I’m pretty sure my favorite game genre, RPG, still has more games genderlocked to male than female genderlocked ones or offering the choice.
2 Likes
I hate that too – I resisted playing the 2019 game of the year (as voted by many publications) because it is gender-locked. It took a lot of persuasion from my friends to even give Disco Elyiasm(sp) a chance…
and I actually dislike male protagonists in VN and otome games. 
2 Likes
Tbh I’m not so fond of the genre. (The exception would be some of the Winterwolves games, the ones with RPG elements mixed in it). I don’t like how they tend to portray ROs more as trophies than persons and the protagonist the most boring person ever who is only there so the player could drool regardless of their gender.
2 Likes
I feel the same about female protagonists on otomes. Mostly their personalities are so… shallow? Not in a “makeup and clothes” way, but in a “I’m beautiful but also kind but also smart and a bit witty but I can’t hit anyone because I’m a lady even though I’m bullied” way. That was so specific, and that’s a problem. Maybe the ROs are total sweethearts or really good characters, but the girl MC normally feels a bit forced, specially if you don’t get that many chances to, well, act as the MC, apart from interacting with the ROs. That’s why I like CoG games instead. A Pirate’s Pleasure is genderlocked but circumvents this really well, as I’m sure other games do.
I honestly can overlook a genderlocked game when it’s either old or the story is just really good. Per example, on The Great Tournament, you’re always assumed to be a boy. I’ve always named my character “Morgan” or something of the sort and play-pretend that it was a girl in disguise, even went as far as marrying the princess to keep Malik far from the throne. We friends 
One can kind of forgive those since they’re old games, but on newer games, it feels so much like a loss to not be able to choose your gender, specially when it would have near zero consequences to do so. Just let me be Lady Knight, darnit! If you have complaints, you’ll face my sword…
5 Likes
VN protagonists tend to be the most boring of all the cast, both personality and looks-wise, regardless of gender.
And since A Pirate’s Pleasure was mentioned, that’s the first female locked CS game I’ve been able to play all the way through, without feeling weirded out and dysphoric. I don’t know what it’s doing differently, and I’d still have prefered playing male or NB, but it’s definitely something.
6 Likes
@Cari-san and @AdmirableAnimation –
For me, it depends on if the otome is Eastern (eg Japanese, Korean) or Western in its style … for the Eastern style otome, if the game is historical I am ok with more of a “traditional portrayal”.
The Hakuoki Edo Blossoms series is an example where it doesn’t bother me and I am much more forgiving of the game because the story is so dang good.
On the other hand I truly enjoy The Rose of Segunda because it is Western otome and female protagonist.
A lot of my purchasing choices for otome takes into account whether the game was meant for a Western audience and the sub-genre it is in. I tend to avoid anime heavy games or furry types)
7 Likes
I have never played a visual novel before - I don’t bother with Steam since I rarely play games on PC - but from a outside perspective as a straight white male dude they tend to come across as a tad bland and cliched, whether Male or Female focused. It’s possible I haven’t seen a solid selection of games yet suited to someone like me of course… 
And there’s the weird ones with the sapient pigeons and the self aware Yanderes… 
1 Like
Okay, I will take my question a bit further, then…
Would you rather have a game that is not gender-locked but has no option to be non-binary, or have a gender-locked to female game?
Before anyone takes offense, there is a story reason for not allowing a non-binary MC–the MC’s race (non-human, obviously) only has two genders which are based on biological sex. For the record, there are other races that do not follow this method and one RO that is genderless, since their race only has one biological sex (it would take a while to explain their biology because it is complex), so this isn’t a matter of avoiding writing non-binary characters. It’s a matter of the MC being of a race where the NB designation would never fit.
So I guess my point is, in your opinion(s), is it better to allow a F/M option, with no NB option, or to avoid the whole hornet’s nest entirely with a gender-locked MC? Either way, there will be complaints, I’m sure, but we’re trying to choose the path that pisses off the least amount of people while still staying true to our universe and story.
Edited to add:
@derekmetaltron I have played many VNs, due to switching to a laptop with a crap video card, and can suggest a few I think you might like. There are some surprisingly good VNs out there (even one that has a RPG-setting sequel coming out soon). It’s just a matter of sifting through the crap to get to the gold.
2 Likes
…Choosing rather than genderlocking. You have a good point, but on my personal opinion, I think it may be better to allow the player to choose that about themselves, specially on a setting in which different races are roaming around, since it may be a bit odd to see that much diversity and not being able to choose. Of course, I’m pretty biased and genderlocking may be better on the long run and maybe even cater to wider audiences, but I’m just tired of games that don’t let me be a girl for no good storytelling reason other than “there’s guns and pretty girls”.
In the end, I think, it only matters how good the author is to pull off X or Y thing, as both have their pros and cons. (Best of luck on your game, btw!)
3 Likes
I am open to some suggestions for VNs if there’s some well done ones with male protagonists and female characters (and possibly other stuff if there’s a decent storyline) so sure!
As to your new question I think choosing will always be preferred if possible, though giving stories to specific audiences and romance options if the story suits it is nice. I know outside a gender selection game that my preferred game would be one with a decent range of female characters to befriend or romance (whether male locked or not) but that’s clearly just my perspective.
no worries, i dont get offended that easily, so no problem by my part
and yes i mean exactly what Eiwynn says, perhaps if i was not so used to have that choice i certainly will forced myself to play more gender locked female, you may have missed my previous post too. eiwynn kinda resumed it here.
i think many people are used to this and that makes them more picky, dont think im the only one.
and neither is this a bad thing, having more equality in games is something pretty nice to have like fifa 20 adding womans, it was about time this happen and something to look forward for you girls.
no hard feelings
1 Like
Games that come from books are pretty good at making interesting characters. For example The Witcher trilogy. As of choice games, I don’t mind to play either male or female if said character is interesting to follow and read his story. If a game makes choices like “You do that and that”, would probably lean towards male side than female. But then again I have never put importance on gender over the story itself.
Thanks for letting it slide. Tbh I agreed with the first part of your post, just in my case the genders should be reversed. It was just that last sentence… well I said my part about it so I guess, let’s move on then.
1 Like
In the case of NPCs I think you also need to consider how much ‘screentime’ they’re getting in the story. For example, say you have two romanceable characters: Joe Bloggs, a straight man, and Jane Doe, a lesbian woman. If Joe has a major role in the plot and you get a lot of scenes with him, but Jane is a more minor character who doesn’t show up that often, that’s not fair. (it would also be unfair if Jane had way more screentime than Joe, but sadly the other way around is more common).
11 Likes
To be fair that can be game dependent. For example with Mass Effect Andromeda one could easily be annoyed that Gil and Suvi don’t have as much time with the player as the others as the core same sex options, but since they’re not squad members they’re not going to have as much time. But that’s something which can be rectified, as long as it doesn’t turn into something where a reader micro analyses everything like that!
3 Likes
I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to have some characters have less presence/importance than others. In fact, it may be hard to avoid, depending on the structure of the game. It’s when players who are interested in A get shafted compared to players interested in B that it becomes a problem.
If a wlw player had a choice between Josephine (who’s a major character) and Jane (who’s more minor) that would be ok (well you’d probably have some angry Jane fans but you can’t please everyone!). And that’s generally one of the main reasons for making ROs gender switchable, to ensure everyone gets a roughly equal spread of options, without having to make a ton of characters all fit into the plot.
9 Likes