I really tried to let it go but I couldn’t I had to ask even tho I know this was discussed before.
So I would like to know the reason. Is it easier to write a male MC? Or would it be too much of a work to do a female route for the setting? Also sorry if it sounds bad but I wonder why are the authors less interested in writing female protagonists? I know there are WIPs like Guenevre, but so far none of those WIPs made it to the point of getting released actually most WIPs got abondoned. Do the authors think these games would be less appreciated?
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Well it can depend on the place and time that the story takes place. For instance in Medevil times it was VERY rare to be a female knight and even then they were looked down upon so they didn’t have the same possibilities as males. Heck I only know of one black knight (round table)
It could also be some people just don’t understand other perspectives and would rather not risk pissing everybody off
But a lot of the games just essentially make the whole gender thing useless to be honest, I littteratly just imagine every mc as an androgynous person and barley notice anything
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I honestly don’t think there’s a special reason for why none of the gender-locked female WIPs have come to fruition yet. Some games take longer, some get abandoned, that’s just how it is.
As for why there are so many gender-locked male games, most of the ones I’ve seen were trying to depict a realistic historical plot and thus go for a male MC (who would have a lot more freedom).
Others probably just feel like their story doesn’t sound right from a female PoV or they feel like they can’t get a female voice right.
Either way, while I’m not interested in games that have me playing a dude, I’m not too bothered.
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I agree with @blackrising . Most likely that the setting their story take place would be based from actual historical setting.
I am quite thankful though that there are still stories here where you could choose your gender so I am not much bothered with it.
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I know I have held off righting a HG story because I want to be inclusive, but I never feel that my writing gives a proper feel to a female MC. I think a lot of people choose to write their own gender as that is the voice they are comfortable with, and it appears from what I have seen most females tend to have a better feel for the male MC, and that means their stories are more inclusive.
That said there have been more than a couple of COG games that turned me off because the female author seemed to only be catering to a female or one particular male archetype, and didn’t let me feel like my MC was the kind of guy I would play. As such, I can why some would be hesitant to write in a voice that doesn’t necessarily reflect them.
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Hoo, boy… definitely tracking this thread in case of fireworks.
That said, I don’t like genderlocked stories either. I’ll avoid them if they’re male-only AND female-only, with very few exceptions.
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First I’m not sure if it’s fair to compare a book with a CYOA. In a book it’s clear that you are reading a story about an already created character. But isn’t the purpose of a CYOA to make the reader feel involved (which is hard for me to do if I cant even relate to the MC)?
Now I understand what you guys say about setting and stuff. So I won’t start an argument over those. Actually I was just frustrated and I feelt the need to see other perspectives than my own just to calm down.
Anyway I’m not saying there shouldn’t be male genderlocked HGs. I guess I just wish there would be works the other way too. But since I can’t write myself I guess my only option is to wait patiently. What I’m trying to do but sometimes it’s hard I guess.
Also I guess it’s probably not a big deal to most people, but still I hope that I’m not the only one who feels less comfortable playing a male character.
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I’m pretty you’re not the only one. I have a hard time playing CYOA game if it’s gender locked. So most of HG and CoG that I bought have gender choice.
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A lot of people here pass on gender-locked games because they don’t really want to play that specific gender. But when it comes down to it, you still get a lot more games with gender choice than games without it, so don’t worry about it!
It’s actually rather rare to have a set gender for protagonists, as far as I can see.
And I’d say it’s better for an author to write a protagonist with a set gender than to try and write something they don’t feel comfortable with/confident in.
God knows I tend to have trouble writing a male main character too, so it’s definitely not as easy as just switching pronouns.
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You’re definitely not the only one bothered, for me it’s a giant turn-off when a game is gender-locked to male. I don’t think I’ve purchased a single one.
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Honestly, when I’m writing, my mind is automatically set the Primary Character as a male. I think that’s because I often imagine myself as being inside the world I’m writing.
And when writing female characters, there’s this subtle moment inside my head, “Ok, you’re writing a female character,” which is don’t happen often for male characters, to be frank.
But hey, is the number of genlocked-male stories that big?
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I’ve tryed it once. The game was a good one too, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything for my MC so I deleted the game before I could finish even one playthrough.
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It’s a shame, I’ve heard really good things about several male locked games.
Screw it I’m making a poll
- I won’t buy/play a c/hog with a gender locked mc
- I prefer to be able to choose gender but I will still buy/play the game
- I don’t care what gender the mc is
0 voters
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I can’t play genderlocked games too. Probably because I have played for all my life with mostly male protagonists in videogames, I have a sort of block now: I can’t play RPGs or choice-heavy games with a set male protagonist.
I can go with linear games like Uncharted with set, well defined protagonist and no choices whatsoever, but the moment the game have choices and a set protagonist, I’m turned off.
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Mostly we are the same - look at Ellen Ripley. A role written for a male, ended up one of the most iconic female characters even to this day. 
If you still feel uncertain, don’t hesitate to ask for input on here - general feedback is good on its own and perhaps you can find a good ‘sounding board’ here (almost wrote ‘sounding broad’, ha!). 
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See, I want to take this pole, but the answer I’d like to make is that I won’t by a game with a gender-locked mc without a reeeeeaaaally good reason, ie. playing a recognized historical/fictional character (Guenevere is great) 
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In response to this, as I picked ‘won’t buy’ - there are exceptions. Part of it is (none yet out) locked to female (my own gender bias, I suppose?) and then in general for computer games; I don’t mind playing Batman or Spiderman, for some reason, but ‘generic white male with a bad razor’ doesn’t float my boat down any gentle streams, I tell you. 
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I picked ‘prefer to be able to choose’ because like I said, the few exceptions where I got over myself enough to play a gender locked game (Lookin’ at you, Sabres of Infinity.), I really enjoyed myself.
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I agree with the point that gender locked games can get awkward when u can’t relate to the protagonist. I don’t have problem playing a game like Tomb Raider where the MC is a badass and is relatable to any male protagonist. But I never could get into a female gender locked games otherwise…So I obviously would prefer games to give the freedom of selecting the gender.
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