Male gamers: Female avatars FTW

July 31st, 2006, 15:47 Posted By: wraggster

There's an interesting piece over at Cnet's News.com that touches on why male MMORPG players pick female avatars as their player character of choice. While some may just choose a female to have something pretty to look at, News.com quotes a male player as saying that one of the bonuses of being a girl in game is "people give you more free stuff."

Even though some of us here at Joystiq have never noticed the trend while immersed in any particular MMO, we can see this happening among the eager-to-please MMO crowd. The story mentions that a recent About.com poll said "nearly two-thirds of the 920 respondents said they play characters of the opposite sex in online role-playing games." Of course, taking on a female role has its own unique benefits and disadvantages, as the story notes:

THE GOOD: Gamers, both male and female, say female avatars confirm what they already knew: Being a pretty girl has its perks. Female avatars are often the center of attention and showered with gifts such as swords or armor by other characters.
THE BAD: They also, however, get unsolicited and sometimes condescending game play advice from the thousands of mostly male players who populate the MMO universe.
What's your virtual sexual preference?

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