I'd think that transgendered folks having to identify as "neutral" would just offend them even more... What do you mean, "neutral"? I'm not a fixed dog!
That would only be a reasonable response if
a) they had socially transitioned from male to female or vice versa and
b) the game was asking you to identify yourself rather than your character.
On a), there are people who fill the spectrum between male and female, so it's not a given. On b), it's straightforwardly false. But it does make me wonder.
In particular, it makes me wonder if transgender people are any more likely than anyone else to choose a gender other than their own, and thus how likely people in general are to choose their a gender other than their own. I suspect the answer to the latter is that there is a general bias in favour of one's one gender, and I suspect the answer to the former to be no.
To substantiate my suspicions, I looked at a random 50 characters on the ladder. 14 were female - the rest were male. I suspect that reflects the demographic of players of the game at least somewhat, so it suggests there's a bias in favour of choosing your own gender when playing a character. I find this curious in a game where you can be a different species and carry hundreds of potions in one backpack. Gender seems to be pretty sticky. And maybe the fact that the gender choice has no gameplay difference contributes to that, too.
Personally speaking, I'm a human boy, but I quite like playing a sexy elf girl.
Does that make me:
a> Normal
b> Unusual
c> Kinky
d> Very, very sad
or
e> A prime candidate for surgery
Most males play girls so they have a nice rear end to stare at while they play. Whether that applies in ASCII games is up for debate...
I used to always play male so as not to be like that, which is pretty lame in retrospect. Now I just choose random (except playing spiders, when I always choose female, not wanting to get my head bitten off).
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Personally speaking, I'm a human boy, but I quite like playing a sexy elf girl.
Does that make me:
a> Normal
b> Unusual
c> Kinky
d> Very, very sad
or
e> A prime candidate for surgery
I think it probably makes you entirely normal but I'd appreciate it if you didn't make light of the issues trans people deal with. I don't think you meant to but being flippant about sexual reassignment surgery doesn't come across very well.
Originally posted by Patashu
Most males play girls so they have a nice rear end to stare at while they play. Whether that applies in ASCII games is up for debate...
I think it probably makes you entirely normal but I'd appreciate it if you didn't make light of the issues trans people deal with. I don't think you meant to but being flippant about sexual reassignment surgery doesn't come across very well.
I for one appreciated the joke. Please don't censor jokes just because you think some hypothetical person out there might be offended...
You read the scroll labeled NOBIMUS UPSCOTI...
You are surrounded by a stasis field!
The tengu tries to teleport, but fails!
I have a related question. In ASCII games where there is no choice of gender and it is not hinted at all by the game (no use of gender specific pronouns or figures of speech, etc) yet you are clearly playing something that should be gendered,
-What do male players tend to imagine the gender of their character being?
-What do female players tend to imagine the gender of their character being?
ekolis: it's about education and respect, not censorship. Making jokes at the expense of a group of people is disrespectful; takkaria's polite correction was warranted IMO.
And I've run male characters, female characters, neuter characters, and trans characters. Who cares? Coming up with interesting character backgrounds is fun.
Last edited by Therem Harth; August 2, 2013, 01:22.
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