Why is there a neutral gender?

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  • ekolis
    Knight
    • Apr 2007
    • 921

    #16
    Don't worry, I already hate everybody
    You read the scroll labeled NOBIMUS UPSCOTI...
    You are surrounded by a stasis field!
    The tengu tries to teleport, but fails!

    Comment

    • Nick
      Vanilla maintainer
      • Apr 2007
      • 9634

      #17
      Originally posted by ekolis
      Don't worry, I already hate everybody
      Oh, I see - and you're trying to make it mutual
      One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
      In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

      Comment

      • takkaria
        Veteran
        • Apr 2007
        • 1951

        #18
        Originally posted by ekolis
        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.

        </researcher-mode>
        takkaria whispers something about options. -more-

        Comment

        • MattB
          Veteran
          • Mar 2013
          • 1214

          #19
          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

          Comment

          • Patashu
            Knight
            • Jan 2008
            • 528

            #20
            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...
            My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu

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            • Derakon
              Prophet
              • Dec 2009
              • 9022

              #21
              Side note: perhaps "unknown" would be better than "neutral"? "Decline to specify" seems overly-wordy and legalistic.

              Comment

              • takkaria
                Veteran
                • Apr 2007
                • 1951

                #22
                Originally posted by Derakon
                Side note: perhaps "unknown" would be better than "neutral"? "Decline to specify" seems overly-wordy and legalistic.
                Maybe just ripping it out entirely would be a good idea :P Says the person who loves removing gameplay mechanics...
                takkaria whispers something about options. -more-

                Comment

                • Nick
                  Vanilla maintainer
                  • Apr 2007
                  • 9634

                  #23
                  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 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.

                  Comment

                  • takkaria
                    Veteran
                    • Apr 2007
                    • 1951

                    #24
                    Originally posted by MattB
                    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...
                    While it might be true, it's pretty grim.
                    takkaria whispers something about options. -more-

                    Comment

                    • ekolis
                      Knight
                      • Apr 2007
                      • 921

                      #25
                      Originally posted by takkaria
                      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!

                      Comment

                      • Patashu
                        Knight
                        • Jan 2008
                        • 528

                        #26
                        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?

                        Is there any study on this kind of thing?
                        My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu

                        Comment

                        • ekolis
                          Knight
                          • Apr 2007
                          • 921

                          #27
                          I, being male, imagine the character as male, so I can identify with it better.
                          You read the scroll labeled NOBIMUS UPSCOTI...
                          You are surrounded by a stasis field!
                          The tengu tries to teleport, but fails!

                          Comment

                          • takkaria
                            Veteran
                            • Apr 2007
                            • 1951

                            #28
                            Originally posted by ekolis
                            I for one appreciated the joke. Please don't censor jokes just because you think some hypothetical person out there might be offended...
                            Nope, I wasn't doing it on behalf of some hypothetical person.
                            takkaria whispers something about options. -more-

                            Comment

                            • chris
                              PosChengband Maintainer
                              • Jan 2008
                              • 702

                              #29
                              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...
                              @



                              Drool :P

                              Comment

                              • Therem Harth
                                Knight
                                • Jan 2008
                                • 926

                                #30
                                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.

                                Comment

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