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[sluissa]

Also Re: Being seen as a gender you're not online.

I've been in that situation before as well. Of course, having done it myself, I would never look down on someone else for doing it. Generally I don't apply genders to people online unless it's required. If I end up mis-attributing one, there's usually a short period of... I guess call it shock, or confusion, but not in a bad way. Just so that I have to readjust. I'd not suggest people decide to switch on me frequently. (Although I guess if that happened, I'd get used to it as well.) But I generally don't care what people want me to treat them as. Real life, I admit, it's a bit harder, I've had real life friends who wanted me to switch and I've honestly had a hard time with it, and I felt bad about not being able to, but when you know someone for years as one gender and have to suddenly switch, it's not easy. Online, however... somewhat easier.

[Pnx]

I actually got into a very awkward conversation with someone once over this issue here a long, long, time ago. Maybe I can dig it up.

On forum genderbending:
Perhaps all us guys should spend some time pretending to be women.

I could swap to female Marceline and we could put some lipstick on Aquizzar's avatar.

Who is your femsona?

[Vector]

I pretended to be a dude for the first year I was on B12, and yeah, I enjoyed it a lot--I originally did it because I didn't want anyone to say "we only say you're good because you're a girl" (says something about my mental state back then, I guess).  But when I told everyone I was a girl, no one gave me any crap.

[Pnx]

I recall doing some stuff where I said, "How do you know I'm a guy?" While trying to leave it ambiguous for a long while. Since everyone just assumed I was a guy anyway, I just gave up.

Anyway, looking back through memory lane, there was one girl here by the name of Jaqie Fox who had trouble with people calling her a him a lot.
I can't find the thread where I did it, but she could be uptight about the issue.

I suspect she might have actually been a transsexual.

She left the forums a long time ago though.

[Rose]

On the internet, I often think of people as the gender they were initially introduced as, even if they show me photographic evidence otherwise.

[Andir]

I think avatar selection has a saying as well.  I remember studies done on why guys pick female characters in online games and I don't believe that many picked female characters because "they liked looking at their rears".  (Personally, I believe that's the "socially acceptable" answer.)  I like to believe everyone would "try on" the other suit once in a while if they could get away with it.

[Rose]

wait, then how does my avatar selection effect how people view me?

[Andir]

Dunno.  Personally, I still see the picture with the mustache.  I've seen it so much it's ingrained in memory by now.   The new one (to me) still looks more masculine than feminine.  Maybe this is because of your previous one that I've committed to memory.  (And yes, I've seen the variations where you were adjusting different features.)  Looking at the new one though, I see a carefree young man... just happy to be here.

[Ogdibus]

wait, then how does my avatar selection effect how people view me?

Dirty boy! x3   Also how do you change it so often?  Is it some kind of script, or something?

[Rose]

wait, then how does my avatar selection effect how people view me?

Dirty boy! x3   Also how do you change it so often?  Is it some kind of script, or something?

Yes

[Andir]

wait, then how does my avatar selection effect how people view me?

Dirty boy! x3   Also how do you change it so often?  Is it some kind of script, or something?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://signavatar.com/

[Ogdibus]

.O.  Thanks! That am a lot of stuffs it can hold.

[ChairmanPoo]

I think avatar selection has a saying as well.  I remember studies done on why guys pick female characters in online games and I don't believe that many picked female characters because "they liked looking at their rears".  (Personally, I believe that's the "socially acceptable" answer.)  I like to believe everyone would "try on" the other suit once in a while if they could get away with it.

*shrug* I mostly play male characters in online games.

In Diablo 2 I started playing some female characters after a while, but not to pretend to be a woman. It's simply that you could not choose gender for classes, and half the classes in the game were female. If you played only male characters, you were missing out a good chunk of the game. The eyecandy was just an extra.

I recall having an argument on this with a guy in battlenet once, who apparently did not grasp that playing an assasin (which was a female character) did not make me a girl anymore than it made me a ninja. (I think he was a young kid)

[Siquo]

Re: being a girl online, in my first MMO experiences, I was REALLY a girl online. And I don't mean just the avatar.
I'd play Ultima Online with my girlfriend, but we just had the one computer. With my FPS mad skillz&reflexes I was a better player, but she got to play the character, and we often did it together. So I'd do the mouse/keyboard controls, and she'd tell me what to say to whom. We got this down so well that we'd "be" that character together (it wasn't like I didn't have any input on what to say).

From then on I usually play female chars online and offline. Not for the looking at ass while in 3rd person view, not for the free goodies females tend to get in MMO's, but just because it feels... natural, comfortable. I don't know. I don't have that in real life, I've been mis-guessed as a girl a few times when my hair was long and my beard nonexistent, and didn't much like it (wasn't too bothered with it either, but it didn't "do" anything for me).

[Vector]

Two important articles on the gaming industry:

Who killed video games?

Review of The Sims Social

(Note: I highly recommend reading them in this order)