In game Gender Dysphoria

[Bexi]

I don't see games, or the main protagonist, as an extension of myself. For me, they're just games and I create male characters just as much as female ones.
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[SourCandy]

Depends on how detailed customization is and how I like it. In general I play females when I like the styles presented, but if it's a blank choice between a single male or female I'll choose based on which one looks better.

[Q]

I'm not really a 'gamer', but I did get quite into Second Life for a while around 06/07.

It was quite an interesting experience from a gender perspective and kind of taught me that if it was physically possible for me to be 'stealth' as female in real life I would probably have issues.

I signed up with a female avatar and found everyone just completely accepted me as female, and I liked that a lot. It was quite a learning experience interacting with people as female without any physical constraints to hold me back (and I don't mean that from a virtual nooky perspective).

I made lots of friends, but, over time, I became good friends (platonically) with a lady there and we used to hang out and chat about everything real and virtual and she used to tell me some quite personal female specific things.

I found though that as much as I was happy, I was also feeling uncomfortable. It didn't feel quite like a proper friendship because I hadn't been fully open about myself. I felt it was unfair to her not to tell her and I felt bad about it. It was like I was being deceptive; which just isn't me.

So, I eventually told her everything. She was very shocked and actually thought I was joking at first... and said she'd never have guessed I was going to tell her that in a million years (as you can probably tell I was flattered!).

She was fine about it and we stayed as good friends as we had been before. Though it did very subtly change the dynamics.

I felt sad that I lost being completely accepted as female by telling her, but happy that I did the right thing and that it was then an honest friendship.

It taught me that even if I could do stealth (impossible from a physical and life point perspective anyway), that I'm too honest to do that and wouldn't be happy hiding part of who I am away.

So, yes... I guess you can learn things from Second Life... 

[Felix]

As others have mentioned for themselves, I play both genders according to aesthetics and storyline stuff. It's a game, and no game I've ever played had characters that looked like me or grew up in my circumstances anyhow.

That said I totally understand the perspective of people who are more careful in their avatar choices.

[Tessa James]

While I am not an online gamer it is impressive to me that so many are so full on with these created worlds.  A local start up company here is marketing a water cooled system for the cpu as you folks apparently create a lot of real heat while playing those huge programs.

And so brothers and sisters, game on! but keep it cool

hugs from my keyboard to you,

Tessa James

[AwishForXX]

You should stop worrying about things like this and tell your wife.

I know, and I'm working on that, I can't go on hiding but I need some help to get to that point.  I've seen my GP now for a referral to a therapist and I'm hoping that one of the first things I can achieve is tell my wife.  I'm simply scared ATM and need to work up the courage to do it.  Tactfully and in a manner other than simply blurting.

Give me time, I'm working on it.

[Adelkhf]

Usually female where given the choice and if it's my first time playing  but I do make male characters too depending on my mood at the time.

[Dovahkiin]

The only game I've played consistently where you choose the gender of your character is Skyrim. I've always chosen a female character. I want to be comfortable as a woman, I'm supposed to be a woman, I should play as a woman. Even know I'm beginning to come to terms with my gender identity and am beginning to realise that I don't need to please other people, only myself, I still pick female when there's any chance of it being public. Like Skyrim (which I talk about with people I'm not out to), or in my writing which I show to people, etc. But when I do play as a male (very occasionally) it feels better.

[Lrouk]

Even before letting myself admit I'm trans, I played as male characters if there was the option to choose.

Not that I would feel dysphoric about a character in a game, I just prefer male characters for some reason. Like if I have to name the character myself, I'm completely clueless to name a female one. I'm better at naming males. XD

Then again, the only game where it's kinda obligatory to play as a female character is Okami but that's just because English speaking people just had to give Amaterasu a gender-specific pronoun. Seriously, that character is the sun god's incarnation, does gender really matter THAT much?
And here I can boast about the excellence of Finnish third person pronouns that are NOT gender-specific~

This is EXACTLY how I feel when I play games! And about naming. No female name sounds good for me to play as haha.

And I've always just let people think what they want when they ask why I always play as a guy. Male characters have always made more sense for me to play. It just kinda feels more natural.

[Imreallyconfused]

Exactly, I play video games to escape reality.

AMEN. I've played every game that gave me a choice as a girl with a nice sensual voice (if I could choose). I use the same name also with every toon.

[Jeepgirl90]

I generally keep with female characters in games whenever possible,  I have done this for as long as I can remember..

[meekkeee]

always playing female, but I dont really care that much unless you often can see yourself like Saints Row

[FTMDiaries]

I only ever play male characters. If there's a choice, I pick male. If there's no choice, I won't play the game at all if it has a female lead. That's why I could never play Tomb Raider: it made me feel horribly dysphoric.

There's an interesting mission in Fable II that can be quite triggering for some trans folks: there's a potion that can permanently change the gender of your character after you're quite advanced in the game. When I stumbled across it I basically stopped playing & just stared at the screen for about 10 minutes. If that had been offered to me IRL I would have ripped your arm off to take it... but in Fable I had naturally chosen a male character so I was being offered a potion to change my character into the 'wrong' gender that I've been trying to escape all my life. Very strange feeling. It's good that it's there because it enables people to question gender in a way that isn't usually tackled in games, but I did find it a bit triggering because of what it represented to me.

[Lrouk]

Oh wow I was just thinking about that!

I played Fable before I ever really knew what was bothering me, even though I had some really bad days.  Or that I really identified as trans.  But I had been playing as a male character (like I always did) and it kinda blew my mind when I got to that mission. I guess I didn't want to go to a female character, so I didn't take the potion.  But it really got me thinking.  I almost thought of it as a 'way out' of playing as a female. Looking back, I guess that was the first time I really thought about how I felt about my gender.  Like really thought about it.  And the thought did cross my mind of what I would do if the potion really existed, but I never let that thought carry all the way through because it scared me :p.

Kinda makes me want to go back and play Fable again. I like that they included something like that, if only to make you think.

[TerriT]

If there is an choice, I will always choose or create a female character. I have legions of female Rockband members. I will even choose as many female companions as possible in an RPG or something, although I don't play too many of those anymore.

[FTMDiaries]

I played Fable before I ever really knew what was bothering me, even though I had some really bad days.  Or that I really identified as trans.  But I had been playing as a male character (like I always did) and it kinda blew my mind when I got to that mission. I guess I didn't want to go to a female character, so I didn't take the potion.  But it really got me thinking.  I almost thought of it as a 'way out' of playing as a female. Looking back, I guess that was the first time I really thought about how I felt about my gender.  Like really thought about it.  And the thought did cross my mind of what I would do if the potion really existed, but I never let that thought carry all the way through because it scared me :p.

Kinda makes me want to go back and play Fable again. I like that they included something like that, if only to make you think.

That's awesome; Fable helped you understand yourself. And to think that some people believe that people who play computer games are just wasting their time.

To be honest, one of the things that made me come out to my family was that my kids noticed that I always pick a male character for Fable. My youngest daughter questioned me on it because she's a hard-core gamer too but she always picks a female character. I wasn't ready to answer her question yet so I just sat there in silence until my hubby said "Mum just likes playing the male characters".

When I came out to my kids, my daughter said "So THAT'S why you always pick a male character in Fable!"

I've been replaying Fable II for about a week now. Even though I know that potion is there, it is still my favourite incarnation of Fable and I tend to replay it at least twice a year.

[Feather]

I have always played both male and female characters, but I prefer the latter. They always look better and since I'm usually playing either a spellcaster or some stealthy character it is more fitting to play female than some bulky male (which they usually are). I remember in World of Warcraft I once paid for a sex change. Then I really began to feel attachment to my character, haha. In that game I have also noted that players will generally treat you better when you play a female character (especially if you're healer) than a male character. I always liked it when they said 'her' or 'she' when it was about me in the chat. It kinda feels more magical, being a male character is boring!

[Robbi]

I always play as a woman, as it gives me the chance to create an avatar that more accuratly represents how I feel inside, and wished I looked like on the outside.

[brainiac]

I always do a first playthrough as a male PC, without really thinking about it... sometimes I'll go back and replay a game as a female character, but the first run/primary character is always a dude. I just identify with male characters more easily in general. Getting the opportunity to be treated like a guy, even if it's imaginary, is something I've always jumped at. I always played male PCs in tabletop RPGs unless I was going out of my way to make a female character, wanted to read male parts aloud in plays in English class, played pretend as male "characters", etc.

Oddly, though, for the Mass Effect series FemShep is canon for me, even though I've only played ManSheps so far. Maybe it's because Jennifer Hale is an outstanding voice actor and Mark Meer is just above-average.

Edit:

I get better recognition too for what I am, Im playing as a male character so to everyone else I am too. People online tend to recognise you by the character you portray (I would always see someone as a female character being female rather than a guy playing as a female) so depends what you want to do.

This is a good point, too... When I play as a male character in an MMORPG, people just assume I'm a guy and treat me as such.

[Leo.]

I will only play as a male character, I wont want to play otherwise. Can be annoying when playing multiplayer online where player 1 is male and player 2 is female or whatever (like Resident Evil 5 I have to be the host in order to play as the male character Chris rather than the female Sheva) and my partner ends up with who I wanted and Im stuck being them I just end up in a bad mood and dont want to play. I know it sounds stupid but Im stuck in the wrong body as it is and hate it, why would I want to play as one too? I get better recognition too for what I am, Im playing as a male character so to everyone else I am too. People online tend to recognise you by the character you portray (I would always see someone as a female character being female rather than a guy playing as a female) so depends what you want to do. Only exception is a game where there is no choice of gender character thats different and wont bother me at all. I love the Tomb Raider games and dont mind at all playing as Lara