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Ah, the role playing game. A chance to be thrown into adventure, to play the role of the hero. That's right, in this world, you are the hero... or are you? Some games such as The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Warrior VIII, the Chrono series, or Earthbound place the hero as the silent type, due to the fact that it's supposed to be you, with your own personal dialog filling in the blanks. However, often these characters are male, with no other option. One might argue that you're simply playing the role of said character, and that in real life you may not only not be male, but may not be a magical elf either. However, for some of the ladies out there, their immersive role playing experience could be a little hampered by this gender bender.
Some RPGs do in fact give you a wide assortment of choices, not only of gender, but of race, class, appearance, dialog etc, like in games such as the Elder Scrolls series. Despite this balance between openess and focus, the inclusion for both genders would not, in most cases, be an extreme feat when used. Changing a few hims to hers, a few wardrobe changes... and presto! Of course, this is only an issue for those silent lead type games. It's not really a problem for either extreme of complete customizability, or complete narriative.
This brief editorial is really more of a question than an opinion. As a male, I wonder how the female gamers out there feel about this. Does the attempt at immersion fall flat on its face when the silent you character is male, or is it seen as another role to play in a game-world of plot-driven adventure?
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