• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

New research on female video characters: Female gamers prefer playing as highly sexualized characters, despite disliking them

Geometric-Crusher

"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
I prefer no sensuality in games, but if they decide to do so, including hot trans women won't be a problem for the players , right.
If devs model the character like Eve, gamers won't even notice the difference.
 
Last edited:

jason10mm

Gold Member
Women hate what they want to be.
I think this is a bit of a psychology difference between men and women. Men see Arnold Schwarzeneggar on screen and think "hell's yeah, I could look like that with a few weeks in the gym! Let's kick some ass!" and they put themselves into him as their avatar.

But women see Margot Robie in a bikini and they think "damn that skinny bitch I could never look that good I bet my husband wishes I looked like that I hate myself now yum this ice cream is really good oh no my pants are already feeling tight why did I eat the whole tub oh well the diet will start tomorrow oh hey that bikini is really nice I wonder if I will look that good in it let me look on amazon oh wow there is a sale on shoes will a size 6 fit it never has before but i'm feeling petite today back to bikini I think I can lose some weight so lets order the xsmall it will help me stay focused oh look my husband just licked his lips for sure that jerk wishes he could be with margot robie no chance of him getting lucky tonight!"
 
I think this is a bit of a psychology difference between men and women. Men see Arnold Schwarzeneggar on screen and think "hell's yeah, I could look like that with a few weeks in the gym! Let's kick some ass!" and they put themselves into him as their avatar.

But women see Margot Robie in a bikini and they think "damn that skinny bitch I could never look that good I bet my husband wishes I looked like that I hate myself now yum this ice cream is really good oh no my pants are already feeling tight why did I eat the whole tub oh well the diet will start tomorrow oh hey that bikini is really nice I wonder if I will look that good in it let me look on amazon oh wow there is a sale on shoes will a size 6 fit it never has before but i'm feeling petite today back to bikini I think I can lose some weight so lets order the xsmall it will help me stay focused oh look my husband just licked his lips for sure that jerk wishes he could be with margot robie no chance of him getting lucky tonight!"
I haven't read a character's stream of consciousness this fleshed out and realized since James Joyce's Ulysses.
 

Gp1

Member
Let me tell you a secret...

If anyone has the chance to be your current self or the sexy Victoria secret model (or to be the 80's Dolph Lundgren, for men) without the hassle to get there (or born again in some cases :) they would choose the Victoria Secrets model every single time.

The truth is... Being the fat blue hair pixie weirdo is way easier, but not as desirable, than being a Victoria Secret model.

But deep inside, despite all the acceptance, no one likes to be fat blue hair pixie weirdo.
 

EN250

Member
"in a surprising twist, female participants—despite generally disliking highly sexualized characters—were more likely to choose these characters when given the option to play as one"

You're welcome to self-insert living a virtual fantasy, if I wanted to look ugly as fook, I'd just look at the mirror

The purple forum must be seething at this astounding revelation 🤣
 

Bombolone

Gold Member
Research methods aside.
Woman don’t have the balls (literally/figuratively) to rock the boat of ‘Sister Hood’
Asking a woman to be openly critical of Women is a fools errand.
Toxic positivity and defence of the ‘Infallible’ image of Woman will always take precedent.

Not surprised by the results of the survey.
Still love them to death but this is just one of many of those human things humans do that make us flawed hypocrites.
 

Bernardougf

Member
Yes, sexiness sells.
In other news, water is wet.
For some bubbles or groups this news is like discovering the earth is not flat. Is easy to forget the crazy times we leave with absolutely a lot of retarded people with hive minds.

More funny is the research saying that "woman generally dont like the characters but prefer to play as them" contradictory bullshit just to soften the blow.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I think this is a bit of a psychology difference between men and women. Men see Arnold Schwarzeneggar on screen and think "hell's yeah, I could look like that with a few weeks in the gym! Let's kick some ass!" and they put themselves into him as their avatar.

But women see Margot Robie in a bikini and they think "damn that skinny bitch I could never look that good I bet my husband wishes I looked like that I hate myself now yum this ice cream is really good oh no my pants are already feeling tight why did I eat the whole tub oh well the diet will start tomorrow oh hey that bikini is really nice I wonder if I will look that good in it let me look on amazon oh wow there is a sale on shoes will a size 6 fit it never has before but i'm feeling petite today back to bikini I think I can lose some weight so lets order the xsmall it will help me stay focused oh look my husband just licked his lips for sure that jerk wishes he could be with margot robie no chance of him getting lucky tonight!"
Men and women are just different.

Anyone out there thinking there’s zero differences doesn’t understand science. Men and women are built differently physically and psychologically.

It’s like telling toilet humour jokes. I’d bet any money there would be more guys finding it funny while women would be more grossed out by it.

High school was similar. Guys could get into literal fist fights one day and then next week are chill playing on the same team in gym class. The girls won’t fight but could be catty towards each other all year.
 
Last edited:
Going by the headline, That's the trouble with the world right now lol, they like what they hate, yeah i don't get it
Actually, it's that they've been taught to hate the things that they like.
That's why women's self reported happiness has consistently dropped over the last few decades when they were supposedly "liberated'. Most women nowadays are either: A) doing things they don't naturally enjoy, because they've been told to do those things, and are miserable. or B) doing things that they do like, but have low opinion of themselves., because they've been told those thing have no value.
 

YOU PC BRO?!

Gold Member
This study confirms, admittedly on a small scale, what most of us already knew.

Women's feelings of insecurity and inadequacy often lead to the condemnation of attractive or sexy women. Unattractive women frequently behave as if attractive or sexy women don't exist and will work very hard to ensure the only females visible in any product are average at best. This extends across all entertainment. Though, it doesn't extend to men so they are left shirtless and romanticised (effeminate as its the only way women can relate).

Ultimately, it is exclusionary and unhealthy behaviour centred around the insecurities of unattractive woman. Attractive women don't feel threatened and thusly, don't really care.
 
Last edited:

Sentenza

Member
The same as men. Dudes want to look like 30 year old Tom Cruise, not someone unattractive.
Sure, but the main difference is that men (as a broad group) rarely -if ever-complained about "the unfair standards of male beauty" set by stud male protagonists, in games, comics or what else.
Paradoxically, it started to happen more in the last few years, just as some form of reactionary answer to women doing the same thing.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Sure, but the main difference is that men (as a broad group) rarely -if ever-complained about "the unfair standards of male beauty" set by stud male protagonists, in games, comics or what else.
Paradoxically, it started to happen more in the last few years, just as some form of reactionary answer to women doing the same thing.

Well.....yeah but that's due to men running most of the industry. We always create things we like. Women were never in a position to create the female characters they'd like to see on the screen.
 

winjer

Gold Member
For some bubbles or groups this news is like discovering the earth is not flat. Is easy to forget the crazy times we leave with absolutely a lot of retarded people with hive minds.

More funny is the research saying that "woman generally dont like the characters but prefer to play as them" contradictory bullshit just to soften the blow.

Truth be told, men also like to see or play as male characters that are handsome, fit, cool, suave, etc.
It's part of the fantasy of, for a moment, not being a regular guy, with a regular job, doing regular things.
We crave for a bit of emotion, fantasy, adventure, sensuality, etc.
Games and movies are supposed to do that.
 
Last edited:

HAYA8U5A

Member
artworks-000241892976-0gq4pk-t1080x1080.jpg


She kicks high.

concord-860x484.webp


She has high cholesterol.

Why wouldn't one of those be more appealing?
Jim Carrey Alrighty Then GIF by Ace Ventura
 

kevboard

Member
the fact that all those chinese, korean and japanese gatcha games have a really big female playerbase is evidence enough for this

because all those gatcha games have 1 thing in common. and that is WAIFUS...

 
Well.....yeah but that's due to men running most of the industry. We always create things we like. Women were never in a position to create the female characters they'd like to see on the screen.


Women go for beauty regardless, because they self-insert much more than men and no woman wants to look ugly, ever.

People who purposely create ugly characters are mentally ill and perceive themselves as ugly or freaks from a Tim Burton movie. You just need to check the kind of people who designed the characters of Concord or DA. They arent women.
 

Fess

Member
Truth be told, men also like to see or play as male characters that are handsome, fit, cool, suave, etc.
It's part of the fantasy of, for a moment, not being a regular guy, with a regular job, doing regular things.
We crave for a bit of emotion, fantasy, adventure, sensuality, etc.
Games and movies are supposed to do that.
Yeah this is spot on. Gaming is entertainment and escapism. That’s why devs that push these agendas to bring ugliness or real life problems into gaming are completely missing the point. Nobody wants that. Or at least not a big enough audience that it would make sense to focus on that tiny group,
 

Loboxxx

Member
You don’t have to be sharp as a lynx to know that we all appreciate nice things, and when it comes to choosing a hero or heroine, we want them to be cool, charismatic, or attractive, and if they can be all three, even better. That’s just how the world is, and that’s human nature. Trying to go against this by putting anodyne, unattractive, unusual, or even bizarre protagonists is a recipe for failure in the commercial entertainment market, and it will likely always be that way.
 

jcorb

Member
Honestly, this shit is super obvious, I think as a society we just over-analyze and overthink everything. In every form of storytelling, from folklore to religion, the "good guy(s)" are almost always described as being very conventionally attractive. That in, in large part, because we want to see ourselves in them, and we want to ascribe that with physical fitness and attractiveness as well.

Now to be clear, I think we would all agree as a real-life society, we should seek to judge people based on the merits of their character or their actions over their appearance, but as I said, I also think we get way too bogged-down with overthinking this stuff. People want to be attractive, and look at attractive people. And in video games especially, where you get to "be" the character, it's an opportunity to "be" attractive.
 
Yeah I've been conducting this research myself by watching many female streamers over the past decade and noticing that the majority prefer to play as sexy characters.
 

Mister Wolf

Gold Member
Men and women are just different.

Anyone out there thinking there’s zero differences doesn’t understand science. Men and women are built differently physically and psychologically.

It’s like telling toilet humour jokes. I’d bet any money there would be more guys finding it funny while women would be more grossed out by it.

High school was similar. Guys could get into literal fist fights one day and then next week are chill playing on the same team in gym class. The girls won’t fight but could be catty towards each other all year.
Agreed.


Dr David Buss ran this same study over 30 year ago using 37 different cultures and got the same results:




It's not society. It's biology. All human societies and cultures were shaped around biology. Buss wrote this book based on his findings:

The-Evolution-of-Desire-Strategies-of-Human-Mating-Edition-4-Paperback-9780465097760_8c2e4e09-712f-4c0e-a090-beb5e30f9428_1.bd1a1004cd20b259ff19acd7579dec91.jpeg
 
Last edited:
this just in, guys rather play as buff dudes rather than skinny or fat dudes
I was going to say, the people that complain about characters being over sexualized etc., are the minority.

The majority of girls think the same way that guys do. They'll pic the character with bigger boobs because either they think it's funny or they have a fantasy of having bigger boobs and that's really it.

Same way guys fantasize about having muscles.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I expected this to be another GAF>internet>GAF moment.
Anyway, don't we have around 5000 years of evidence that people like attractive people more than ugly people? We've probably found out that air is necessary for life quite a bit later than that.
 

Gamerguy84

Member
Hell yes they do. They wanna be that badass sexy bitch. They angry because they aint and get mad at those that come close.

Just like Halloween. Women love Halloween because it's the one day a year they can dress up like the biggest slut they want and no one can say a word.
 

nkarafo

Member
Dear human being, do you engage with escapist media to experience life as:

a) the thoroughly mediocre piece of shit you are?
b) the smoking-hot, slick-talking, danger-flirting bad-ass you wish you were?
The problem with (a lot of) women is envy. They absolutely hate it when other women are better than them.

Men can feel it too but they are more relaxed and the vast majority can enjoy ripped action heroes.
 
Last edited:

jason10mm

Gold Member
Well.....yeah but that's due to men running most of the industry. We always create things we like. Women were never in a position to create the female characters they'd like to see on the screen.
I dunno, there are plenty of female created fantasy/sci-fi stuff out there and all the women are still sexy. This "women must look like the statistical average woman in all respects" fad is fairly recent, mostly as a #metoo offshoot.
 

Geometric-Crusher

"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
beauty is a social convention and the current convention is that everyone is beautiful and that is the purest truth, perhaps it is necessary to add even more characters that look like the people we see on the streets.
 

Zacfoldor

Member
EVERYBODY DOES!

Everybody is drawn to attractive characters. It improves the experience.

The reason we can't have attractive characters is because it is seen by casuals as evidence gaming is for men. This social construct, the belief that sexy women in games are meant to appeal to this "male gaze" is what causes devs and consultants to make female avatars ugly. Or actually, just not pretty enough to matter.

The whole ugly representation thing isn't real. Ugly people don't even want their own representation in games. I sure don't and I'm possibly ugly as fuck.

The reason is simple. When anyone who has preconceptions about games being for nerds and incels, and they see titties hanging out, they immediately say "SEE! SEE! We told you who this was for. It isn't for me, it's for them, and I don't want this shit!" So they have to make them ugly to compensate for the prejudice of casuals against gamers.

In reality, if the bonkers casuals could leave their own prejudice against us behind, we could all finally play with characters that we enjoy.

Furthermore, those same casuals are just toying with you psychology and you refuse to accept it. They will NEVER, N E V E R care about gaming. N E V E R be core gamers. They will just play mental gymnastics with you about reasons why they won't. If you "fix" one reason they will just come up with another that they won't play. This is your modern audience that will never support you.

Give us back our beautiful characters or you will end up like Concord, and stop chasing these non-gamer casuals, core industry. You will chase that golden whale right off a cliff everytime.
 
Last edited:

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It’s natural for people to like attractive people or houses or cars etc… why wants to stare at dumpy stuff?

The world would be a better looking place if people took care of themselves better and didn’t act like slobs. Do you want to eat a plate of food that looks decent? Or prefer eating something spooned out of a can and plopped on your plate?

You don’t need to be a supermodel or super fit exercise guru to look good. Some people don’t like attractive things because they are jealous slobs who nobody wants to talk to. They probably act weird, have poor manners and smell too. Look and act better and more people will like you at home and work.
 
Last edited:

REMAINSILLY

Member
this just in, guys rather play as buff dudes rather than skinny or fat dudes

In games that have character creators I make myself. I am a fat, bearded white dude. I make myself because I like myself.

However, if the character I play in a game is a BUFF ass dude, I think that's cool as fuck, too (Space Marine 2 comes to mind).

I also love playing as cute girls like in Stellar Blade and Neir.
 
Top Bottom