In horror games I'm more comfortable playing the role as a side kick. Let's take Left4Dead for instance. I don't want the front and center position. If given the opportunity to let the 'stronger' character (or player) take the lead, I will do so. I suppose this is because I don't like how intense the game is, or how quickly situations change. I'm not a big fan of horror, and so when there is a zombie in a dark room somewhere, I don't want to be the first to discover it. I'm not comfortable in the skin of the leader.
In games like Skyrim, however, I usually create a character I base off of myself. While they turn out to be much different I use my same eye, hair, and skin colors to start. I'm very comfortable in my Skyrim Avatar, just because she is powerful and strong. In fact, the power of the avatar is what draws me to it. I am not as concerned with what the character is wearing if they are phsycially powerful. I'm also usually a woman character, because I am fond of breaking the idea that the Dovahkiin is a powerful male.
However, I do not always feel comfortable playing a female character. There are some games that make me nervous to be female, such as Fallout 3. The environment is not one that I trust, so I don't want to put the avatar in danger. I'm more likely to create a generic male that I send ruthlessly into the terrain. --As I'm playing Fallout 3 now, I decided to create a female character, aptly named Katniss.-- In Harvest Moon Grand Bazaar (DS) I play as a male character because the sounds are more pleasing, and because I feel more in control.
If the avatar is too powerful in society, however, I get uncomfortable. Taking position of the king or queen is not interesting to me, and while I do like to have a say in the "government," I don't want to be the one ruling it. Being Thane in several cities across Skyrim is just enough of a say for me, because I have an amplified power in society that adds to my avatar's presence.
In the Sims, I take better care of the Sims that look like myself, or like people I know. I'm less likely to remove the ladder from a pool that belongs to "me" than I am from the pool that belongs to John Doe #255.
So I'm not sure what kind of psychological analysis could be made about this, but here you go.
It's interesting that you say there are some games where you don't play as female because you don't want to put the avatar in danger. At first I was thinking: but that's what I like about having an option to be female in those kinds of games; there is no judgment passed or constant attention drawn to my femaleness that would otherwise occur in reality and oftentimes in games with a preset female lead. But thinking about it, I think I might understand where you're coming from...but since I’ve never played Fallout 3, I don't know if my theory is applicable, haha. What is exactly about its environment that makes you nervous? Is it the dystopian theme?
ReplyDeleteThe dystopian theme makes me nervous for sure. It makes me think of movies like the Book of Eli, where women are used, abused, and raped like it's no big deal. There is implied rape in Fallout, at least from my understanding, and I don't want to put anyone - even an avatar- at that risk, even though I know the actual act is never depicted.
ReplyDeleteA Google search for rape in Fallout 3 provides a mod that allows that to happen. I guess there's a mod for everything, huh?