The reason why I am creating this thread and hoping to facilitate discussion is due to a recent conversation with a friend of mine. We were talking about video games and they asked me what my favorite game was. When I told them it was Dragon Age: Origins, they said they liked games where you got to create whatever character you wanted. I proceeded to say I loved games that did that and games that limit you on character type usually turned me off (unless it was super fun and interesting). When he asked me what I usually play as, I gave it some thought and said I like playing magic users and female characters. The look they gave me made me feel awkward. "You play as girls?" When given the choice, yes, I said. The conversation continued, but that look still bothers me.

Before we get into it, I want this to be a discussion, but be civil. You can disagree with someone and still be kind. Obviously we cannot control what other people say or do so if this does delve into turmoil I am happy to ask a mod to close the topic, but I would love it if we can have a nice chat about this.

I think the first time I ever felt weird about liking to play as female characters was when I played Mario kart 64 and always chose Princess Toadstool. I don't know why, I just liked her as a character. I tended to always pick her in games where she was an option. I played the other Mario games, as well as other games where you played as certain characters, but my favorites always tended to be ones where you got to choose who you wanted or, better yet, create your own character.

I mentioned that I am often turned off by games that limit your choice in character. One such example I can think of recently is Final Fantasy 15. What looks like a fantastic game turned me off as you only played as one character. Having played some of the other FF games where you played as multiple characters, this seemed odd to me. I never played it and don't intend to due to this.

Now, let's get into writing and roleplay.

I got started roleplaying in MMOs. Notably, City of Heroes, Guild Wars 2, and Tera. In these games, I played female characters. When I got into roleplay, many people assumed that, because of the character I played, I was female in real life. When I revealed I wasn't, I was met with a mix of people that didn't care and others that thought it was odd and seemed "uncomfortable" roleplaying with a guy who was playing as a girl.

I've delved into the reason why I prefer roleplaying and playing as female characters in video games or tabletop, and now in writing. One conversation I had was with someone who asked me if I was trans or wanted to be a trans woman. The answer was no. I was set in my gender identity. Another reaction was asking if I was gay. Now, obviously, I am (surprise!) but that was also a stereotype. Stereotypes are grounded on some truth for the most part, but I never felt like I preferred playing female characters because I was gay. It was just a happy accident.

Now that I am more comfortable with my sense of self, I am not bothered to let people know I prefer playing female characters (a Vampire the Masquerade game I am in assumed I was creating a male character, but when I told them I wanted to play as a female, they were super cool and inviting and I have been loving it ever since). 

So what do others think? I invite people to share stories and opinions. Are people able to play who they want when creating characters for roleplays or are there some things out of bounds (a White person roleplaying another race, a straight individual roleplaying as someone gay, etc.)

Again, please be kind!