Different Identities: Choosing a Gender That is Not the Same as Behind the Screen

In SWTOR, you are not asked what gender you are and then given a character that matches that gender.  Most games allow you to pick if your character is male or female.  A lot of people will choose the gender that they are for their character.   However, there are some that decide that they want to play the opposite sex.

I will say this had baffled me for a bit.  I was always wondering why a guy would want to play a girl character and vice versa.  I couldn't see me playing a male character.  Why would I want to be a guy?  Was there an advantage to being a guy?  If you can choose why choose to play what you're not.

I have a friend that plays regularly and 95% of his characters are female.  Finally, I had the guts to ask him why.  He told me it was because if he was going to look at something on the screen for a few hours while playing the game it might as well be a beautiful woman.  His characters are very nice looking ladies.  I can see his point on this.  Why not.  Still I wasn't sure about making myself a male character.

One day I said, what the hell.  I created a male gunslinger.  He is a race called the Mirialan.  This means he is a lovely shade of green.  I am quite proud of how I made my male character.  His looks aren't bad.  I had gotten some armor that really fits a gunslinger, so he is dressed rather nicely too. Whether you're male or female fashion is everything.

The real tricky thing about making this character was the name.  However, names are very difficult for either gender and sometimes you have to play with a name's spelling to get what you want.  He is named after my great grandfather.  I had to spell it a little differently to get the name.  Anyway, here is Sallvator.

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This other picture is me and my friend I play with.  We have swapped genders for the game.  He is playing his female character and I'm on my male character.  This was before the change in clothing.  I have to say my friend makes a pretty woman. 

Whether you are a guy playing a guy, a guy playing a girl, a girl playing a girl or a girl playing a guy it doesn't matter.  SWTOR is a place where you can be exactly who you want to be.  On that note, if you're one of these people who likes to flirt in games, you might want to be careful because you never know who might be behind the av.  The gender of the character might not match the gender of the person playing it.  Keep that in mind.