Why Do You Not Play Female Protagonist Gamess?

[Sin_Mechero]

I don't play them for several reasons.
Firstly because most of them consist of making the main character as corrupt as possible.
Second, if all the content is girl on girl, I get bored after a couple of scenes.
Thirdly, what I like the most in these games is to discover the personality of the Li and choose the one I like the most, and if the Mc is a girl I can't because I don't like men.

 

[woody554]

I think that's just based on your capacity for empathy

I think it's based on my capacity to enjoy giving but not taking.

 

[JoleenStar]

I don't want to chase dick or let dick happen to me. I'd rather chase the girls I want.

 

[Mr_Ainz]

I'd say I never self-insert in any game I play, at least that's my conclusion from reading about how others feel. When I play a game I'm always an spectator to the story unfolding. For example in a game like "Baldur's Gate 3" I'd come up with a character design and background and then try to make decisions based on what I think aligns best with that character. I don't care for gender, sometimes I want a female character and others a male character.

The problem I have with porn games is that most follow the same recipe of a male MC with no distinguishable traits and a cast of women who fall for him (or his dick) without too much hassle.

Now I'll say that the games with female MC have this problem too, almost all the Japanese games with a female lead are about corruption where men rape and mind-break the protagonist into a sex-fiend.

When the story and characters are good I don't mind it so much but I hardly ever find one that speaks to me.

 

[Northern_Blade]

Okay that's still a bad take. It's a perfectly acceptable reason to skip any game. "Good" is always going to be subjective. The ONLY problem with it is when people announce their dislike in the game threads.

I've seen so many Female Protagonist games with comment: "Looks interesting, but since Female Protagonist, hard pass." If these ppl were creators themselves and knew how much work went into producing each game, maybe they'd be abit more sensitive before leaving comments. (Then again, you also need thick skin to be a gamedev lol, so if that's how ppl truly feel that by all means express yourself.)

I'd say I never self-insert in any game I play, at least that's my conclusion from reading about how others feel. When I play a game I'm always an spectator to the story unfolding. For example in a game like "Baldur's Gate 3" I'd come up with a character design and background and then try to make decisions based on what I think aligns best with that character. I don't care for gender, sometimes I want a female character and others a male character.

The problem I have with porn games is that most follow the same recipe of a male MC with no distinguishable traits and a cast of women who fall for him (or his dick) without too much hassle.

Now I'll say that the games with female MC have this problem too, almost all the Japanese games with a female lead are about corruption where men rape and mind-break the protagonist into a sex-fiend.

When the story and characters are good I don't mind it so much but I hardly ever find one that speaks to me.

True, that makes sense.
I guess there's two ways to relate to the protagonist: as an intimate spectator, or as a placeholder for yourself.

With the amount of media portraying characters nothing like ourselves, I'm surprised more people can't switch between these two modes.

 

[nulnil]

I'm just not into roleplaying being fucked by guys.

Hold on, let me do my strawmanning.

Ahem.

(In response to "why don't you play male protagonist games")
I'm just not a virgin incel with zero social skills.

...

So the issue with what you said is that you are assuming everyone who does X must also be Y. In other words, not everyone playing female protagonist games is 'roleplaying being fucked by guys'.

 

[woody554]

not everyone playing female protagonist games is 'roleplaying being fucked by guys'.

they're getting excited by experiencing the story from the viewpoint of the woman. a lot of them also prefer experiencing it from the viewpoint of a woman rather than man. and finally, a lot of them get angry even reading that someone else does NOT get excited by experiencing the story of being fucked from the viewpoint of a woman, as it implies there's a reason why they do.

 

[Meaning Less]

they're getting excited by experiencing the story from the viewpoint of the woman.

You are talking about otome games, which are a rarity amongst femprotag games.

Most female protag games are actually targeted to males that want to see the protagonist in lewd situations and not the other way around as you are assuming there.

 

[TessaXYZ]

And make me pass the game.

I don't care female protagonists. After all I'm not here to play "middle aged guy fuck his middle aged wife" games, but to give up to some fantasy, following stories that I'll not experience in my life. And what's more "there's absolutely no way that I experience this" than being a woman ?
But in the same time, if I choose to play a female protagonist game at that time, it's precisely because I don't want to see dicks. What also mean that if the said protagonist game don't have a pure lesbian route, I'm out.

The only exception is the game about a certain grandma and her sharing grandson. But hush, no need to tell it to mister I.

And that's perfectly fine. Everyone has preferences.

For me, personally, the dick isn't the issue in enjoying hetero content. It's the male form and general masculine qualities that I'm not attracted to, nor do I relate to any of the norms in these games in a way that I can self-insert as any character in it. Pure lesbian content is fine, but — again, in my personal experience and others have different preferences — it's not enough for me. In my game I can include both futa-on-female content and lesbian content, and everyone's good with it because the people in this space are interested in the female form, and not necessarily in the specific genitals. Futa simply enables the act of actual penetration without having to onboard masculine qualities, which a lot of people prefer.

 

[Northern_Blade]

they're getting excited by experiencing the story from the viewpoint of the woman. a lot of them also prefer experiencing it from the viewpoint of a woman rather than man. and finally, a lot of them get angry even reading that someone else does NOT get excited by experiencing the story of being fucked from the viewpoint of a woman, as it implies there's a reason why they do.

I think most guys playing a female protagonistic see it from 3rd person. They're not picturing themselves in the female perspective, but watching a beautiful women get fucked. As a bonus, you get to play director and put her in all sorts of scenarios too.

It would actually be cool to have a corruption game be playable as both a voyeuristic 3rd person, and a first person experiential. It'll have to be well written though, maybe some sort of "female-friendly/otome corruption game" lol.

 

[F4C430]

I've seen so many Female Protagonist games with comment: "Looks interesting, but since Female Protagonist, hard pass." If these ppl were creators themselves and knew how much work went into producing each game, maybe they'd be abit more sensitive before leaving comments. (Then again, you also need thick skin to be a gamedev lol, so if that's how ppl truly feel that by all means express yourself.)

I almost exclusively play female protagonist games and i've seen plenty of those comments in game threads too but that's a different matter than this thread topic. It's not like everyone who doesn't want to play female protagonist is leaving a useless comment like that.

And no, they shouldn't feel free to express themselves when threads are clearly tagged with something they don't like.

 

[woody554]

It would actually be cool to have a corruption game be playable as both a voyeuristic 3rd person, and a first person experiential. It'll have to be well written though, maybe some sort of "female-friendly/otome corruption game" lol.

it would, but there's a bunch of people here with seething rage against voyeurism, calling all voyeurists creeps and rapists. I mean look at any game with a shower peeping scene and you'll quickly spot them.

there's a lot of sick angry people here, and they're not the ones having some rare fetishes.

 

[nulnil]

they're getting excited by experiencing the story from the viewpoint of the woman. a lot of them also prefer experiencing it from the viewpoint of a woman rather than man. and finally, a lot of them get angry even reading that someone else does NOT get excited by experiencing the story of being fucked from the viewpoint of a woman, as it implies there's a reason why they do.

Consider this mind-blowing, but maybe it's the pornographic content that's so exciting, not the viewpoint of a woman.

 

[Northern_Blade]

it would, but there's a bunch of people here with seething rage against voyeurism, calling all voyeurists creeps and rapists. I mean look at any game with a shower peeping scene and you'll quickly spot them.

there's a lot of sick angry people here, and they're not the ones having some rare fetishes.

It's like the age old adage: my kinks are perfect normal and healthy. Yours are gross and immoral!


Also, if we are gonna be honest, a voyeuristic kink is pretty tame and harmless in the pantheon of kinks. Plus, whenever we see a hot member of the opposite sex catch our attention, there's a little bit of that voyeur in us all.

 

[Jack Madrigal]

we all know hand-holding is the line we can't cross, that's the true taboo, you just don't do that.

 

[VS1995]

You want me to digitally dress up as a woman and get fucked by other dudes? That's 100% gay, dawg and 20% is as high as I'll go.

 

[Northern_Blade]

You want me to digitally dress up as a woman and get fucked by other dudes? That's 100% gay, dawg and 20% is as high as I'll go.

All the dudes watching lesbian porn must be trans. Imaging themselves as a girl fucking another girl.

 

[VS1995]

All the dudes watching lesbian porn must be trans. Imaging themselves as a girl fucking another girl.

Like I said, 20% is as high as I'll go, and what you described was only 10 % gay. xD

 

[GNVE]

Well if I play as a female protagonist I prefer it to be in a third person rather than first person.
What makes me hesitant to play however is that I have played games with a female protagonist where there was no agency for them. Things happened to the female protagonist rather than the female protagonist having any influence on their life. (Please note I'm not talking about kinetic novels but from the protagonists perspective).
I also have a big issue with female protagonists who are sheltered to a point where it seems they dropped in from the 18th century or so. I expect even sheltered men and women to have heard of sex/porn/masturbation even if they have no experience themselves or think it is wrong in some way.
Lastly sexual assault in the first hour of the game makes me turn it off. I can understand you wanting to tell a story like that from the female perspective but it has to be earned.

 

[Northern_Blade]

Well if I play as a female protagonist I prefer it to be in a third person rather than first person.
What makes me hesitant to play however is that I have played games with a female protagonist where there was no agency for them. Things happened to the female protagonist rather than the female protagonist having any influence on their life. (Please note I'm not talking about kinetic novels but from the protagonists perspective).
I also have a big issue with female protagonists who are sheltered to a point where it seems they dropped in from the 18th century or so. I expect even sheltered men and women to have heard of sex/porn/masturbation even if they have no experience themselves or think it is wrong in some way.
Lastly sexual assault in the first hour of the game makes me turn it off. I can understand you wanting to tell a story like that from the female perspective but it has to be earned.

Cool, thanks for the feedback! As someone writing a female protagonist AVN, I'll keep this in mind.
I think the tricky part is:
- Many female protagonist AVN players are guys, who want to see sexy scenes with the MC without too much buildup. (And probably want more groping and assault content like your typical bimbo in rapetown plot)
-Others are female players, or players who want to identify as the female: and want more agency, believable, and personality. You actually put it pretty well:The MC shouldn't be a prude from the 18th century, but sex scenes especially assault ones also have to be well-paced and earned, but also provide choice of player agency during.

It's a tricky duality to balance.