On Customizable Avatars and Body Types
July 11th, 2007Today, I was fascinated to notice that in a forum thread I read on whether people’s avatars in online games looked like themselves, more than one woman who posted said that hers did look like herself, except “in better shape”, whereas I didn’t see any men claiming the same. [1] Aside from making me even further indignant about women, by and large, being taught to hate their bodies, this got me thinking about how I myself select player characters when given a number of choices.
It’s quite rare that I specifically create my player characters to look exactly like myself, particularly when there’s the choice to look like an awesome green-skinned alien or whatnot, but I do feel that the characters I choose tend to represent how I perceive myself in essence. However, one commonality I find is that I specifically avoid stereotypical thin, delicate female characters. I’m pretty sure that this has a lot to do with the fact that my own body is short, thick, and curvy, and that I’m quite satisfied with such an arrangement.
When I play as a male character, [2] I seem to be more accepting of choosing a thin, wiry body type to represent myself. I think that the reason for this is that a thin woman is connoted to be “sexy” in North American society, [3] whereas a comparatively thin man is seen as “geeky”. Since I have no particular desire to be ogled as an object, and have an underdog mentality that makes me empathize a lot with geekiness, it’s no surprise that I’d choose the latter over the former.
I’ve also noticed that when playing fighting games in particular, I always go for the largest, strongest, monster-like characters available. Aside from the fact that they tend to be the ones who look the coolest, I also think it might have to do with my growing up as the eldest in my family, and using my larger size and weight to keep my younger siblings in line throughout childhood. Of course, there’s also the fact that I’m terrible at fighting games and usually play them by button-mashing rather than memorizing elaborate key-sequences.
And I guess that’s it for my short psychology experiment. Now, tell me, captive audience, how do you select your player characters, and what do you think are your motivations behind doing so?
- Well, not yet, anyway. ↩
- This happens more often than it normally would, given that in many cases, the selection of female avatars is limited enough for me to not be able to choose one that I would identify with. ↩
- At least, this is the case with thin women as represented in games, who have a perfect set of breasts and a cute little butt to go along with their thinness. If, say, such women were flat as well as thin, this connotation probably wouldn’t apply. ↩
July 11th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Interesting points.
I find that I generally play fairly average looking avatars, but that I’m not averse to playing relatively attractive female characters, usually because the dialogue is more intelligent. And I’d rather follow a backside that I find attractive than boring. I’m fussy and decadent, but you knew that.
That said, short, thick and curvy sounds like an avatar I’d be more than willing to follow through a few landscapes.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
That remark seems to be treading a fine line between flattery and offensiveness. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt this time, but only because I actually know you. If it were someone else, though, you’d better believe I’d be flaming them like crazy.
Anyway, it’s very interesting that you refer to yourself as “following” your avatar rather than “being” them, and that tends to echo frequent statements by other men implying that they dissociate from their avatars when they play as women, thinking of themselves as “controlling” them rather than identifying with them. With the intelligent dialogue statement, do you mean it in the way that you would rather “be” a person who speaks intelligently as opposed to one who doesn’t, or in the way that you like to stand back and admire intelligent women?
July 11th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
It’s similar to when I read protagonists in books. It’s not so much that I disassociate or want to control them as I have trouble identifying with or caring for them if they don’t solve problems in a fashion I can be entertained by. I enjoyed playing a little bit of Lara Croft: Legend, but because every problem was solved with guns and acrobatics, I lost interest quickly. Whereas, April Ryan was easy to follow through her adventures, even when they consisted of annoying puzzles that made no sense.
And I’m not always worthy of your admiration. But I respect you, even as I adore you. Take me as you will.
July 11th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Ah, so you like playing as April Ryan for the same reason I like playing as Guybrush Threepwood. I get it. Thanks for clarifying.
July 11th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I haven’t played many games that have customisable avatars. Actually, I can only think of one: Rayman: Raving Rabbits. I tend to go for the coolest outfit (Rayman’s own hair, the gangsta glasses, and the rest disco.) That’s only borderline what you’re talking about, though, since it’s a very cool and crazy game that encourages a cool and crazy look. In a more “normal” game, I’d probably go for something more low key - or pick the craziest thing just for fun, but if you’d meet me in an online game, odds are I’d look pretty similar to me.
However “looking pretty similar to me” is a very wide statement. In some ways I feel that Frasse and Gurra are similar to me. More so than any of the human characters in my game. I don’t mean simply in personality, but I think they look more like me too, in a way. (But this may be related to how people look different to us when we get to know them. It’s often stated that people we like look better to us. I think that’s true. At least in some way. Just as names get connected with the people that wear them.)
Why do people pick avatars that are like them? In part to have it represent them in a good way, but they (we) also pick what they’re most comfortable with. I’ll leave you to ponder the consequences of that. (And decide to what extent that statement is true.)
July 11th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I’m a big fan of the Rayman disco outfit, too.
Also, the player characters (and some of the NPCs as well) in games I create are definitely extensions of myself to some degree.
July 11th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Well, I’m not sure how much women are taught to hate their bodies. I think they do that pretty well on their own. It’s just that the commercial world FEEDS off of it.
That said, I usually pick huge, voluptuous amazon women as my characters. Not only do they look good, but they kick ass. Also, I think I tend to pick this for the same reason you pick geeky guys. When I do pick a guy character, I usually try to make them very idiosyncratic - picking a totally short, reedy wimp (cause it’s cool to watch him then mop the floor with hundreds of bad guys) or just overblow the ‘macho’ end of the scale, giving him every ridiculous feature I can.
August 1st, 2007 at 9:04 am
Hello Deirdra. I was listening to NPR radio on Tuesday, and was startled to hear a story about Gaming Avatars. I immediately thought of your post on this subject. You can both read and hear it at this link if you like: Click here: NPR Radio: Alter Egos in a Virtual World: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12263532
BTW, I recommend your work on the “Uplifting Games” category on my blog MusEditions. Thanks for your insightful articles.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:37 pm
I meant to also say that the two things that particularly struck me about the NPR report are the people whose self-images are enhanced in “real life” (whatever that is) when they play with a strong avatar; and I was moved at the photos of a profoundly disabled man who can hardly move in life, but is able to play a strong and active character in the games. I wonder how it affects you as a game designer to have game elements make such a profound difference for people. You are obviously a socially conscious developer. Rock on!
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:59 pm
“I wonder how it affects you as a game designer to have game elements make such a profound difference for people.”
Well, for starters, it makes me long to create games that are meaningful rather than purely entertaining.
“You are obviously a socially conscious developer. Rock on!”
You have no idea how much it means for me to read this. Thank you.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:42 pm
When I make an avatar, it always turns out- indescribable. I finally gave up and typically go with the default.
By the way, Uru has a good avatar creator…
October 28th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
when i make an avatar its usualy easy for me if the caracters are long and thin.thats why when the characters are more cartooney and are short,thick and curvy its harder for me to chose a character.(by the way when i say “its harder for me to chose a character when they are short,thick and curvy” i realy dont mean it as a bad thing i acually wish i were more curvy)
May 17th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
If there is any option to add animal to the avatar, like dog ears, any tails, etc. i jump on that faster than desertfolk on water. i love furries, and just any animalistic folk. why? probaly has spomething to do with growing up in a house with lots, and i mean lots, of pets. they were my only company when my single-mom had to work overtime alot. but anyway, when animal features are not an option, i almost never pick something that looks like me. the only time i have is when i made a mii for my wii. i focus heavy on “cool” clothes, and great color combinations. crazy outfits i’d never feel comfortable in public. i tend to pick a body type similiar to mine through, because i love myself:) that would be meduim, definatly not overweight, but enough curves to please me and my husband. 5′4″ and 140lbs