Atractive male characters in games, your opinions.

[sassy_mendigo]

I don't play gay masculine-oriented games but I noticed something. Male characters in gay games are drawn to be attractive, (fit, bara, chubby, bearish...)
While in straight games, male characters always fall into
>faceless shadow figure
>disgusting slob, dirty old man, fat otaku, filthy hobo, or something in between
>giga chad thundershock that will NTR you in your current life and your next 5 lives reincarnations
>cute shota, or girly femboy/trans character that usually is just a girl with a penis

This is a question for both gay and straight folk. If male characters (not all of them) in straight porn games were depicted like they are in gay games (attractive),
would this enhance or bother your experience (or not bother you at all)?

 

[Sole]

Having an attractive MC wouldn't bother me, but I don't particularly find the MC's(or most other characters) from most gay games attractive. They'd just blend in to the crowd, alongside other so called by the dev(s) attractive/handsome MC's that many call ugly.

If your judging purely on looks I would instead ask how would you feel about the faceless shadow figure being used as an MC in gay games? The shadowy MC's tend to be fit/handsome just lacking presence for the sake of highlighting their partners traits.

If your judging by how well the characters would fit in well, some games just don't work with actual MC busts because the POV's are based on a transparent MC, others wouldn't because the plot is based on a "loser/outcast/different" MC, and other's would be fine they just wouldn't stand out at all.

 

[baneini]

Male characters in gay porn games or female romance novels/manga are tuned to be more attractive to non-straight male audience, that doesn't mean they're attractive to straight men, actually they look cartoony and uncanny.
It would simply be off putting to have bara body type or those small head/big hand character designs in a scene where the design serves no meaning while making the scene weird. Same goes for clothing, any game targeting straight men that has a guy in stripper clothing in them is making a mistake.
If the guy isn't the point it's fine if they're invisible during the scenes.

Now I don't think jap tropes of obscene/faceless males add any value compared to a more realistic depiction either, they're just shorthand's when the author doesn't know any better.

 

[Rafster]

This is a question for both gay and straight folk. If male characters (not all of them) in straight porn games were depicted like they are in gay games (attractive),
would this enhance or bother your experience (or not bother you at all)?

It will enhance it. I can play straight games if I see enough of the male characters...and them being attractive is a plus. For me is a yes.

 

[Kravnos]

If you play any illusion games, an attractive male character could just be a hot chick with dick...

That being said, there aren't that many options or male character creation out there. Having the option to highly edit a male character to your liking would be nice for everyone involved.

 

[johnreturns]

I think having an appearance is better than not having an appearance, and a generic appearance is one step above being a silhouette. Male characters should match the general attractiveness of the rest of your game unless there is a compelling reason not to do so.

Hell, I prefer male characters have a personality, too. Ever notice how a lot of VNs only offer romance options, but not friendship options? And if you do have a friend, frequently you take advantage of them.

 

[bobdickgus]

I generally prefer MC faceless POV style and I don't care about male npc's at all except for Stabby Mike of course.

 

[thatguy49]

Coming from a bisexual perspective, I find some of the gay game characters a little too campy, but I'm also not a fan of the afterthought straight MC's either. However, it couldn't hurt to spice up some of the straight male characters, they don't need to be a sexy god, but it seems like most of them use similar models.

I do agree with an earlier comment about seeing platonic friendships among guys that don't dissolve into netori/netorare material.

 

[Mimir's Lab]

Depends on the game. If it's a story about a super attractive male MC getting all the girls then he needs to be attractive. If it's a story about an ugly bastard blackmailing girls then he needs to be ugly. Really, the design of the character matters more than whether or not he's attractive. I think every character design should speak to the personality behind the design. If I can get a general idea of who your character is based solely on his design, whether he is attractive or not does not add or detract from the experience unless being attractive directly conflicts with his character design.

 

[SpoiledPrince]

Not every gay game depicts 'roidbeasts, and of course, not every gay man likes bodybuilders or bears. Freudian daddy/bully issues aside, Japanese bara is much more diverse than those two stereotypes (often drawn by monothematic Occidentals, btw) and strives to offer realism to the depiction of gay sex and relationships, something that apparently has been lost in translation.
IMHO, there's an over-representation of marginal, niche gay subcultures in these Western media. Most irl couples are average people of average weight, and when someone mentions the word "fit", they are more often referring to a lean, athletic body like those of swimmers and gymnasts than to... well... what you mentioned.

 

[Losersriot]

I only play games with a female protagonist. I don't play gay games and games with a male protagonist. I am attracted to men not by their physique, but by their behavior. The physique can be any, although I personally like fat bald shorties with a small penis. The main thing is that they have a Temperament - either angry, irritable, aggressive, domineering, or... vice versa, kind, caring like a loving sugar daddy.
I also like bullies and rapists, I like it when my boyfriend beats me sometimes.

A man is not an appearance. A man is a behavior. A woman is an appearance.

 

[Erloriel]

Generally I don't usually pay that much attention to the male characters in sex and it helps me if they are non-human (think robots, monsters, tentacles, or whatever), since I then see no attachment to them and can focus on the female. But, if we are going to have human males in something, I'd greatly prefer them to be the athletic, quiet, pretty type, since that is the least distracting to me.

I never got the fat-bastard fetish, since that really puts me off and makes the smut in question unwatchable. The hyper-chad fuckboy type also distracts me, along with any other people where I don't have a high opinion of their lifestyle or general behavior. Really weird to think about it, since in normal social behavior, I get along pretty well with almost anyone, but when it comes to porn, I guess the extremely private nature of it makes me very particular in my likes and dislikes.

So in short: Yes, unattractive characters in general distract me and hamper my arousal.

 

[Carrera]

I'd prefer all my characters, male or female, to be "normal".

edit goes here --- Except for when called to be otherwise, like being a super hero they might be buff, or they get cursed and part of the curse is a 5ft long dong or something.

 

[woody554]

I don't mind them being attractive, but they should always be failed human beings. there's nothing worse than an attractive winner.

 

[GingerSweetGirl]

OMG, games are sooooo lacking in good looking male characters. I understand the reality of the situation, and I know that I'm going to be seeing lots of beautiful/outrageous female models, but would it kill someone to pair them up with male models that had more than five minutes of effort? And no, ugly old men don't count. It would be nice to see more attractive 30 year old male characters, it would go a long way to making games more enjoyable for me.

 

[GreenGobbo]

Really don't care one way or the other whether or not the MC is handsome.
Honestly, I prefer it when the whole game is from the MC's pov with the face never being shown.
That said, I do have one huuuge complaint with the MCs in most of the games where their face is shown:

Quit showing us the same damn stock male MCs over and over and over in every damn game!

 

[illusionxxx]

It would bother me. In straight games, the focus is on the woman. The male character shouldn't be too detailed or draw too much attention unless their feature is part of the fetish of the scene (gigachad/slob/aggressive dom) etc

 

[mew_rojisin]

Male characters in gay games are drawn to be attractive, (fit, bara, chubby, bearish...)

If I find this unattractive.

>cute shota, or girly femboy/trans character that usually is just a girl with a penis

But this is attractive.

How gay am I?

 

[Deleted member 2259190]

If I find this unattractive.


But this is attractive.

How gay am I?

it's not gay, you just have a penis fetish

 

[kzaazul]

I prefer normalish-looking guys.