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From: buzzard@world.std.com (Sean T Barrett)
Subject: Re: PC gender in IF
Message-ID: <GF6M3M.B2I@world.std.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 14:40:34 GMT
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Dennis G. Jerz <JerzDG@uwec.edu> wrote:
>No more so than it would be necessary for the PC to be male only if
>"male-ness" is demanded by the plot or premise.  My point is, if it
>genuinely doesn't matter, any more than the color of the PC's eyes or the
>kind of shoes he/she is wearing, then little is to be gained by specifying.

The thing is, it may not "matter" and yet be torture to work around in
a small number of cases--e.g. because the character needs to be
referred to by first name.

While it is still possible to maintain ambiguity in that case (for
example see BOWL DROP TOY SLEEP PLAY), it may not be worth the effort.
And, in that case, if the gender doesn't "matter" but needs to be
revealed, I personally favor selecting females rather than males,
in some small and probably pointless attempt to redress centuries of
social injustice.

If it can be written around it, and if the character is one that you
can reasonably hope players will project *themselves* into, then by
all means keep it ambiguous. But if players will not perceive
themselves as the protagonist, I'm not sure it gains anything to
leave it unspecified.

SeanB
