I always played female characters, but I've drifted away from that. I've gotten tired of the skimpy clothes that MMOs always put the women in, plus it doesn't appeal to me anymore. It was bad enough that I wouldn't play games that didn't offer a female character. But now, all my MMO characters have been male.
I typically only play male characters, but sometimes I might make a female character if the male model is either too ugly, I prefer the female customization options, or there are classes that are restricted to female characters. Beyond that, I typically only play male characters.
Whichever looks better. Although on Multi-player games I always play a guy so that I don't get any awkward creepy comments.
I've played female characters in games like Fable. In Fable 2, I played a guy since I made him look attractive hahaha.
In the games that I've played, girls are usually given better design kits. In League specifically, I gravitate towards female characters, mainly because they're usually the agile, glass-cannon type character that I tend to play in those types of games. It has much more to do with finesse than gender. That being said, in games where I can switch gender I often do so, just to keep my look fresh. Maybe I'm just insane...
Mine are almost always female, to the point I sometimes avoid games in which the protagonist is male... However sometimes in some games I'll choose male purely so I can romance the girls. & I often play male characters on a 2nd or 3rd or 1000th play-through of a game I really like to make things a little different.
I agree with Illusion, I used to play male to romance gurlies c; I play female now though because I dont cheat xD
Depends on the game. I prefer male avatars, honestly, especially when it's something open ended or open to customization. I do play female characters on occasion, usually when the male's too generic or I rather like the female avatar offered...
It's hard to say. In many cases I prefer to reverse the RPG reinforced stereotypes I learned to play as a young child. Women wear robes an cast spells cuz hey, they were just born better at it, and men do all the sword fighting. I spent many years in in WoW playing a female tank which, perhaps due to the nature of the role I chose, I hardly saw others such as myself. On the flip side, can't say I recall playing many...if any....female spell casters when given the choice. To this day I find it hard to tank as a male or throw spells as a woman, I just find it less entertaining. But, I also enjoy staring at some male rear end adventuring about.