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Mass Effect players who picks the starting version of the game's Commander Shepard character are a rare breed, according to BioWare. The studio says that a mere 13 percent of players pick the default version of the male avatar. The remaining 87 percent tweak the character's appearance, class, or gender, before heading out for the stars.
That bit of information comes from an interview with BioWare's marketing director, David Silverman. Speaking to VG24/7, Silverman discusses the allure of female Shepard in particular, who he says 18 percent of players choose in one form or another. So far, the company hasn't shown off the female version in any of the promotional materials leading up to Mass Effect 3. BioWare says that will be changing soon, with an appearance in an upcoming trailer as well as on the box of the collector's edition of the game.
Silverman says he's been surprised by the amount of interest that Shepard's female version has generated, but that it's something that the team has embraced. “There aren’t enough female heroes in games in general, so it’s something that people can rally around and celebrate," he says, adding "Jennifer Hale does an absolutely incredible job doing the voice of FemShep, so people really connect with that.”
I've played through Mass Effect twice, as both male and female versions of Shepard, before deciding to continue the series as female Shepard. I just felt that Hale's voice acting was far better than Mark Meer's, as good as his work might have been. Did any of you have a similar experience?
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I honestly had no idea you could play as a male or female. Maybe I should play this game.
I really need to start over at the beginning and make a FemShep completely opposite to the characters I usually create.
I am one that tends to keep the version they present, whether it be out of laziness or the desire to experience the game the way the dev intended.
Any time I play a game where you can choose your gender and the choice makes a difference, I always play through at least twice. This includes Mass Effect, where I have at least three female profiles and at least twice as many male profiles. That having been said, I am more comfortable playing as a male character since I am male; as such, my "main" file is a male Shepard.
i would just stick to the default guy :/
I've played more female Shepard than male Shepard. It must take a lot of planning and foresight to develop the story compatible with two sexes, multiple classes and backstories.
Anytime I am given a choice to customize my character's appearance in a game I always just go with whatever the default appearance is. I could care less.
I played through many times alternatig the first two times I alternated between male and female characters. All other playthroughs were with females however because Jennifer Hale did a much better job although Mark Meer's acting was not terrible.
I have Male Shep as my good, Fem Shep as my renegade. My Fem Shep is a ***!
I'm a girl, and I played as default male Shepard. I really like how the default looks, it just looks right to me. I didn't mind the femshep, but she didn't seem like she really fit to me. I guess I started off with maleshep in ME1 and never really looked twice at the girl once I got into 2 because I imported... I don't know. I like how the default looks, and I thought he was interesting. He could be really inspirational when he wanted. I also played a default Hawke in DA2 as well, so maybe I just like the creator's customizing best. I really hope that they do more of the DA2 stuff for ME3, like altering how the voice sounds depending on how you play, letting you date everyone, etc. That would be hella awesome, and was one of my favorite parts of DA2.
Interesting.
I've always played as the default male Shepard. That's just the look that fits for me.
Mark meer is preferenced to my liking. not a fan of hale.
Male Shepard seemed to have the same answer to everything. Pretty much every sentence had the same tone, the same delivery. Jennifer Hale had much better variety in her acting, and that's why I stuck with her.
I havent played ME as female cause the game takes to long and i dnt want to play it again!But,i have played as female on Reach and her voice is pretty cool.
I've done a few playthroughs and I like them both the same. I never use the default of either. The default male looks kind of like a tool.
I love Hale's voice work in the series. She just has that certain "attitude" that makes us pay more attention to what's happening in the games. Mark Meer's work is excellent, don't get me wrong. He is the perfect one to voice the Male Shepard. he just doesn't add enough of that spunk Hale constantly do. I'm actually one of the few whop uses the default Male Shepard on my first playthrough.