How do we fix male protagonists in Pokemon games? Can it be done, or should they just stop trying and make all protags female since nobody plays as the males when given a choice anyway?

>>57916807 (OP)
>How do we fix male protagonists in Pokemon games?
Allow them to use girl clothes

>>57916812
Stfu you AGP troon faggot
>>57916807 (OP)
Anyways I think they are okay up until Gen 6 with Calem being the worst Pokemon protagonist ever. None of them are cool though, unlike the protagonists in Orre. Wes instantly introduces himself as a badass chad that little boys want to self insert as. Michael is pretty good too all things considered, he still has a neat futuristic look and doesn't just look like a generic boy. So yeah the main issue is that they all look boring, even character customization does not fix the problem either since Pokemon games give you very limited choices for apparel.
The protags aren't allowed to look cool but they can look cute, and girls are always going to be cuter than boys, so that is why many players gravitate towards the female protags, even though that is what we call a total troon move.

>>57916835
>Stfu you AGP troon faggot
We don't sign our posts here

>>57916835
>many players gravitate towards the female protags
That reads like it's underselling it, I'm pretty sure virtually everyone chooses the female protags. It's extremely rare to see someone playing as the male.

>steath tranny thread
I'm male, play exclusively as the male protag and assume any cunt who says they play as a girl can't afford the hormones or surgery, because why the fuck would a boy WANT to pretend to be a girl, if not mentally unwell?

This thread reeks of sharty

>>57916807 (OP)
Male mcs are fine

>>57916840
I always play as the male character

>>57916836
half of this board is comprised of avatar/tripfags
we absolutely sign our posts here

>>57916844
>>57916856
>>57916860
homos

>>57916807 (OP)
More unique designs. They've all been the same dude since Gen 4

>>57916883
Male protags have always been unpopular. Literally as soon as Crystal released most players choose the girl.

>>57916882
>he actually admitted to being aroused from self inserting as a female protagonist
you cannot make this up
no wonder you think we are gay, your perverted sense of sexuality distorts your entire worldview.

>>57916882
kys AGPtroon

>>57916917
>>57916922
>fags double down on wanting to stare at a dude's ass all game
it writes itself

>>57916931
Most of the time playing a Pokemon game is spent staring at Pokemon not your trainer.
You lose again.

>>57916936
you're gay

This again?

>>57916812
this but make other npcs still refer to the player as a male, bonus point if you sexually humiliate them like "hehe why you wearing girl clothes you faggot, your dick is so small you don't even have a bulge" instead of the garbage animal crossing does of le gender neutral language and sex is just a costume you can change at anytime

>>57916987
Kafir culture fatigues me

>>57916807 (OP)
Calem is far better than boringrena.

Don't ditch the male protagonists, just start making good, new designs.
Every male character design is just way too similar, mid-length messy hair, red or blue primary colour, and samey silhouette.
Compare the BW protagonists to XY. The women look completely different, boots vs sneakers, denim shorts vs skirt, different t-shirt styles. They look like different characters with different tastes. Meanwhile you could swap the two male characters entirely and nothing would change.
I don't like the gen 8 protag, but he was different enough to care about. I think LA is actually pretty good, since he at least has a different hat shape and silhouette, along with a different damn colour.
Wes and Michael stand out, where as every other male protagonist other than maybe RSE is just copying Red.

>>57917060
>male characters
>good designs
Pick one. Males are ugly, people want to look at cute girls and dress them up in cute outfits.

Here's my 5 step program to save male protags

>1: Actually unique, shonen designs
Billed caps haven't been cool since the 90s. Give them cooler messy hair and vary the colors up to more hot-colors instead of just relying on the same old browns and blacks. Female characters have looked varied for years but the male characters have never stepped out of Red's shadow. The male character we got with the biggest dick since Red is Juliana
>2: Slightly older looks
Nobody wants to play as gakis unless they want to self-insert as pathetic shotas being preyed upon by older women. This isn't cool, it's pretty gay. Save that shit for NPCs like Allister or Kieran, the protags should look able
>3: Multiple Save Slots
This isn't technically related, but Pokemon is 100% held back by this. A big reason why people wouldn't want to pick the other Gender ever is because they're stuck with one slot per game. I feel this limitation is also what encourages a lot of the franchise's bad design decisions as of late
>4: Female option is your rival
This is a given. People love when your friend group includes the character you didn't pick. It means the design doesn't go to waste and you can save on game assets. It should've been standard, no idea why Unova, Alola, Galar and Paldea don't have this especially since they put so much emphasis on writing. This also ties into my last suggestion
>5: Dateable NPCs
The instant win. It doesn't have to be real romance mechanics, it can just be social link stuff that implies romance. People will flock to male protags to self-insert with this option. It'll take another 20 years for faggots to normalize same sex dating mechanics in a baby RPG like Pokemon so this is the perfect time to incorporate these mechanics. Better if the closer you bond with girls, the better their teams get to fight them in-game as if they learn how to deal with (You) specifically

>>57917103
>The instant win. It doesn't have to be real romance mechanics, it can just be social link stuff that implies romance. People will flock to male protags to self-insert with this option.
This is completely wrong and doesn't happen with series like Fire Emblem where people still choose the female protags overwhelmingly. Most people don't want to self-insert at all.

>>57917121
There's no benefits to picking male characters in FE, most of the popular yurishit ships are baked into the game as is. The last time male protag was a viable choice was Awakening because they didn't start including yuri ships

If you compare with Persona 3, male is still objectively the superior way to play. Mostly because FeMC was tacked on but most JP writers are either writing with male MC straight pairings to work with or are writing shitty yuri ships to pander to faggots. There needs to be actual gameplay incentive for the romance mechanics to work, otherwise people still buckle under the same safe slop they want to sissy hypnotize themselves into loving

>>57917129
Most people pick FeMCs in Persona and everything else. Dating mechanics make no difference. Only a very tiny minority of people will look at a video game character and think "wow he is literally me!", even when the developers intend that to be the case. They will simply view the Persona protag as cucking them with their waifu.

>>57917103
>Better if the closer you bond with girls, the better their teams get to fight them in-game as if they learn how to deal with (You) specifically
This is a really cool idea, I'm claiming it for my dream fangame that I'll never make

Male and female protagonists need to be equally customizable. Have some preset templates (that you can change around after selecting) like "Biker" and "Bug Catcher" as well as complete control over body mass and height, clothing, accessories, hairstyle (color, length, etc...). Leave it up to the player to make the character of their choice, be it male or female, as masculine or feminine as they want.
GF can still give players templates to work with and to showcase in trailers and official art, but let the player take the character and make him or her their own.

>>57917154
Games like Elder Scrolls have lots of customization for both males and females, actually it's potentially limitless thanks to mods. Most players still play female. I think male protags are legitimately just a lost cause.

>>57917069
Some people want to do that, and pokemon lets them. Some people want to play as male characters, but don't want to play as a Red rehash. Pokemon currently doesn't do that.

>>57917175
Most players do not play as a female in Elder scrolls, everyone in those games look nasty.

>>57917180
>Most players do not play as a female in Elder scrolls, everyone in those games look nasty.
We have an elder scrolls general on this very website, people always choose to play with modded waifu characters. There are no series where, given the choice, most players choose to play with male characters.

>>57917175
>>57917187
Baldur's Gate 3's most common player character is a white male human fighter. As vp should tell you, 4chan isn't reflective of the average video game player.

>>57916882
>homos
Yes, and?

>>57917194
>Baldur's Gate 3's most common player character is a white male human fighter.
I honestly don't know if that can be taken as true. Larian made this claim without showing the alleged data and took the opportunity to call white males boring. Seemed more like western political shit than anything else.

>>57917187
4chan is not a good way to gauge how most people(Normalfags) play a franchise that caters to Normalfags.
/vg/ is one of the most porn addicted blue boards on this platform, even more so than /vp/. Of course they all play as female toons but that does not prove anything for the general playerbase. I think you should take a break from 4chan.

>>57917211
It's far from a 4chan phenomenon. Back when I was looking into it for Skyrim, every modding tutorial also featured dolled-up female player characters while demonstrating any mod, character-related or otherwise. I know that MMOs actually did show some data rather than just a "trust me bro!" thing and it revealed that female characters are overwhelmingly popular with the entire userbase, hardly anyone chooses a male.

>>57917202
White male human fighters being boring is a dnd meme that's over 20 years old, I really don't think it's a political thing. I will accept that they haven't put out the stats of custom characters, but if you do accept any of their stats they also say Gale and Asterion are the most common pre gen characters, both white dudes.
If I remember correctly, mass effect is also majority male.

>>57917069
The people that post on /vp/ do not make up Pokemon's target demographic. Preteen and young teens generally gravitate toward the gender that matches their own.
So yes, young boys are going to mainly choose the male protagonist while young girls are more likely to choose the female. These kids are far more invested in seeing the Pokemon, as opposed to the adults that want to sexualize the trainers.

>>57917233
>I know that MMOs actually did show some data rather than just a "trust me bro!" thing and it revealed that female characters are overwhelmingly popular with the entire userbase, hardly anyone chooses a male.
Yeah no, I've played these MMOs and the majority of player toons are male.

>>57917264
>for aesthetic reasons or to experiment
Experiment with what?

>>57917175
Riot confirmed that most players prefer female heroes

>907% of females play as a female character
>tranny misrepresents the quote to support her tarnny agenda
YWNBAW

>>57917289
I don't think that's a great comparison, since a character in a moba isn't just a cosmetic choice, it has a mechanical component as well.

>>57917311
What mechanical reasons exist that cause women to choose female champions 97% of the time while males choose them roughly 50% of the time?

>>57917316
>>57917311
To women the champion is a cosmetic choice, that is why most of them pick the female choice.
To men the champion is a mechanic choice, that is why they are split down the middle.
Anyways most players are male and a 50/50 split STILL does not support your claim of
>nobody plays as the males when given a choice anyway?

>>57917329
>STILL does not support your claim of
nigger what claim? You are confusing me for another

>>57917336
I am talking to OP not whoever you are
The premise of this thread is that nearly everyone picks the female option when given a choice.

>>57917345
>The premise of this thread is that nearly everyone picks the female option when given a choice.
probably true when it comes to japan-made games at least

>>57917348
Not in the slightest faggot. Despite 4chan's obsession with trannies, they are in fact irrelevant as a concern compared to the overall playerbase.

>>57917355
no it's probably true, in western games it doesn't matter since the "women" are practically dudes anyway, but if you choose to stare at a male in a game with sexy women you're just a fag yourself

>yet more terminally online horseshit to attempt to justify being a tranny
Start your hormone therapy already, then you can dress up in ALL the women's clothes you desire IRL.

>>57917388
Why can't you retards understand that nobody is thinking the girl they're creating is literally them? Do you actually think the men you're dressing up are really you? Just come out of the closet already.

The girls are cute and sexy but I still always play as the guy

I'll only play as the male MC if the female MC becomes part of the story, bonus points if we can date.
Why do the newer games make the other mc just vanish out of existence.

>>57916807 (OP)
have dating sim element, i for one would prefer straight to yuri

>>57916967
stop being insecure

>>57916807 (OP)
I can't empathize with women, so I always pick the male mc

I can't empathize with real women, so I pick the female mc because at least she won't hurt me.

GF will give us another Scarlet and Violet type situation where you have to read between the lines for any romantic undertones (thus leaving it up to the player to build their own straight/bi/gay headcanons) instead of building any actual dating mechanics into the games.

>>57918793
>have dating sim element
didn't work for fire emblem, the female protags are still way more popular

>>57919952
don't play fire emblem so i don't know much, but
a. remove yuri from game to decrease fmc choice. you might wanna see lesb action but im not sure you want to start courting guys
b. it did help male mc, just enough to propel it above femc. in that case dating is a start. and it can still help pokemon due to more waifus in pokemon (yes)

>>57920025
>it did help male mc, just enough to propel it above femc.
literally didn't happen

>>57916807 (OP)
The fuck are you talking about??
You're fucking deluded if you think most players play as a girl
Kids play these games, no 11 year old boy would play as the girl character
>>57916882
Homos > trannies

>>57920149
>Kids play these games, no 11 year old boy would play as the girl character

This is genuinely true, you don't start picking the girl choices until you realize you're horny. I didn't pick a female trainer until I was 16, well into maturity and the actual reason was because B2W2's male character was so undeniably cringe that I would have felt even more embarrassed picking him. While the next couple games I would pick girls, it never convinced me I was these trainers and usually when I play new games nowadays I would still lean towards male when given the option, especially in recent games now that the waifu game has been stepped up a ton

>trannies still trying to explain why male-minded teenage boys would pick a girl
>in an era where arousing material is EVERYWHERE online and no site actually asks you for proof of DoB
Yeah, I'm sure the average horny 16 year old's gonna boot up pokémon to have a wank, instead of look up pics of chicks online. Maybe that's true, but it absolutely must be a zoomer thing. When I was in secondary school, there was lads downloading porn and selling floppy discs and cds of it for lads.

>>57920405
they pick the girl if they're hetero, the boy if they're gay (closeted or otherwise)

>>57920405
The games allow for deeper self-inserting than ever before. So yes, horny men, especially ones that think they're women, will pick female characters. They aren't doing it to jack off, they're doing it TO self-insert in some way

Because guess what the genre of the games are? Role-Playing Games

>>57916807 (OP)
Find a rope and stop living in fantasy land.

>>57918975
>you have to read between the lines for any romantic undertones (thus leaving it up to the player to build their own straight/bi/gay headcanons)
That's a good thing. I don't want to be locked out of options.
t. Bisexual

>>57920429
Nobody cares about any of these characters. Waifufags who self-insert as Nate (lol) never even post about Yancy because of how bland and forgettable she is.

>>57920412
You can just say you want to wear skirts and have men fondle you gurl. Otherwise it's a case of "methinks the lady doth protest too much".

>>57920768
You can just say that you prefer looking at guys to looking at girls. Nobody is going to harass you for being gay these days.

>>57920405
>male minded
the tranny is yiou