im pretty sure im one of the people who completed mass effect 2 23 times...

Half the people that played the game never finished it?

Stock Male Shepard, imported a save and was an Infiltrator. I also spent more than 60 hours or so on one play-through (I didn't skip any dialogue and I hunted for resources like a fiend so my ship was fully upgraded :x)

I love statistics like these. Wipeout HD's stats page is a dream for me, I am so OCD and fascinated by gameplay trends...

Though I've been compelled in the past to do a female run through and while I do appreciate the quality of work Hale has brought to the role over the past two games the fact of the matter is that I played as a male Shepard because when I'm playing in a role playing game I want to play as myself. As such I approach it from what I would do given the choices and situations and not what Shepard would choose. Because of this I don't want to experience a female Shepard because, well, I'm a guy and I want to complete the Mass Effect overall storyline before I even consider doing a female run. I'll probably have more freedom to make different choices if and when I do a female Shepard but I just don't want MY Shepard to represent anything but myself.

I'm one of those people who likes to stick with the default male Shepard. I customized my dude (and ladies) in Dragon Age, but for some reason the story in ME just feels more like it's supposed to be directed - like a western Final Fantasy - and I feel weird getting all down with the customization, if that makes any sense...

Infiltrator all the way, though. Can't stand vanilla soldier classes (although it's practically mandatory on insanity due to the poorly balanced perks).

Had 1 "main" (truer to me) male character and two female. one anarchistic and violent but devoted to cause and one xenophobic sell-out.
P.S. while it has nothing to do with ME, it was announced that RunMan will be in PC version of SuperMeatBoy, which would probably make Anthony Burch happy (even if he isn't on Dtoid anymore)

im a male and my first playthrough was a female shepard that i imported
2nd (current) playthrough was with generic male shepard

I always play male characters in RPGs because they're usually voiceless stand-ins for the player, as in Elder Scrolls and Dragon Age. I could never accept that Shepard, a voiced character, was me, so I figured that I might as well play as the one who gives a better performance. Hale did a superb job, whereas Meer voiced a vanilla protagonist.

I started a female Sheppard Runthrough of ME1, to bring to ME2, I'll finish it one day,

I guess I am "Abby Normal"

Finished it 3x, never once as Male Shepard. Tried! But when you get in the groove as FemShep, when the male voice-actor is doing it, it just seems non-authentic. I am sure it is because I have spent sooooo much time (multi-playthroughs of ME1 and ME2 as FemShep).

Also, never did a playthrough in ME1 or ME2 as a Soldier. Tried! But it is a tad too easy. I like to think tactically in games.

I just hope they don't look at this data and decide they should do away with the options we have grown to enjoy in ME like they did with Dragon Age.

PS: I have loved Jennifer Hale ever since Bastila, what an awesome voice actor.

I played renegade redhaired fem Shep vangaurd on my first (and only complete) run through. Both games. Jennifer Hale is a goddess, she sounds so good when she is being bad.

Vangaurd is also a great way to play, very intense. I got about 3/4s done on insanity playing through with the same character before getting distracted by Dragon Age. Hard, but not impossible like some people claim.

God, I can't wait to play this for the first time...

I never liked the choices to make a Female Shepard. They all just didn't appeal to me.

Maybe I'll go back and see if I can make one that looks as good as Miranda, but none of the ones I ever make, end up looking as good as her.

Besides, I still want to get it on with Tali.

I like to play as the standard Shepard can't make a character to save my life. Also if they take out Garrus in ME3 I will kill Bioware.

"How many of you chose a female redhead Renegade Shepard on their second run?"

Holy freak'n crap are you kidding me!? That's EXACTLY what I did. In Mass Effect 1 anyway. When ME 2 came out my female redhead Renegade Shepard was the one I transfered. The longer I played it the more I realized that what happened was I made Felicia Day as if she were Malcolm Reynolds... with Jennifer Hale's voice. That woman's voice overs are amazing.

That header image is amazing.

1st Playthrough: Imported Default Male Shepard. Paragon. Soldier

2nd Playthrough: Imported Default Female Shepard. NEUTRAL (both sides of the coin, damn fun). Engineer.

I actually like the Female Shep better in terms of voice actor. So much more delivery and ferocity coming from her than Male Shep.

My main (end game) party-

1st playthrough: Miranda and Grunt

2nd Playthrough: Thane and Grunt



1st Playthrough

Awesome stats though!

It doesn't surprise me at all that <Archangel> was one of the more popular choices for squadmates. Given that <Archangel> didn't feel as tacked on as some of the other characters.

I couldnt stand the female Shepard voice actor. I played Default Male Shepard/Soldier in both games the first time because I thought the customization options made him too funky and I was ok with his face as is.

When I first tried playing as a female Shepard in Mass Effect 2 I just couldnt get into how she sounded. She seemed to fake compared to normal male Shepard.

It sounds like this data takes into account all playthroughs, which explains the 50% or so times the game was played but not finished. I know I lost some steam on my second playthough, and I've yet to finish it. Some of the reason is because I went with a female renegade Shepard, when really I am good male Shephard.

When I played the game the first time I played as Infilitrator and did things that I would do. I was mostly paragon (like a sliver below full), which cost me Grunt at the end because Jack couldn't keep up the shield. I wasn't full paragon and there were no more missions I could do, so Jack never stopped being a bitch after her fight with Miranda. This was actually cool, because I didn't like Jack or Grunt and couldn't be arsed to find a guide online to eek out some more paragon points.

I also chose Renegade options sometimes, when I felt like being a dick was necessary and was pleased with the results. I pistol whipped (in the face!)the scummy little Volus involved in the murder on Illium because he thought he could be cagey at a crucial time (because FUCK HIM THAT'S WHY). He spilled the beans. I also shot a mechanic in cold blood on my way to meet Archangel, because really? I'm not taking chances with a fucking space attack chopper.

tl;dr
in short I love Mass Effect

I'd love to play a game as a female Shepard, but, I'm completely attached to the character I've made. And really, that just speaks well of the game itself.

German Shepard here.

Female Biotic Renegade.(I'm not herp-derp Renegade... I just act constantly in the best interests of humanity.)

I told my friends to use female Shepard... they just never understand :<

Played as a female in ME and ME2.

If I'm going to be staring at an avatar's arse for 20+ hours it might as well be a female one.

Was the <Renegade endgame choice> when you gave <unspecified object> to <unspecified person>? If so, I guess I did that, because I found <unspecified person> to be way, way less threatening than <unspecified vanguard of my destruction>; I don't think that really makes me a renegade but meh.

I have three ongoing playthroughs of Mass Effects, and two of Mass Effect 2.

...

One day I'll get an X-Box.

I didn't find any of these statistics surprising. Majority of male players playing a male, most players going for the generic soldier, etc.

Seems pretty predictable to me...

Funny, I changed my characters' class from the first game from Soldier to Engineer. Haha.

Dat Mass

In other words, a lot of people who suck at the game.

And HEY BIOWARE. Why suddenly send out ME2 details huh? Huh?

Oh yeah baby. ME3 time <3

Greatest fucking header image in the history of anything

I haven't tried female Shepard yet, but now I'm pretty intrigued!
Currently stuck on that end-battle on Horizon on insanity. Why did I chose to go with Jack and Kasumi while playing as an adept?!

Never play as soldier. I don't know, always have this feeling that the game with a soldier would be just another cover shooter.

Much more fun make the enemy fly to their death.

hehe, female renegade on the second run? that's so me1 :D female renegade was my first choice for me2. but it's too bad scars were male-centric. they look waaay better on male default shepard than on any other faces

Female Renegade Adept (short blond hair): Primary 'cannon' play through.

Male Paragon Soldier (black dude with high'n'tight): Second playthrough, insanity.

Both games, all 'cheevos.

I'm upset that people played the games half-assed, but that is how it goes.

@MasterBalls

Actually, this is old news, I saw these stats a few months ago. I don't know how/if they re-mailed them, or if the editor just found them in the mail now by chance, but this information has defiantly made the rounds before today.

Jen Hale's VO was bar-raising, the dude was better in the second game.

The kerning/character alignment is weird, or is it just my browser - some lines look full justified.

I had a Paragon MaleShep on first run and Renegade FemShep on veteran/insanity in both ME1 and ME2. Mostly did the dual playthroughs for the save exporting and to see what the differences where. My custom Shepards all had kind of messed up cheekbones outside of the character creator though.

And my O'Neill Shepard never looked like Jack O'Neill no matter how hard I tried to copy his facial features from a picture :(

I dont know about Jen being the better VA, but for a lot of male players Mark Meer is what defines the Commander Shepard Character. Also coupled with the fact players like to relate with their character and by choosing female Shepard would be stuck with male romances I can see why not many did. I think if you could have a lesbian playthrough a lot of male players would be doing that 2nd run-through.

Disappointing stats indeed, not so surprising though.

4 playthroughs of each ME and I think I used a female character 50% of the time, I think a lot of people were afraid of not being in control of the combat, where as I had no problems using my powers and letting the other guys take care of business.

Mass Effect is my favorite series after Fallout and anyone who skips conversations is a tool....

"Four Xbox 360 players completed Mass Effect 2 23 times"

Damn. I haven't even beaten the first game once (I don't have it. Not much money.)
I really want to play these games, though. Cool statistics.

I'm pretty sure these statistics were posted on Dtoid before. They've been out for a while and I can't imagine finding out about them anywhere else.

Much as I want to play Female Shepard I find it /very/ difficult to empathize with female characters when they're meant to be my avatar. (Especially considering I would only be able to romance dudes, which is not my cup of tea) Ironically, I can do it just fine in the Oblivion engine RPGs, but I never feel as emotionally invested in those worlds and stories as I do in those of the Bioware RPGs.

Also, Jennifer Hale is a good voice actress. Just thought I'd say that.

:O I played as the engineer on mine. Least played class! Ah well im unique right? Who would wanna play as soldier all the time. You play as a soldier in Halo, Gears, COD and near enough 80% of other xbox games. Play something different. Gaawd.

Jennifer Hale is great, but not she's not the best Shepard. Personally, I think she's put in a one-note performance compared to Mark Meer. He nails the right balance of 80's action hero (cheesey cockiness in spades) and vulnerable awkwardness. I think he's really underrated considering the tone of the games.

I believe there's this mindset that because Hale has such a varied background and fervent fanbase, its hard to admit that Meer is actually just as good (if not better) in the face of a "pro". As it stands, Hale's "I've got PMS" Shepard doesn't keep my interest for long.

She's a great voice actress anyway, just not in Mass Effect.

Jennifer Hale is great, but not she's not the best Shepard. Personally, I think she's put in a one-note performance compared to Mark Meer. He nails the right balance of 80's action hero (cheesey cockiness in spades) and vulnerable awkwardness. I think he's really underrated considering the tone of the games.

I believe there's this mindset that because Hale has such a varied background and fervent fanbase, its hard to admit that Meer is actually just as good (if not better) in the face of a "pro". As it stands, Hale's "I've got PMS" Shepard doesn't keep my interest for long.

She's a great voice actress anyway, just not in Mass Effect.

Jennifer Hale is a very extraordinary voice actress, but it's not her at her best. She's better than the guy, but he's not at all bad. He's just Canadian.

Q: How many of you chose a female redhead Renegade Shepard on their second run?

A: Anyone with taste. I sure did.

I played through Mass Effect 2 four times, all four times importing from the first game, which I played through twice. In the first game, Female Shepherd was a total Renegade with the default face and Male Shepherd was a Paragon with a custom face.

Then I played through the paragon and renegade paths twice, each time using a different class, so now I have:

Paragon->Paragon
Paragon->Renegade
Renegade->Paragon
Renegade->Renegade

So yes, this means I'm going to play through Mass Effect 3 four times minimum, if not go completely crazy and do up to eight.

@Stevil

Hale's best work is the Renegade stuff. Likewise, Meer tends to do better work for the Paragon path. Hale doesn't do subtle and quiet well, and Meer can't really do angry.

For both ME1 and ME2 I have a paragon and renegade male Shepard. Playing as a soldier is cool but playing as someone who uses biotics, like an adept, is way better.

Goth chick sheppard imported from ME1