in MMO's it depends
usually male characters look like complete idiots so I pick females.
If a male character looks normal I pick a male.
If the female characters look UBER SEXY i sometimes pick them because I prefer looking at a nice looking girl over looking at a random dude. (even if its just a game character)
It also depends on the class I want to play etc,
And if everyone looks like shit I usually play as a male character (I prefer looking at ugly men over looking at ugly women because It reminds me of the wasted potential or whatever)
In non mmorpgs like Pokemon/Mass Effect i mostly play males just occasionally females.
In Borderlands I played as Lilith and Gaige because I liked them the most.
And when I play a mmorpg or a coop game and me and my friends play as the same class etc I chose another sex so it has some variation because its just dumb when everyone looks the same.
