Unfortunatly that seems to be the case. They seem to forget that it's not just a bunch of horny teen boys who play this game. Women play as well and there are actually a lot of men who don't want to play as a woman...

I wish this game were like others where you choose your class then you pick your race and gender...

Also, still wish they'd add a head slider (some of the heads seem too small to me) and a better chest slider so I can make their breasts smaller than a c cup, lol. Also wish they'd tone down the jiggle...maybe a toggle? Jiggle on/off lol. 

I am starting to play it again after some time, but I have to admit the gender lock was a big turnoff for me.  Probably stopped me from playing the game many times.  I am sure others feel the same.. costing money for the game I am sure.  Its an odd thing.. not a complete deal breaker but it is something that just makes some people turn away.

exactly, I wanted to play Hashashin but he's just a guy :(

You know that mmorpg stands for; most men online role playing girls. 
And that's what pearl abyss delivers. Is it killing the game? nope. The ones who don't like genderlock are in the minority, as most players don't care about it. Alot of South-Korean,Japanese and Chinese devs have the habit of favoring the female class, because they know that sells better. Only exception in this is NCSoft, cause in Aion there is no genderlock. 

Each company does it on their way and pearl abyss decided to it in this way. You can either accept it or if it really offends you, then better uninstall and never look again. Creating posts like this has no effect and especially not on a forum. Then you could better write a letter to PA's headoffice. 

The only thing stupid about gender lock is classes that are the same idea, but slightly different due to gender. If anything, it's a meme to make more characters.

you only saying this now? bdo has always had locked, so yea... do you

If they released a "gender swap coupon" and released counterpart gender to every class with the exact same kit, IE male or female witch, I would buy at the very least 2 gender swap coupons, my Ranger and Witch would both instantly be swapped to Male, then I would have to have rename coupons for both of them because Sarah is not a good name for a male Ranger.  

PA would make lots of money if they released alternate genders for all classes.

I spent YEARS railing about this issue in other games, and in the game industy in general.... from the other side.

I even avoided BDO for a long time because of the visual style emphasis is so similar to the "OP male classes with a few token usless female classes"... which is shame because it's not the case here (at least in terms of gameplay)

On one hand, I don't have a lot of pity for ya.... I had to deal with those same restrictions for so long...

... on the other hand... yeah I know that feel, and it sucks, especially when the functional gameplay and depth of lore is actually pretty good

Not gonna snub ya on it though, mirrored classes would be awesome, but looking at the histoy of the developer, I wouldn't hold my breath