You do know that you can examine a character to read their gender, race and (homewritten) background, right? That's what I use when I'm RPing with someone .. I first check out their character description (equivalent of taking a good look at them) to know these general aspects and whatever else they allow me to know about them by looking at them.
If you really are an avid RPer you should definitely be able to enjoy Planeshift in it's current state. In roleplays you can usually overcome holes in the game mechanics or completeness of the game by improvisation and creativity.