Do you 'self-insert' in videogames?

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TakeshiLive

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I first play a self-insert sort of character with complementing play style to see how the game really reacts to me on a sort of personal level. Then FANTASY OF THE WILDEST GENDER SWAPPING, FACE ARRANGING, CAT BURNING DREAMS.
 

II2

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Yeah, actually. I tend to DM / GM / Storyteller pen and paper sessions so I get my fix of playing all kinds of imagined characters that make up the NPC roster.

That said, I only recreate myself in modern or sci fi settings; Fallouts, Mass Effects, etc. I get a kick out of thinking 'what would I do, given these options' that suffers some kind of cerebral disconnect if it's a medieval fantasy setting.
 

AgentLampshade

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I did in the Tony Hawk games. I used to enjoy skateboarding so of course I wanted to make someone who looked like me. Outside of that, no, I can't think of anything else.
 

DjinnFor

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DoctorImpossible said:
By 'self-insert' I mean: when given a good character creation tool do you enjoy crafting a reasonable likeness of yourself and playing through the story as if you were the main character? This can range from building a Shepard version of you in Mass Effect to statting up yourself as the starting QB of your favorite football team in Madden.

Or do you prefer to play 'canon' or default characters, or create a character unique to the situation the game sets up?
I mostly play myself in video games, with the exception of physical characteristics because that gets boring after a while. I'll generally pick something appropriate to the genre for physical characteristics, but make decisions as though I'm actually in the situation. Generally playing different games means each experience is unique even though I'm playing as myself.

I have a bad imagination so I'm poor at role-playing, so I tend to play the games for escapism.
 

Pulse

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1st play through on any rpg I make them look as close to me as possible, maybe jazz it up with a funky scar/tat/facial hair and play as I would in games like mass effect, fallout, dragons dogma.

Sillier ones like...saints row, I'll still make *my* descisions, but won't go for the likeness at all, i'll go for a theme, especially if I can change itt at any point and switch it up.
 

Brainwreck

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Nah. I'm fuck ugly and short of stature, wouldn't want to play as that.
I usually end up recreating Kratos, actually. Weird.
I might have some issues.
 

Thyunda

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Varrdy said:
Most of the time, yes.

When I created my original M-Shep, Lion Shepard, I really wanted to put myself into his boots, so to speak. Interestingly, whenever I do this in Fallout 3 / NV, I always give myself white-hair...as I have done with my CAW in WWE 12 & 13. Maybe it's because, despite being only 30, I am going grey rapidly!

I haven't tried it with Skyrim yet as I have only played as a male khajiit and a female nord, so far.
Funny that. I'm 20 and my Fallout 3 and New Vegas...and Skyrim now that I think about it...characters all have steely-grey hair. Same style as mine...but where mine's a kinda light brown/really dark blonde, they look old. I think I was trying to make them look weathered - I mean, that steel coloured hair and the Machiavellian facial hair makes them look seriously badass, and fitting of the name 'Tobias Grimm' but that's not the point.

I do find that strange that they are essentially self-inserts with older appearances.
 

natster43

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Sometimes? I mean if I am playing Pokemon I usually put myself in as the character since they have no personality, so I usually just pretend I am the Pokemon Trainer, but for the most part not really. I don't ever make characters look like me though, I'm hideous.
 

zzkill

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Nov 12, 2012
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Not really, maybe hair color in some games, but usually I go with something that I like how it looks, changing faces and hair styles until I'm satisfied. In Mass Effect for example, I went with the stock Shep. Looked cool, the voice was right, no problem with him.
 

Headsprouter

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Kopikatsu said:
I tend to make my characters the opposite of me. Opposite gender, completely different hair style, different hair color, etc.

Hey, if you're going to delve into fantasy, may as well go all the way, right?
I do, and it's because I want to BE in the fantasy world. That's why I play FANTASY GAMES. They're a FANTASY of mine.

CAPS LOCK.

Or I'm just really vain, whichever you prefer. In The Elder Scrolls I tend to go Argonian, but create a "me" character later on.
 

Catrixa

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Er, sort of, and sometimes. If it's a game with a binary 1 for good, 0 for evil, you get two choices, I usually pick 1 for good. If it's a Bioware Good, Evil, and Snarky, it depends on what I want to do. My favorite Bioware character is still my Sith Inquisitor from SWTOR, who goes Snarky for all conversation that aren't "increase light side points here."

If it's a game without a morality meter, I'll usually pick something ultra generic based on what class I'm playing, unless I do the opposite. For example, almost all of my thief characters in elder scrolls games are the deadly, silent assassin types. All of my mage characters are pretty much me, but with fireball.

As far as looks: I never pick things that are human (if given a choice), much less that look like me. My logic: I'm already a human irl. There's a really good chance I'm always going to be one. If I want to try something else, the closest I'm going to get is a video game...
 

TheRightToArmBears

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Good god no, I don't want to look like me in a game, I want to be someone else. I suppose on my first playthrough at least, my characters more or less have my personality, and other characters will act differently, but none of them ever look anything like me.
 

LarenzoAOG

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No, I'm a pretty average dude, I probably do one or two things different than most people, but I play video games because I feel like being a space hero or wizard or something, in games with morality or complex choices I usually make the decisions based on how I would do it in "real life" less out of auto-insertion more out to do with the fact that I'm a pretty nice guy and I enjoy being stalwart hero of the realm.
 

DementedSheep

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Generally no, I like to play characters different from myself. Though I do make the most of them female not necessarily because I have to play as my own gender but because I suck at creating decent looking male characters. Suck at drawing them too, male feature are harder to get right than female for me.
Occasionaly I?ll model a character after myself for the lulz though. I did that with my first character darksouls because it amused me to watch myself die brutally over and over again...hmm maybe I should be worried about that :p
 

Starik20X6

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Yeah all the time. It makes the experience a lot more personal when I'm the one interacting with the characters, they call me by my own name and such.
 

ace_of_something

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I don't know why I have a tendency to make my characters black and of average height/build. I think it's cuz I like the idea of the character being someone else. Since I am frustratingly tall, pale, blonde, and blue eyed.... well.
 

Jedoro

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Of course. I love the idea of being myself in the game world, acting and reacting how I think I actually would in the situations I play through. Hell, I'll focus on this so much, it actually blocks my access to achievements. Fallout: New Vegas: I refuse to finish the game allied with Caesar's Legion. Spec Ops: The Line:
I absolutely refuse to kill the soldiers at the end.
It's like it's not even an option for me, to be honest. My moral compass, is that character's moral compass, and he (and sometimes she) will never do anything I wouldn't do.
 

Reaper195

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Ish? I depends on what games I'm playing. If I'm playing something like Mass Effect, or Grand Theft Auto, where the character has a voice, a personality, back story, etc, then no. Why would I 'insert' myself into a character who is already a full fleshed character? If I'm playing something like Fallout 3, or Skyrim, or Fable, where your character is more or less moulded by the gameplay actions, then occasionally. If I'm playing a First Person shooter and whatever I'm playing has no voice (I.E. Halflife, Crysis 2, All the CoD games except Black Ops 1/2 (Which were both disturbingly good compared to the 'official' CoD series by Infinity Ward)) and no character...I consider it fuckin' lazy on the developers team. I prefer to see a story with fleshed out characters. Not have to make my own stuff up and 'interoperate' shit along the way. THat's the pinnacle of lazy ass writing.
 
Apr 5, 2008
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The characters rarely look like me. I'll usually be a silver haired elf or brown-bearded human male (actually this is a lot like me!), or if female, red hair and green eyes and all of the above with above average height and dark-tanned skin (somewhere between mediterranean and indian). It's just an affectation really that I like.

In terms of role-play, I'll usually go for the chaotic good approach. I do right, but on my terms, because f**k the po-po. Not a fan of the Paladin/Righteous hero archetype. But cross me or mine and be ready for a reckoning. It's also why I hate it when game endings suck whichever way they go. I highly approve of multiple endings to reflect our individual journey and choices, but I want a best and a worst; anything in the middle is a lovely bonus.
Altefforr said:
Why should I? It's a role playing game, I like to assume a new role. I find RPG's to be the best form of escapism, other than captivating books.
I couldn't agree with you more. Or if I could it would be very difficult as the amount of agreement with you is already substantial. :)
Altefforr said:
If I wanted to be myself, I wouldn't play a game; I'd go outside - the graphics are amazing and the level of detail is unheard of!
Outside? WTF? Next you'll be saying you credit that nonsense about some sort of "flaming ball" that just hangs in the sky with magic.