Do you view the player-character as "you"?

[someguy1231]

I recently made a thread here arguing against single-player games having create-a-character features:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.877621-Single-player-games-shouldnt-have-create-a-character-features?page=1

Many people disagreed, and I believe the root of our disagreement is how we view the characters we play as in relation to ourselves.

I, personally, do not consider the character I play as as "me", or "representing me", or anything like that. I don't view them as someone I should "identify with" or "relate to" or "imagine myself as". As far as I'm concerned, they're just a third party that I happen to control. Even in games where I create my own character, I never try to make them look anything like me. I consider games a form of escapism (hehe, why do you think I post here ), so the last thing I want is for my player character to look like me.

Some people, on the other hand, feel very differently, to the extent that they'll only play games where they can create their own character, or if it has a set protagonist, will only play it if the protagonist is the same race/gender/etc as them. Clearly there are many players who feel this way, since even in games that offer large numbers of non-human races to play as (World of Warcraft, Skyrim, etc) the humans or human-like races still tend to be the most popular.

So, how do you view the characters you play as in relation to yourself? Are they just someone you control, or are they "you"? Or somewhere in the middle?

 

[jipvader]

Usually no. I have comfortable archetypes that I fall into but they are usually just a character that I created with a ready back story in my own mind, adjusted to the lore of world.

But, I'm the type who has been playing D&D for years so role playing a BugBear shop keep from the elemental plane of fire is really sort of normal.

I've met a number of players in both tabletop and online who will only play a single character type and pitch a fit if they cannot be that. So to each their own I guess.

 

[Axelotus07]

Typically, yes I consider my character to be myself digitally personified.

This is especially so in games with create-a-character functions. In order to keep it fresh I sometimes like to change little things here and there (not really to recreate myself, but to envision myself as a hero/villian of the lore).

I just like to inject my persona into the character I'm playing. Not to say I'm strictly into doing this all the time (DCUO is a good example where I play different archetypes and races because of how many options there are to choose from), but it's my preferred style of play.

 

[kris40k]

I do not view the character that I play as "me", but as a creation of mine; as in I'm not choosing the actions that I necessarily would choose, but I choose that which I think "the character" would choose based on their background. I like being able to create characters and in games where I can't, I have lower investment/interest in the game.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

If it's not an RPG, then I view the events happening to the character I'm controlling happening to them. I mean, it's their story and I'm just moving the character from one place to the next in order to get the story going. Unless it's Saint's Row, then I'm just a spectator in the craziness and fucking around. I mean, if the character you made is a Russian punk-rocker chick you're just gonna have to visit Crazy Pants Town and enjoy the show.

If it's an RPG, then I tend to do some role playing. I know in Skyrim I created a character in my head and acted like that character in the game. So, all the events that are happening in the game are happening to me. I found I got a lot more out of the game if I did that, and I started doing that more with RPGs and I'm glad I did.

Also, it makes the game a little more personal and I get more of an attachment to my actions in the game.

 

[Tilly]

Depends on the game. Most of the time, no. But then maybe in something like Skyrim I tend to see it as myself. First person view and a character with no personality........:-\.......(which mine can replace).

 

[Mister K]

If it's a pre-made character, like, um, Cloud, then I do not view him as me in a game.
HOWEVER, if it is a game with main character that I am making (Shadowrun, Fallout, etc.), then yes, I view them as myself and I make decisions according to what I would've done.

 

[ExDeath730]

No...Unless i make a decision to view it as me. But that's rare, i've been playing tabletop RPGs since i was a kid, so i'm used to pretend to be someone else, specially after playing WoD type games and "getting in the mood" to playing characters that are really different between themselves and myself. I always loved the challenge of being someone else, you know?

Usually when creating the character, i don't just make it's apperance, but think about his personality, how will i do things in the world, etc...And stick with that for the playthrough. The only time i consciously created an avatar of myself in a game, was for the Mass Effect series.

 

[DementedSheep]

No (aside from in some multiplayer games). However I'm not in agreement that single player games shouldn't have a character gen as I like creating my own characters and back-stories and thinking about how they would do something. A lot people who play rpgs are the same so I don't think that it is divided as simply as viewing the character as you or not.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Nah, never. I'm the dude playing the dude.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I don't get why people would think of the player character as themselves. Even in RPGs with create-a-character, you'd be role-playing as yourself in every RPG, which is rather boring and the opposite of an RPG really.

 

[Fantastic Foxkins]

No. I usually create a specific character that fits within that world. They are not me or an extension of myself.

 

[Lufia Erim]

I don't roleplay ever. I can't do it. It's just not in me. I can't roleplay in rpgs, i can't roleplay in tabletops, i can't roleplay in cosplay, i can't roleplay in the bedroom. So no i don't pretend it's me.

 

[G00N3R7883]

Depends on the game, and how much control I have over dialogue choices and quest decisions.

Games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, yes, my first playthrough is about trying to identify the main character as myself as much as possible. I don't spend hours trying to get the face right, in fact in Mass Effect I just went with default male Shepard because he looked cool. But I try to get the dialogue and quests choices to be what I would want to do in that situation (within reason, because obviously I will never actually be in that situation). But I've also done alternate runs as a completely different character.

Other games like Witcher, Tomb Raider, Max Payne, where I have less control, I enjoy the cutscenes in the same way I enjoy TV shows, with the added bonus of fun combat.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

Thinking on it, not usually. Characters I make tend to have some sort of back story, their own quirks and ways of going about things. The ones I play most tend to have little aspects of me and my nature in them, which is why I can't play as anything more evil than pragmatic disregard for others if the situation calls.

Come to think of it, I reckon it'd be pretty interesting to analyse the player characters we create as a kind of introspection.

 

[Rahkshi500]

Well, both yes and no.

Sometimes I wanna be able to create a character that will represent me, how I might envision myself within a game's setting. Other times I'll create a different character, who might share similarities or differences from myself to see how they will fit in the setting. Regardless of reasons, though, it is still an absurd notion to claim that because you don't feel that way about player characters in single-player games means that single-player games should not have a character-creation feature anymore.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

I would say it depends on the game. When playing a game where I get to create my character like Skyrim, the first character I go with is usually "me" in the sense that the decisions I make are based on my own moral compass and preferred playstyle. The next characters I make tend to take a different angle, rather than being 'me' I'll decide to play a different way to explore different content. One character could be a total lunatic, while another may not like to personally fight at all.

Its part of the fun to get to be able to, well, role play different types of characters in certain RPGs.

That said I don't view established playable characters as myself. My personal preferences might guide me to make certain choices one when the opportunity presents itself, but I would not see myself as Geralt in the Witcher games.

Its just a fundamentally different type of experience, and the choice of whether or not to project yourself onto the character you are playing as comes down to personal preference. It doesn't seem that complicated to me.

 

[Fox12]

No, very rarely. Sometimes, if it's a game like Fallout 3, then I'll go back and forth between seeing my character as myself and seeing him as someone else. But, even then, my avatar never really acts like me.

I MUCH prefer an established character with their own personality.