Poll: Custom character vs Character with defined personality?

[Bat Vader]

I prefer both. I also prefer games that do both extremely well.

 

[sonicneedslovetoo]

I prefer the Saints Row style of doing things, you build a character and select a voice so the character has a personality as the boss but also is custom so you can choose your level of character immersion. If I can't have both I generally choose custom especially for silent protagonists so I can remember other characters more and remove levels of separation between me and the game.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Defined characters are better. Having an actual established personality is better than being custom made Mary Sue. To elaborate, a custom character can't have "faults", especially since they represent the player (and enforcing a fault will make the fanbase go apeshit). So they are just a traveling perfect person who solves every trouble in the world and can get every chick/guy. Looking at it from storytelling prespective, mary sues destroy stories.

I think you're confusing 'power-gamer' with 'role-player' with your view of custom characters. There is a type of player that simply power-levels their character to have no flaws and be perfect in every way (known in role-playing circles as min-maxers) but the majority of role-players - surely the target audience of role-playing games - do create characters with flaws and affectations so as to make each character individual. Saying that all custom characters are simply maxed out avatars is like saying all defined characters are the Master Chief.

Maybe in role playing it's possible to create a custom character with flaws, but in a game? No, there are no ways to do it, your character can't be made to be egoistic, overconfident, unable to talk to others and so forth, the closest you can get to a flawed character without burning orphans is having 1 in intelligence in Fallout.

Of course there are ways to do it. You just decide which triggers you want your character to respond to and roleplay them. You don't have to make characters that wind up with 100 in every skill, you know. If you decide you would like to make a clumsy character then don't put any skill points into lockpick or stealth, and decide that they'll try to force locks open rather than pick them. If you decide it'd be interesting to play a blunt-talking character whose out-spoken opinions always land them in trouble refuse to increase the Speech skill and yet at the same time always knowingly take the [10/60] speech option in conversations. Maybe you want to create a character that eschews personal wealth, or refuses to use magical items, or is a loner who refuses to travel with in-game companions. All of the above, and more, are readily available to every player in every roleplaying game, they just need to be enforced through choice by the player. If you like creating limitless characters without any forms of boundaries then that's your choice, but please don't mistake your choice as being the main fault in the entire concept of custom characters.

But how does that factor into the story? Not being able to do anything does not make a character "flawed", it's having an actual problem that carries on to the story and affects other characters.

It's true that NPCs in custom PC games will never react to the PC like they do in defined PC games - and that is the main strength of defined PC games - but I just feel personally that the added freedom of being able to create multiple characters that can experience a gameworld multiple ways outweighs the more 'hands-off' feel you get from the NPCs.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I will admit this now, I connect with the build character (well most of the time) more than my custom character but I still prefered my custom character due to my being able to project myself onto my character. Example- I understand Shulk initial hatred toward the Mechon from Xenoblade Chronicle than I do with my huamn thift becoming the hero of Shemoor from Guild Wars 2.

Before you quote me on projecting, I mean it by I usually created my character to resemble me as in short black hair asian looking character.

 

[Leon Royce]

I always prefer games where I can heavily customize my character's appearance, from physical attributes and tattoos to exotic weapons and armor, and have a go at the real main character of the game: the world.

But plenty of fixed character's are enjoyable too: Witcher III

 

[babinro]

I much prefer a defined character since it almost always leads to a stronger more cohesive story.

That said, games like Kotor, Dragon Age and Mass Effect can pull off strong stories regardless so I'm glad to see that both options are out there.

I particularly love the original Dragon Age because your choices felt like they had a meaningful impact on the world and could often be justified within the story. You didn't feel compelled to play all good or all evil since many issues fell nicely within a grey area. Going purely off memory I would probably consider this to be the shining achievement of telling a cohesive story in a game that's driven by a silent protagonist's player choice. Mood swing all you want it it'll still kind of work

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

If it's a story-driven game, I prefer a script.

 

[duwenbasden]

Always custom. I no longer have enough time to play every game released, and Tomb Raider 2013 really soured my views on pre-builts. I played maybe 30 min of the Witcher 2 before that piles of brick protagonist bored me to tears. No amount of "good story" will ever shake that feeling the plot will play exactly the same whether or not I am invested in it if I am ever to play another game involving a pre-baked protagonist.

I'll look into a game with 0/10 story but a custom character; but I'll never consider a game with 9/10 story with a pre-build protagonist, with 10/10 being everything plays out exactly how I envisioned it (no cut-scene incompetence, no plotholes, no contradictions with my actions/thoughts, no "but thou must" or broken bridges, no annoying sidekicks, etc...)

 

[Danbo Jambo]

Both work for me, but I definitely find it easier to connect with a custom built character.

With a custom built character the devs leave it all with you, whilst with built ones there is a very real danger that they could be annoying and shit like Hawke of DA:2. Of course they could be awesome like Geralt of TW series, but it's a gamble none-the-less.

I guess neither is right or wrong, but built characters definitely need to be built right to enjoy them. Whereas there isn't that concern with custom characters so long as the gameplay mechanics are good.

I do also like feeling that I am on an adventure, not guiding someone else.

 

[FPLOON]

There's only been two games where I loved having a custom character: Corruption of Champions and, recently, Trails in Tainted Space... mostly because of how it feels like it balances the established nature of the character you create and the RNG that can come from role-playing in general... Every other game I've played where you had to "create your character", outside of multiplayer, always seems more one-sided on one end than in the other, thus leading to me barely remembering the custom character and, at times, the story that supposedly revolves around me, the playable character... Besides, the games I mostly end up liking the most are those with an established character and experiencing their tale throughout the game in question to the point that, at times, I would love to re-experience that shit again especially when the gameplay was solid as fuck in my opinion...

Other than that, I can see why someone would choose custom over established especially when you're playing a particular character that's rarely in a game with a playable, established main character, at least, but for me, if I had to go with just one with an exception or two, then I choose the playable established character...

 

[Synigma]

FF6 is the ultimate game with pre-built characters, so much interaction between characters that as the player you kind of control but not in the direct choose what someone else's character should say way.

Meanwhile I think Skyrim (insert your preferred Elder Scrolls game) is the ultimate custom character because it's a first person game where you exist (effectively) in the character's head and so your actions (which speak louder than words) are what define you.

What I'm saying is I think there is a direct correlation between character customization and how reliant the game is on the story. I would guess that if you're the kind of person who needs to be invested in the character to find enjoyment in what you're doing then you prefer the pre-built whereas if you're a very technical person who focuses on gameplay and finding new ways to approach each encounter then you probably prefer the custom ones. And as with all scales I imagine most of us are in the middle somewhere.

But then wouldn't that also imply that combining opposities wouldn't work... and GTA games do great... meh, there goes my theory.

 

[visiblenoise]

Until there are some groundbreaking developments in AI, I think I'll always find that "custom" characters pale in comparison to fully-written ones. Because until then, all conversation will be limited to either pre-written branches, or the sort that I imagine in my head. And with my imagination being just a reflection of what I've seen and want to see, it will never be as interesting as something someone else writes.

Also, I can't be bothered to write their script for them!

 

[Kae]

I don't like custom characters, they often don't have the choices I'd make and there starts to exist a gap between us and I start disliking them because they are supposed to be "me" in a way but they aren't, for example I hate Mass Effect because I really dislike playing as Sheppard, though honestly Bioware is just shit at choices, they always have clear good and bad choices instead of giving you interesting ones.

On the other side though, I love playing as characters that have a defined personality, for example I loved playing as Lee in TWD, Bigby Wolf in TWAU, Max Caufield in LiS and others like Adam Jensen in DE: HR with , why? Because they don't necessarily have the choices I'd make but they do have the ones the characters would make, which makes it not infuriating when there's a choice I wouldn't necessarily make, it just works better for a game I think, since there's no way you could ever do all the choices people would make there's always going to be someone left out, and not everyone can get into role-playing a custom character that is not them.

 

[balladbird]

Eh, I tend to favor pre-established characters over 100% player avatars. I'm one of those "mostly here for the story" type gamers, and while player avatars aren't bad, certainly not a deal breaker when it comes to buying a game, they typically don't involve me as much as just having a protagonist who is able to directly influence the plot.

I love the fallout games, but having all the major events of the plot be decided by a mute player avatar with the charm of George Clooney, the intelligence of Stephen Hawking, and the military prowess of Sun Tsu, Rambo, and Bruce Lee feels a bit shallow.

that said, if it's done very well, a custom character can give the player's decisions a lot of influence over the shape of the narrative, which makes for fun gameplay... but that can also be done with pre-established characters ("until dawn" comes to mind)... so...

bleh, enough being wishy washy! I voted pre-established, and I'll stick with it!

 

[M0rp43vs]

Off topic: on my vote, it was exactly 50/50 with 50 votes on each side. I love such balance.

Anyway, I prefer built, despite playing and enjoying as many games with the opposite. But I just like having and playing a character I can relate to a bit, and that easier with someone with personality as opposed to blank slates.

 

[Wary Wolf]

Pre-built characters who are also silent protagonists!

That way I get the best of both worlds! In not controlling what my character looks like, along with them having no personality whatsoever.

The problem I have with custom made protagonists is that I often find myself wanting to tweak them cosmetically or growling about them having to choose between two really moronic alignment options. Really, nothing annoys me more when I try to role-play a paladin type character only to have them have to go around punching babies because the game needs you to in order to further the story.

Looking at games like the Witcher, who have prebuilt characters who could technically have been custom built, I don't think too much is taken away when they tell you: No you're going to play as this dude and you're going to like it. Means I'm not spending time wrangling eyebrows to make him look pretty, or being disappointed in limited dialogue options.

 

[DementedSheep]

Both or even mixed where they have core personality but you can push it one way or other. This is what usually happens if you have a voiced custom character which is becoming more popular.

I lean more towards custom because unless the writing for the main is fantastic (unlikely, and chances are they will be a growly brown haired guy) I'd rather make my own, I enjoy making characters and don't have any issue with filling in gaps with the power of imagination.

 

[BarryMcCociner]

Both.

Shepard is a character you can chose for yourself, you get to pick good cop/bad cop sure but you also are subject to playing the Shepard "character". Setting aside Paragon or Renegade, Shepard shows the same three personality traits every game, defiant confidence even in the face of overwhelming odds, a willingness to protect those closest to him/her and a dry sense of humor.

It's not much, but take away those three things and Shepard wouldn't be the character we all came to love.

 

[Tilly]

Wow, pretty rare to get a 50/50 split on this stuff. I think you need a bit of both and it depends on the game. I'm fine with Skyrim having a custom character creator. But I don't think Final Fantasy ever should.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Custom Character. And One of the best examples of how you can make a Custom Character feel real is Shadowrun Hong Kong.

You have one character that you build you past with, your brother Duncan. He asks you questions, and you pick selections that sound good to you. Like why you left home, situations that happened when you were in the street. He asks you, you select it, and he recounts that incident.

And then he calls back on that incident at other times in the game. The incident that you chose. So when it's brought up again, you remember.

Defined characters are usually snarky jerks that I really don't identify with.