Roleplaying....in RPGs

[Delsana]

Do you do it?
Someone at work today seemed confused when - talking about Skyrim - he asked me if I had done a particular quest, and I said no because my character wouldn't do that. He said that he just went through doing any quest that seemed good.

For me, I enjoy getting into a character that I have created. Thinking about games such as Fallout or Skyrim or even, to a lesser extent, Mass Effect - I tend to think from the beginning "right, I want my character to be a do gooder", for example.

At the risk of turning this into ANOTHER Skyrim thread, I'm just going to use it as an example:

My current character is a dual wielding female Redguard. She is all about justice. Money is not a concern - if you do wrong, you'll pay. As such, I don't bother with magical quests or quests in which I have to steal something (unless I'm stealing it back Robin Hood style). On my next playthrough, I think I'm going to be a dickish mage who just does whatever he can to benefit himself. My friend is playing as a thief, and as such doesn't kill anyone who doesn't deserve it, but will sneakily rob them and only do quests which benefit him with a reward at the end.

I remember my first playthrough of Fallout 3 I was an angry daddy's-boy....if anyone bad mouthed him, I'd blow their head off.

So, do you roleplay in RPGs (or, indeed, other games), or do you just do whatever quests you please?

I don't roleplay based on what I would do, but on what the character in such an environment, raised and put through such trials in that world would do instead.

So, if it's Star Wars and I was a slave and suddenly seen as having a drop of force and being worthy to be an initiate at the Sith Academy (ala Sith Inquisitor The Old Republic), I would have several options to think of:

First, what is my physique? Am I like Darth Bane who was in a mine that thus was given large muscles from the work done and a gruff and rough attitude, probably taking to rougher and more camaraderie based actions like smoking, drinking, and gambling?

Or am I a starved slave that somehow barely manages to survive (though I've no idea why they would then pick me if I was starved and barely could survive) and just winds up showing a hint of force power and going from there?

Or... against all odds do I manage to take a leadership role with the other slaves and try to manage them to allow us all to survive and in some form I am challenged by an Imperial Raid and I fight back and I manage to do some serious damage through some force powers or being able to anticipate attacks.

In these methods, I will know what I will look like as a miner would look strong but have a deeper attitude and take much time to develop any real strategic capacity, and a starving slave would be slim and either stealthy or killing others in an honorless manner, and finally the last would have me as an average build but I'd be of the tactical and heroic mind.

Of all these I must then determine how my character would respond based on such actions, the miner is tougher and most likely better put together physically but mentally he may be a wreck, so the option to prove myself may appeal to me. If my weaker and barely surviving one got there, I'd take to being very cautious, keeping to myself, and possibly manipulating others for my own ends (of course I'd have to learn that but it'd be a talent I'd use). Or perhaps the leader would be my mindset and thus given the opportunity for success perhaps he takes that as a way to change things but he realizes (or not) that he has to get to that point first and so that may require sacrifices and actions he's not proud of but will do for a greater good.

Then, those mindsets determine how I think of others and I put myself in their shoes, but make decisions on how they would realistically be after developing their backstory and mentality with as much of the information I am given and carefully expanding it without breaking their molds. The actions that occur to those characters will also have unique consequences that differ for each of them and so I will develop them as well.

But when the character is just "what would I do?" it doesn't make much sense if you don't consider the world, the atmosphere, the upbringing, and the way things work in that society. You break your own immersion by throwing your own character into a game without taking those things into account.

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[Silent Anima]

I usually tend to project myself onto the character I'm playing as the first time. Mostly without thinking about it. A good guy who wants to help people, sometimes ignoring his own needs. Usually after that I think of something else to be. I had to force myself to be an asshole in ME2.

 

[sextus the crazy]

In New Vegas, I'm playing as an misanthopic psychopath who must murder everyone he meets.

 

[Delsana]

In New Vegas, I'm playing as an misanthopic psychopath who must murder everyone he meets.

And... why pray tell do you feel your character does this? What experiences in his childhood and life put such a deviant and violent personality together? How did his mother treat him? Did his father abuse him? Was he secretly homosexual and lashing out at the world for not letting him be what he felt he was publicly? Does he just hate radiation THAT MUCH?

 

[sextus the crazy]

In New Vegas, I'm playing as an misanthopic psychopath who must murder everyone he meets.

And... why pray tell do you feel your character does this? What experiences in his childhood and life put such a deviant and violent personality together? How did his mother treat him? Did his father abuse him? Was he secretly homosexual and lashing out at the world for not letting him be what he felt he was publicly? Does he just hate radiation THAT MUCH?

Was locked up and abused by raiders his whole childhood and adolescence. This trauma so affected him that he lost his ability speak. Eventually, he just snapped, murdered his way out of their camp and lived off the land. He murders because he afraid of all people because of his experiences with them. He wants to live alone in peace, but he is tracked down by jsut about every faction.

 

[Delsana]

In New Vegas, I'm playing as an misanthopic psychopath who must murder everyone he meets.

And... why pray tell do you feel your character does this? What experiences in his childhood and life put such a deviant and violent personality together? How did his mother treat him? Did his father abuse him? Was he secretly homosexual and lashing out at the world for not letting him be what he felt he was publicly? Does he just hate radiation THAT MUCH?

Was locked up and abused by raiders his whole childhood and adolescence. This trauma so affected him that he lost his ability speak. Eventually, he just snapped, murdered his way out of their camp and lived off the land. He murders because he afraid of all people because of his experiences with them. He wants to live alone in peace, but he is tracked down by jsut about every faction.

Then he's secretly a GOOD GUY saving others from possibly horrible experiences that they may or may not have had. In any case, remember that in most cases stockholm syndrome takes place and he would begin raping and abusing others as he had done to him, usually they don't rebel.

 

[Wapox]

I always stick to a character. If I have a voice on that character, even better/easier. I love RP'ing in games xD It's so immersive.

 

[sextus the crazy]

In New Vegas, I'm playing as an misanthopic psychopath who must murder everyone he meets.

And... why pray tell do you feel your character does this? What experiences in his childhood and life put such a deviant and violent personality together? How did his mother treat him? Did his father abuse him? Was he secretly homosexual and lashing out at the world for not letting him be what he felt he was publicly? Does he just hate radiation THAT MUCH?

Was locked up and abused by raiders his whole childhood and adolescence. This trauma so affected him that he lost his ability speak. Eventually, he just snapped, murdered his way out of their camp and lived off the land. He murders because he afraid of all people because of his experiences with them. He wants to live alone in peace, but he is tracked down by jsut about every faction.

Then he's secretly a GOOD GUY saving others from possibly horrible experiences that they may or may not have had. In any case, remember that in most cases stockholm syndrome takes place and he would begin raping and abusing others as he had done to him, usually they don't rebel.

I think you misunderstood me. my character isn't killing because he has become like the raiders, his experiences with the raiders has influenced him so that he is afraid of all humans because he fears them to be like the raiders. He kills all people he meets to protect himself from their perceived danger. He attacks for the same reason a cornered animal attacks: out of fear.

 

[jarkhideous]

first play through i play good guy in every way i can. then about half way through i go back to the starting town and kill everyone and if possible take their heads and stick them around the main road to the town. i do this to represent the main character's desensitization to violence and eventual collapse into insanity due to the ungrateful nature of the town's residents.

2nd time through i kill everyone from the start. i figure my character from the first play through traveled back in time with all of his memories and figured it was easier to do it this way.

 

[Devin Curry]

It is kinda hard to do in the RPGs I play (I'm currently play Mario & Luigi: Bowser's inside story and Pokemon Black) since your character is already a character. I could always narrate my actions in a funny manner, or only do the Roleplaying when it comes to battling other (Real) people's Pokemon since the game's story, while not that much of one, doesn't allow for much unless you follow the plot. What I need is an RPG that isn't as linear.

I ironically do more roleplay when playing other game genres than Roleplaying.

 

[Joccaren]

My first playthrough is always what would happen if I myself were teleported with all of my current knowledge and a Google machine thing into the game, and transformed into the main character. I will make every choice I would make and play it as a game for fun instead of an RP event.

After that, I start up a second playthrough where I play as a character instead of as myself, and I will pick and choose sides based off that characters experiences. I will usually find a way to get myself into every quest possible, just for the fun, but my character will have their own goals in said quest, and my previous playthrough of everything will tell me whether it is possible to do this or not. If it is not possible to end the quest in a way that keeps my character making sense, I will not take it, but there usually is some way to do it.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I often just ascribe my own personality (Well...Plus a few levels in badass) to the hero when playing an RPG. I tend to be a nice guy, often a mage, or a mage/fighter hybrid, and while I always try to help those in need, I WILL unleash righteous fury on total pricks, as well as take any underhanded advantages I can get against baddies.

I think I've only really roleplayed twice... I forget the first time. The second time is...well, now, actually. I'm trying to get into morrowind, and I'm playing my character as a laid back, naive Khajiit, who thinks that everything belongs to everyone, and who believes that "thieves" is another word for "friends" (he read it in a book made by the thief guild! IT HAS TO BE TRUE!!!!).

While skyrim interests me, I'm gonna wait for the inevitable GOTY version which will have ALL the content in it at once (so I don't have to wait for it), as well as all the patches, meaning less nasty bugs when I get to the game.

 

[theheroofaction]

I prefer to leave RPing to the tabletop games.
A good GM will change his campaign to match your character as much as you change your character to match the campaign.

Videogames, not so much.

So, I guess in the context established thusfar I've got a firm no.

Also, thusfar is totally a word, your dictionary is just lying.