Do you put helmets on your characters?

[KarmaTheAlligator]

No, because I usually spend a lot of time making a face I like, so I want to be able to admire my character whenever I feel like it without having to mess with any equipment. Same reason my Shepard never wore a helmet or armour suit in ME2 after I found out you couldn't remove it whenever.

 

[Gothproxy]

I will if I have to (for protection, if needed). But if there is an option to not show your headgear, I usually will not show it. I like a lot of these games where you customize everything, including your hair. Why cover it up with some clunky water bucket?

 

[MammothBlade]

If the helmet looks badass or provides enough protection. Aesthetics usually comes first unless that extra special effect or defence point from the helmet is really important. Sometimes not having a helmet can look silly. For example, Fallout New Vegas power armour. A matching helmet is the only thing that will do for style.

 

[demoman_chaos]

I prefer to have helms. They keep you from dying, which is never a bad thing.

 

[Voulan]

I'm more partial to hoods myself, but I'm definitely not a helmet or head-cover person for my characters.

I spent a long time making that character, so I'm going to be looking at it.

 

[Benny Blanco]

Fallout: New Vegas

1st Recon Beret + Sunglasses + Boone + EDE + Four-Eyes.

My character sees things the computer hasn't bothered rendering yet. And I look frigging awesome in any outfit, because berets look good with anything.

Seriously, anything. In GTA: San Andreas I dressed CJ up in the gimp suit and sunglasses, then put on the beret and selected the UZI. Instant S1W outfit...

 

[INF1NIT3 D00M]

In most games, I avoid wearing helmets. Oblivion, Mount & Blade: Warband, etc, I go around without headgear.
ME2 and Fallout: New Vegas, I wear certain helms.
I guess it really comes down to whether I like the look of a helmet enough.
And since they tend to be different with each game, whether or not I wear a helmet changes between the games.
Of course, not wearing a helmet is a hazard on Mount & Blade: Warband when trying to take a castle, it's a real pain with enemy archers >.>

I was going to make that Mount and Blade: Warband point. Archers are the bane of my existence. I ALWAYS wear some form of headgear, because those damn archers are crack shots for headshots on me. On my main character, right now I'm rocking the Kettle Helm, because I won't go without a helmet, but at the very least I want to look different from the other lords and preferably see my character's handsomeish face, considering I'm the most dashing man in calradia.

As for other games, it depends. I like wearing the open N7 armor helmet in Mass Effect, and took to using some of the full face helmets late in Mass Effect 2. By that point I had met everybody who was going to recognize me by face, so putting on a full-face DLC helmet seemed like a good idea.

It really depends on what game I'm playing. As a general rule, I want to see a custom character's face. If it's a game where I play as someone who isn't a surrogate me, cover that shit up. If my character turned out horrible (looking at you, Rainbow 6 Vegas 1 and 2), then they get a balaclava or something.

 

[Doragon Shinzui]

Generally not. I put all this effort into my character's face (Because you can't customize much else) and I'd rather not talk to every NPC through a tin can.

 

[darkcalling]

I usually wear one if it gives a useful bonus. Though in Mass Effect 3 I never used any helmet that covered the entire head if I could help it. It seemed to take away from the drama of the game and made Shepherd seem a lot more generic.

 

[Robertus2210]

most of the time i leave the helmet off or use the invisible option.
ocasionaly i'll have the character wear sunglasses or cool hat or bandana.
i mean if it looks cool

 

[bigredlyms]

if i can help it no, if my character looks retarded without it yes. Im the sorta "massive sword/gun" type and the cooler i look the better i tend to fight, in oblivion i had a claymore and some standard iron armour but i looked EPIC and i did the final main quest with no problems (asides from the deidra god arriving and me running in fear for the first time in history)

if you did the main quest right away of course it you wouldn't have had problems. oblivion makes all types of enemies super weak if you are low level so running through the main quest isnt hard at all if you stay weak

 

[Aprilgold]

Yeah, ESPECIALLY in Mass Effect, I'm sorry Shepard bro, you ain't got the face for the hair, get what I'm sayin?

 

[WolfThomas]

I wear them in combat and take them off when walking around, I liked how it was in Dragon Age, that helmets were removed for conversations and cut scenes. Or in Mount and Blade how full helms are taken off when talking to characters.

 

[Laser Priest]

If the helmet doesn't look like shit, sure.

NOTE: Most helmets look like shit.

 

[EvilPicnic]

Depends.

If there is no bonus, then usually no (unless it is a very cool hat). But in games like Baldur's Gate (where helmets protect against Critical Hits) absolutely.

And I second what everyone has been saying above: if appropriate, helmeted characters should take their helmets off in cut-scenes. It's what you would do in real-life and it looks so much better than staring at a random hunk of metal for minutes on end.

 

[TorchofThanatos]

Depends on how ugly my character is.

 

[Nieroshai]

I like a sort of middle ground that Mass Effect 1 gave where you wore your helmet in the field, but in civilian zones and your ship you didn't have it on. I thought it was dumb in number 2 that you had to have it persistently on or off.

In games like Oblivion or Fallout, I do wear the helmet. In Oblivion, it's because I enchant every single piece of gear I own.

 

[Thatguyky]

In most games I will not wear a helmet. The only exception is if the helmet makes me look like a total bad ass

... Actually I thought of another exception. I'll throw one on for a few fights or a boss fight if I know I'll need the extra armor and stats.