Do you self insert?

[Daystar Clarion]

Yeah, sounds dirty no matter how I type it



After today's Jimquisition, I got to thinking on my relationship with video game protagonists.

I very rarely self insert (still dirty) myself in the position of the protagonist.

When I'm playing The Walking Dead, I'm not Lee Everett, I'm making decisions I think he'd make.

When I'm playing Fallout New Vegas, it isn't me who's wandering the Mojave, it's Lilith Valentine, revolver wielding bounty hunter of fortune.

Hell, even in Half Life 2, I don't really play the game as if it's me fighting the Combine, it's Gordon Freeman, mute scientist.

Am I in a minority then, when it comes to gaming, that I see protagonists as their own person, not simply an avatar for me to project onto?

I get the impression that most gamers do project themselves into games as the protagonist, seeing as how only around 18% of Mass Effect 3 players used Femshep

 

[RipRoaringWaterfowl]

... I'd say that, for the most part, I do not. Probably the only times I've self inserted (still still dirty) were Oblivion and strategy games.

 

[Dead Seerius]

I can't do it.

And believe me, I've tried, but no matter how hard I attempt to "be" the person I'm playing as I can't overcome the feeling that my character is just some dude who I command from a couch for entertainment. Like my very own immortal slave!

I've given up trying anyway. I don't need that level of escapism to enjoy games to their fullest potential. Just thought I'd give it a shot for the hell of it, and it didn't work. :/

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I think the only time I projected myself into a game was with Pokemon (Blue/Gold) at about 10 years of age. It helped a lot that I detested Ash and the anime, and saw the games as an opportunity to get things done properly (ie. don't go around befriending Pokemon, fucking catch them!).

Otherwise I'm very comfortable playing WITH the protagonist rather than AS him/her. Overtime it develops into a nice comedy act, I think, in which I can talk to myself without really talking to myself, if you get what I'm saying.

 

[Tayh]

I do. In the games that allow me to, anyway.

 

[Doom972]

It depends on the game and my current mood. Sometimes I see the character as an independent being, sometimes I project myself into the character, and sometimes I imagine myself being the character whom I made up, who could have a very different personality to my own.

For example, if I play Batman: Arkham City, I can't project myself into Batman. It's Batman, and he'll stay Batman no matter what I do. But when I play an Elder Scrolls game, I'd either play as myself (A High-Elf Battlemage version of myself), or I'll make up a character who's not like me and imagine how he would act in different scenarios.

At the end, does it really matter? Just play the way you enjoy.

 

[krazykidd]

What's the difference between inserting myself into a character and inmersion? Just wondering .

OT: no i don't insert myself into characters . I couldn't insert myself into femshep no matter how hard i tried . But i wasn't immersed in the world either , if that's different .

As a side note : best thread name ever .

 

[thesilentman]

Depends on the game. If the protagonist isn't defined at all, yes I'll project myself. But if the protagonist is defined, then I'll listen to his story rather than make my own.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

What's the difference between inserting myself into a character and inmersion? Just wondering .

OT: no i don't insert myself into characters . I couldn't insert myself into femshep no matter how hard i tried . But i wasn't immersed in the world either , if that's different .

As a side note : best thread name ever .

Immersion would be just that, immersed in the game world.

Self inserting (still rude) is essentially taking over the protagonist and essentially making it you. Like if you made a Skyrim character and pretended it was you

 

[TrevHead]

If it's an FPS, silent prog or RPG then yes, if not then no and I certainly can't do that playing a woman.

However I don't want to role play every game, infact I'm more inclined to buy a game with a female lead as there's often more substance to them in action games, especially script writing.

 

[Vegosiux]

Depends on the game. I can do it quite easily as long as it's involved enough. So yeah, when I played DX:HR, I was not like "What would Adam jensen do", I was like "What would I do".

Then again I did use to roleplay often back in the days when I still had a lot of time for it, and I had no problems playing male, female, alien, AI, whathaveyou characters.

 

[shrekfan246]

Not really.

For games that allow the player to choose responses or actions, I'll make the ones that I believe I would pick were I in the same situation, but I treat the player character as their own entity. They're not really me, they're the Jedi Exile, or Geralt of Rivia, or Commander Shepard, etc. But I suppose in a way they could actually be considered an extension of me. Just in the choices, though, it doesn't matter to me if the character is male, female, human, elf, alien, robot, etc.

I suppose for characters that are practically complete blank slates with little personality, like the Warden in Dragon Age, I probably project onto the character, but those situations are few and far between.

 

[BlackConservative]

I do. In the games that allow me to, anyway.

Yes, this is what I was thinking. I honestly don't like games as much if they don't allow me to either be me or create a character. It seems like a lot of games are all like "Ok, so you are ____ and this is your story line! Raargh! Be excited!" and I'm like "I just want to be me, can I?" and then they say "No!!! You don't know what you want you are a just a consumer!"

Yeah, that's a little over the top but should at least convey what I am talking about.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Eh... depends on the game, but for the most part, I don't...

I have 'placeholder' names for most of my RPG characters. They, on the other hand, act in a very similar way, but it's generally not in keeping with how I'd be, certainly.

*shrug*

 

[Scrustle]

Depends on the game. If I get to create a character I usually do. I play as "myself", in the first playthrough at least.

In a game where I'm playing a defined character in a story, I don't. I am not Faith or Bayonetta, although I love playing as them.

When it's a blank slate type character, it's kind of in the middle. It's like the character isn't really a character. But I don't feel like I am Link when I play Zelda. It's hard to explain. I guess I somewhat feel like I am being inserted in to the role, but not completely. I don't really feel anything or feel like I'm part of a story, but I don't feel like it's just me living in the game's world either. Not totally anyway.

 

[endtherapture]

I try to, it's easy in games like Batman etc. but when I try to role play a character in Dragon Age Origins or TES or something, I always end up being a goodie two shoes because I feel horrible being mean to people.

 

[spartandude]

i do it to an extent but it really does depend on the game

like lets say in an rpg where i have a blank slate, such as DA:O, i will self insert myself into that character as much as possible (.... ok now i hear it). or if its something really immersive (i know i know) like say STALKER, i can also do it

but most other times i wont but il still make decisions based off of what i would do (or think i would do) in that situation, at least the first time round, the second time i will try to see the other option