Do you self insert?
- Thread starter Daystar Clarion
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generally not, unless it's a game designed with that in mind, i like characters to be who they are and i'm just a little person riding on their shoulder, moral choice systems, i either go all the way good, or all the way bad, as there is usually little other choice
Actually, I have this long, overly complicated, and maybe childish way of always projecting myself into the shoes of the protagonist, regardless of who they are.
When I was 9, really getting into gaming with my N64, I was playing Ocarina of Time imagining what it would be like to actually be there. I'd dream about it sometimes, it was one of the first games I played that allowed me to explore so openly. But then I realized, the game itself was my way into the world. So I started playing pretend AND video games at the same time. I would sometimes talk out loud to myself as Link, (mainly in my own head though to avoid looking insane..) and I would create my own narrative outside of the one already existing in the game. "How did I get here? Who am I?" I'd look in the water, though there werent water reflection in Ocarina of Time, and say to myself "No way...I'm Link!" and then play the entire game with that mindset.
As I got older, the narrative I created for myself got more complicated. I even created for myself one, large antagonist. "The Game Master". A huge, evil entity that controls all games, on all platforms, of all genres, for all time. With his power, he is able to literally transfer a persons existance into the digital world, forcing them to fight in these video games for their actual life. Depending on what game they were sucked into, they could either die immedietely, or have a few chances at death, if the game rules apply. (you can also earn more lives, and these earned lives are transferable to all games). Thus, "I was warped into the digital world". My first game was Grand Theft Auto 3, the first game I used this larger narrative for myself. No matter the graphical quality of the game, as soon as you were warped into it, it all looked real (with a few exceptions, such as overly colorful games still looking real, but obviously with exaggerated color), so I thought the world of GTA3 was just a real city that I somehow been transported to. I "slowly found out how real, but unreal everything really was, and that the only way to return home was to complete the game as if it was my destiny in life".
I pretended main characters of games were once real people, who have been trapped in the game by the Game Master, forced to be in here for all enternity until they can find the way out. All main antagonists of games are actually working for the Game Master, trying to torture and kill people for the enjoyment, but also because that data of death becomes power for the Game Master. Eventually I became what was known as an "Elite", one of the few people sucked into the digital world that can temporarily return to the real world, but will soon have to go into another game to be faced as a challenge. A 6 hour game to just a normal gamer can actually be several days, or weeks, or years to someone in the game, but my real body will never age, only my digital one.
There are times when I'm not the actual character, but rather temporarily being a part of their body to give them the power to press on so they can escape from the game.
All abilities and powers I gain in a game cannot come out with me into the real world, so no matter how many computers I expertly hack in Fallout 3, I forget all knowledge of knowing how to hack once I escape the game. No matter how strong I got in Skyrim, it is back to my average body in the real world.
So, as you can see, I have built my own story to go along side the actual story of the games I play, and I've been doing this since I was 9. I'm 19 now, and as a habit I still think about these things, but I don't think about it nearly as much as I did when I was younger. Still though, it's actually made my experience with games more immersive, and more fun, even with bad games. It doesn't matter what gender, sexuality, race, or religion the main character is, that is the body the Game Master has given me to fight with, and it also challenges my understanding.
I actually plan on writing a book about this, more fleshed out and detailed. I think it could be a great book about gaming that we need. Sure, it's not about gaming itself in the real world, but it's about being a part of those games.
So to finally answer, yes, I typically always immerse myself as the main character, regarless of who they are.
When I was 9, really getting into gaming with my N64, I was playing Ocarina of Time imagining what it would be like to actually be there. I'd dream about it sometimes, it was one of the first games I played that allowed me to explore so openly. But then I realized, the game itself was my way into the world. So I started playing pretend AND video games at the same time. I would sometimes talk out loud to myself as Link, (mainly in my own head though to avoid looking insane..) and I would create my own narrative outside of the one already existing in the game. "How did I get here? Who am I?" I'd look in the water, though there werent water reflection in Ocarina of Time, and say to myself "No way...I'm Link!" and then play the entire game with that mindset.
As I got older, the narrative I created for myself got more complicated. I even created for myself one, large antagonist. "The Game Master". A huge, evil entity that controls all games, on all platforms, of all genres, for all time. With his power, he is able to literally transfer a persons existance into the digital world, forcing them to fight in these video games for their actual life. Depending on what game they were sucked into, they could either die immedietely, or have a few chances at death, if the game rules apply. (you can also earn more lives, and these earned lives are transferable to all games). Thus, "I was warped into the digital world". My first game was Grand Theft Auto 3, the first game I used this larger narrative for myself. No matter the graphical quality of the game, as soon as you were warped into it, it all looked real (with a few exceptions, such as overly colorful games still looking real, but obviously with exaggerated color), so I thought the world of GTA3 was just a real city that I somehow been transported to. I "slowly found out how real, but unreal everything really was, and that the only way to return home was to complete the game as if it was my destiny in life".
I pretended main characters of games were once real people, who have been trapped in the game by the Game Master, forced to be in here for all enternity until they can find the way out. All main antagonists of games are actually working for the Game Master, trying to torture and kill people for the enjoyment, but also because that data of death becomes power for the Game Master. Eventually I became what was known as an "Elite", one of the few people sucked into the digital world that can temporarily return to the real world, but will soon have to go into another game to be faced as a challenge. A 6 hour game to just a normal gamer can actually be several days, or weeks, or years to someone in the game, but my real body will never age, only my digital one.
There are times when I'm not the actual character, but rather temporarily being a part of their body to give them the power to press on so they can escape from the game.
All abilities and powers I gain in a game cannot come out with me into the real world, so no matter how many computers I expertly hack in Fallout 3, I forget all knowledge of knowing how to hack once I escape the game. No matter how strong I got in Skyrim, it is back to my average body in the real world.
So, as you can see, I have built my own story to go along side the actual story of the games I play, and I've been doing this since I was 9. I'm 19 now, and as a habit I still think about these things, but I don't think about it nearly as much as I did when I was younger. Still though, it's actually made my experience with games more immersive, and more fun, even with bad games. It doesn't matter what gender, sexuality, race, or religion the main character is, that is the body the Game Master has given me to fight with, and it also challenges my understanding.
I actually plan on writing a book about this, more fleshed out and detailed. I think it could be a great book about gaming that we need. Sure, it's not about gaming itself in the real world, but it's about being a part of those games.
So to finally answer, yes, I typically always immerse myself as the main character, regarless of who they are.
Only really with RPG's and free roamy type games, otherwise I just kind of accept that every protagonist has the same approach to any situation as me, but with cooler clothes and lots of guns and stuff...
I don't so much self-insert as I massively roleplay as long as I'm not given an actual name.
Bethesda games are great for self-insertion purposes, but diverging from myself is still as simple as creating a non-Breton who isn't named Daniel Sauvé. As yes, that's my name. Hassan the Khajiit isn't me. Black-Scale the Argonian isn't either. If and when I feel like self-inserting, the character's name starts to resemble mine. As a rule, that doesn't happen often. The less anthrocentric the universe, the less I'm inclined to slip myself in it.
One of the problems I have with this approach, however, is the fact that no matter how hard I try, I can't roleplay a Courier who's stuck with CP from birth and who has to hobble his way around the Mojave with a lazy eye and a bum leg. Statistics will always climb, so even my self-insert Breton will inevitably be a much greater badass than I ever will be. Ergo, he stops being a vector for my own personality. In other words, when I do self-insert, it only lasts for the first five or so levels.
Give me a named protagonist, however, and I just can't do that. Geralt of Rivia is Geralt of Rivia. Corvo Attano is Corvo Attano. All the Assassins are who they are. I could never hold a candle to Gordon Freeman's curiously under-developed intellectual prowess, I'm sure. I mean, the dude's studied at Innsbruck and he's barely in his thirties! He's an M.I.T. graduate!
What am I, in comparison? A thirty year-old bookworm. String theory? Lawl, more like cheese string theory.
Bethesda games are great for self-insertion purposes, but diverging from myself is still as simple as creating a non-Breton who isn't named Daniel Sauvé. As yes, that's my name. Hassan the Khajiit isn't me. Black-Scale the Argonian isn't either. If and when I feel like self-inserting, the character's name starts to resemble mine. As a rule, that doesn't happen often. The less anthrocentric the universe, the less I'm inclined to slip myself in it.
One of the problems I have with this approach, however, is the fact that no matter how hard I try, I can't roleplay a Courier who's stuck with CP from birth and who has to hobble his way around the Mojave with a lazy eye and a bum leg. Statistics will always climb, so even my self-insert Breton will inevitably be a much greater badass than I ever will be. Ergo, he stops being a vector for my own personality. In other words, when I do self-insert, it only lasts for the first five or so levels.
Give me a named protagonist, however, and I just can't do that. Geralt of Rivia is Geralt of Rivia. Corvo Attano is Corvo Attano. All the Assassins are who they are. I could never hold a candle to Gordon Freeman's curiously under-developed intellectual prowess, I'm sure. I mean, the dude's studied at Innsbruck and he's barely in his thirties! He's an M.I.T. graduate!
What am I, in comparison? A thirty year-old bookworm. String theory? Lawl, more like cheese string theory.
Depends on the game.
For my first run in bioware rpgs for example i do tend towards self insertion as it feels more honest, i usually have little idea of the world im playing in as so find it more immersive to play an alternate version of myself (so id contribute to the stats of male soldiers in that regard), but on the subsequent playthroughs i get more creative with my characters.
For games like Walking Dead or Tomb Raider with a fixed protagonist, i tend to project myself as the character instead.
For my first run in bioware rpgs for example i do tend towards self insertion as it feels more honest, i usually have little idea of the world im playing in as so find it more immersive to play an alternate version of myself (so id contribute to the stats of male soldiers in that regard), but on the subsequent playthroughs i get more creative with my characters.
For games like Walking Dead or Tomb Raider with a fixed protagonist, i tend to project myself as the character instead.
Oh... This is not what I thought it was. Disappointed.
Seriously, though! I self insert into things games like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc but usually based on a background I give that character... If that makes sense. Like one guy is me but if I had been raised by Radscorpions, for example. That me would get animal friend perk or focus on survival. He would also avoid confrontation with scorpions. But I might make a female character who is obsessed with money so she would be pretty nasty to get what she wants but would learn a lesson based on the missions. So he might end up less nasty.
If a character is already established or has his own basic background, I'll still make choices based on my own moral compass but more along the lines of what I think the character would do. Or, rather, what I want him/her to do. But with mass Effect, I'd play for the story and character interactions' I'd play a female or male character only because I want to get all interactions and possible scenarios.
But then again, in things like Metal gear, I'd play Peacewalker playthroughs and kill everything playthroughs just because of fun and trophies.
So I suppose it depends on how fleshed out the character is when I get to play.
Seriously, though! I self insert into things games like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc but usually based on a background I give that character... If that makes sense. Like one guy is me but if I had been raised by Radscorpions, for example. That me would get animal friend perk or focus on survival. He would also avoid confrontation with scorpions. But I might make a female character who is obsessed with money so she would be pretty nasty to get what she wants but would learn a lesson based on the missions. So he might end up less nasty.
If a character is already established or has his own basic background, I'll still make choices based on my own moral compass but more along the lines of what I think the character would do. Or, rather, what I want him/her to do. But with mass Effect, I'd play for the story and character interactions' I'd play a female or male character only because I want to get all interactions and possible scenarios.
But then again, in things like Metal gear, I'd play Peacewalker playthroughs and kill everything playthroughs just because of fun and trophies.
So I suppose it depends on how fleshed out the character is when I get to play.
I can't help but grin every time I see this thread's title.
Anyway, I do not self-insert. I'm very much a fan of characters; not a fan of myself at all. Like Daystar mentioned, even in games where the protagonist is designed practically for the sole purpose of you projecting yourself into the game through them (BioShock and Persona 3 FES come to mind, since I've been playing those recently), I tend to form an attachment to the protagonist anyway as if they were a distinct and tangible person. Call me crazy, but Jack from BioShock is one of my favourite main video game characters. In games where you make your own character, I actually make my own character; it's not me running through the hills of Cyrodiil, it's Steals-Sweetroll, the thief-y Khajiit with an Argonian name, or Priscilla gro-Baaluk, the male to female transgendered orc.
Anyway, I do not self-insert. I'm very much a fan of characters; not a fan of myself at all. Like Daystar mentioned, even in games where the protagonist is designed practically for the sole purpose of you projecting yourself into the game through them (BioShock and Persona 3 FES come to mind, since I've been playing those recently), I tend to form an attachment to the protagonist anyway as if they were a distinct and tangible person. Call me crazy, but Jack from BioShock is one of my favourite main video game characters. In games where you make your own character, I actually make my own character; it's not me running through the hills of Cyrodiil, it's Steals-Sweetroll, the thief-y Khajiit with an Argonian name, or Priscilla gro-Baaluk, the male to female transgendered orc.
Yeah. I came to this thread specifically to make a masturbation joke. However, if seems you've ninjaed me in the OP!Daystar Clarion said:Yeah, sounds dirty no matter how I type it
Also... tee hee... I said "came." ^^;;
Yeah, I don't get that either. I never project onto the protagonist of a game.Daystar Clarion said: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
At best, I pull a character from my D&D line up and play THAT character instead.
If I want to be myself, I can do that in Real Life. I game to be other people with lives that far more dangerous than my own.
Heh heh self insert. Childish humour.
I'm not sure how to answer it though. I mean, if I take the example of the walking dead, playing as Lee, he's nothing like me. He's male, a lot older than me, I really had no reason to 'be' Lee, yet I would make the decisions that felt like what I'd do. It may be more of a matter of immersion than self insertion, but I did feel emotionally connected to the characters.
On the other hand if I get the choice I always play as a female character, so maybe there is a bit of self insertion for me, or maybe it's about what I find relatable.
I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say anymore... I'll stop now.
I'm not sure how to answer it though. I mean, if I take the example of the walking dead, playing as Lee, he's nothing like me. He's male, a lot older than me, I really had no reason to 'be' Lee, yet I would make the decisions that felt like what I'd do. It may be more of a matter of immersion than self insertion, but I did feel emotionally connected to the characters.
On the other hand if I get the choice I always play as a female character, so maybe there is a bit of self insertion for me, or maybe it's about what I find relatable.
I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say anymore... I'll stop now.
It totally depends on the game. If there's an established character, I try to play that character, one way or the other. And if given a good/evil choice in an established character, I usually play through twice. Now, in a game where I can make a character, I most often play as a constructed character personality.
Games like Fallout or Elder Scrolls are my favorite, because I'll play through multiple times as different characters. What I really like to do is role-play the protagonist in different ways. The first time I'm a female with a kind heart who wants to help people. The next time I'm a complete ass-hole who's just in it for himself. The next time I'll be a roguish anti-heroine, who has a smart mouth, but in the end does the right thing. I will occasionally try to play a game as myself in these cases, but more often I try to become the character. So rather than insert myself, I'm shedding myself and trying to be this character I've made up.
It doesn't matter if I'm male, female, furry or alien or whatever?I try to think and feel like the character. To me, that's the most fun of all, and it's why I like big open-world games with lots of opportunities to interact and explore new characters and settings.
Games like Fallout or Elder Scrolls are my favorite, because I'll play through multiple times as different characters. What I really like to do is role-play the protagonist in different ways. The first time I'm a female with a kind heart who wants to help people. The next time I'm a complete ass-hole who's just in it for himself. The next time I'll be a roguish anti-heroine, who has a smart mouth, but in the end does the right thing. I will occasionally try to play a game as myself in these cases, but more often I try to become the character. So rather than insert myself, I'm shedding myself and trying to be this character I've made up.
It doesn't matter if I'm male, female, furry or alien or whatever?I try to think and feel like the character. To me, that's the most fun of all, and it's why I like big open-world games with lots of opportunities to interact and explore new characters and settings.
I like to try to self-insert, where possible (that phrase is never going to not sound horrible, is it?) Some games have fairly defined characters. Lee Everett is a good example. You decide parts of what he thinks, but not all. Some decisions are forced binaries, others just don't have the option I would take. Alpha Protocol is similar. Mike Thorton can be any of three different flavors of badass/jackass, or a mix, but he's never entirely the player's character. (the plot of the game is fairly linear, but the effect you can have on the parts of it you see can be tremendous.)
The odd thing is, almost all of my favorite RPG characters STARTED as self-inserts, but became their own characters later on. KotOR II's Jedi Exile is to my mind the most interesting protagonists of that console generation, purely because of his/her character arc. Sure I named him after me, and picked the headshot that looked most like me (if much, much more tan) but by the end of the game he evolved into a wholly separate creature; he didn't do what I would do, he did what I think the Jedi Exile would do. Same thing happened with my Commander Shepard in Mass Effect. He started as me and turned into my interpretation of Shepard, Savior of the Galaxy. The only game where my self-insert didn't disappear into the game's protagonist was Fallout New Vegas, which I think speaks to the amount of flexibility that game's writing accounts for. When I got to the point where the Courier starts to align with the NCR, Legion, or Mr. House, I couldn't really decide on who to support. In a situation like that you bet your ass I'd waffle on my allegiance and to my surprise, the game allowed for that. I even told all three factions that I'd allied the Boomers with them! And then I promptly turned on all three sides, locked Mr. House out of his own house, and gave New Vegas back to the people, just like I wanted to.
The odd thing is, almost all of my favorite RPG characters STARTED as self-inserts, but became their own characters later on. KotOR II's Jedi Exile is to my mind the most interesting protagonists of that console generation, purely because of his/her character arc. Sure I named him after me, and picked the headshot that looked most like me (if much, much more tan) but by the end of the game he evolved into a wholly separate creature; he didn't do what I would do, he did what I think the Jedi Exile would do. Same thing happened with my Commander Shepard in Mass Effect. He started as me and turned into my interpretation of Shepard, Savior of the Galaxy. The only game where my self-insert didn't disappear into the game's protagonist was Fallout New Vegas, which I think speaks to the amount of flexibility that game's writing accounts for. When I got to the point where the Courier starts to align with the NCR, Legion, or Mr. House, I couldn't really decide on who to support. In a situation like that you bet your ass I'd waffle on my allegiance and to my surprise, the game allowed for that. I even told all three factions that I'd allied the Boomers with them! And then I promptly turned on all three sides, locked Mr. House out of his own house, and gave New Vegas back to the people, just like I wanted to.
I think I do it pretty much all the time. (slightly less dirty than saying I self-insert all the time)
For example(s):
In my current play through of Baldur's Gate 2 my character is not Rendah'li Kellat half elf, spawn of Bhaal, he is me with a cooler name and more interesting life. Or in Skyrim, Hjoll Firemane is me after many, many visits to the gym.
In some cases though it can be quite difficult or something might happen which stops me from being able to.
In L.A Noir I began playing as me
At which point he couldn't be me anymore because I wouldn't have done that. From that point on I was simply watching Cole run around doing cop things, whereas before it was an odd looking version of me running around doing cop things.
In Halo, I am a Spartan warrior, but then during the cut scenes I am suddenly not a Spartan warrior, I am Dan on a sofa watching John be a Spartan warrior.
I guess it depends on the game. If there is an opportunity to self-insert I'll take it and honestly I prefer it when I can be self-inserted. (So lock up your games, I'm coming to self-insert myself all over their faces and stuff!)
For example(s):
In my current play through of Baldur's Gate 2 my character is not Rendah'li Kellat half elf, spawn of Bhaal, he is me with a cooler name and more interesting life. Or in Skyrim, Hjoll Firemane is me after many, many visits to the gym.
In some cases though it can be quite difficult or something might happen which stops me from being able to.
In L.A Noir I began playing as me
Has an affair with that singer woman.
In Halo, I am a Spartan warrior, but then during the cut scenes I am suddenly not a Spartan warrior, I am Dan on a sofa watching John be a Spartan warrior.
I guess it depends on the game. If there is an opportunity to self-insert I'll take it and honestly I prefer it when I can be self-inserted. (So lock up your games, I'm coming to self-insert myself all over their faces and stuff!)
Context sensitive is the best way to put it. Some games, I simply can't. Such as Batman as someone noted, the game gives you no space to insert yourself in. While some game, I simply cannot NOT insert myself into the characters, in games such as TES or Fallout.
Most of the time, no I don't self insert (God, that does feel dirty typing it). However, if combat gets pretty heavy then I tend to get lost in the moment and I do become the PC... until the next dialog heavy cutscene. Then I'm wrenched right back to being the audience.