Poll: Customizable vs Premade protagonists: The showdown

[Vahir]

I'm curious as to the statistics of this: Which is really more popular, characters who you can customize, or pre-made ones? Which is better, the player having an immersive avatar they care about, or the protagonist being fleshed out and involved in the story?

Note that you can have player choices with both types. Geralt is clearly a pre-made character, but you still have choices in the Witcher (even if it's just "What path should Geralt take").

 

[DefunctTheory]

Pre-Made. While its occasionally interesting to be able to make your own character, I usually prefer exploring ones others have made. It also seems harder for game developers to create compelling stories when you dump all of the characterization on the player. Observe Geralt (W3) vs. The Sole Survivor (FO4).

 

[tippy2k2]

Unless it is a game where your choice is a selling point (see Mass Effect, Fallout, Skyrim, etc.), I much much MUCH prefer a pre-made character with their own developer-made story. Hell, even then, I found the story of Lee in The Walking Dead to be far more valuable than the story of Shepard in Mass Effect (with Mass Effect working because of your team, pre-made characters, rather than because I cared about Shepard).

Maybe it's just been my luck with the games I play (or just my own subjective judgment) but games where you have a set developer-made character just seems to always have much better stories. It is their character in their world in their story and that focus on one thing works better than having to make ten different things to account for what the players created character may or may not do.

 

[DoPo]

Where is the option for "Either"? Because I really don't have strong feelings one way or another. Neither is really a selling point for me. I've played the Witcher. I've played Morrowind. I've played both things. I can play both things. I don't see a big reason for a distinction.

As a side note, KOTOR 2 had a brilliant take on this - the protagonist isn't one of those amnesiacs and/or foreigners that the blank slate protagonists tend to be, they have a backstory and everything. The player can still customise them and also, even if the events in the backstory are mostly fixed, they can also be defined by the player to an extent through dialogue. I think that was a really good mix of both styles.

 

[Asclepion]

Pre-Made. While its occasionally interesting to be able to make your own character, I usually prefer exploring ones others have made. It also seems harder for game developers to create compelling stories when you dump all of the characterization on the player. Observe Geralt (W3) vs. The Sole Survivor (FO4).

I could just as easily say that Jake Conway from Ride to Hell: Retribution is exemplary of pre-made characters.

For all it's problems, player-made characters still offer the greatest amount of freedom.

 

[DementedSheep]

Why not both? I don't mean the in-betweeners, I mean I play multiple games and I don't always want the same thing.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

Under the assumption that we're talking about RPGs (the only time it really makes sense) I went with blank slate. If you actually meant all genres then the poll really needs a "both" option.

Blank slate is great for roleplaying purposes. But obviously the game has to be built well around it.

I also like the inbetweeny varieties where the character is already established but you can change their appearance, like The Boss from Saints Row or Commander Shepard. Having my own unique version of the character makes me feel more invested in them. If I had to stick with ugly, boring, default maleshep I probably wouldn't have liked the character as much.

 

[Barbas]

While I'll happily spend hours crafting someone to look just so, it won't honestly matter if I play the game with their face covered or in 1st-person mode and they're not revealed in conversations. So if I don't get to see their face then I'm fine with either, but a well-written and relatable character is foremost in my mind and that presumably means much time saved without the character creation system.

 

[Bellvedere]

It really depends on the type of game, the degree of customisation (appearance, personality decisions, story decisions) and how story/character driven vs. gameplay driven it's supposed to be. Both can be done poorly and both can be done well. I still want to play both types of characters depending on my mood and how well the protagonist (customised or not) has been implemented.

In general I'd suggest less to no freedom in character customisation works better for story/character driven games, whereas more freedom works better in gameplay driven games as investment in a personal character provides another level of attachment to the game without the possibility of souring the experience (seeing as story and character isn't the reason your playing anyway). Also customised characters are nice in online games as a chance to distinguish players from one another.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

There's room for both with me.
I don't mind premade characters provided we avoid glutting on only guys filling that role. Go diverse, or give me character customization all the way.

 

[WolfThomas]

I don't think it's an and/or option. A good premade character is better than a custom. But a custom in general is better than a bad premade character as you can Roleplay or make an avatar of you etc. I tend to like options where the personality might be distinct like Hawke in Dragon Age or the Boss from Saints Row, but that the details like appearance etc are up to you.

 

[Tayh]

What about customizable characters with customizable backgrounds? That's what I'd vote for.

 

[FirstNameLastName]

I'm going to give the only reasonable answer to this question, and you're welcome to copy paste this into the next thread thread of the same nature that will inevitably show up. <color=red>IT DEPENDS ON THE GAME!

I'm sorry for--no, wait, I'm not sorry for being irritated at this. There seem to be so many threads where the only reasonable answer you can give is that it depends on the ________. Some games work better with a blank slate character that can be customized by the player to allow them the freedom to role play a diverse selection of personalities, backgrounds and roles, and to appease the players who strongly prefer the ability to change their appearance; other games benefit from a tighter and more controlled narrative that will inevitably require a more defined character.
Not only is this another thread in the trend of comparing apples and oranges, but this specific comparison has been done many times before.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.355316-Poll-Voiced-Protagonists-Shepard-vs-Geralt
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.324752-Main-characters-who-are-a-blank-slate-Bethesda-games-vs-established-characters-Witcher
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.404435-Poll-Do-you-like-mute-nameless-generic-protagonists
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.194371-Poll-Predefined-RPG-characters-when-do-they-kill-the-concept
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.406099-Poll-Is-Gordon-Freeman-the-greatest-character-in-gaming-Why
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.882066-Poll-Custom-character-vs-Character-with-defined-personality

These are just a handful of threads I found with a quick search that address the defined/customizable character dichotomy, and these are just a small sample of the threads and articles that address it in a slightly more indirect way.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.389753-Skyrim-or-The-Witcher-2
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.877814-Do-you-view-the-player-character-as-you
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.932577-Why-do-some-people-complain-about-having-no-character-creator-in-The-Witcher-3
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.877621-Single-player-games-shouldnt-have-create-a-character-features
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.386038-About-Gordon-Freeman-and-other-Silent-Protagonists-in-terms-of-their-relationship-with-the-player
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.877056-Just-putting-something-out-there-about-fallout-4-and-protagonist-voice-acting
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/experienced-points/15021-Why-Does-The-Fallout-4-Main-Character-Have-a-Full-Voiceover

Yes, I did just come to this thread in order to point out that we've done this all before.

 

[Denamic]

Bit of both, really. Pre-made characters are more fleshed out, established in the world. They have personality and presence. Mass Effect's Shepard is a good mix between customisation and pre-madeness. But if I had to pick one or the other, I'd go for pre-made, Like with Geralt. Though some of my all-time favorite games have pure customisation blank slates, like the Dark Soulses and Dragon's Dogma. I suppose either is fine if the game is good.

 

[Silverbeard]

*snip*

Surely you realize that all the labour you put into making this post, what with the URLS and whatnot, will not stop anyone from actually posting in this thread and will likely not give the OP an epiphany about the nature of singular protagonists or freely designed ones. You're better of scoffing at your screen and moving on, mate!

 

[FirstNameLastName]

*snip*

Surely you realize that all the labour you put into making this post, what with the URLS and whatnot, will not stop anyone from actually posting in this thread and will likely not give the OP an epiphany about the nature of singular protagonists or freely designed ones. You're better of scoffing at your screen and moving on, mate!

With that said, it make me wonder what exactly it is you expect your post to accomplish, if you think people aren't going to listen.
I'm merely pointing out that this exact same discussion has been had numerous times before on this very forum, and while it's not against the rules on The Escapist, it's generally customary on pretty much any forum to check for duplicate threads before posting the same old topic over and over again.
Besides, I'm not sure what this "labor" is, since I pointed out in the post that these results were found from an extremely quick search. Due to how often this topic gets rehashed they weren't exactly hard to find.

 

[Something Amyss]

Given most pre-mades are still shallow, I'd just as soon have a created. But it's not going to ruin my day either way.