When I make a character for an online game I typically make character resemble me at least initially. I don't like to miss represent myself to people, I am who I am and I'm not ashamed of it. That said I'll try to adapt my character to the game's environment. It basically goes, "How would I change in this environment?" and I'll adjust my base character to match that.
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The characters I make tend to be more androgynous than I am.
They also tend to be cute. Cuter than I am in real life.
I tend to represent myself by what I like, rather than what I am. I think that's somewhat the norm on the internet.
They also tend to be cute. Cuter than I am in real life.
I tend to represent myself by what I like, rather than what I am. I think that's somewhat the norm on the internet.
I usually aim for making the same type of charctre that I have an established backstory for, adapting it to the lore. Which I guess personality wise is a lot like me, dedicine based that uses mostly pistols and melee/unarmed attacks. Iunno, it makes it feel like character has a story(well I guess there is), and personality. even though the game has none
Back when I was an itty bitty teenager (I'm 30 now) I'd usually play as myself. Though back then graphics didn't really allow much customization anyway. For example, pokemon I'd pick the boy trainer.
But at some point this started to change and nowadays I always play as a female that I try to make both interesting and attractive (to me). My FemShep had a buzz cut and very angular features, giving her a real soldiery look, but I added a few minor touches to give her just that little bit of femininity. My DAO character on the other hand was a real ginger, long red hair, green eyes, etc. And other games have had completely different looks as well.
Hell, I even play XCOM with exclusively female squads (which is a real ***** when you're trying to beat the game on the higher difficulties I can tell you) cause I'm stupid like that
As to why I play exclusively female now, I think its a number of reasons:
- I prefer looking at a female character over a male character aesthetically.
- I prefer female voices over male voices usually (there are exceptions to this though).
- I no longer feel the need to put myself into the game as a means of escapism, I've grown out of that.
- I've always loved badass female characters in all my entertainment and I like bringing them to life myself. There is something strangely ecstatic about seeing a female character beating the big bad guy(s) up.
I hope this helps?
PS: Does anyone else do the XCOM female squad thing? Or am I really alone in that?
But at some point this started to change and nowadays I always play as a female that I try to make both interesting and attractive (to me). My FemShep had a buzz cut and very angular features, giving her a real soldiery look, but I added a few minor touches to give her just that little bit of femininity. My DAO character on the other hand was a real ginger, long red hair, green eyes, etc. And other games have had completely different looks as well.
Hell, I even play XCOM with exclusively female squads (which is a real ***** when you're trying to beat the game on the higher difficulties I can tell you) cause I'm stupid like that
As to why I play exclusively female now, I think its a number of reasons:
- I prefer looking at a female character over a male character aesthetically.
- I prefer female voices over male voices usually (there are exceptions to this though).
- I no longer feel the need to put myself into the game as a means of escapism, I've grown out of that.
- I've always loved badass female characters in all my entertainment and I like bringing them to life myself. There is something strangely ecstatic about seeing a female character beating the big bad guy(s) up.
I hope this helps?
PS: Does anyone else do the XCOM female squad thing? Or am I really alone in that?
I tend to use 2 different character moulds for games:
For male - I tend to use myself as a model failing that, (Due to restrictions on the game/how bad Blonde hair looks in most games), I go for a more badass kind of look - Generally opting for more tattoo's and scars than I have (I have none of either...)
For female - I tend to go for an idealized version of "My perfect woman" again, within the limitations of the game. Either that or I create characters based off past girlfriends (Either a specific one, or a combination of a few)
I'm not sure what that says about me and my psychology... But I'd probably get a very strange evaluation from people whom know a bit more about that kind of stuff (Especially when you account for the fact that I mostly make female characters and often get immersed as the character, regardless of gender)
Captcha:
Carry a trowel.
Well... I guess it doesn't hurt to be prepared... You never know when Plants vs Zombies might happen.
For male - I tend to use myself as a model failing that, (Due to restrictions on the game/how bad Blonde hair looks in most games), I go for a more badass kind of look - Generally opting for more tattoo's and scars than I have (I have none of either...)
For female - I tend to go for an idealized version of "My perfect woman" again, within the limitations of the game. Either that or I create characters based off past girlfriends (Either a specific one, or a combination of a few)
I'm not sure what that says about me and my psychology... But I'd probably get a very strange evaluation from people whom know a bit more about that kind of stuff (Especially when you account for the fact that I mostly make female characters and often get immersed as the character, regardless of gender)
Captcha:
Carry a trowel.
Well... I guess it doesn't hurt to be prepared... You never know when Plants vs Zombies might happen.
I tend to waver somewhat, depending on mood, how much I can be bothered, and the tweakability of the engine. I like to push the bounds of what you can create in there, particularly to make something that might otherwise be unusual... like a really short, squat, but surprisingly agile wrestler in WWF, mucking around in ... man, I can't even remember the actual name, but it was some kind of console based MMO... to make a surprisingly attractive female orc (I don't think it was actually supposed to be possible) who bore more than a passing resemblance in all but skin/hair colour to a particular character from a webcomic I was reading at the time (bonus points for guessing, ultranerds), or properly futzing with Second Life to create the most (realistically) masculine possible female and most (realistically) feminine possible male avis - without resorting to add-on meshes or skins - and seeing if they "passed".
And of course the old classic of trying to make one that looked as close as possible to my true self, which at least with SL proved rather uncanny (sorta like what an android version of myself would appear). Hence binning it and going for the aforementioned mucking-around, because... brrr.
If more bored or the engine just isn't up to snuff, I'll happily take whatever default or random-roll comes out. Or make the most deliberately dull and anodyne looking one. As you can tell from my forum avatar here, most of the time I just can't be bothered with that variety of expression (I'd remove the gender setting from it as well, if the board allowed it*) - not to mention it's actually pretty difficult to choose a single one that's in any way meaningful or representative - and just leave it blank, letting the words / actions do the talking instead.
As for the attributes ... well, again, attempt to defy expectations if possible (which can be a way of artificially ramping up the difficulty level, too). A warrior model with as many points in white magic and as few in melee attack as possible, for example. If I ever re-borrow my bro's PS2 off him, I've a game of FFX waiting to be finished where I'm basically doing just that with the Sphere Grid for each character. Trying my damnedest to make Yuna into a melee-weapon-using brawler and Tidus into a black mage, for example... Otherwise, I have no real set plan, just take the defaults or random rolls and try to level as best I can from there. There's usually too much random chance involved for anything other than a really extreme engine-fuck to hold any interest for me.
(* the handle is specifically "neuter", or at least I thought it would be (turns out it's a girl's name in Egypt, but I'd been using it for the better part of 15 years before I found out - hopefully it's not common knowledge anywhere else, either), as I find it amusing to watch people make up their own conclusions and then scrabble for pronouns when they have to. All the same, I've only two or three times been "properly" confused for female (ie someone expressing surprise at the reveal), so I guess even my mostly-anonymous online gender expression comes across as mainly "cis"... I've no qualms about embracing my feminine side, but presumably that's only comfortable for my subconscious a relatively small amount of the time... I suppose the test would be to actually RP a professedly female character in an RPG and see how long it takes for me to get called out as an Internet Transvestite.)
And of course the old classic of trying to make one that looked as close as possible to my true self, which at least with SL proved rather uncanny (sorta like what an android version of myself would appear). Hence binning it and going for the aforementioned mucking-around, because... brrr.
If more bored or the engine just isn't up to snuff, I'll happily take whatever default or random-roll comes out. Or make the most deliberately dull and anodyne looking one. As you can tell from my forum avatar here, most of the time I just can't be bothered with that variety of expression (I'd remove the gender setting from it as well, if the board allowed it*) - not to mention it's actually pretty difficult to choose a single one that's in any way meaningful or representative - and just leave it blank, letting the words / actions do the talking instead.
As for the attributes ... well, again, attempt to defy expectations if possible (which can be a way of artificially ramping up the difficulty level, too). A warrior model with as many points in white magic and as few in melee attack as possible, for example. If I ever re-borrow my bro's PS2 off him, I've a game of FFX waiting to be finished where I'm basically doing just that with the Sphere Grid for each character. Trying my damnedest to make Yuna into a melee-weapon-using brawler and Tidus into a black mage, for example... Otherwise, I have no real set plan, just take the defaults or random rolls and try to level as best I can from there. There's usually too much random chance involved for anything other than a really extreme engine-fuck to hold any interest for me.
(* the handle is specifically "neuter", or at least I thought it would be (turns out it's a girl's name in Egypt, but I'd been using it for the better part of 15 years before I found out - hopefully it's not common knowledge anywhere else, either), as I find it amusing to watch people make up their own conclusions and then scrabble for pronouns when they have to. All the same, I've only two or three times been "properly" confused for female (ie someone expressing surprise at the reveal), so I guess even my mostly-anonymous online gender expression comes across as mainly "cis"... I've no qualms about embracing my feminine side, but presumably that's only comfortable for my subconscious a relatively small amount of the time... I suppose the test would be to actually RP a professedly female character in an RPG and see how long it takes for me to get called out as an Internet Transvestite.)
I play characters how I would be if I was that person. If I'm playing an evil sith I make choices that are evil and advance my position. If I'm playing a jedi I do things that advance the world around me before I look after my own interests. Now if I decide I wanna play the opposites I find myself having a hard time doing that because most games give you the option but its never as good as playing the good guy as good or the bad guy as bad.
Well, in a game like League of Legends, where customization is limited, I only buy customization for the characters I've mastered to strike fear in the hearts of the enemy.
In games, I tend to either recreate a likeness of myself (as in Dark Souls) or make up the most hilarious Honk or Honkette (as in Dark Souls).
More generally speaking, I can either spend or waste time on creating the most hideous and hilarious things to a) plain amuse myself or b) make my character unique or, which happens more often, create more classic archetypes such as the Conan-Schwarzenegger style muscleman hulk for the fighter or the leptosome-in-a-frock magic user. I don't like creating female heroes from scratch in a lot of games, as pretty much everything about them tends to annoy me sooner or later. The way they move, the way they dress, the way they groan and moan and die... I'd rather control little men doing my bidding without questioning my authority.
Lately, though, I've developed a taste for the spellblade. Again, not in the Dragon's Dogma sort of prefabricated sterile GI Joe type doll, more as in the Dark Souls do as thou wilt school of thought.
We created a whole bunch of Mii avatars because it was fun, they all looked quite like us, but since I've sold all the Nintendo gear except the Super Nintendo, my life is currently Mii-free. I never liked the XBOX avatars. I despise PlayStation Home for being a complete waste of time and hard disk space.
As for online vs. offline - If it's purely about the online interaction, I go for the same honkish features, just decidedly more absurd, if possible. Bigger nose, unhealthy skin colour (anything from Morlock cyan to fiery red, really)... and the most nonsensical and humiliating gear and hat imaginable. Anything goes. Bunny ears, cross-dressing deadface assassin, whatever suits my momentary fancy. Dark Souls does it right in that I can lug all my stuff around to adapt to more fun opponents who know that style matters.
In games, I tend to either recreate a likeness of myself (as in Dark Souls) or make up the most hilarious Honk or Honkette (as in Dark Souls).
More generally speaking, I can either spend or waste time on creating the most hideous and hilarious things to a) plain amuse myself or b) make my character unique or, which happens more often, create more classic archetypes such as the Conan-Schwarzenegger style muscleman hulk for the fighter or the leptosome-in-a-frock magic user. I don't like creating female heroes from scratch in a lot of games, as pretty much everything about them tends to annoy me sooner or later. The way they move, the way they dress, the way they groan and moan and die... I'd rather control little men doing my bidding without questioning my authority.
Lately, though, I've developed a taste for the spellblade. Again, not in the Dragon's Dogma sort of prefabricated sterile GI Joe type doll, more as in the Dark Souls do as thou wilt school of thought.
We created a whole bunch of Mii avatars because it was fun, they all looked quite like us, but since I've sold all the Nintendo gear except the Super Nintendo, my life is currently Mii-free. I never liked the XBOX avatars. I despise PlayStation Home for being a complete waste of time and hard disk space.
As for online vs. offline - If it's purely about the online interaction, I go for the same honkish features, just decidedly more absurd, if possible. Bigger nose, unhealthy skin colour (anything from Morlock cyan to fiery red, really)... and the most nonsensical and humiliating gear and hat imaginable. Anything goes. Bunny ears, cross-dressing deadface assassin, whatever suits my momentary fancy. Dark Souls does it right in that I can lug all my stuff around to adapt to more fun opponents who know that style matters.
I usually make appropriate characters to the universe from appearance to name. When there isn't much of a rule on naming policy I use my most common aliases, mainly Auron.
I do believe we all self-insert in our characters at some level or at least what we'd like to be, sometimes though we're just tired of the roles we usually play and go for something entirely different, it's how we end up playing every D&D class, every World of Darkness faction and so on. It's also a good way to know if you like to play as something different, I had immense fun being a Roguish Nosferatu in my last Vampire game, far far from my usualy character concept.
When I was playing Warhammer Online I was a bald Warrior Priest of Sigmar going by Fritz, My two favourite World of Warcraft characters are a Paladin Human(Auron) and an Orc Shaman, other than the long hair and occasional beard I fear we share very few traits but probably more than the Warhammer character.
I do believe we all self-insert in our characters at some level or at least what we'd like to be, sometimes though we're just tired of the roles we usually play and go for something entirely different, it's how we end up playing every D&D class, every World of Darkness faction and so on. It's also a good way to know if you like to play as something different, I had immense fun being a Roguish Nosferatu in my last Vampire game, far far from my usualy character concept.
When I was playing Warhammer Online I was a bald Warrior Priest of Sigmar going by Fritz, My two favourite World of Warcraft characters are a Paladin Human(Auron) and an Orc Shaman, other than the long hair and occasional beard I fear we share very few traits but probably more than the Warhammer character.
Depends on the game, or what it is for in general.
A MMO? Female character all the way and then just screw around with the settings till i find what i like. Two reasons for this, first, i prefer looking at a female character. The more important second reason though, woman get free shit.
Never played a mmo as a female and not gotten any free shit.
For Mass Effect a made a male sheppard close to myself and played with the choices i would make (after that, creating a character going evil ALL the way, instead of 99%, due to letting mordin live and all)
For this site, the name i usually go by online and that little picture under my name comes from the martial arts i do.
A MMO? Female character all the way and then just screw around with the settings till i find what i like. Two reasons for this, first, i prefer looking at a female character. The more important second reason though, woman get free shit.
Never played a mmo as a female and not gotten any free shit.
For Mass Effect a made a male sheppard close to myself and played with the choices i would make (after that, creating a character going evil ALL the way, instead of 99%, due to letting mordin live and all)
For this site, the name i usually go by online and that little picture under my name comes from the martial arts i do.
I'm not going to play as a human if I've got options like Cat people or Trolls with Jamaican accents.
I just try to make a superhuman version of myself. I've come to judge character creation engines on how close I can get the character to look like myself.
If we're talking a character, I'll usually use some aspect of myself as a jumping off point, isolate that aspect, and use it as a basis.
Then, exaggerate, make this particular angle for the character more pronounced in them than it is in me, and gauge how this sort of person would react to their environment and the other established characters to form their personality.
I love formulating stories and characters, so my "avatars", as it were, run the gamut. Though they often start reflecting something in myself, I try to make them evolve into their own beings. I do enjoy a bit of role play in my games.
I do seem to have an affinity for female characters, though (and no not just in that way). Much the same way Egoraptor does, if you've ever heard him speak of it in Game Grumps. As such I often make females in games that allow it, though not all the time.
Then, exaggerate, make this particular angle for the character more pronounced in them than it is in me, and gauge how this sort of person would react to their environment and the other established characters to form their personality.
I love formulating stories and characters, so my "avatars", as it were, run the gamut. Though they often start reflecting something in myself, I try to make them evolve into their own beings. I do enjoy a bit of role play in my games.
I do seem to have an affinity for female characters, though (and no not just in that way). Much the same way Egoraptor does, if you've ever heard him speak of it in Game Grumps. As such I often make females in games that allow it, though not all the time.