Do you view your avatar as an extension of yourself or as their own character?

[VillainousVelKoz]

In line with this, I have a few more questions to encourage more detailed answers:

What do you exactly aim for when customising your character: recreating yourself in the game or maybe a more idealised version? Experimenting with a new way of being that doesn't necessarily match your real life self, but is still identifiable as you in the game?

Or is it simply a character that is separate from you, created in a way that is similar to how authors do when writing a story? I guess it's also how we experience games with fully pre-established characters like Lara Croft, Geralt, Nathan Drake, etc

 

[WilhelmScream]

In behavior, an idealized version of myself by way of the world that the character inhabits. Aesthetically speaking, if applicable then my own race and gender but beyond that, no relation to myself.

 

[Alm]

I guess, myself, idealised to the character creator's options and fitting into the game's world. Unless it's an MMO or ARPG where you have different characters and saves, where I'll make a unique character.

 

[D10S]

I like playing different characters so I dont get bored, recreating yourself in games is like pleasuring yourself to own picture.

 

[Brian Boru]

Welcome to the forum

For members info, OP said in Intro thread:
"I joined this forum primarily for research purposes. I'm a doctoral student interested in studying avatars/playable characters and players' relationships and identification with them."

Their own character. I don't play RPGs, but when I get a choice—eg recent Far Cry games—I pick an attractive female so I have an aesthetically pleasing character to look at on screen.

 

[Frindis]

Occasionally I'll make a handsome muscular bold Scandinavian version of what I am in real life, but for the most part, I like to switch things up by playing both male/woman. I have a majestic beard in real life, so I try to wear that in-game, but unfortunately, most games suck at hair customization options making you look like you are wearing Gollum's hair. I do often play with a Caucasian darker rawhide skin theme because that is what I am used to in real life. The are exceptions though and right now I am playing BG3 with a main female Drow character who is dark grey-skinned. In some games like the Battle Royale game PUBG, different clothing attires look better with different skin colors, so I like to switch a lot in that game depending on what I want to wear.

As for personality, I often try to bring my own esteemed nobleman's worth personality into the game, especially when taking decisions in roleplaying games. I can play an evil person at times just to add some flavor to the mix and to see what the outcome would be if you did press that big red button, but for the most part, I don't like to do something that would hurt an innocent person in the game. I like to see myself as your ordinary cup of joe, black as midnight on a moonless night.

 

[Pifanjr]

For my first playthrough of a game I usually create an avatar that looks and behaves like me (or what I would behave like if the world worked like a video game). On subsequent playthroughs I typically create a unique character.

 

[Colif]

I have never tried to make myself in a game. Guess I prefer to play as someone else... I mean, if I want to play as me, isn't that what life is?

in games I try to do the logical things... in life, I can't say I have a perfect record
I mainly play RPG with very little story so me acting as me doesn't occur very often. I don't meet many demons in reality.

 

[WilhelmScream]

In behavior, an idealized version of myself by way of the world that the character inhabits. Aesthetically speaking, if applicable then my own race and gender but beyond that, no relation to myself.

Oh and one more thing about the "RP": i sometimes make choices simply to see more of the game- if it feels like a matter of quantity not simply A vs B. I'm pretty sure that in Mass Effect 2 i triggered every single one of those morality QTEs.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I see the player character not as an extension of myself but more as a character in a story I'm experiencing and have some control over. Its not much different for me as when I read a book written in first person, not me but I'm inside the characters head.

The decisions I make if there are story choices are usually in line with my own read on the situation, tending towards what I perceive as the good options, helping people if possible etc. On a second playthrough I might take different options just to see how the story goes differently from those points. It does feel wrong to be completely evil though.

If theres a choice sometimes the character is a man sometimes a woman, probably more often female for whatever reason. I dont spend much time on character creation, occasionally make something approximating my own face and hair, if there are pre-sets I might just mess with those a bit.

 

[WilhelmScream]

I remember having to write down my character creation values in ArcheAge because the game kept disconnecting me because i was taking too much time customizing the appearance

 

[D10S]

Welcome to the forum

For members info, OP said in Intro thread:
"I joined this forum primarily for research purposes. I'm a doctoral student interested in studying avatars/playable characters and players' relationships and identification with them."

Their own character. I don't play RPGs, but when I get a choice—eg recent Far Cry games—I pick an attractive female so I have an aesthetically pleasing character to look at on screen.

Plus a woman's voice is more pleasant to listen to. That's why I played odyssey with cassandra and cp2077 with female V.

 

[neogunhero]

They aren’t an extension of my real life identity in any way, but I love to get immersed in a character I created. I usually don’t think much past their looks and abilities, I don’t create specific personalities for each of my characters or anything like that. I just like them to look cool and fit into the world of the game.

 

[VillainousVelKoz]

Welcome to the forum

For members info, OP said in Intro thread:
"I joined this forum primarily for research purposes. I'm a doctoral student interested in studying avatars/playable characters and players' relationships and identification with them."

Their own character. I don't play RPGs, but when I get a choice—eg recent Far Cry games—I pick an attractive female so I have an aesthetically pleasing character to look at on screen.

Thank you so much for the welcome!

I want to clarify that this thread and the replies given here will not be used as data for my research. Obviously, I cannot do that without asking for permission first. The questions I posted are just my way of getting acquinted with the existing player base on this forum. Reading the replies, I find it really interesting how diverse players are in their stances to their playable characters. I guess this only serves to validate previous research on "self-insert" tendencies in games and how that isn't necessarily the default for all players.

To contribute to the discussion with my own experience, I would say that it depends on the story of the game and the little bit of background given to my character. If I feel like I'm immersed in the narrative, especially emergent narrative where the agency scale is high, my tendency to self insert in the character is strong. So a good story is really important for me, kind of like a context to make my actions in the game meaningful.

 

[Domenico]

Am I playing the avatar, or is the avatar playing me? Both, I think.

 

[Brian Boru]

if I want to play as me, isn't that what life is?

Well, some players are experiencing pain in deep dark dungeons and dank creepy caves, so no, it would be diff…

Oh hang on, you're from Australia—never mind!

If I feel like I'm immersed in the narrative, especially emergent narrative where the agency scale is high, my tendency to self insert in the character is strong

Thanks for the data clarification, good stuff

There's a clear divide among players in PCG forums between those who favor heavy story content and those who prioritize gameplay to write their own story. In this particular forum—RPG—story-driven people dominate, with only the occasional heathen like yours truly stirring the pot

That would probably be a useful and interesting divide to be able to pick out of your eventual data.

 

[VillainousVelKoz]

Hmmm, I do qualify as part of the story-driven category of players, so I am not sure how I'm stirring the pot?

 

[Brian Boru]

I am not sure how I'm stirring the pot

Oops, did I misuse 'yours truly'? That was meant to refer to me and my hobby of annoying RPG players

 

[Zloth]

Tough question, actually. Visually, they look nothing like me. Personality wise - that's where it gets tricky. I rarely figure out a personality before-hand, but sometimes one develops over the course of a game. Maybe I see some sort of advantage at the time, maybe I like/hate a game mechanic and make up a personality quirk to justify using/avoiding the mechanic, or maybe a ridiculous option comes up in the dialog choices that I have to see, so I decide my character is the type of person that will argue with a stop sign.

After the personality develops, though, I start running into the questions. Is this choice REALLY what that character would do, or is it just what I would do? Or is it just because I'm more likely to get that +5 Sword of Winning for picking the choice?? Luckily, I'm not an author writing a book I intend to sell, I'm a gamer having some fun - so I don't worry about it a whole lot. (Just enough to fail badly in those games that ask you to make a choice quickly.)


Let's see, deep story, not too worried about crafting the exact personality.... sounds like JRPGs might fit nicely! Maybe the 'action adventure' type stuff, too.

 

[VillainousVelKoz]

Ohhh I'm so sorry! I'm really sleepy and I read that as "you"... 🤦‍♀️ My bad!

 

[ZedClampet]

I'm an older gamer. When I was young, my characters were always extensions of myself. Now recently, I've lost interest in roleplaying as myself in a different world and have become rather detached from my characters, which is actually sort of bad for my enjoyment of genres like RPGs. I think, honestly, that I was very self-absorbed when I was younger. Now I have a rather more honest (some would say "low") opinion of myself, and I'm just not interested in the "what if I were..." roleplaying.

 

[Hveðrungr]

I often create myself in games. However I have one unusual variant that I thought folks might be interested in: in Dragon Age my character is always my wife, and I try to play how I think she would behave. I did it just for a laugh in Origins and found it was a fun experience so carried it through to 2 and Inquisition.

 

[Adeptus]

As their own character. I often create characters who have nothing to do with me, just for fun or to test how it influences gameplay.