Sadly I always end up playing myself lol. Ridiculously sarcastic and always quick to quip lol.
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I create a new MC every time. The first thing I do when starting a new game is check the stats screen to see the customization options Iāll have. If a particular stat seems interesting, Iāll decide I want to focus on it before even starting the game, and the rest Iāll decide by picking the most interesting options and seeing which way the stats lean after a chapter or so. Then Iāll further refine them over subsequent playthroughs, trying to get the most interesting story. (Also, come up with needlessly intricate backstories.)
I usually do this several times, to see the differences caused by various stats/major decisions. The one quirk I do have is that my first MC is always female, and the second is always male. Appearence-wise, I try to make my MCs visually distinct from each other, but I do have a few favourite combinations I like to come back to. I tend to pick default names, since theyāre guaranteed to fit the setting.
I could never self-insert because a) Iād be dead within the first few choices in most games (all my skill stats are zero!), and b) the MC does tend to have at least some default personality traits, which I rarely share. Besides, I find it much more interesting to create and explore different characters than to constantly use the same one.
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to be honest, iām pretty new to this interactive fiction business. with how horrible 2020 was, i desperately looked for some sweet sweet escapism through fiction so i kinda ended up with trying to play as self-insert characters first. after so many playthroughs left unfinished, i decided it wasnāt enjoyable.
at all.
in other words, i realised [michael from the good place voice] the problemā¦ is me. thatās a whole other conversation we can have another day, a lot to unpack here
so now i have 3 mcs with distinct personalities; one that i use for my main playthrough and the others that i use to discover new paths, to see how interactions differ, etc. i mean, for me, itās more fun and interesting to sit back and watch where your characters will take you.
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Self insert for me, I just like to change the names up from time to time. It generally just depends on the storyās setting. But itās always the same guy and occasionally NB individual same personality.
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I definitely started out mostly just playing an idealized version of myself, and of course I still like doing that to some degree. I do shift things around a little bit for meta reasons - in particular, Iām more likely to deviate from what I think I would do in order to try and build stats that make more sense - but as far as personality and ideology and stuff, I more or less stick to who I already am, or who Iād like to be.
That said, Iām starting to realize that thatās limiting me a lot, because it makes it hard for me to relate to some protagonists that have more clearly defined personalities and motives, or even certain backstories. I still want to be able to enjoy those stories, so Iām trying to let myself view this more as a role-playing sort of thing like I would with more conventional video games, rather than projecting myself too hard and struggling when I canāt align myself perfectly to the MC.
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It depends of the book. I, personally, prefer books with an MC that has an actual set personality since the start, I hate when books let you change a lot of things about MC to the point that it feels like Iām playing with play-dough (those MCs are the most boring ones, and theyāre also the least interesting character in their respective books)
So my MCs are characters that already have a personality from the start, I just choose whatās going to happen in their stories and also, making them look physically as myself.(because how many latinas are the main characters of stories/movies or even characters at all outside the āspicy wild latinaā trope lol)
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I wanted to say that my first MCs are all made up on the spot, but, after thinking about it, they are all pretty similar! I realized that I tend to hone in on the gameās equivalent of charm/persuade stat and, if combat is involved, I usually go for strict melee over magic. Personality-wise, I just go with whatever I felt best at the moment, even if MC gets penalized because her disposition at that point doesnāt reflect her actions and she lost attunement or renown or w/e.
Names are more malleable. I have a list of interesting names and surnames that I keep in the back of my mind to bring out whenever one is neededāblame it on the Sims player in me. I tend to stick with whatever choices the game itself provide for the very first playthrough, and, if I like the route I had at the end, grant the MC a new name when I replay that route.
I strictly donāt use my real name because it doesnāt fit in at all in the majority of settings. That, and because I prefer to have a barrier in-between me and MC, or else things can get too awkward/personal too fast for me, especially when it comes to scenes involving romance.
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For me, itās more fun to play as a character thatās very unlike myself. Iām quite reserve irl, so my MCs are usually the outgoing/charming type with a tinge of sarcasm haha 
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I tend to play as characters that are unlike myself. However, with stories with a very high replay value, I tend to have many, many MCs, all of whom are quite different.
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My first character in ANY game is always and always will be Azar Balar 
Itās an OC I created over 20 years ago and heās been a companion of sorts, as well as a representation of who I want to be, who I didnāt know I want to be, and who can be things I cannot (yet) be.
Due to the age of this character, heās developed and grown alongside me.
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It depends I would say. I personally tend to first take a look at the tools given und create something that fits in the world, combined with some of my own characteristic for better comfort (even if I like to exaggerate said characteristics to make it more fun in general). Probably one of the resons why I have a long line of cynics and notorios complainers.
Couldnāt say it better 
My main MC started like a better version of myself, grew up over the years and has become a great character to play. She is very sarcastic, charismatic, persuasive, bold and witty. The strength stat is always the stat I dump in my playthroughs.
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Has someone ever done a site-wide poll on what percentage of players do āself-insertsā or crafted characters? Iād be really interested in the results.
If it hasnāt been done Iād love to make one 
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I donāt think it has been doneā¦ I think this thread is the closest thing to that, I did try to check if other people had talked about stuff related to the creation of the MC when I made this topic cause I didnāt want to say something that had already been said and the closest thing i found was a discussion about the MCās gender.
We talk about the different types of MCs here and who prefers what but I guess, not being a poll, that it hasnāt been done. However despite having played these games for a long time Iām really new to the forum so donāt just take my word for it 
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I found a poll! Polls about COG, HG, and IF games
It covers whether people prefer self inserts / versions of self inserts, vs a crafted/rp character.
If the self insert and almost self insert crowd where to be counted together they would be a large majority, which is sort of what I expected. But it is still and interesting poll.
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Oohh ok I hadnāt seen there was a poll! Iām sorry, it was a good idea, I would have voted
the result is interesting! I honestly didnāt expect self inserts to be so popular! Cool!
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Haha, thank you! Thankfully I was more interested in seeing the results than creating a poll.
I just think itās quite interesting how people play these sorts of gamesāand how knowing statistics like this could influence how games are created. For example if I where to make a game where I focused on the self insert crowd, the choices would probably be a bit different from if it was entirely for RP purposes. I imagine that Self inserts might prefer to make less risky choices, perhaps? Maybe have different views on the characters around the MC. What do you think?
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I donāt really use self inserts so Iām not sureā¦ I use a character thatās based on my flaws but that also has a completely different personality and tastes from mine, so Iām not sure about what a self insert player would rather have in a gameā¦ I like it when the choices are risky cause Iām always curious about how the consequences will affect the character I use, but thatās also why I donāt play as a self insert so I wouldnāt know tbh 
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I am interested in the other side too! So, does that mean my hypotheses, of non-self-inserts might take more risks, has anecdotal evidence ? 
Interesting that you would chose your own flaws only, do you know why you like to play like that? I would almost prefer the opposite, unless Iām doing an extra torturous/sad play-through. Is there anything youāve notices that a game could add as choices, more often, for you to have a more immersive play-through?
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Well my character is kinda of a weird one because heās actually a character Iām writing for a project of my own thatās not really related to choice of games. Iāve developed him so much because of this that, knowing him so well, I manage to put something really personal to me in the book without having to put myself in there, and since Iāve developed him for such a long time itās like Iām there but not as a self insert when it comes to immersion.
I think that, especially with choices about a certain emotional reaction to something, when it comes to having a character thatās already been made, the more they are the better. for example in wayhaven chronicles you can chose from a wide range of emotions when it comes to reacting to something, so it is way more likely for someone like me to say āoh yeah, that choice right there, THATās how my character would reactā
when it comes to choosing a course of actions it depends on the context, but when it has to do with reacting to something, (since itās more personality related and I have a clear vision of my characterās personality), Iād suggest putting lots different ways to react to something
well they donāt really have to be great in number, just very different from each others, some might react crying and some might react nervous laughing you know?
but this is just my experience :3
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