That also depends on the setting of the story where the players role play the protagonist, this depend on the philosophy on how author present their stories…
Example if the background of the protagonist is an immortal who jump from world to world , take over body and body for self survival from different world, you could not expect all of a sudden this immortal becomes you , and doing what you want to do , simply because when this immortal inherit a human body, it retain its own previous memory and action as a ruthless immortal but not a human being of earth. Hence , the choice has to based on logically what it will do , but at thw same time learn some human emotion
However, if the story take the example from planescape torment , where the immortal lost its memory and start refresh, then it is possible where the player start inserting their own personality via choice , but at the same time recover its lost memory …
See, when I think of ‘self inserts’ that’s literally what I imagine people doing. They’re literally playing as themself IRL. But I didn’t want to make the poll more complicated and leave it open to interpretation about what the terms mean to each voter.
So, I see disagreement between the situations that you are posing. Some say they’ll stop playing if they don’t agree with the choices/path that the mc takes, some say it’s not a problem to play as a self insert even with the lack of options, and some try to seek for reasons that couple with the presented issue. (I’m not trying to point out any of you individually as I’m sure your opinions are the same as many people may take, I’m trying to see it on a more broad way)
And I even see that “self insert” also have different interpretations.
I guess this could be like the “problem” of genres, as some people won’t play a game if there’s no option to couple with their own, like a gender-locked game to female for example could discourage males to play it. I mean, I bring that analogy because I see it is a recurrent theme around here and widely discussed, maybe easy to understand.
So to what extent this could be a deterrent to people that don’t want to play as something other than themselves? how could you as a writer make them change their mind if you just want to make a character behaves in certain way for whatever reason that it doesn’t couple with the reader’s thoughts to say for example, there’s no choice I could pick, but I’m gonna do it anyways because I want to keep reading the story for x reason. Or you just accept the loss of those who want to self insert themselves but don’t feel like the game is accomplishing that?
Maybe there’s no right answer to that but only shows how if you want to try to get as many people as you want to read your game and feel comfortable with it you have to be wide in the spectrum of choices you present to the player to try to account for the more possible variety of feelings on the player side as possible, again much like the genre theme.
How much of a deterrent a railroaded choice is to continued gameplay depends on the person playing and the choice that was made for them, specifically how they’ll react to that.
For instance, I played Sam Young’s MMM twice and after the second time I stopped. I never picked it up again because of the specific scene he insisted on having in the story. There was nothing to change my mind to pick it back up again and immerse myself into the setting for a third time. At that point, the MC was such a separate person from me that I couldn’t find enjoyment in playing as a separate character.
Other people might stop playing if the MC makes a gesture they wouldn’t do - hands on the hips - or something as innocuous as dressing style for example.
However, this isn’t to say that playing as separate characters isn’t appealing to me. They just have to have something that I can empathize and connect with. Geralt from the Witcher 3 is as different to me as an apple is different to an orange, but I enjoy playing as him and the story he has to offer because of his drive to find and protect Ciri.
I don’t think a writer can change a reader’s mind if they’ve given the reader the expectation that the MC is their character, to a certain point. I think if the author established that the MC is character-locked? Maybe the outcome will be different because the reader knows that they’re playing as a completely separate character?
To address your last paragraph, I would agree that there’s no right answer. Only best guesses. I would also say it depends on what kind of audience the author wants to draw in.
Are they satisfied with a tiny niche crowd that was brought in by the story’s specific merits or would they prefer to have a larger fanbase that will most likely ask for a wide array - and possibly contradictory - possibilities?
The whole personalization of an mc always felt like a three way tug-of-war game to me, between personal behavior, contextual behavior and concession/compromise.
Unless it’s dnd I never really got the whole “but I/this character wouldn’t do this/wanted to do this/felt it would play out differently” and even then it always seems like a balancing act between all definitions.
This is all without getting into the whole distancing from some form of content or another and not wanting to participate in the story. Which is fine, but like it was said:
Yes, to all in general, jajaja, you can’t make Geralt make a gesture like the hand on the hip as you mention (I didn’t play that game though, but I kind of imagine it would break all immersion) to account for, for example, the girls playing that would make that gesture on their life and feel comfortable with it just to make them feel… comfortable? if that’s even possible (maybe this is just a bad and weird example).
So, some games wouldn’t even allow the player to self insert themselves due to the difference in everything basically, like apples and oranges (also deppending on what self insert means to you).
17 here. Inspired by starting to read Stephen King. Near as I can tell, there are no extant copies of my first few efforts, and if there are they are on one of those little diskette things, so that’s about the same as them not existing.
I was really encouraged to write by one of my teachers (time-wise comparable to middle school, I think?).
But I only started writing in English when I got really into gaming, and writing fanfiction, and such. Soo about 4-5 years ago when I was 19/20?
Started back in middle school partly out of boredom for after standardized tests if I didn’t feel like reading, partly because I had, I think, undiagnosed ADHD and needed to do something, anything with my hands to be able to listen to the teachers at all. Parents hated fidgeting, some teachers would call me out for reading/drawing in class, but nobody really noticed if I happened to be switching between a school notebook and a spare story notebook, or if I had lined paper tucked into my math textbook. Fun, too, obviously, but looking back it really helped me get through the day.
Really good point, my first time playing Aegis Saga I was thrown off by the multiple perspectives, but during the Lockdown period I actually had the patience to fully immerse myself in the both perspectives and it was so worth it.
That ending was out of this world
Just thought of an additional question: What social media platforms do you use (or hope to use eventually) for self-promotion/engagement with your audience? For non-writers, what social media platforms do you use or would you be interested in using to engage with creators? Why these platforms?
I would make that a multiple choice poll; most writers have to engage on multiple platforms to even make a tiny dent in people’s awareness. I am more on Twitter and Reddit than anything, though I have a minuscule presence on Tumblr and Facebook, plus my small but enjoyable Discord channel.
I’ve used twitter and tumblr to start a blog in the past, although I fell out of practice a few months ago, so, those are the two I picked. But I wouldn’t say I hope to use tumblr for too long, the place seems to be on the decline. I hope to find an alternative at some point, which is why I also voted “other.”
How easily can you tell a character was made to check off boxes?
I notice these types of characters as soon as they’re introduced.
I notice these types of characters after I’ve had a couple of interactions with them.
I notice these types of characters midway or late into their own character arcs.
I don’t notice these types of characters.
0voters
Would you rather have a character who was made to check off boxes and not much else to their character arc or have a fleshed out character who wasn’t made to check off boxes?
And yes, I’m making this particular question an either or type poll.
I prefer to have representation.
I prefer to have fleshed out characters.
Other.
0voters
To answer my own poll:
I notice them as soon as they’re introduced.
I prefer to have fleshed out characters.
The general trend in media is to have check box characters and their arcs revolve around them being a minority with nothing else. Personally, I find these types of characters good for representation but not at all interesting. I make note of them as a representation of a minority but not much else.
As someone who ‘ticks off’ two boxes, it’s not the end all be all of my entire person. I’m more than a minority and I would prefer characters who are more than just a minority when I consume media.
