I think for every choice there should be a possible playthrough where a player might want to pick it, but not all choices have to be good for any given playthrough. Games should be written to take “failure” into account and provide something interesting for when it happens. A game where “success” is the only possibility is an empty power fantasy.
10 Likes
Which of these do you tend to prefer? (Choose 1 or 2)
Of course, this would be in a game where all of these could work.
- One single canon background, which is heavily involved with the plot of the game.
- A couple of background options, which are somewhat involved with the plot and often referenced.
- A lot of different background options, which gets referenced a few times but has very little impact on the plot.
- No background stated, so the reader can headcanon whatever they want, but it will never be referenced by the game.
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voters
2 Likes
I’m surprised there aren’t more votes for a blank state protagonist, considering how often I feel like I see people saying they prefer them, during discussions.
I guess discussions can easily appear to have two equally big sides to the issue, even when one is actually a clear majority.
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I also think that the other reason is execution, rather than the idea itself.
Basically it’s not whether the backstory is hard-set (only the finer details of the backstory are decided by the player. The order of events is defined by the writer), soft-set (while there is some common backstory for all possible PCs, the player gets to make some major decisions in the order of backstory events), or fluid (backstory either is never brought up or the player is allowed to define it choice by choice) that matters, but how the writer crafts the backstory and relates it to the present story.
I suspect that many people who say they want more blank slate (or background decided in-story) protagonists in discussion, probably also love Fallen Hero and/or I, the Forgotten One (two examples of stories whose protagonists have very defined, hard-set backstories).
7 Likes
COG is all about that “Play as…”, but who do you play as? (vote for all that apply)
- Myself
- Myself, but with some deliberate differences from the way I am in real life
- Someone who isn’t Me, exactly, but whom I strongly identify with and/or feel is a representation of me in some way
- An original character I make for the game
- An original character I made before playing the game
- A character I didn’t create (e.g., from a TV show, a friend’s OC)
- A real life person who isn’t me
- Someone or something not supported by the game (e.g., playing as a horse in Wayhaven)
- Whoever lets me see the content I’m after; the requirements for a branch/achievement/RO/etc. determine who I play
- Whomever results from the choices I make; I pick what I want and don’t try to play as a specific person or character
- Whomever results from the choices someone or something else makes; I let another person/AI/RNG/etc. decide
- Other; Someone, something, or some way not covered by the other options
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voters
And if you had to pick a favorite?
- Myself
- Myself, but with some deliberate differences from the way I am in real life
- Someone who isn’t Me, exactly, but whom I strongly identify with and/or feel is a representation of me in some way
- An original character I make for the game
- An original character I made before playing the game
- A character I didn’t create (e.g., from a TV show, a friend’s OC)
- A real life person who isn’t me
- Someone or something not supported by the game (e.g., playing as a horse in Wayhaven)
- Whoever lets me see the content I’m after; the requirements for a branch/achievement/RO/etc. determine who I play
- Whomever results from the choices I make; I pick what I want and don’t try to play as a specific person or character
- Whomever results from the choices someone or something else makes; I let another person/AI/RNG/etc. decide
- Other; Someone, something, or some way not covered by the other options
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voters
If you voted (especially if you voted for Other), I’d love to learn about how you play, if you’re interested in elaborating.
In discussions about playstyles, I feel like players are reduced into being either a complete self-inserter or a complete roleplayer, and it’s assumed the vast majority are playing self-inserts. I’m curious how accurate those perceptions actually are.
15 Likes
The forbidden Horse Detective Wayhaven route is something I need desperately now.
15 Likes
There is a WIP on dashingdon of totally unknown origin, and reason, called Horse: Foal Throttle where the MC is a horse everyone somehow thinks is a person. A very attractive person at that. So far as I can tell, its just a short piece of comedy that never took off as a serious project. Definitely funny, though.
9 Likes
Okay so I would definitely qualify as a replayer and roleplayer by the usual forum standards but I always start playing an IF with the not self-insert but strongly identify with character for a few reasons:
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It is the easiest way for me to engage with the game without knowing much about the structure because if I am not drawn to any particular choice, I pick what applies or what would be closest to me. You could use an RNG for this, but the randomness can end up obscuring a lot of the author’s long-term responsiveness to the player’s choices.
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I don’t have to put in the work of coming up with an actual character concept for a game I might not like or a game that might not end up being able to support that build. I notice with WIPs in particular, people often get frustrated because they got attached to an OC they built based on chapter 1 of the demo and end up not being able to do what they want to in subsequent chapters.
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I, like most people, want to support games that feel like they represent me and/or things that I care about. What better way to test that than with an MC I strongly relate to?
Then, if I like the game, I usually start doing replays to explore other branches. I am not attached to these playthroughs, it really is just so I can get a feel for the scope of the options. Then, once I have somewhat of a grasp on that, character concepts start coming to mind, and that is how I end up with my OCs.
Also, at this point I have built up enough OCs that I have started a secret fourth play style where I play using previously existing OCs but which one is chosen or if any are at all is based on what the game is equipped for. If a core feature of one of my OCs is them being very stubborn, but the IF I am playing does not track stubbornness or the plot does not allow for a very stubborn playthrough, I am not going to try to play that OC in that IF.
11 Likes
Apparently greendaisy and I share a brain on this point. I do pretty much exactly the same thing for the same reasons.
My first playthrough of any game is a sort of trial run with a default MC who is like-but-also-unlike me. The goal is really to explore the world, the other characters and the choices available without thinking too much about my own character. If I like what I see enough for another playthrough, that is where I start getting much more creative, using what I’ve learned from my first run to craft more interesting, integrated MCs whose character and story fit better into the world and who are crafted to explore particular aspects of the game.
My favorite games are the ones I can play many, many times with many, many different MCs like this. There are a small number of traits I never budge on - I don’t play men, I don’t play villains - but otherwise, after that first run, I like to explore the limits of what I can do.
7 Likes
For my first play through, I play myself as much as possible. Like, I’m not a warrior princess, but if I was magically made to be one, how would I behave?
Then for subsequent play throughs, I take that version of me as a base, and change it to better fit the path and/or RO I’m doing this time
4 Likes
I like to role-play according to a rough idea of the character each time, such as a shy wizard this time, an arrogant warrior this time, and so on.
I play both MCs with personalities that are similar to me and MCs with personalities that are completely different from me.
But the name and look are the same every time (different ones from mine in real life).
And for me, the MC is a vessel for self-insertion, no matter how far removed from myself it may be.
3 Likes
I tend to make up a mc by using the premise/summary, what ro I’m interested if any, and the first few pages of the game. They can range from generic goody two shoes to tsundere elf to manipulative power hungry asshole to rageful vengeance seeker. Physical I do make my first mc in a game base of me if there are physical customization since without a visual component I’m not really creative there 
For the name if I like any of the ones the author gave I go with them if not I just put in my own. Sometimes with mc’s after my first one in a game I make them base off a somewhat appropriate character from another piece of media like Edelgard (Fire Emblem Three Houses) for Choice Of Rebels
4 Likes
I chose the Other option because I play as someone in whom I’d be interested romantically. I’m a straight woman and I always play as male MC and if game allows me I give him personality and appearance I’m attracted to. It’s somewhat different characters for different games (or several for one game) but not radically different.
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I’m always delighted when I find a game that allows me to do that, it’s so rare a treat.
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That’s interesting. Food for thought.
1 Like
The way you create characters is interesting and unusual, and I love to see it because it’s also a little bit similar to one of my own character-creating quirks. I find feminine men really attractive, but male ROs are usually pretty masculine, so instead of romancing them, I tend to play as feminine men myself. This is only about appearance though, their personality can be anything I want to play as, not something that I find attractive.
4 Likes
I tend to pick the choices that sound more interesting and that make more sense given the context of the game (especially if the main character has a defined backstory)
If I like how my MC ended, I’ll spend some extra playthroughs refining their personality and trying different things to see if I didn’t miss anything that could fit them. My first playthroughs are also the ones where I’m flirting with everyone simultaneously to decide who I’ll be going to romance, befriend, or stay away from.
Appearance-wise they’re more or less the same lol. I don’t have the patience to try unique combinations, so you would be surprised with how many of them could be described as having ‘brown eyes and wavy dark brown hair’.
5 Likes
that is so weird, i dont mean that in a bad way! i mean it like, i don’t think i’ve ever met someone that plays like that, its interesting!
i’m super boring i that: i always play as basically your typical self insert well… a self insert i’d wanna be at least “the dream me” 
3 Likes
I mean, the gender-flipped version of that (straight men making hot female characters) is extremely common in gaming. Perhaps less so in text-based games where you don’t actually see your avatar, but I don’t imagine either approach is something ultra-rare and weird.
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I do sometimes wonder if my attachment to playing male characters has less to do with my gender identity (which is probably somewhere in the general 
range, but shrugs) and more to do with who I’m into (
), but it’s hard to tell!
4 Likes