For one I use Evelyn as my default name every time. Also I find that if I am interested in a character ( usually the most interesting female character Prodigal from Heroes Rise, Tarzan Girl from Empyrean, Dirty Girl from Community College Hero, Nonbinary Maid from the Haunted house game, Masami from Samurai of Hyuga) that my character will do drugs, commit crimes, or basically do anything to impress said love interest.
I also tend to rebel if the game tries to overly pressure me like how thereās at least three different encounters with females (or males I suppose if youāre a gay guy) in Lordās of Aswick and you can ignore each group. However you get forced into marriage and to consummate and have a kid. ( Because oh I donāt know the Twins canāt carry on the family name if I donāt?) This sudden.marriage and pregnancy hade uninstall the game completely.
Additionally if given the chance to be a moody protagonist I will be. Like in Reckless Space Pirates and other space game where you get enslaved if you refuse to play along. I tried to get to the end of both still enslaved but apparently thereās no way because you get freed one way or another. In Zombien I told the Alien Captain to retire me and got the bad ending but eventually finished because it was interesting enough that rebelling completely could be subverted for a little bit.
I think my characters tend to be a littleā¦ somewhere between cloud-cuckoolander and nightmare-fuel-station-attended with a healthy dose of forth wall breaking.
Usually I begin playing having a different character in mind (aka roleplaying as either one from a different CoG game OR a completely other thing all together) and if I like a game a new array of character develop (I have SO SO many dorks for Hero Unmasked! Why?!)
A game railroading me extremely and without any rhyme or reason (other than the author couldnāt be arsed to write even a single different path) usually makes me uninstall things.
I always start a game by playing as āmyselfā or as close to my own personality as I can get in order to get a āfeelā for the game.
I almost always never finish the game as myself becauseā¦well, I just donāt take well to strict boundaries irl so I always end up chafing. So, about halfway or 3/4 of the way throughāor itās like Zombie Exodus, and Iāve died for the eighth timeāI take stock of all my mistakes, my stats, and my choices thus far, and restart with a character I have purposefully created to fit as seamlessly as possible into the gameās world.
So my first ārealā playthrough is almost always a hella charming, hella smart character who can barely lift a pencil. Then, if the game is still interesting to me after that first playthrough, Iāll min-max to hell with the second character, usually as another variation of the smartly-charming character.
If the game is still interesting to me after this (very, very few of them are. Only A Study In Steampunk, Way Walkers, and Children of the Gods have retained my interest long enough to do this), then Iāll start creating other, more varied characters to get a feel for what I missed in my other playthroughs.
I try every time to make a character that doesnāt default to charm and trying to talk themselves out of the situation but I fail. Because thatās just fun.
I also romance the assholes. And when I replay to try to romance someone else, I end up romancing the asshole again, mostly because they are the most interesting characters around.
In my second or third playthrough I always like to make as many āwrongā choices as possible to see how far I can push the game. The really good games are usually pretty interesting when you make choices that donāt make much sense.
I always have to play an a**hole. But a jerk who usually comes around and does the right thing anyway at the end.
If Iām playing the game for the first time I try to be as consistent with my choices as I can. Bungling something up makes me resetā¦ and thatās why I play with the smallest font. So I donāt have to scroll so much.
I also have dozens of notes in my phone where I wrote down the choices I made. Whenever Iām bored, I play things Iāve played before with these āperfectedā walkthroughs open in another window so I can just read instead of think.
Me too! But I donāt have the choices written down anywhere, I just have most (if not all) of the choices memorized for A Study In Steampunk.
Iām actually trying to get a perfect playthrough (for me) walkthrough of Way Walkers, but Iām waiting for the third game to release so I can really make sure I get the best ending, lol.
Iām pretty bad about always playing sneaky/stabby characters with high charisma that can cheese their way through everything with a bat of their eyelashes. I also tend to obsessively min/max a game once Iāve done a ātestā run through just to feel a sense of completion (unless something turns me off).
With friends/companions, I always try to do EVERYTHING I can with them. Save them, read through all the dialogue, pick all the right choices, do their side quests, etc. Sometimes theyāre more interesting to me than the story itself.
If thereās a crazy/unconventional choice provided, even if I know for a fact that Iāll die if I pick it, I always pick it because Iām too curious.
Just a small selection for an example. I hand wrote them myself and it took me a month to get that far. Played through nearly every COG and Hosted Game alphabetically. Lol!
In a book CYOA where Iām trying to get all the endings quickly, I always start with the first choice and then work my way back and forth from there, though this is only done when Iāve seen enough of it and want to get the bookās layout in mind.
Romance wise the heroic intelligent and still badass girls are going to appeal to me first. Names depend on the type of gameā¦ had to be John H Watson in A Study in Steampunk.
Iām an obsessive achievement hound, so when a game features achievements that require a bad ending (e.g. dying as a homeless drug addict in Life of a Mobster), I make a filler character with traits I dislike, only for that achievement.
The rest of the time, I find that I play as a brute-force murderhobo where possible, because it makes reading a little faster.
And in games Iāve gotten bored with, I give characters glorious names such as Ass McButtcrack. Yes, I have the sense of humor of a twelve-year-old.
Have you tried Tin Star? Insane replayability, and a good number of charm and knowledge checks (though it will help if your char can at least fire a gun).
I know, Iāve been hearing such good things about it since I got on the forums, I really regret not buying it when it first came out and was on sale and I wasnāt poorā¦
If itās fantasy-ish, then I use Helena and Vesper as my go-to lady names. If itās setting is more present day-ish then Natalie and variations of my irl name Rose. Iām also starting to like the name Charlotte but Iāve yet to use it in a game yet.
For guys, itās super easy.
Wes(ley) is my go-to well-rounded character name that fits nearly every setting.
Alex(ander) is my angsty/stoic character playthrough name.
Luke is for my happier and and relarionship focused playthroughs.
Richard is for my stoic and rigidly moralistic/slipper slope characters.
Michael is also used once or twice in place of Richard but it depends on whether the setting makes any sense to have a character named after an angel.
I should start using Robin though. I donāt often play as gender neutral characters but Robin is such a lovely neutral name that it might be the kick in the butt I need!
First Iām saving up for Wayhaven Chronicles and Great Tournament 2, but since nothing else in the lineups interests me after that, Iāll probably be able to save up to buy Tin Star by mid-spring, but definitely not before (gonna make it rain on my girl @Seraphinite with my meager wads of singles, lol).
