Do you mirror yourself in games

Deleted member 110222

D
I used to play female characters, with erm, enhancement mods...

But I'm out of the horny teenager phase and these days I play male characters because, well, I'm a dude IRL. I play MMOs and it just feels better to have my cider-drinking bloke's voice to a male avatar.

Now is that avatar a 1:1 representation of the IRL me? No. IRL I'm a fat white male with long ginger hair. It varies, but in the case of Elder Scrolls, all games, not just online, I play a well-toned Redguard. Anyone versed in TES lore will appreciate the contrast.

My preferences have changed with age. Those enhancement mods are uninstalled now. I go for immersion now, and look for armour that covers more, not less, LOL. And that armour is male armour, because it's pretty cool and badass.
 

Leper Messiah

Leper Messiah
If I get a choice with character creation it's balding/skinhead with goatee to match reality, but I tend to play all characters in games like Diablo, Borderlands Etc...no preferences to gender.

I also tend to go down the stealth route but that is accurate for me, in reality if it came down to it I'd fight/kill in a way that would minimise risk to myself as much as possible.
 

Siobhan

Siobhan
Mirror? Only in Star Trek Online...
Otherwise I just play... sometimes me, sometimes a character concept... It depends. There are still some special snowflake games that force me to play as a white male... But I usually lose interest fairly quickly in those.
 

Old Duck

Old Duck
Un1k0rn said:
I used to play female characters, with erm, enhancement mods...

But I'm out of the horny teenager phase and these days I play male characters because, well, I'm a dude IRL. I play MMOs and it just feels better to have my cider-drinking bloke's voice to a male avatar.

Now is that avatar a 1:1 representation of the IRL me? No. IRL I'm a fat white male with long ginger hair. It varies, but in the case of Elder Scrolls, all games, not just online, I play a well-toned Redguard. Anyone versed in TES lore will appreciate the contrast.

My preferences have changed with age. Those enhancement mods are uninstalled now. I go for immersion now, and look for armour that covers more, not less, LOL. And that armour is male armour, because it's pretty cool and badass.
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While I like enjoy playing female characters in 3rd person mode, I'm not a fan of all these half-naked unrealistic "armors" on top of Kate Upton models. Speaking of, she was in commercials sporting just such an armor, and it was ridiculous, LOL. I actually prefer modern day Lara Croft in a sweater over barbie doll Lara Croft of the 90s (from the video games, not the movies).

Referencing ESO, I think the elf lady from the promotional videos is exceptional - a perfect match of sex appeal and badarssery. As for dudes, I prefer the thief guy (sorry, my ESO lingo is not up to par to yours) over the Nord.
 

Deleted member 110222

D
Old Duck said:
While I like enjoy playing female characters in 3rd person mode, I'm not a fan of all these half-naked unrealistic "armors" on top of Kate Upton models. Speaking of, she was in commercials sporting just such an armor, and it was ridiculous, LOL. I actually prefer modern day Lara Croft in a sweater over barbie doll Lara Croft of the 90s (from the video games, not the movies).

Referencing ESO, I think the elf lady from the promotional videos is exceptional - a perfect match of sex appeal and badarssery. As for dudes, I prefer the thief guy (sorry, my ESO lingo is not up to par to yours) over the Nord.
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Thief guy = Breton Hero. I know what you mean. :)

Sadly, the costume he wears in the trailer... Well it is in the game but it's near-universally regarded as the worst costume in the game. It's just really, really bad.

The Nord Hero costume is fine, and the Altmer Hero costume is genuinely outstanding.

Personally, my Redguard wears a set of functional mercenary armour. Custom outfits for the win. :)
 

Far Beyond Driven

Far Beyond Driven
I feel like when I get to create myself in a game it gets to be some kind of emergent scenario and I really try to be who I am in real life and react how I would. That's my general baseline although now and then I will create something different for a different vibe.

When I play games with premade characters it almost becomes more of a interactive movie, which is cool but not as enjoyable. I would rather make the movie then watch a movie if you know what I mean.

Lets take Rdr2. Amazing game, great story and loved the voice acting and world. I put me in a weird place though. I would often play as a interactive movie absorbing the story and drama etc. But when I was on my own and all that stopped I liked to pretend it was me in the wild west and trying to see how I acclamate to that world with my ideas and how I would deal with situations.

I realize the story and voice acting couldn't be as good with a character generator where the player could make anybody, but ultimately I prefer to make my own story then watch someone elses.

Witcher 3 was the same exact deal for me. This is why I am excited for Cyberpunk 2077, an in depth (Hopefully) character creator where I am hoping we can craft ourselves and get an in depth story narrative together.

I also like character creators that really give you the options to include physical flaws. Most people arnt perfect and the closer I can craft myself to who I am in reality the more my immershun meter pegs.

I don't like playing perfect hollywood esq model characters. I like rough flawed real people.
 

PhanttoM

PhanttoM
CMDR Cloud Breaker said:
I feel like when I get to create myself in a game it gets to be some kind of emergent scenario and I really try to be who I am in real life and react how I would. That's my general baseline although now and then I will create something different for a different vibe.

When I play games with premade characters it almost becomes more of a interactive movie, which is cool but not as enjoyable. I would rather make the movie then watch a movie if you know what I mean.
<snip>
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More or less the same for me. I would rather be in the movie, "Last Action Hero" style. :D
I find it interesting to think about how I would have to behave if thrown into the universe of a game. I guess one could say, it's kinda like playing a "what if" scenarios.

Unfortunately most games don't provide much, if any, depth in that area. Most games don't even have non-lethal combat.
Despite feeling more like an interactive movie, I really liked Deus Ex: Human Revolution for these reasons.
 

Morbad

Morbad
My knee jerk reaction was to scoff at the idea that I mirror myself in the characters I play in games (well, other than being the main character), but then I thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that my preferences, at least as a baseline, are exactly the same.

I min-max the hell out of myself in real life, and I do this in games as well. As far as the options go and as far as I am free to choose goals, I have a strong tendency to make exactly the same choices for my characters that I would in reality, given the same abilities and circumstances.

So, superficially, I tend to play vastly different characters, but the goal is generally to stack the odds as heavily in my character's favor as possible. The main difference is in the options presented and the tools available; most games have both constraints and abilities that do not apply to my real self.

Of course, if the game dictates the character I play, or I'm up for a different kind of challenge, I am perfectly capable of, and even relish the opportunity to play a character with different priorities and concerns...such limitations are what make most stories possible.
 

Old Duck

Old Duck
CMDR Cloud Breaker said:
Lets take Rdr2. Amazing game, great story and loved the voice acting and world. I put me in a weird place though. I would often play as a interactive movie absorbing the story and drama etc. But when I was on my own and all that stopped I liked to pretend it was me in the wild west and trying to see how I acclamate to that world with my ideas and how I would deal with situations.

I realize the story and voice acting couldn't be as good with a character generator where the player could make anybody, but ultimately I prefer to make my own story then watch someone elses.
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For me this is more about scripting than looks. I can actually look a bit like Arthur Morgan if I let my face get scruffy and wear my cowboy hat, but a lot of his dialog doesn't resonate with me. Heck, a lot of his dialog doesn't make sense at all. He waxes all poetic how folk don't want outlaws like him around anymore, as if once upon a time the common people loved outlaws.. What? Then there's the whole "I'm angry all the time, I'm just killing animals for no reason, la la la la" nonsense that doesn't mirror me at all. I also have a crush on Mary Beth, but Arthur doesn't want to go there except for a nice little dance during a party. (I'm only partway through the story, so please don't tell me if I'm wrong.)

Now when I'm just out on my own exploring the world, hunting out of necessity, helping random folk on the road, etc, then I feel more like "me". I also play RDR2 in first-person mode except for fist fights, so I don't even see myself.

To your point, however, many games are basically interactive movies. Tomb Raider and Uncharted are first to pop into my mind, since these games are much more 'on rails' than open world games like RDR2 and Skyrim. As long as I can relate to or admire the character in some way, this doesn't bother me. If I'm forced to play a character I can't relate with, I don't like it. Being forced to play MJ in parts of Spider-Man was very annoying to me, for example.
 

Far Beyond Driven

Far Beyond Driven
Old Duck said:
For me this is more about scripting than looks. I can actually look a bit like Arthur Morgan if I let my face get scruffy and wear my cowboy hat, but a lot of his dialog doesn't resonate with me. Heck, a lot of his dialog doesn't make sense at all. He waxes all poetic how folk don't want outlaws like him around anymore, as if once upon a time the common people loved outlaws.. What? Then there's the whole "I'm angry all the time, I'm just killing animals for no reason, la la la la" nonsense that doesn't mirror me at all. I also have a crush on Mary Beth, but Arthur doesn't want to go there except for a nice little dance during a party. (I'm only partway through the story, so please don't tell me if I'm wrong.)

Now when I'm just out on my own exploring the world, hunting out of necessity, helping random folk on the road, etc, then I feel more like "me". I also play RDR2 in first-person mode except for fist fights, so I don't even see myself.

To your point, however, many games are basically interactive movies. Tomb Raider and Uncharted are first to pop into my mind, since these games are much more 'on rails' than open world games like RDR2 and Skyrim. As long as I can relate to or admire the character in some way, this doesn't bother me. If I'm forced to play a character I can't relate with, I don't like it. Being forced to play MJ in parts of Spider-Man was very annoying to me, for example.
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I actually changed my facial hair style in real life for awhile after trying one of the styles in rdr2 lol. It didn't last more than a few months but it was hilarious that the gamed looked so good it was able to influence my real life style choices.

I got that part about killing animals also and it annoyed me and took me right out off the moment because I never did such a thing myself and it confused me and sent me mixed signals about who he was supposed to be.

Looks wise it was easy physically to pretend arthur was me, especially after the right facial hair and then getting fatter lol. But as soon as you get a cut scene or dialogue that is out of your control it to shatter the illusion for me.

I avoid most games that are interactive movies that you don't get to blaze your own trail. Obviously make exceptions now and again but pretty rarely.
 
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lostagain

L
I usually create a female character because I enjoy watching them kick the (you know what) out of everyone.
It's a sickness, at least that's what I call it.
I'm male BTW. Not that it matters.
 

[VR] optimal_909

[VR] optimal_909
Chris Simon said:
I play games to forget about the real world for a moment.
My avatars and their character/behaviour is therefore usually as far from my R/L self as possible.

If it means to play skittish female necromancer, so be it. :LOL:
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This explains you avatar too. :)

I am usually trying to recreate myself, and make decisions accordingly, but most games and heroes are conflicted (euphemistically put) so I'm not taking it it seriously.
 

lysan

lysan
Well, it really depends, however my characters are always a bit in the grey zone, male, and old, so yeah maybe i'm mirroring myself here :LOL::devilish:
 

Jenner

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Jenner
Nope. I almost always go with something different. I'm myself every day; I don't feel the need to carry that on in RPGs. The whole point (for me anyway) is to be someone different.
 

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
I tried to make my ED character look like me, but failed. Lol

Other games, I make an attempt at looking "similar", or for a change, I'll choose to play as a female, and make something up.

But I usually stick to down to earth looks.

In all games with given gameplay choices, I end up using stealth.
My Skyrim characters always end up being sneaky ninja stealth archer sword wielding mages, in armour. Lol
 
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