Anime Role-playing vs. avatarism

[Revenant]

There are usually two kinds of players that try to stay in character in RPGs. One creates a specific character, with his own backstory and try to actively role-play it. Another just thinks "what would Jesus I do in such a situation" and proceeds with this in mind. Which one are you? I always assume the player character to be my own avatar in the game world.

 

[Scroo]

I usually RP a specific character. In party based games I try to imagine every character having a different personality - yet I cannot act evil in RPGs so there's limits to how I can RP my characters

 

[Cthulhu_is_love]

Roleplaying IS actually gay. I wouldn't say i'm a powergamer, but often i just follow the choice, where i get the best loot (save scumming for the win!) and then kill the NPC, too.
This way you get the most gold and xp, so the developers want me to play it this way.

When choices are kinda funny, but give me the worse loot, i take the funny ones.
But often there are no cool choices, so i stick to the pattern explained above.

I can't understand giant faggots people who wan to larp in crpgs...
I mean why you don't larp in real life? Or is that even to stupid for you?

 

[Revenant]

Everyone larps in real life lol

 

[Shin]

Bleh, as a compulsive hoarder I couldn't choose anything but option 3.

I usually -try- to play as a specific character, but this guy/gal usually also has the compulsive hoarder mentality which usually ends up with them finding a balance between good and evil, just for the sake of cash. A cRPG just isn't the same for me if I don't end the game with a million gold and a thousand potions.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I always assume the player character to be my own avatar in the game world.

"Infiltrating Melonhead Central"

 

[Jimmious]

I try to roleplay as the character I've in mind but I can't always escape my own beliefs etc
So I usually end up somewhere in the middle, roleplaying as a character that is kind of close to me

 

[CryptRat]

Because of such stupid questions, too many RPGs are not party-based, or without custom party.

 

[Cthulhu_is_love]

Because of such stupid questions, too many RPGs are not party-based, or without custom party.

I don't know enough crpg larping people, but would't hardcore rp fags also roleplay parties? Is that even possible?

Could they for example larp world of xeen, without getten fucked up all holes™?

 

[Loriac]

A lot of 'RPG's are so banal when it comes to player choices that you end up metagaming instead. bioware and their ilk are guilty of this type of thing, with ridiculous black and white choices offered (choices along the lines of 'I kick the cat for no conceivable reason whatsoever, or steal sweeties from small children, simply because evil').

What I have noticed though is that sometimes mechanics enforce roleplay more than narrative choices. A good example of this is Underrail, where use of the oddity xp system, vendor trading limitations, crafting systems, and fairly robust stealth systems allow for players to choose actions based on what their character is good at, rather than a blanket 'kill all the bad guys, deliver all quest items like a good fedex driver, loot everything not nailed down' approach typical in most RPGs.

This obviously isn't what an RPG purist would consider 'role-playing', but given the limitations of the medium I think its about the best you can do as a simulation of playing different characters in a given game world.

 

[Ismaul]

Roleplaying IS actually gay. I wouldn't say i'm a powergamer, but often i just follow the choice, where i get the best loot (save scumming for the win!) and then kill the NPC, too.
This way you get the most gold and xp, so the developers want me to play it this way.

no ur gay.

Roleplaying != LARPing. You roleplay in cRPGs if there's character defining choices to make in the game. If the game doesn't give a choice and you pretend like there is, then you're larping. And that's fucking dumb. Dumber than LARPs in real life, 'cause at least in LARPs your actions have reactions by the other larpers.


Anyways, I agree that cRPGs are bad roleplaying games in general, giving better rewards and XP for powergaming. A good RP system would reward making character choices instead of gamist ones. In a better system, you would be powergaming when you are roleplaying, so you'd get more power/rewards for playing your character as defined or challenging who he is to develop / change him.

Since cRPGs aren't like that and people woudn't buy then in droves if they were, that means the designers suck at making cRPGs with actual roleplay, and the userbase doesn't really want it anyway.

 

[Snorkack]

Highly depends on the game. Some have systems that allow a larping kind of playstyle, others don't. One of my favorite Morrowind playthroughts was when I played an angry drunkard who brawled his way through the main quest with bare knuckles shirtless and started a fight with anyone who looked at him the wrong way.
In games like most dungeon crawlers or party-based rpgs I'm fine with dissociating from the characters. Choices between good and evil are made solely on the anticipation of a certain outcome, not because I play a role.
Other single character rpgs that don't offer systems which enable and emphasise roleplaying as much as for example morrowind, I stick with the avatar approach, which also means I'm playing the good guy most of the time and make decicions similar to how I would deal with them irl. But I'm happy with gaming the system, too, e.g. stealing stuff when I know I won't be punished for it.

 

[Jigawatt]

If a game is both fun and offers meaningful C&C, I'll probably play it enough times to cover all 3 options. If it fails on either of those counts then it probably won't matter which path you choose.

 

[Roguey]

I've done/do all three.

 

[razvedchiki]

It depends on the game,im playing dragonfall currently with a melee street samurai and behaving like a cyberpunk paladin,meaning not" saving the princess and then raping her" metagaming faggotness.

Still when it comes to money i cant help myself,i donated some money to a philathropic organization and then sweat talked their representative for a better reward for a job he offered.

Definitely not paladin stuff


Can anyone explain why in every poll there is kingcomrade option?

Plzzzz?

 

[octavius]

How many games can you actually role play in anyway? In most games you are more or less forced along a Lawful Good path.
Oblivion, if you ignore the main quest, is actually more of a role playing game than most of the classics and the greats.
Im practice there's very little actual role playing in most CRPGs.
To me RPG is just a label; I don't really except role playing from an RPG, especially not from a game where you control a party.

 

[Carrion]

Ideally I come up with a character (or multiple characters) and a fairly rough outline of what it's going to be like, and then try to stick with it through the game. In practice it rarely works, though, as you have to adjust to the choices the game offers you and choose whatever you think is ultimately the most interesting one. I like playing True Neutral characters, for example, but they almost always end up becoming Chaotic Good because that's often the most enjoyable way: being good gives you the best rewards and the most content, but you need to balance that out by being a dick to the authorities or doing the occasional nasty chaotic thing to prevent your character from becoming just another goody two-shoes. So basically I start from #1 but end up drifting more and more towards #2, except that I don't really play as "myself" but simply make my in-game choices based on meta knowledge and educated guesses on what's going to be the most fun.

 

[DraQ]

I try to roleplay as the character I've in mind but I can't always escape my own beliefs etc
So I usually end up somewhere in the middle, roleplaying as a character that is kind of close to me

Basically this.

I can't really RP a character I can't relate to so basically my characters are built of somewhat twisted and rearranged aspects of my own psyche with some rudimentary backstory as guideline for their behaviour.
Maybe not exactly "I am this guy" but "I could be this guy".

Also a reason why I tend to avoid playing female characters regardless of "dat ass".

 

[Jools]

I do both, depends on the RPG.

Sometimes I feel like playing a specific character (stock examples: the righteous pally, the evil Sith, the "chaotic" but just barbarian etc), and I do. Sometimes, I'm happy to play with what the game makes me play as (eg: Geralt), although in the latter case I still try to flesh out the character according to my "perception" of it.

So, yeah, I obviously voted KC.

 

[Angthoron]

I just play whatever feels fun.

 

[Azeot]

I just play whatever feels fun.

this

 

[Surf Solar]

Whatever nets me the most xp and the best loot will be the character I play.

 

[Lurker King]

Assuming that the game actually provides real choices, I tend to choose a chaotic evil guy because you have more freedom, less clichés, etc. For instance, NWN2, which is a game that is pretty beaten here on the Codex for its retarded main story, among other things, has some really cool stuff in the side quests. I could do a lot of chaotic shit in Crossroad Keep. The problem is that the standard cRPG model always favour the good guy because the developers are unimaginative or have no time. 90% of the quests are just “help this poor bastard and save the village” clichés. Thus, if you decide to role-play a evil character you lost most of the loot the content. In addition, sometimes I just ignore what my character is and choose what I think is the right thing to do. In BG2, instead of releasing Lady Elgea, a kidnapped victim, I hold her and get the ransom myself because she was snob noble bitch. Also in BG2, when I decide to kill them to take their magic itens engage with Drizzt Do'Urden’s team, Keldorn turned against me. I killed him on the spot for being so retarded. Die motherfucker, die!!!

 

[Delterius]

Because of such stupid questions, too many RPGs are not party-based, or without custom party.

Not really?

Full party creation is a stylistic choice. If anything its also one that is coming back into the mainstream of CRPGs.

I don't know enough crpg larping people, but would't hardcore rp fags also roleplay parties? Is that even possible?

Of course? There's nothing special about taking multiple characters in consideration when contributing to the story or, more specifically, interacting with the environment. You already do that naturally whenever you use class specific skills such as lockpicking. 'Roleplaying' would be just applying the same principle to sandboxes like those of Larian.

I've done/do all three.

This.

I just play whatever feels fun.

And ultimately this.

 

[CryptRat]

I don't know enough crpg larping people, but would't hardcore rp fags also roleplay parties? Is that even possible?

Could they for example larp world of xeen, without getten fucked up all holes™?

My point was only that the question and the first post someway imply that you incarnate a single character. I shit on this idea, it's not PnP and I am the only player so let me create my party. That said, I admit than when I can create my party, the question still makes some sense.

So, to answer the question, I make most choices independently of the characters, and a few depending of the personnality I imagine for the characters, and

I just play whatever feels fun.