Are you a Vicarious Player or a Voyeurist type player?

[Madaras]

That is to say when you play the game do you have a state of mind where you are your character and enjoy playing the game that way or are you someone who sees your character as his own entity and you are merely an observer as his story plays out?

Secondly how much control would you wish to exert on the identity of your character?

When stating which sort of player you are please also add, if any, identity traits you’d like to exert on your character, such as sexualitiy, phobias, background, “quarks” (such as can’t talk while a door is open, or has difficulty speaking around women)

[Spacefarer]

Whether or not I feel as though I am the character or am observing the character depends on the nature of the game. For instance, in Ryse Son of Rome, there is the distinct feeling that you are observing Marius as he achieves his vengeance. This is due to the linear nature of the game, and each cutscene was greeted with, what will Marius do now?

On the other hand, games such as the Mass Effect trilogy allow you to make decisions and actions based on your own moral compass and so it feels more as though you are the character. The level of control over the character’s actions is what determines how I feel when playing any game.

[Madaras]

I completely agree, though I am referring specifically to this game as it has been thus far presented. If I’m not mistaken warhorse has stated that the character’s initial appearance has been decided, but everything else about him can pretty much be decided by the player. So I’d like to hear about how much of that freedom people would like to have and in what sorts of ways people would like to play.

[Ballacraine]

I would like to play through in various ways.
Run the gamut of noble hero right the way down to infamous villain.

Balla

[Janus3003]

Voyeur. I sit outside an NPC woman’s window and just… observe.

OH CRAP THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU M- *arrested

[Helena]

Same here, it depends on the game. Since the main character of KC:D seems quite clearly defined (young, male, a blacksmith etc.), I would view myself as controlling that character rather than seeing the game through my own eyes, despite the first-person perspective.

[BlueEyedGator]

I also agree with @Spacefarer that it depends on the storyline. As @Helena pointed out, in this instance the character is clearly defined as a male. As a woman, I can’t “feel what a man feels” emotionally or physically. That being the case I can only control his actions. Where it gets cloudy is making decisions for him based on my own thoughts, feelings and perceptions.

And @Janus3003 too funny! Do you need bail money? LOL

[AhmadKhan]

I try to piece together whatever information warhorse provided us before hand and try my best of remain faithful to the concept of Henry the 14 century bohemian son of a blacksmith. With two years to go i guess i can read up on what men at that age and time usually do to get in that ‘mind set’.

[shonsu]

When I play an RPG, I tend to lean toward vicarious.

[Senta]

that’s a good question. i always recreate myself as faithfully as I can, and try to play as I would in real life: essentially good but not beyond being selfish at times or self serving if needs be.

[Madaras]

Funny thing is being good is normally very self-serving in games. I’m not sure that there has been a game created where being cruel or completely selfish has offered more/better rewards than being good and honest.

[Elanwye]

I am the character, but the character is not me. The character is his/her own person, with their own quirks and traits. I become the character and move as they do. =)

(I hope that wasn’t confusing)

[InvisibleShadow]

I agree with @Spacefarer 's initial reply, it depends on the amount of control I have within the game. Character customisation and the ability to have branching dialogue with consequences means that I generally play as if I am the hero, as opposed to a very linear game with the playable character being non-customisable where I simply see it from an outside viewpoint (much like I do in films).

How I will view my character in this game is unknown as there is not enough to go off so far, but I have a feeling it will be somewhere between the two. The lack of character customisation (and therein character individuality) will obviously be missing from this game. Unless of course some bright chap comes up with a character custimisation mod…

[Minute]

I get the feeling their aiming for more player control in favor of a directed character, and so long as that is the case I almost always play the character as myself. As far as those other traits, they would add to the role-playing depth. Would be interesting at the very least.

[Madaras]

This is the feeling I’ve gotten from warhorse too.

[LariusBalfor]

I tend to play vicariously through my character in an RPG, but to a certain extent. It’s rewarding to build your character like an alternate universe version of yourself where some traits are the same, but others differ. Agreeing with @Ballacraine it’s fun to run the gamut of character types available. For each type I’d impart different aspects of myself onto the character build and play style.

Specifically it’s enjoyable when a player’s choices influence the options available when interacting with other characters. For instance, consistently choosing vengeful options in early game dialogue makes the character more vengeful later on, influencing the options available in late game.

[War]

There’s some games that lend itself better to “I am the player” and there are some games that lend itself to “I am watching the character”. It depends on the mechanics.
I found it much easier to immerse myself in a Bioware game (Dragon Age, Mass Effect) vs. a Bethesda game (Fallout, TES) because there’s more personality and back story to the character. I find that on the “blank slate” characters, I end up just going for what is more profitable to help me beat the game, not based on any personality I’ve come up with.
So lots of thief characters because there’s no way I’m walking past that chest. Which gets boring after a bit, actually.

Optional phobias would be an interesting game mechanic. Wonder if anyone’s done that.