Video Game Character Preferences

[Quertus]

In video games where you get to play and customize a character, what are your preferences, and how do they compare to your RPG preferences?

I looked at the video games I've played, and found that, no shock, I play Wizards. If the system has them, I tend to strongly prioritize Minions, Defense, and Healing, in that order. If the system has Spell or Item Crafting Systems, I'll make heavy use of such. Despite being a Wizard, I often play as a Fake Fighter, wearing armor or wielding weapons in combat (even though this shouldn't confuse the AI, or many players in PvP, due to the specifics of the games). When I do use offensive spells, they're either a) in a category I call Offensive Tricks rather than pure offense (it creates light, marks the opponent, is designed to detect weaknesses/resistances, etc), or because the system has good AoE Offensive Magic. Not many of the systems I've played have good BFC, so the closest I've come to your classic D&D BFC control mage is applying status effects - #Stoned, #Blind, #NoMove, #Gone, etc. I'm often a bit of a pack mule / pack rat, carrying around lots of potions and situational items, and storing items that just sound cool / belong to a set / etc. I'll also use those stored items or craft custom items for friends. Most of these systems don't have attributes; those that do, I favor Magic (Intelligence), Durability (Con/Vitality), and Speed (Dexterity/Agility), with an occasional (but surprisingly infrequent for a pack rat) nod to Carrying Capacity (Strength).

My RPG characters tend to put less emphasis on minions and healing, and more on BFC, direct damage offensive magic, and, perhaps most of all, the Utility magic spells (flight, darkvision, water breathing,.clairvoyance, ESP, precognition, telekinesis, repairing items, flavoring food, light/darkness, etc) that are lacking from most computer games I've played. But, for the most part, it seems pretty close to my general preferences to me.

Maybe I'll try and make a pretty table when I have time, but my top 3 ability categories in the top 10 such games I've played is spoiled below.

Spoiler: Primary Abilities

Show

Defense, Healing, Offense/Tricks
Minions, Healing, Offense
Defense, Offense/Tricks, Utility
Minions, Defense, Offense
Minions, Healing, Offense
Minions, Healing, Buffs
Minions, Crafting, Economy
Offense/AoE, Minions/Mind Control, Healing
Healing/Resurrection, BFC, Buffs

[animorte]

The way I'm thinking of this kind of applies to all many types (video, table-top, etc.) of games.

My preference is generally something with high mobility so that I can close distance quickly if needed or keep at a safe distance consistently.

I'm not sure whether it would fall under your offensive tricks (also as defensive) or utility, but I always like to have some form of crowd control. It helps to lock something down if I need to close distance or create more distance, for myself or allies.

Those two combined, I love kiting, which also means I need to be effective enough in both range and melee as to not get locked down if I get closed in on or lock other things down when I close, but also to keep things at bay.

I also like to have some form of healing or similar protection for self-sustaining and supporting others when absolutely necessary.

I generally don't need a great deal of utility out of combat, except a few small tricks that are versatile enough I can stay relevant otherwise (see: mage hand, minor Illusion, fog cloud, etc.).

That being said, I don't mind playing something a drastically different sometimes, it's fun.

[LibraryOgre]

My default is the jack-of-all-trades, who does well in melee (or the primary combat style). In the two Pathfinder CRPGs, I've tended towards an Aasimar Archaeologist (Bard) who turns Dragon Disciple. Why? Because being an Archaeologist means I can cover every skill, am great at knowledge checks, and do well at various thief abilities. Dragon Disciple gives me great strength, so I can be good in melee.

In games that aren't turn-based, I like to go with minions; I am a bad shot, and don't have good reactions, so a minion that can do some of that for me is great.

I always like to have healing on my main; it makes me self-sufficient.

[GloatingSwine]

For shooter games I tend to prefer high power single shot approaches that exploit weak spots like headshots. Most usually at long range (so marksman rifles over shotguns mostly).

For solo melee action games I tend to like fast attackers (dex weapon gang stand up) or defensive fighters.

I like to have self healing abilities and buffs.

In MMO games that use the holy trinity I like to play tank.

In party based singleplayer RPGs my main character is usually some flavour of paladin or near equivalent.

All of my items are far too precious to ever use. I will go to my grave with 99 elixirs.

[animorte]

All of my items are far too precious to ever use. I will go to my grave with 99 elixirs.

Yup, and I wonder how other people struggle with properly managing their resources, constantly running out.

[Batcathat]

I usually lean toward sneaky characters, whether literally or metaphorically. If the setting has magic or some equivalent, I like having some of that but I rarely focus entirely on it.

All of my items are far too precious to ever use. I will go to my grave with 99 elixirs.

Yeah, this is definitely me too. Even if I know it's the final battle, I might still not use items freely.

[Zevox]

Eh, it's kind of hard to compare my video game character preferences to my tabletop ones, because I don't play many video games that are particularly similar to tabletop ones. Aside from Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights, which are obviously literally D&D video games, the only thing to that comes to mind as close enough to provide much comparison is Dragon Age. Because the things that I like about tabletop D&D and what I like about video games are, for the most part, quite different.

In general, when there's a class system for to choose between, I have a preference for spellcasters in both video games and tabletop D&D, I suppose. But in video games like Dragon Age, assuming I play the game more than once, I'll tend to try each of the classes, whereas in D&D some just don't interest me (like the Barbarian) or I just never have a good enough idea for how I'd RP one to actually pick it (like the Bard). You could partially chalk that up to D&D having more class options than video games that aren't directly based on it tend to, but I also think the simple fact that in D&D the roleplaying is a major aspect of what I'm there for, whereas in a video game I feel like trying to offer decisions that mimic roleplaying in a tabletop game tends to make the game weaker and my interest is centrally in the combat and storytelling instead makes a big difference. I wouldn't avoid trying a Bard in a video game due to not having any idea how to RP someone with their kind of talents the way I do in a tabletop game.

Anything more granular than that, I got nothing. I pick my D&D characters' options based on the character concept, and my video game characters' options based on what seems good and/or fun for that specific game at that specific time. There's no real pattern between the two there that I can think of.

All of my items are far too precious to ever use. I will go to my grave with 99 elixirs.

This is often true of me in video games (but not tabletop ones) for anything that is not a healing item. Healing items I can make appropriate use of - though if I can use a character's magic instead of the item, I will.

[Anonymouswizard]

To start with: femme if possible, ideally a member of the '**** off' gender but I'll settle with being female. This is by far the most important.

I used to play magicians, but I've recently shifted towards warriors. Particularly in party-based games. I'll also build for raw power over finesse most of the time, even if I am going for more of a rogue I am not interested in investing in stealth. I want a big sword, gun, or staff, and I want to see those big numbers. There's certain games I'll play crowd control in, but ideally as a supplement to BOOM!

[False God]

I play warriors, paladins, and melee types of various sorts.

If I'm not in the mood to melee, I'm a healer. Because I'm your white mage.

If the table/game allows the non-healers to be dumb and expects the healer to wipe their butts, I'll go skillmonkey. That way I can NOT contribute to the damage, AND not have to clean up after them.

This tracks pretty close to my TTRPG plays as well. I'll play blaster-casters more often in TTRPGs, but spell slinging really isn't my jam.

[tonberrian]

Given the option, I prefer to be fight-y types, then mages, but only very rarely skillmonkey or healer. I ain't got time to manage everyone's health bars and make sure they're ready for combat, let the ai do it. That said, in Wrath of the Righteous I'm playing an angel oracle, but only because the best buffs for melee are in the oracle spell list (raaaaa oraclezilla). I prefer to use magic to make me a better melee dude.

I'm not actually that often playing a western rpg where you can choose your class or your abilities, though. And while the nominal main character in the tactical rpgs i prefer is going to be melee focused, I have whole parties to customize and I'm willing to try all sorts of things.

In tabletop games I'm all over the map, because I don't want to be playing the same type of character in the same system. So while I might focus on melee types first, I have several different characters in different games right now, like 4 different wizards of different types, a ghost who blasts people with his dark magic, two crafters in different games that are very different in style, a jock power ranger, a thief-type starship pilot, a social type noblewoman, and an assassin chosen by Odin.

[Cygnia]

Stealthy archer types, if my Skyrim & Horizon Zero Dawn plays were any indication.

[Lord Raziere]

I always go female when given a choice in a game now, and I feel kinda sad when it doesn't give me the option when it feels like it should. like some heroes are such silent empty husks that you can rename anyways that I don't get why they're even genderlocked anymore.

I tend to go towards rogues when given a choice in an rpg, with mages being second place.

when given the choice in a shooter, I tend to go for sniper rifles as my first pick or a revolver for wild west gunslingin' as my second

In a digital card game, I want to say I have a specific preference for like darker/evil faction decks, but honestly I don't play them that much to really say for certain and they can be so varied that there isn't really any archetypes I can point to.

I wish I played strategy games more to have a preference, because I just love strategy in general, and Age of Empires 2 and 3 and Civ 6 have so many civs to do so many things that I still haven't tried them all. though I tend towards domination.

in pokemon I tend to go for Fairy types, Dragon types, Fire types, mostly offensive hard hitting pokemon like that with like, tricky things like poison, ghost and such on the side.

fighting games....that can get pretty fighter-specific.

other games however don't allow for much choice in playstyle though. can't exactly choose your method of puzzle-solving as such games have to be built around certain mechanics to be used in certain ways, most action games are focused on a certain type of action and protagonist, platformers similarly focus on certain kinds of platforming unique to the character, so I can't really say there is any choice or preference involved in many genres of games, because often your forced to do certain things that you have learn regardless of what you want, and different genres are different experiences I don't think I can compare one experience as being better or more preferable than the other, just different. like to me for example, you can't evaluate Tales of Symphonia and Fallout New Vegas on the same standard because they're aiming at two different things, one is inviting you to see what the story has to say, the other is inviting you to tell your own and neither are bad. So I can only talk about preference in games that allow for preference, and there are many great games that don't allow for preference at all.

[Maryring]

I prefer classes that emphasize tactical gameplay, combos and avoiding direct confrontation. So that generally means wizards or rogues, or sneaky wizard rogues. I don't usually use minions.

Also, if the game has non-lethal options, I aim for them. No casualties runs are my favourite self-imposed challenge runs.

[animorte]

Also, if the game has non-lethal options, I aim for them. No casualties runs are my favourite self-imposed challenge runs.

I've done this whenever possible as well. The best example I have is when I played Dishonored. That was really fun, but then I realized at one point, a guy I had KO'd and left alone, his body rolled into the sewer water shortly after and he must have drowned...

I was extremely confused at how I had a kill on my record, but there it was.

I also tried it in Last of Us, but some games just make non-lethal methods extremely punishing to attempt.

[Ignimortis]

I'll play anything, I'll just make different characters to do it. But my first playthroughs of stuff usually tend to be either a straightforward warrior guy with a big honking sword (or spear if the game has spears, which not many do these days), or a dextrous spellblade type gal.

If the game is more modern, I go with pistols (especially revolvers), and any gender that is more aesthetically pleasing in the game. I am also very miffed at how very few games have good permanent dual-wielding.

As for how it maps onto my TTRPG preferences, I'd say it's close, but since there's not really a "second time" for TTRPGs outside of playing the same system, I tend to experiment more. My actual preferences usually include having combat teleportation (if that's something that the setting technically could allow), life drain abilities, and high survivability with little long-time resource management (I'm very much up for short-term management, though, VtM blood is my jam).

Oh, if we're doing anti-preferences (is that a thing?) too, I detest using summons or pets. About the closest I can get to using a summon before I start disliking the aesthetic is Persona's, well, personas.

[Dienekes]

I'm a firm believer that, in settings that have magic and powers and people that can break the laws of physics by wiggling their fingers and speaking bad latin, the most interesting and awesome characters are those who pick up a chunk of iron, and use that and their wits to overcome any problem they face.

So when I make a video game character, I tend to do that at first.

Unfortunately, I usually find when playing a video game, all the actually interesting gameplay tends to be behind the characters that cast spells. With some exceptions, I usually tend to make a secondary character that just has all the magic, and is able to have various tricks and capabilities that allow me to manipulate the battlefield and disrupt the opponents.

The major exceptions are in games where the mundane combat / gameplay actually is exciting. Then I stick to my first character throughout.

[Burley]

I usually gravitate toward a caster-type, especially a sneaky caster, if possible. And, then, I click the basic attack button over and over until I win. I don't know why I don't play combat focused characters in video games. I guess I secretly want a challenge?

Also, I gravitate toward female characters. In FromSoft games, I just prefer their voices more. I tend to in-you-face, rick-reward characters, which are often female. In Overwatch, I main Brigitte and Junkerqueen for their close-range combat and sustain. Would I play them if they were male characters? Prolly.

Oh, and, also, if given the option, I'll change the lead character's name but never change another name. Not even a Pokemon nickname.

[Morgaln]

I prefer to play archer-type characters, combined with an approach that puts agility over strength.
Lacking that, I don't really like playing casters and always prefer to use some kind of martial.

I also lean towards picking female characters over male, which often aligns well with the archer class in games that aren't fully customizeable.

I don't play First Person Shooters, but in third person shooters, I tend to go with accuracy over firepower. I still remember playing Resident Evil 4 (the original version) while a friend was watching; he was astonished at how good I was with the handgun and how much I did with just that (especially the number of headshots I pulled off). Reason being, I'm really stingy with the ammo for other guns and try to save up as much as possible. To the point where I don't even use it in situations where it would make sense to do so.

[warty goblin]

Based on the fact that I've played more World of Warships than literally anything else at this point, I'm forced to conclude my ideal videogame character weighs in at north of 35,000 tons (standard) and has at least 8 15 inch guns.

Outside of that, I tend to prefer at least partially melee focused characters in RPGs, although I'm getting more flexible there. My dislike of magic is less that I don't like magic per se, and more that the goddamn hellgrid of tiny little buttons RPGs foist on magic users is just no fun to use. Of course the flip is that melee characters are usually dull and don't have enough buttons. Ideally I'd play characters with a mix of melee and magic, but D&D type RPGs always make that feel like a square peg in a round hole. More action oriented games are much better at flexibly combining the two in a way that feels good to play.

[Batcathat]

Based on the fact that I've played more World of Warships than literally anything else at this point, I'm forced to conclude my ideal videogame character weighs in at north of 35,000 tons (standard) and has at least 8 15 inch guns.

This feels like a good setup for a "I like my (wo)men like I like my video game characters..." joke.

[tyckspoon]

This feels like a good setup for a "I like my (wo)men like I like my video game characters..." joke.

.. ocean-worthy and heavily armed?

[GloatingSwine]

.. ocean-worthy and heavily armed?

You think you're joking, but not only is "battleship waifu harem" an established genre World of Warships has done crossovers with at least two of them.

[warty goblin]

You think you're joking, but not only is "battleship waifu harem" an established genre World of Warships has done crossovers with at least two of them.

Stuff like "super scantily clad anime girl we SWEAR is over 18 and is also a Nazi warship for some reason" is going to be exhibit A for the prosecution when the Supreme Galactic Council hears "Let Earth join the Stellar Union vs. Throw Earth into the Sun."

[Anonymouswizard]

Based on the fact that I've played more World of Warships than literally anything else at this point, I'm forced to conclude my ideal videogame character weighs in at north of 35,000 tons (standard) and has at least 8 15 inch guns.

I'm fairly certain the orks agree with you.

Stuff like "super scantily clad anime girl we SWEAR is over 18 and is also a Nazi warship for some reason" is going to be exhibit A for the prosecution when the Supreme Galactic Council hears "Let Earth join the Stellar Union vs. Throw Earth into the Sun."

We might have succeedefd, but then somebody on the internet decided to Rule 34 the judge. At which point it was all over.

[LibraryOgre]

Stuff like "super scantily clad anime girl we SWEAR is over 18 and is also a Nazi warship for some reason" is going to be exhibit A for the prosecution when the Supreme Galactic Council hears "Let Earth join the Stellar Union vs. Throw Earth into the Sun."

Transwaifus... robots on the seas
Transwaifus... battleships in disguise

[tonberrian]

Transwaifus... robots on the seas
Transwaifus... battleships in disguise

I've seen clips of this show. It's exactly as disturbing as you think.

[warty goblin]

I've seen clips of this show. It's exactly as disturbing as you think.

Haven't seen the show (there's a show? why is there a show?) but I did try Azur Lane twice, out of intense boredom and morbid curiosity. The first time went pretty much "

• Hmmm, interesting.
• Wait, that's the game?
• Why is she wearing that?
• I feel dirty.
• I just am supposed to turn on auto-battle, so it isn't really even a game?
• What's the point?
• Oh, unlocking even skimpier costumes.
• The guys who spend money on this know you can just google naked anime ladies for free, right?
• Porn is less creepy than this.
• This is why they made uninstall.

The second time went

• It can't really be as bad as I remember.
• No, the game is as dull as I recall.
• She's still wearing that.
• It's exactly as bad as I remember.
• What's this whole dorm thing? I don't remember that.
• It isn't as bad as I remember. It's worse. So much worse.
• Why?
• UNINSTALL.

Really, "why" sums up the whole thing pretty well. I like battleships, I've got an entire bookshelf devoted to battleships, including a fair number of books that were pretty expensive and/or out of print. I enjoy a fair number of things with hot girls in them, and generally feel no shame about it. I have never looked at a picture of Bismarck and gone "Yes, but what if it also had boobs?" Adding boobs to Bismarck ends up just so deeply, deeply weird and extremely uncomfortable, in that way that overly subservient anime waifus inevitably are.

[LibraryOgre]

I have never looked at a picture of Bismarck and gone "Yes, but what if it also had boobs?" Adding boobs to Bismarck ends up just so deeply, deeply weird and extremely uncomfortable, in that way that overly subservient anime waifus inevitably are.

Realize that the bill for my brain bleach will be delivered to your house.

[tonberrian]

Haven't seen the show (there's a show? why is there a show?) but I did try Azur Lane twice, out of intense boredom and morbid curiosity. The first time went pretty much "

• Hmmm, interesting.
• Wait, that's the game?
• Why is she wearing that?
• I feel dirty.
• I just am supposed to turn on auto-battle, so it isn't really even a game?
• What's the point?
• Oh, unlocking even skimpier costumes.
• The guys who spend money on this know you can just google naked anime ladies for free, right?
• Porn is less creepy than this.
• This is why they made uninstall.

The second time went

• It can't really be as bad as I remember.
• No, the game is as dull as I recall.
• She's still wearing that.
• It's exactly as bad as I remember.
• What's this whole dorm thing? I don't remember that.
• It isn't as bad as I remember. It's worse. So much worse.
• Why?
• UNINSTALL.

Really, "why" sums up the whole thing pretty well. I like battleships, I've got an entire bookshelf devoted to battleships, including a fair number of books that were pretty expensive and/or out of print. I enjoy a fair number of things with hot girls in them, and generally feel no shame about it. I have never looked at a picture of Bismarck and gone "Yes, but what if it also had boobs?" Adding boobs to Bismarck ends up just so deeply, deeply weird and extremely uncomfortable, in that way that overly subservient anime waifus inevitably are.

I'm not talking about a ship waifu show, but a literal show where anime girls transform into planes and jets and things. I will not link it, but I think it was Henkei Shoujo. Just. Don't google it. You'll hate yourself if you do.

[Spore]

In team games I prefer the support healer with strong offensive capability, if it is possible. I like supporting from the backside, knowing at least that thing is covered, but it is unendingly frustrating being unable to finish an opponent off because your pea shooter/tiny bonking club deals next to no damage.

Conversely in solo games I am either the (melee) tank or the wizard/elementalist. Be it crusader, barbarian or Warfare/Geomancy lizard, that is my jam. Bonus points for effective healing (paladin-esque, so either extend my health bar so it is longer than the bosses' or support any NPCs that need it). For the wizard side, I cannot be bothered with HP management, so the peak of my idea would be having 1 HP and instagibbing all my foes (of course that is a horrible idea for game balance and fun, but you get the idea). But I have shied away from intricate setups for casters in the latest years. Standing still undisturbed for too long is not possible in many many games. As such I prefer things as the Red Mage in FF14, the Assassin in Dark Souls 3 (really a rapier/estoc user with supportive magic) or a mage invested in defensive spells for Baldurs Gate.