Is the MC 'the player' or just a Character you use to interact with a game?

[MissCougar]

Right, characters that look the way they want. Not characters that look like them. That's the thing.

Yes, that is one way this happens. But another way is that fiction can provide opportunities to self-insert in ways that are just impossible in real world by circumstances of your life, or just by laws of physics. If you aren't born a prince, you can not become a beloved benevolent monarch, it's not a question of you being constrained by your fear of reprecussions. You're just not royalty, period. So, power fantasy is self-insert into a character that is fundamentally different from actual you. IDC if you call that literal or figurative, there's no actual division. It's a single category because no one self-inserts into a pixel-perfect representation of themselves. No, it always has some empowering fictional features. How big is the gap depends from person to person, and story to story.

The takeaway I want you to have, is that self-insert is not mutually exclusive with MC having traits. It just needs MC to have desirable traits, that's all. Having a very distinct "strong" main character is not a barrier to self-insert. Having an unappealing piece of shit for main character is, though.

I think so too. There's no characters like me, but if they do things that I might do it's better.

Usually this comes off as one of those corny "feed the homeless man" / "kill the homeless man and burn down the whole homeless village" type choices, but at least the choice is there for me to be the good person I feel like I am!

 

[Zoe Archangel]

It should depend on the game, but nowadays the MC is too often just an empty husk, no real personality or motivation, so that players can easily self insert. Pretty much the same reason why they are faceless.
Which makes the MC just a steerless boat in an ocean, drifting with the tides.

I hate seeing this. It's such a boring cop out. Rather than forcing your "self" into an empty shell, it's much better when the author draws you in. Good self-insertion is when you feel like you are the character, not when the character feels like it could be you.

The key here is the point of view. You can have an interesting character and support reader immersion by properly utilizing second-person perspective. The majority of fiction is written in first or third-person, as it's much easier to create and is generally better received, but anyone who has played a TTRPG like D&D or Pathfinder with a good DM should understand the power of second person narration when it comes to immersion.

 

[seifukulover]

You are not the hero who saves the world from the dark lord, but whenever you put in The Legend of Zelda you can pretend to be one for a little while. The game tells you that his name is Link and he's from Hyrule, but it's still 'you' actually fighting the moblins and getting the treasure. That's what makes it a game, interactive media, rather than a book or a movie.

Ultimately all games are about self-insertion. Every game can be described as "you are _____". There might be factors that make the MC more or less relatable to me personally (a big factor IMO is whether or not they're male), but it's still about pretending that I'm the hero of this story. The only exceptions would be games that have no protagonist at all, something like Tetris.

 

[desmosome]

You are not the hero who saves the world from the dark lord, but whenever you put in The Legend of Zelda you can pretend to be one for a little while. The game tells you that his name is Link and he's from Hyrule, but it's still 'you' actually fighting the moblins and getting the treasure. That's what makes it a game, interactive media, rather than a book or a movie.

Ultimately all games are about self-insertion. Every game can be described as "you are _____". There might be factors that make the MC more or less relatable to me personally (a big factor IMO is whether or not they're male), but it's still about pretending that I'm the hero of this story. The only exceptions would be games that have no protagonist at all, something like Tetris.

You think this because YOU self-insert. You are compelled to self-insert. If it was you just preferring to self-insert, then you would not say outlandish statements like the second paragraph. So yeah, you are an obligate self-inserter.

From my point of view, you are the one that's illogical and absurd. Link is not me at all. It's a character, like Samus or any other character in a game. I play it to view his story, to enjoy the gameplay, not to feel like 'I' am saving the world or indulge in such fantastical thinking. I can self-insert if I was inclined to do it. For example in some cRPG games. If it seemed designed for it, and I am in the mood, I can do it. I can also just roleplay as some evil villain. There are many ways to play, and the choice is entirely yours.

Cue all the obligate self-inserters calling bullshit about this because they believe everyone else thinks like them, because they are the main character of the universe or something and it's unfathomable that people have different thought processes.

 

[Meg3M0]

I think it depends of the game, for an example Euphoria where there's no MC, we're controlling Keisuke as if were us, but it still works like an MC, but in general other games it's just a kind of NPC that we control and that's all.

 

[Meg3M0]

You think this because YOU self-insert. You are compelled to self-insert. If it was you just preferring to self-insert, then you would not say outlandish statements like the second paragraph. So yeah, you are an obligate self-inserter.

From my point of view, you are the one that's illogical and absurd. Link is not me at all. It's a character, like Samus or any other character in a game. I play it to view his story, to enjoy the gameplay, not to feel like 'I' am saving the world or indulge in such fantastical thinking. I can self-insert if I was inclined to do it. For example in some cRPG games. If it seemed designed for it, and I am in the mood, I can do it. I can also just roleplay as some evil villain. There are many ways to play, and the choice is entirely yours.

Cue all the obligate self-inserters calling bullshit about this because they believe everyone else thinks like them, because they are the main character of the universe or something and it's unfathomable that people have different thought processes.

You literally said everything I didn't know how to explain, wow XD

 

[tanstaafl]

You think this because YOU self-insert. You are compelled to self-insert. If it was you just preferring to self-insert, then you would not say outlandish statements like the second paragraph. So yeah, you are an obligate self-inserter.

From my point of view, you are the one that's illogical and absurd. Link is not me at all. It's a character, like Samus or any other character in a game. I play it to view his story, to enjoy the gameplay, not to feel like 'I' am saving the world or indulge in such fantastical thinking. I can self-insert if I was inclined to do it. For example in some cRPG games. If it seemed designed for it, and I am in the mood, I can do it. I can also just roleplay as some evil villain. There are many ways to play, and the choice is entirely yours.

Cue all the obligate self-inserters calling bullshit about this because they believe everyone else thinks like them, because they are the main character of the universe or something and it's unfathomable that people have different thought processes.

I've never argued with people who don't self insert because I'm a 50/50 inserter. I do or I don't, depending on mood and story. This is as long as they can admit that they are the outliers. It's absurd when they imply that they are the norm.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

Ultimately all games are about self-insertion. Every game can be described as "you are _____".

Yes. In tetris, I am the cube block.




Which block are you?

Beyond distinctly non-narrative games, there are plenty of games that do have story elements, or that encourage emergent storytelling, and yet they do not have a main character. Like colony sims or strategy games. You can identify as a starting unit in such a game, but the game logic would defy you: it's not game over if any particular unit dies, only when all of them die.

 

[suprisedcrankyface]

Yes. In tetris, I am the cube block.

Its the evolution of games, there was once a time where everyone was just 'the player', you only knew the characters name because it was on the box.

Playing a racing game because you like cars is a pretty easy self insert, but in terms of games with an MC its different - where does wanting to beat the game, become wanting mario to save the princess, become I want to save the princess

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

Playing a racing game because you like cars is a pretty easy self insert, but in terms of games with an MC its different - where does wanting to beat the game, become wanting mario to save the princess, become I want to save the princess

It doesn't become, these are separate wants. Want to master the game, and want to project onto a sympathetic character.

 

[suprisedcrankyface]

It doesn't become, these are separate wants. Want to master the game, and want to project onto a sympathetic character.

But they do, people have been stating this throughout the thread. The right game at the right time and you get onboard, sometimes through a relatable MC, other times through an immersive world. To use the old term, it engages your id even if your ego may have reservations.

 

[nulnil]

It really just depends. In some games, the protagonist is their own character with their own motivations. Other games directly address the player.

 

[HornyMonsterGirlEnjoyer]

Personally it doesn't matter to me if people decide to self insert or not. In some games I'd say it's encouraged or "up to the player" while in others you lose something if you do self insert. I think ultimately it's up to the player if they decide to self insert. I do in most games I play. I may not be Mario, but I'm the one controlling him.

 

[Pervy Hermit]

I usually treat every kind of MC as an individual entity, but I "self-insert" out-of-character knowledge by picking the options that lead to the heroine I - the nerdy gamer - want to pursue or to get the good ending (if applicable) or to be a goody-goodshoe as I'm too weak-willed for any form of "evil route" . Like in japanese VNs, many high-school MCs follow the same-ish established tropes, where many people question why any girl would"flock" around him XD. If they are stupid/dense/annyoing, I get annoyed at them, so some form of separation is happening between MC and my unspectular RL self.

But I'm not someone who'd create a whole tabletop-esque background and personality based on which I'd make choices for a pure customizable character like in cRPGs.

 

[suprisedcrankyface]

It really just depends. In some games, the protagonist is their own character with their own motivations. Other games directly address the player.

So far seems to be games where your emotions get sort of 'hijacked' - i.e. you are now invested in the character (not necessarily because you are them). Some people do seem to see themselves as the character as they are the one making them move walk & talk etc

Personally it doesn't matter to me if people decide to self insert or not.

It seems that some 'good' games draw you in without a conscious choice, this makes them better but then runs the risk or wrecking it all if the character begins to act out of character etc.

Good example I suppose would be the OG Game of Thrones, good writing at the start got you to care and invest in characters to the point you felt you knew them and the world, then the writing went to crap and that was not only lost, but it seemed like an insult to make the character behave the way they did 'they wouldn't have done that' shows great writing to get you to think like them, terrible writing that the writers couldn't maintain doing it themselves.

 

[HTV2024]

Really depends on the game for me, but most times I think of it as a self insert.

 

[HornyMonsterGirlEnjoyer]

I prefer to self insert just because. Well, I'm on this site around midnight. I'm not exactly drowning in pussy. It's easy to see why I self insert.

 

[Diconica]

In well written game it can be immersive to make you invest some emotionally. Most of these games aren't near close to that level.