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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Is that you?
by Olivia Grace 
Jan 14th 2012 at 8:00AM
On a recent BT about gender in WoW, two commenters got my attention. Dez and Nagaina, thanks for replying! The parts that caught my eye from their comments were as follows:
Dez wrote: I know some players consider their toons to be extensions of themselves (1st-person narrative), but personally I see them more as other people whose adventures I am following (3rd-person narrative).
Nagaina wrote: I'm principally a roleplayer. When I create a character, I'm usually doing so for storyline related reasons not representing myself in game related ones.
I personally consider my characters to be extensions of myself. When I refer to them, mentally I'm thinking, "I'm over here," "I'm getting my face chewed off by a murloc," or "I'm going to get myself a kickass new cloak." When I'm talking in game, I do much the same.
The idea of the character as a third person fascinates me. I suppose it might be reflected in games like The Sims where you control the life of a character in a different way or maybe in FPS games where you're controlling a character with a predefined story. Or perhaps it's something that is a big part of roleplaying, creating a story for a character that is (maybe by definition) not your own story. I freely admit to knowing barely anything about roleplaying, so of course there is the strong possibility that all that might be utter nonsense!
What do you think? Are your characters extensions of yourself? Are you representing yourself in game? Or, like Dez and Nagaina, are you following a third person? And why?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Zarabethe Jan 14th 2012 12:29PM
I feel like Zara is an extension of myself....like I took part of my personality and blew it up and created a character out of it. I will often lose myself in playing her.....but as far as referring to her, if it's a characteristic that I share, I will say "I" and if it's one that is different than me, I'll refer to her in the third person. Like, "sorry, I don't know this dungeon very well" is first person and could be her speaking as well, but "Zara needs this piece of gear because her trinket is crap" is 3rd because I personally don't need gear, she does. OR: "I like to collect pets" (we both do) but "Zara needs to find every single archeology rare becuase its her obsession" . Maybe that's not quite accurate, because I obsess too....
Ikatsu Jan 14th 2012 1:01PM
My characters are my characters, that's how I do on every single game I play.
They have their own motives, own memories, own reasons and they will act according to it.
Of course I'm a hardcore Roleplayer and I got 10 characters on Moon Guard, but regardless, I think the game is a way to escape from RL, it's like watching a movie, but from first person perspective.
Sharky-Sharky Jan 14th 2012 1:19PM
I think there's a difference between thinking of your character's as an extension of yourself and reffering to them in 1st person. Saying "I'm over here" sounds natural whereas "Bubbleoseven is over here" sounds bizzare and a little crazy. Another example is when I'm on my main and I'm talking about one of my alts I would say "I'm going to log over onto my shaman/my shaman's name" as opposed to "I'm going to log over onto me."
Hairfish Jan 14th 2012 1:41PM
I am an altoholic, yet each of my characters is "I" while I'm playing them.
I avoid RP realms these days, as I find most RP-ers just story-tellers who don't know HOW to stay in character unless they're sitting in an inn, describing how their parents died, or how a gang from the oposite faction raped them.
Players on "Normal" realms, who claim they're "not into RP," often turn out to be the best actual in-character role-players who play THROUGH their characters, even if they neglect to inform the whole server of their backstory and which royals are their relatives/lovers.
BTW, most of my characters are male, and I am not.
absent.without.leave Jan 14th 2012 2:32PM
My main is me; he's first person, and reacts to situations how I would react. All of my other characters are separate entities - which is pretty easy for me to maintain, 'cause I draw comics and stuff. That said, I think all the characters are exaggerated versions of my own personality traits... probably because the characters themselves develop from how they seem while I'm playing. I'm not a roleplayer or anything, but hey.
Skarn Jan 14th 2012 3:35PM
For WoW, I consider my main character to be an extension of myself. Partly this is because I've been attached to him for so long. I created Skarn the hunter 7 years ago and I've been playing the same character ever since. Even across three different servers, I have managed to keep the same name! Many of my WoW friends over the years have only known me as Skarn. I've obviously identified with the character over time and he really is more a part of me than just a character. He's my in-game representative, he's really "me" in this World. Kinda crazy, really.
Partly due to my identification with my main character and partly due to the fact that I just don't play alts very much, I don't consider them extensions of myself in the same way. Typically I regard them as other characters in the world my main inhabits. I don't roleplay at all, but I do often develop a small background/story for each character just for my own amusement.
Over in Star Wars, I've got a male Jedi Knight I've named Skarn who I might end up identifying with in much the same way as my hunter, but we'll see. I don't expect to be as involved in ToR. I still naturally develop small story fragments for my characters over there. In addition to my Jedi Knight, I've also got a Sith Inquisitor. The story for the two is that they are brother and sister, though not twins. The two got separated at some point through some undecided tragedy. Skarn ended up with the Jedi, while his sister, Siyah, ended up a slave. Her life has clearly been harder and when she had the opportunity to get out of the slave life by being trained as a Sith, she took it. While she's not straight up evil, she's significantly more ruthless than her brother.
I don't actually roleplay or develop large stories and backgrounds, generally just small things that sort of "guide" the character in my head. This particularly applies to ToR with the choices you get to make during the game. So after all that, the short answer to your question Olivia, is that some characters I identify with in the 1st-person, but most I consider 3rd-person narratives.
Therigwin Jan 14th 2012 4:01PM
My main, Therigwin and my wife's main, Daraia, are extentions of ourselves, but with their own unique in game love story, etc.
My alts, however, are 3rd persons that support my main's story with some sub plot stories on the side.
david.a.alt Jan 14th 2012 4:20PM
Seems like the bulk of responders are "extensions-of-myself" sorts, which explains the rather vigorous blow-back that occurs around the gender debate periodically. I'm very much a 3rd-person, despite being a non-roleplayer.
For me, it feels like the characters pre-exist in the world of Azeroth; after all, they're fully formed adults when we first see them. I follow their lives and adventures in Azeroth, acting as part observer and part puppet-master. In a sense, it's more like watching a movie, except I have a little more control.
Pantro Jan 14th 2012 4:42PM
Extensions of myself, the double or more personalities in me help doing RP :p
evoxpisces Jan 14th 2012 5:11PM
I think every in-game persona is, to an extent, an extension of the player. For instance, I play a goblin warlock. A very destructive and selfish one at that. But I'm very far from that in real life. If I had to choose a class based on my personality I would no doubt be a discipline or holy priest. I'm just a healing kinda guy. But healing isn't as fun as DPS in my opinion so I choose the play a warlock, because I can actually roleplay being a destructive little invalid and get away with it. Can't get away with it in real life. Or can you? I don't know.
RetPallyJil Jan 14th 2012 5:49PM
I am she as she is me and we are me and we are all together.
Dragonrose Jan 14th 2012 5:53PM
When playing a character and talking to people, I say 'me'. When talking about another one of my characters that I'm not playing, they're referred to by name. Yet each of my characters, though I don't actively roleplay, have a personality and story created for them.
It confuses the hell out of me when I'm playing an alt and people call don't call me by my main's name though. O.o
dinojake15 Jan 14th 2012 7:59PM
I'm a roleplayer. I use WoW as a medium for my story-telling. Thus, I view all my characters not as extensions of my own personality, but rather as my creations. My "children" if you will.
That's why if anyone tries to ERP with my female goblin hunter, who is the apple of my eye, my most likely reaction would be to threaten them with a shotgun.