Video Game Psychology 101

PillsAreNice

When you play a game do you think of the main character as being yourself, or someone else? When you describe a game to your friends do you say, "I jumped out of the bushes and shot that guy" or "Snake jumped out of the bushes and shot that guy"?

Me, I think of myself and the character as a different person when I'm first starting ("Awesome, Leon got his head cut off with a chainsaw"). But by about half way through the game I think of us as the same person ("Shit, my head got cut off"). This is kind of frightening because I tend to kill a lot of people.

RockinX

In the case of Pokémon, I always refer to the Pokés themselves, though I've seen people refer to themselves when talking about the Poké.

In other games I tend to refer to myself unless there is more than one playable character involved.

Zephyr

i say me not the protagonist

Jasconius

I don't think anyone refers to the character they control as anything but the first person.

Especially in the context of actions you just performed.

The only exception is when referring to the character in the context of the story line (if there even is any).

EXAMPLE:

I just killed three manhacks with a single RPG.

You would not say "Gordon just killed.. blah blah blah"

or

Gordon Freeman is the main character of Half-Life.

You would not say "I am the main character.. blah blah blah"

Zephyr

I AM SOLID SNAKE

Drovek

Zephyr wrote: »

I say me not the protagonist

Same. Unless it's a cutscene.

And not because I "think of myself as the character", it's just that if I carried out the action it's in First-Person, if it's a cutscene then I didn't really have any input and it's the character.

DVG

Yeah, I think it's just normal to refer to the actions you (the player) perform in the game in the first person, since the character is your proxy within the game world. Story events are a different matter (with the exception of some roleplaying games where you make your own character, and Saying "Tar'mek the slayer" all the time might be weird.

claxton

It depends on the interface thats used. If its a FPS or a hack n slash game where you click the mouse means you fire your weapon/swing sword then I refer to it as "I". If its a game like final fantasy, where you tell the character what to do, then he does it, I say Cloud did xxxx.

slash000

If it's something I personally did with the controls, or a resulting action out of what I just did with the controls, then it's something that I say.

ex: "I just sniped a guy off a bridge from across the village using only a Red9!"

or, "Man, I forgot to use an herb, so I got my head lopped off by a Ganado!"


But if it's a cutscene that doesn't relate to what I just did or just had control over, then I usually refer to it happening to the character:

"After I took down the boss, there was this long scene of a converation between Snake and Eva."


I think it what a person says is based more on whether the action of which they speak is based on something they immediately had control over, or if it's something that happens outside of their control.

RockinX

Jasconius wrote: »

I don't think anyone refers to the character they control as anything but the first person.

Especially in the context of actions you just performed.

The only exception is when referring to the character in the context of the story line (if there even is any).

HallowedFaith

It seems to me that it is only natural for it to be based in context. The entire statement in reference to the game you make usually centers on specific actions or a description of a setting. As such, you're going to describe it in the perspective it relates to the most. I imagine this doesn't differ between many people. Now this of course changes when you bring in hardcore RP into the picture.

PillsAreNice

How about those people that dress like Link because they think of themselves as Link (even though Link has no personality to emulate)? I'm sure they get a special thrill from playing their respective games.

BlueDestiny

PillsAreNice wrote: »

How about those people that dress like Link because they think of themselves as Link (even though Link has no personality to emulate)? I'm sure they get a special thrill from playing their respective games.

Link doesn't have a personality to emulate on purpose. He was named Link to symbolize the link between the player and the character. Personally, I got pretty into it whilst playing TP to the point I was thinking of what he would actually say during conversations.

RockinX

PillsAreNice wrote: »

How about those people that dress like Link because they think of themselves as Link (even though Link has no personality to emulate)? I'm sure they get a special thrill from playing their respective games.

It would be sucky to be a delirious person.

Stigma

RockinX wrote: »

PillsAreNice wrote: »

How about those people that dress like Link because they think of themselves as Link (even though Link has no personality to emulate)? I'm sure they get a special thrill from playing their respective games.

It would be sucky to be a delirious person.

I AM LINK

I HAVE NO PERSONALITY


THIS IS WHAT MY FRIENDS TELL ME



































i have no friends

yalborap

BlueDestiny wrote: »

PillsAreNice wrote: »

How about those people that dress like Link because they think of themselves as Link (even though Link has no personality to emulate)? I'm sure they get a special thrill from playing their respective games.

Link doesn't have a personality to emulate on purpose. He was named Link to symbolize the link between the player and the character. Personally, I got pretty into it whilst playing TP to the point I was thinking of what he would actually say during conversations.

I do that all the time.

GoodCitizen

I always think about my characters in the third person. I mean, I know that I control (almost) every action the character takes, but my brain still processes it as (whatever) character does (whatever). This probably stems from the fact that I like playing games where you control multiple characters: tactical games, RTS games, and RPGs.

Still, I've trained myself to talk about my character in the first person when I play online games. It causes too much confusion on ventrilo/XBL when I dont.

Narket

i mostly play FPS games so when i am talking about the things "I" did in the game, it refers to what "I" did. but even while playing a RPG like Final Fantasy i still do the same thing. i guess it's just the peson playing that defines how they refer to it.

DVG

GoodCitizen wrote: »

I always think about my characters in the third person. I mean, I know that I control (almost) every action the character takes, but my brain still processes it as (whatever) character does (whatever). This probably stems from the fact that I like playing games where you control multiple characters: tactical games, RTS games, and RPGs.

Still, I've trained myself to talk about my character in the first person when I play online games. It causes too much confusion on ventrilo/XBL when I dont.

If I were in my characters place, they'd spend 90% of most games saying, in a paniced voice, "Fuck! fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck fuck!"

FireWeasel

DVG wrote: »

GoodCitizen wrote: »

I always think about my characters in the third person. I mean, I know that I control (almost) every action the character takes, but my brain still processes it as (whatever) character does (whatever). This probably stems from the fact that I like playing games where you control multiple characters: tactical games, RTS games, and RPGs.

Still, I've trained myself to talk about my character in the first person when I play online games. It causes too much confusion on ventrilo/XBL when I dont.

If I were in my characters place, they'd spend 90% of most games saying, in a paniced voice, "Fuck! fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck fuck!"

"AH SONUVABITCH THERE'S FUCKING WASPS HATCHING IN MY FUCKING VEINS AHHHHHHH"

LibrarianThorne

Personal pronouns are used almost exclusively int he dioscussion of fighting games. Stuff like, "You've got to do the leaping hard kick to start this combo" or "I just perfect'd that guy." When discussing the AI, however, character names are usually used, i.e. "Man, fuck Bison and his Shin Psycho Crusher" and "You won't believe what Jinpachi can do." When discussing the character's movesets, their names are used to indicate the subject, like "Did you hear about Ryu's new move" etc.

DVG

FireWeasel wrote: »

DVG wrote: »

GoodCitizen wrote: »

I always think about my characters in the third person. I mean, I know that I control (almost) every action the character takes, but my brain still processes it as (whatever) character does (whatever). This probably stems from the fact that I like playing games where you control multiple characters: tactical games, RTS games, and RPGs.

Still, I've trained myself to talk about my character in the first person when I play online games. It causes too much confusion on ventrilo/XBL when I dont.

If I were in my characters place, they'd spend 90% of most games saying, in a paniced voice, "Fuck! fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck fuck!"

"AH SONUVABITCH THERE'S FUCKING WASPS HATCHING IN MY FUCKING VEINS AHHHHHHH"

Fuck the original topic, let's just make up dialogue for games we've played.

EDIT: I kid, I kid

The Muffin Man

RockinX wrote: »

In the case of Pokémon, I always refer to the Pokés themselves, though I've seen people refer to themselves when talking about the Poké.

In other games I tend to refer to myself unless there is more than one playable character involved.

I do the same thing. Although, since I name the trainer, I tend to refer to him as "myself". But it's always "Gyarados got a critical hit", or "he just took out my Charizard with one shot."

SaraLuna

I almost always say "I".

probably the main exception would be RPGs, where I'd describe myself using the characters like chess pieces. "I firaga'd him with vivi" or "I had my pikachu volt tackle it"

PillsAreNice

Me in Metal Gear Solid 3:


I'm going to knock this guy out and sneak by him. Fuck fuck fuck I cut his throat by accident fuck look at all that blood fuck oh my god oh my god fuck I'll never be clean again.


I would not do well in a game.

Ziz

In most games I think "I" and "me", there are some exceptions though.

If the character does something stupid, it's all the character's fault, not mine. "Stupid boy! Why did you do that?"

Also, in a few games I sometimes switch back and forth between the two. For example I was just playing Rune Factory and at one point wondered what I needed to kill to get cool stuff, and what I'd forge next, but then wondered who I'd make him marry (At this point, no one. I'm having fun killing stuff and don't like any of the girls anyway).

DarkPrimus

When recounting actions in game to people, I always refer to the character's actions as my own, save in RPGs with defined characters, in which case I would say "And then my Lucario killed him with an Aura Pulse" or "Balthier totally got a critical hit to finish the boss", etc.

Dritz

Like pretty much everyone here I usually refer to the character in first person. In terms of getting involved in a game and feeling part of it I've only really gotten that from Zelda and Pokemon. There's other games with silent protagonists but those are the only ones were I find myself mentally filling in the dialogue and mannerisms of my character.

Pratley

When I'm winning "I'm so awesome at this level."

When I'm losing "Dammit Mario, stop dying."

Arde

For any part of an action game that requires skill, I use myself as a reference "I sniped that bitch-ass with my Red9 without stock"

For games that have large party members or require commanding several team mates, I described myself as some sort of general or commander : "I had Basch berserked and then attack the boss by himself, while I have Fran stepping out of range and just doing attack spells and healing when possible, blabla"

Rookie

Normally I'll say something like "I just totally owned that guy" until something goes wrong. Then it's "Raiden, you are a HUGE asshole."

LewieP

I only consider myself to be the protagonist in Killer7.

Unless he tells me not to.

Novus

yalborap wrote: »

BlueDestiny wrote: »

PillsAreNice wrote: »

How about those people that dress like Link because they think of themselves as Link (even though Link has no personality to emulate)? I'm sure they get a special thrill from playing their respective games.

Link doesn't have a personality to emulate on purpose. He was named Link to symbolize the link between the player and the character. Personally, I got pretty into it whilst playing TP to the point I was thinking of what he would actually say during conversations.

I do that all the time.

Guilty. Playing through Bioshock atm; when taunted by the splicers I'll occasionally respond... Does that mean I'm crazy?

Skull Man

I say I unless the protaganist is particularly impressive

say, cloud, or razputin (psychonauts)

UncleSporky

I don't think when people say "I" they mean "I the protagonist," they mean "I the gamer." It just makes more sense to say "I shot a guy" than "I pressed the A button."

Like when I talk about RPG strategy I don't say "I used the limit break and then I cast cure" and I don't say "Cloud used his limit break and Aeris cast cure." I say "I had Cloud use his limit break and then I cast cure with Aeris."

Hotlead Junkie

Is it wrong that I always wear a backwards beige cap which my hair sticks out of the front of ala Viewitful Joe?

I also own a HMD shirt but never worn them both together, that would be crossing the line.

The_Scarab

For the longest time after MGS was out I kept repeating things in that snake questioning voice.


Metal... Gear? A Hind D? Do you want fries with that?

Pata

Hotlead Junkie wrote: »

Is it wrong that I always wear a backwards beige cap which my hair sticks out of the front of ala Viewitful Joe?

I also own a HMD shirt but never worn them both together, that would be crossing the line.

Cross it.

Cross it I say!

That's an order!

Arde

Send pics too plz...

We promise we won't make fun of it or make memes of it.













/lie

Hotlead Junkie

Hell no

Pata

Wuss.