When you play a computer RPG do you decide what you're character's like and try to keep an internal logic and personality to their actions or do you do whatever gets you most XP and gold to power up as fast as possible and maximise your efficiency?
I was reading some tips for playing Geneforge and it was talking about which factions to join when and who to betray when to get the most training and upgrades possible and I thought, yeah, maybe, but I don't want to DO that because my guy wouldn't do that, it goes against what he has decided is right and wrong in this situation.
I suppose you could decide that your guy is a sneaky duplicitous guy as well for a middle way
So who picks a side and sticks to it, who backstabs but still thinks of their guy as a backstabby guy and to who does 'having a guy' not even occur and extracting the most of various metrics out of the game is like a mathematical problem to be solved?

usually i tend to play as efficient as possible and if i notice ive made a mistake somewhere i either make a new char and skip the mistake or in online games i just try to not do it again and keep going. ive never been much of an RPer and when it comes to online games i usually stay away from the RPing crowd as possible, i respect what theire doing its just not my cup of tea and the few games ive tried it always ended up in pervy conversation and dark hidden places :)

To me, roleplaying is for Pen & Paper. CRPGs are so extremely restrictive that I don't really see much point in doing it in any of 'em.

Consequently, I develop my video game characters so as to be effective and fun to play.

Depends on the definition of role. I'm typically a power gamer, but if I'm in a team scenario, I'll select a specific role and pretty much build according to that archetype.

A little from column A, a little from column B.

Neither. I usually go for a combination of what my OCD demands and what I find the most satisfactory in terms of the story. Which means I usually rob all civilians who don't keep an eye on their stuff but I never kill anyone unless they attack me first. If they attack me because they spot me stealing their stuff, I reload and leave them their belongings (not because I realize stealing is wrong - I have more use for their stuff anyway :P - but weirdly enough I don't like the idea of my character killing innocent pixels out of greed). So, I'm not really consistent and I often manage to separate the story from the gameplay. I don't try to build the most powerful character ever, but I want it powerful enough so that I don't run into frustrating situations. Apart from nicking items, I don't make my characters do anything I wouldn't want them to do just because I'd get rewarded for it, but since options are often very limited and the actions that get rewarded are mostly harmless enough, I go along with them.

I am both!

Primarily i am a power player, and i will try to gain as much benefit as possible as close as possible to the line of not making those decisions not in line with my character.

Role player. I don't care if the character is as powerful as possible as long as he has cool story. I often make the story myself (I like Icewind Dale for this) and I often give them less than optimal stats if I find good reasoning for it.

I sometimes would do what you describe in OP but not to get the most powerful character possible but because I am trying to go through as many thing as possible in my playthrough. So I would place my own needs over staying in character but not to power game, but to explore my options.

<span class="bold">This</span> XD <--comic

I always loved understanding RPG games mechanics and planning the best character ahead, because I hate discovering later that I missed an important skill\item\quest\etc (Diablo2 Hell teaches well)

At the same time, however, some "magic" (immersion) is inevitably lost in the process, but my OCD leaves me no choice :P

I usually choose the good guys, because I feel guilty with the bad ones! I often try not to harm innocent npc (with few exceptions for unique rewards, like the easter egg pants in BG2)
I try not to use exploits too much (ex: infinite quest exp) because they eventually ruin the game (but few are ok).

EDIT: I went back to finish my post

When I play RPG's I always take actions based on my own internal logic and morals. So when I play a game for the first time, the character is an avatar I push myself onto so I can play the game.

EG. In Fallout there is a town where you can help the police to entrap the corrupted boss, or you can side with him. I went with the third,somewhere I had spoken to someone who stated he was doing something I thought needed punishing, so I gunned him down without the help of the police. Nobody was pleased.
Or in ToEE I obliterate each of the temple groups one by one because when I had set out that was what I was required to do, and it was with a neutral character I ignored their temptations and only used them to help me kill the others.


Heck in any game that allows moral choices I always act on my own. In Himan games I will never aim to kill someone without a weapon, but if they so much as touch a gun they are dead. In Absolution I will kill every one who aims their gun towards me when they get in my way, but I go out of my way to avoid civilians.
Infact when I replay levels I actually go about counting the number of civilians caught in the cross fire.

I'm generally a power player. I don't play too many RPGs to begin with, and most of the ones I do are action RPGs where there really isn't much opportunity for role playing anyway. In the few that actually have moral choices, I tend to be Lawful/Chaotic Good, but all too often I find that either your choices don't make much of a difference in the long run, or that the developers and I have different ideas about what is good and bad anyway.

Oh man I remember the second Hitman - the one on the original XBox, I wanted to infiltrate an enemy camp by disguising myself as the postman but I thought randomly killing the postie was mean - he probably has a virtual wife and kids at home or whatever, so I chloroformed him, not realising he wouldn't be out for long so just as I'm entering the camp I see some maniac running around in his pants, talk to the underboss and suddenly everyone's shooting at me - took me a while to figure out what had happened! Hilarious and cool AI there. I think as soon as you're thinking in terms of "I don't like the idea of my character..." and attributing motivations like 'Greed' to their actions, you have more than a toe in the Role Playing camp!

I would go into the game hoping to role play, but I haven't played any crpg that makes it seem worthwhile to do that. Some games expound on it's replayability by playing different classes, etc. But for mostly small changes, the main game is still the same, and I find it hard to slog through the whole game again just tp play it just a little differently.

What a GREAT topic! I actually, with little rhyme or reason, will go back and forth on this one. Fairly early on in a game I can get a sense if I'm going to role play my character (I always start with a template or idea regardless - "Gee, this playthrough I think I'll be a scientist type, versed in computer with a bit of a charismatic streak"). In games where I feel I can really stick to my guns and enjoy the game, I'll stay very close to that motif. Some games, however, make it clear that if I want to get anywhere, I'm going to have to min / max, and while I'll still sort of have a character archetype in mind, I'm a bit more flexible in doing what it takes to survive ("Huh, looks like this is a tough one, maybe my otherwise geeky science character is going to have to "hit the gym" and end up with 87 in his BODY stat and a mean shot with a laser if I hope to survive").

More often than not I do stick to my original concept. I just started up Shadowrun, as an example, and my character is sort of an "Ex-Professor" type, with an academic background, older and a bit "gentlemanly," skilled at engineering (Rigger) and while he's a runner, he still approaches situations as if from his original walk of life.
Translation: this guy isn't going to be packing an smg or shotgun, will probably pick up a smattering of decking skills, his INT will be his dominant stat and he's never going to go into a situation as a hardnose - more likely than not, if he's not totally disgusted by the scumbags he's dealing with he'll maintain a modicum of decorum... until he's pushed ;)

I generally side with sides that follow the law of the land, such as keeping up the peace and upholding justice. I love to play characters who have a lot of honor and want to help others, while also trying to be charismatic and empathic. But I generally like to play healers, paladins, and the like, if I can choose. I love helping people and tend to not do bad things.

I used to love loading Baldurs Gate only to decimate all men, women, and children in the towns around, but it grew tiresome and it wasn't funny after a while (and the randomly generated hunters who can kick your ass is a good reason to stop as well). The same went for Grand Theft Auto, which I haven't touched since Grand Theft Auto III. I loved just parking myself on a roof, reigning down a stream of molatav cocktails onto anyone and everyone. But I just can't do that any more. Since I typically like playing stories that can either end well or be forged by my own hands to end well, I tend to stay away from games that are downright evil. When I was younger I felt a lot more conniving and un-sympathetic, but as I've aged I just feel like it's not just a waste of time and that it's just dead wrong being on the side of evil, or that is the side that's usually perceived by "evil" (for instance I chose the republic in Star Wars The Old Republic, and could never see myself playing as a member of the empire, though most people were there apparently).

I also don't believe in repressive situations or lack of freedom with being over lawful. I also hate backstabbing others as I hate it done to me, as I feel what people do in games may reflect what they are willing to do in real life (your brain doesn't know it's a game), and in general it doesn't end well with a long list of good friends (unless your part of some dark organization that thrives on that...).

So I guess I do stick to the side of light/good/honor/law, especially when all of those are together.

I get very serious with my role playing. I'm more a role player than a power player.