Why thank you! And welcome to the GOG forums - I think we need more people like you around here - people who think my topics are 'GREAT' :-D

And i love to exploit exploits to make my character more powerful, and when/if the exploits get fixed in patches i am always so disappointed. And the way that i use an exploit, i am careful not to let it spoil the game, which can easily happen.

A good example of the wise use of an exploit (if anyone remembers it?) In X3, there used to be an exploit to increase the speed of ships. How i used that exploit.... i vastly increased the speed of a cargo ship which i used for going around deploying stations fixing problems and just getting general (boring) stuff done around the place, but I did not increase the speed of my combat ships or AI ships. It vastly improved my enjoyment of the game, then they fixed the exploit in a patch and i was so disappointed.

I cheat; so I'm a power role player.

Combat quickly becomes boring (BloodRayne, which isn't really an RPG, is one of the very few exceptions once you get the basic skills), and I don't have the time to be just sitting around waiting for my wounds to heal. I want to explore and complete things, progress through the story fast enough that I haven't forgotten all about the beginning long before I'm half-way through, open that chest right now instead of having to backtrack here in 5 levels time etc.

And, of course, the challenge it is to figure out how to cheat - sometimes it's too easy, other times it seems more difficult than completing the game without cheating. (Using cheat codes and trainers made by others isn't much of a challenge, though, so those are only the last resort - chances are I'll put the game aside rather than use those.)

Back in the day when I hadn't given up online/multiplayer gaming completely, I didn't cheat but viewed it as a set of problems to which I should find the most optimal solutions. I probably spent more time researching and writing code to keep track of different metrics, what would be optimal given a specific set of parameters etc, than I spent actually playing.

I guess I'm not much of a gamer.

A little of both but mostly I try to roleplay my character. Though more often than not I end up with a character that looks a lot like myself and who has the same morals as me. In DnD terms it would be chaotic good and I do find it very hard to be evil in games. But on the other hand I do powergame in the sense that I'm not gonna do something stupid that will gimp my character just to stay in character. So if a skill or weapon or armor is overpowered then I would just use it for the hell of it even if it goes against my character.

For me games are a form of play and must therefore be fun so I simply tend to do what is the most fun for me based on the game I'm playing.

Role-play all the way. I've never been a min/max kind of guy. It's just not for me. I like to get into my character who is often a reflection of my own self and act according to my own values and beliefs when I encounter various situations, dialog choices, etc.

The only time I kind of min/max is I will read up on character creation and try to create a character or characters that are well suited to what they are setting out to do. I guess even there though, it still falls back to role-play as the character(s) need to be a reflection of who I want them to be.

Playing with a role-play mindset is really fun to me. I want to be immersed in a world and story rather than focused on gaming the system. I guess it is possible to combine those things but I couldn't be bothered.

Neither, or a bit of both, depending on how you read it.

When picking skills and items I generally follow the mind of the character I created (unless a skill I don't want is required by the game in order to get one I do want), but when fighting or questing, I act largely the same regardless of what class, role, or mind the character has: try to do the most damage, using those "not wanted" skills rather than improve others if others are not yet powerful enough, heal when needed, active block is usually only used when it's not enough to help anyway and it'd be faster to just take a hit and respawn or whatever. Also: loot everything, even if the character's mind would reel back at the idea of eg. cutting out the foe's intestines, putting them in the pack and later selling them for a few coppers.

I would like to think I play as more of a role player, but in reality I end up overly focused on maximizing my character build. In the D&D games like NWN 1 and 2, part of the focus is maximizing the character build, so I get caught in between trying to max my build and role-play the way that I want to. It is interesting that I feel guilt over choosing an action that I would oppose to get an item or reward that would benefit my character.

Good topic.

I started with pen&paper. It was great, only problem was getting enough people.
So with the first game on console/computer i was hooked.
Not because you could roleplay, there is no role playing in RPG's (thats only title for me).
I could discover new scenarios and challenges.
The only time with roleplaying was in Ultima Online were i played several different characters
and played with them strictly to the background i created for them....my smithy was hard working
and at night found in the pub drinking and swearing, my thief stole left and right..and if there was
an attack at our town both were hiding whereas my fighter/mage/tamer rushed into the fight.
But even those characters i could only play with support (money) from those able to earn them,
otherwise they would never get enough money to buy a house etc.
For most games even the story behind the game is so generic that its real pathetic.....
rescuing the princess/world, oh my best buddy betrays me, look multiple choices...without making
a difference
Now, i just play those games as effective as possible to see the ending screen.

I only concern myself with the RP portion in so far as it affects the game or the games ending. I've only RP'd for tabletop/LARP situations. Then again I've never played Geneforge.

I have a leg in each aisle. On one foot, I love giving my character the highest stats and as many perks as possible, while the other foot is all about wandering around and exhausting all possible storylines in the game world. To say the least, it is taking me awhile to complete New Vegas, especially because I am a kleptomaniac.

It depends. In a game like Geneforge, where you are being invited to role play, I prefer to role play. But in games like Icewind Dale 2 (which I recently beat), where your "characters" are just collections of classes and statistics, I tend to power game, e.g. a party where half the members have minimum intelligence would be basically nonfunctional in the real worlds (or in pen and paper, where you can actually for-real role play), but that was the party I used; one skill point a level was all I really needed for them, and those sweet, sweet ability points were a lot more useful applied to other statistics.

I generally tend to play as myself -not "What would my character do?" but "What would I do if I were actually doing this?"

Bit of both. I usually pick if I'm going for magic, fighting or ranged and i always try to be a good guy. I never pick the insulting retorts, do assassinations or thief guild stuff (unless i've already beaten the game and am trying something different). When it comes to skills and such, I'll try and go for what it seems the most efficient, regardless of role-play constraints. I usually start playing for fun, but if the game gets repetitive I'll want to finish it as quickly as I can so i try not to gimp myself due to role-playing reasons.

I don't go overboard though. Almost never finish all side quests or look in every nook and cranny to get every boost or gadget I can find. If the character feels weak, I'll do some side missions to beef him up but if he's strong enough, I'll stick to the main quest, so i'm not much of a role player or power player.

edit: Holy, I just noticed I still have my christmas decoration avatar...

It's funny, but when I play an RPG I like to be told a story, but I do more roleplaying, i.e. telling a story to myself, when I play strategy games. Like, I had stories, motivations, and character dev going on for all the units in XCOM EU. The final mission with my only psionic dude...*tear*

Role player. Sometimes im tempting to try to make the "perfect charachter" which a) i know doesnt exist and b) would be a tad too generic (jack of all trades master of none) :/ but i resist :D