Is your MC 'you'?

[Kikki]

There are definitely different levels of self-insertion. I think unless they were deliberately setting out to make someone COMPLETELY different from them, they would end up putting bits of themself in, because they're deciding things based on their own preferences, after all.

My reason for thinking that I do not self-insert is because I see my feMC as a character belonging to the game, with her own story that has nothing to do with me, like when I'm reading a book (except I can't customize characters in a book, of course.) But what I choose for my MC are, after all, the things that I like. But because I find the idea of that character being 'me' really awkward, I still think of myself as someone who definitely does not self-insert. I like to feel a little bit of distance between myself and my MC so that it remains a 'story' to me and doesn't get too...I don't know...Animal Crossing-ish.

@Kikki - yeah a lot of users around here call me mom because I'm apparently pretty motherly at times, whoops >_>

Though when I said old I meant more of old compared to a lot of the bachelors in the games. Most are usually around the 18-20 age so if I was to self-insert I'd probably feel pretty weird about it :p Then again you do have guys like Klaus sometimes that are closer to my own age, but then MC is always canonically younger (and sometimes way too naive, looking at you SoS) so yeah

I can't say I've found you motherly, but you sure have been nice...thanks for all the help all the time, even though I'm a neurotic pest.

Yeah, I feel that way, too. If I for a second think of the MC as ME, the candidates give me the creeps, a little. Like...yikes who is this baby that I am robbing straight out of his cradle? The MC really must remain a character to me or I just feel weird about it all.

[RopeMaidenKirie]

@K8sMum - Not silly one bit, I think that's incredibly sweet personally. I'm very sorry for your loss.

@Kikki - You're not a pest, always happy to help!

Yeah if I was to self-insert myself there's noooo way I'd have my character marry someone like Mistel or Wayne like some of my characters have. It'd be Klaus in SoS and someone like Ludus or Yuzuki in 3oT, lol. Kind of interesting to think about

[Celestrian]

I've never self inserted myself into a HM/SoS game. Heck, I've never even used my name. I just feel it would be way too weird for ME to self insert. I would rather see someone else do that. lol

Usually all the names end up being random or I have a theme going.

[ChaosAzerothCat]

Kinda more a myself/self-sona OC mix thing?
Also characters but I tend to have a lot of my self-sona OC bs going on.

[Mecha-Lollipop]

My character is never "me" even though I tease my husband about my game waifu/husbando. It's just me playing a character. I feel like if I self inserted I would feel awkward marrying people. I never use my name or the names of any of my family members in games like this.
It also helps me marry people I would definitely not like IRL. Would not be interested in..say.. Ford in real life but I love him as a character in game due to his interactions with my character.

Edit: Actually I've discussed with my husband that I'm marrying __ character and that if I were to self insert I would have a hard time picking who is most like him because that would be who I want to marry if the character was meant to be "me."

[keenocuous]

I guess I tend to self-insert in these games then. I'm a writer myself, but I don't really like coming up with new characters for each game I play, especially not the first time I play it. Usually after a long time, if I want to go back to it then I'll play as a character that's nothing like me. I don't typically think of a story for them as I'm going along though. : P

I typically name the MC 'Kee' and then make them look like me (with a variation on the hair color, but it's usually just pink or brown). I don't completely see it as me, though. I see it as a sort of AU version because obviously I'm not a farmer lol. It's just exciting for me to pretend to be something I'll most likely never be in a land with characters that don't actually exist.

I think it'd actually feel weird if I were to go into a game blind and not be some sort of amalgamation of me and the MC.

[JessieJoJo]

Most of the time I go with my nickname, Jessie, unless it seems way out of character for the game. In HM and SoS, I think this is the first time I actually want to name my character something else. Avery strikes me as a cute, farmer girl name I guess.

As far as them being me, idk. I don't get that personal with it usually.

[OctavieKnite88]

I never make a character me, doubtless of the game I play. Their names rarely even start with the first letter of my first name. I'm also tan, and I never make tan characters. In fact, I often choose the palest option out of personal preference. I make a character, I give them a backstory and a personality...likes, dislikes and so on. Their personalities are more often than not the exact opposite of mine. I also play out scenes in my head of them having conversations with the characters the game provides on top of the conversations already there. Basically, I roleplay over the story and also use the story. It makes the games I play much more interesting. I'm unfortunately me every day, why be me in a game? Oddly enough though, my legal name would fit, but I never use that either.

[FoolishGhoul]

yeah to me self-inserting is more about your mentality and mindset. Some people like to completely immerse themselves in their games and there's nothing wrong with that, I just personally don't do it much myself. Like I said as far as I'll go is name them after me and then maybe make them look like me a bit but otherwise I'm pretty mentally detached from the MC and see them more as their own person rather than an extension of myself

[Beedlebud]

I try to but the games don't really lend themselves to you to make immersion possible imo (The player customization leaves much to be desired for one). Most of the time I just run with my username and go crazy with everything else.

[hanajimaismycat]

Like I said as far as I'll go is name them after me and then maybe make them look like me a bit but otherwise I'm pretty mentally detached from the MC and see them more as their own person rather than an extension of myself

this more accurately describes what I do than I did, thanks XD

[Moon-Cookie]

My reason for thinking that I do not self-insert is because I see my feMC as a character belonging to the game, with her own story that has nothing to do with me, like when I'm reading a book (except I can't customize characters in a book, of course.) But what I choose for my MC are, after all, the things that I like. But because I find the idea of that character being 'me' really awkward, I still think of myself as someone who definitely does not self-insert. I like to feel a little bit of distance between myself and my MC so that it remains a 'story' to me and doesn't get too...I don't know...Animal Crossing-ish.

I make up personalities for my Animal Crossing AND Pokemon MC's every single game. I love the feeling of 'jumping in' to a story in progress like that. I am also surprised with the amount of people who do this! I would have thought self insert in Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons was much more of a thing than what people here in the forum seem to lean to. It's kinda nice to know there's others out there who have similar play styles to me. Almost all of my friend group does some shade of self insert.

Off topic: I play the heck out of Otome games. Usually I'll keep the name given in the game, but if there's no name given, I will research a fitting name for the plot or setting of the story. No use for my very western name in a Japanese setting, modern or not. (They wouldn't be able to pronounce my first or last properly anyway. First has a dipthong-ish vowel going on, and the last is very French.)

@K8sMum -Personally, I think that's very sweet and a good way to stay in touch with her. It's probably even more special to you than to other players when you reach milestones in game with your daughter as the lead.

[Shan O 123]

MC as myself? Not exactly? I do give the MC my name well, what's close to it. If the MC was my actual self she wouldn't be a farmer. Although those part time jobs could work lol, well, maybe.

And I'm definitely not 18-21.........

[ilikecookies94]

Probably not. It's just uncomfortable.

[Nurylon]

/headshakes no/ I like all of my MCs to be their own characters, though a lot of my characters get 'reused' or 'have lost memories of a prior version of them', heh. I get really involved in thinking of magical lore for them.
My usual video game name is Lulové, or Lychee, or other names that begin with an L.
-Lechu(guilla), which is going to be the name for my 3oT game, may or may not be SoS Lychee that left her land after her spouses aged but she did not (magic creature lifespan) and decided to take on a new name. Also is probably mutter mutter about human lifespan. Or at least, that's the maybe story right now.
I don't think I've ever used my irl name for a game file... though I've used Nurylon a couple of times and it's pretty close. Actually from a book, though.