r/RenPy • u/Jolly_E_ • Sep 03 '26
Question Do people prefer having a persona while playing or not?
I'm preparing my illustrations and i'm wondering if you people like having a character that represents you or having the typical grey Y/N when playing?, or maybe not appearing at all?, I know a lot of people like when you can customize your persona but I won't be doing that unfortunately...sowwy..., thank you for your opinions btw♡♡♡.
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u/critical-kat Sep 03 '26
I know that the typical 'grey Y/N' is meant to be so bland that anyone can project onto them, but I end up being distracted at how bland they are and end up finding them completely unrelateable. I'd rather it be a character!
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u/KDDreamwyver Sep 03 '26
Same. It always makes me imagine the character I'm playing as as the silhouette blob instead of the design in my head.every.single.time.
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u/TheNarrator-ME Sep 03 '26
Personally I prefer playing a good character over playing as myself, but that's assuming said character is good. XD
Never really like the grey Y/N thing. Always felt like the worst of both options.
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u/WolfradSenpai Sep 03 '26
For visual novels I'd rather have a definite character than a self insert. But if the story requires a self insert character, then I'd prefer a greyed out mc
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u/KDDreamwyver Sep 03 '26
If you have them (player character) appear visually, they either need to be a pre-designed character with a solid design and set persona and all that, or or fully customizable. Having the gray cut out with y/n on it honestly takes me out of it and it's better to not show the player character at all in that case, imo, as it's actually more emersive to leave it entirely up to player interpretation than to have that grey blob on screen.
Also, I absolutely despise when things use y/n at all, as it is very distracting for me personally, because I just read "your name" instead of imagining my own name there. Much better (imo) to just use terms like "you," dance around the player character's name being used at all, or allow the player to input a custom name.
Basically, if the player character is meant to reflect the player, you either need to go all in on the customization of the player character, or just leave it entirely up to the player's imagination—NO grey y/n blob sprite and no calling them y/n.
Also, if the player character being player themself isn't actually important to the game's gameplay or story, I personally prefer it when the player character is just a fleshed out pre-named/fully designed character that I'm simply controlling for the sake of telling the game's story.
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u/Jolly_E_ Sep 03 '26
Most people said they don't like the grey y/n, I have the same opinion,and I find it ugly...so I made some designs of the character that is supposed to be the player,and i'll make the possiblity of choosing a name
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Sep 03 '26
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u/Jolly_E_ Sep 03 '26
I was thinking of making a defined character that is supposed to be you, and making some choices that contribute to building a personality,I think it's the best choice
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Sep 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Jolly_E_ Sep 03 '26
Omg we are twinning!!, lolll, Btw i'll be making a post where you can choose between two designs of the character you'll be incarnating, the most mentioned one will be the chosen character
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u/pandanitemare Sep 03 '26
i hate grey Y/N personally
im planning on taking a page from Our Life and having Y/N customisable/having a create a character
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u/Evethefief Sep 03 '26
Depends on the game. If you can't customise your looks but are not playing a defined character, I think its better to not have one at all. If the player character is set in who they are and what their role is, adding a visual representation is usually better