Opinions on self inserts?

I am not a fan of self-inserts.

Not because it is a bad habit in itself, but because it usually causes issues, some of which you already mentioned.
It usually also leads to all characters being very similar to each other. Another reason is that your character might not fit in a rp. And by far the biggest is powerplay. I have seen it soooo often. People trying to play what they percieve to be themself as a flawless version, taking any criticism on the character as personal attack and causing drama.

Part of the fun of roleplaying is to imagine being another person, in another situation. If i was a nobel in a fantasy world i probably would behave very differently from my real self, that doesn't have the luxury of an sheer endless amount of wealth and influence.
 
Everyone has their own interests, and I don't see anything inherently wrong with a self insert. One thing you bring up is about how you enjoy putting yourself into another setting or environment, personally I prefer fantasy/science fiction RP because it's something you won't experience or be put around normally. Wanting to see yourself in those environments is only natural if you'd like to try something new or escape the realism you'll find elsewhere.

But yes, there are lines that get crossed when writers put themselves into a fictional setting and feel personally attacked when their written self comes under attack or criticism. As far as your different personality inserts, I hope this doesn't come across as rude but it's my perception that all the personalities are the same just viewing the situation from a different angle or addressing a different audience. Much like how you'll change your attitude when speaking to a 1st grader, or an adorable animal, it's all the same personality but tailored for the audience.
 
Yes I really hate power playing! Gosh I hate that so much. I had this one friend who would self insert all the time and he was always overpowered. He'd lash out whenever someone called him out and refused to tone his character down.

Yeah I wish other people who self insert are open to criticism. Because half the time, the character is just you but flawless. They're not attacking the personality, they're criticizing the mary sue-ing.

To me, being criticized for my self insert is like a lecturing parent so I honestly don't mind. I just usually don't tell people if I'm self inserting or not. And if they criticize my character without knowing it's a self insert, I'd just keep quiet and take the criticsim.
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Roleplay is escapism for many. I therefore understand why you would want to be a flawless hero without the shortcomings one might have in reality. But while power fantasies hold some appeal, they always ruin the rp for every other player. And when multiple people engage in that sort of flawless self-insertion and power fantasies it sooner or later ends in an enormous clusterfuck and a lot of drama.

Being able to take constructive criticism is the most important part of becoming a good writer, be it roleplay or something else.
 
I don't really mind self-inserts as much as I used to. I mean let's face it almost all of us have probably made a self-inserted character whether in a fanfiction story or in a roleplay. I was like 11 when I first made a Harry Potter OC. And honestly I find a lot of people who make the super power characters with no flaws are usually on the younger side. At least in my experience. I know people get very irritated at people who write mary sues, but a lot of them are just starting writing. You can kindly offer people constructive criticism. Actual tips on how to improve like telling them how to create a balance character(equal positive and negative traits, flaws to powers etc.) There are ways to help people get better at writing without being super mean about it.
 
If it's how someone wants to play that's great but it can be A breeding ground for trouble if the player doesn't understand the purpose of weakness in character developement. It may just be the way I run my games but I enjoy it when people want to place themselves in my world. The issue I come across is when my fluid DM style(I enjoy world's where the characters can feel the effect they have) meets the cold hard logic I use when determining situation outcome(people die, it makes the game more tense). Unfourtunately This tends to create drama\butthurtness when someone is attached too much to their character.
 
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When I get the urge to self insert I try to balance virtues and flaws and think of why I would be the way I am in the setting for instance: I could be A sorcerer type character I gained my power from A young age and learned to control it through the use of strings of words in an ancient language I was kept isolated from society for the majority of my life which makes me socially awkward but gave me time to study and learn about my gift eventually I discover my father had been using me as A type of psychic battery, in A fit of rage I kill him and flee the city. The isolation would lead me to become somewhat gullible when I am finally put into the real world, but I would have an extensive knowledge of the lore of the land(all book smarts no street smarts) then I meet another player who is A rogue of some kind and they might help me acclimate to public life while I help them remove A curse against them(or some other scenario) we are always changing even in roleplay.
 
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I think if somebody goes to the trouble of creating a story, a setting, a world for you to write in, you oughta go to the trouble of creating a unique character to live in that world. I'm also not sure what the fun is in writing a self-insert. Like, I get to be me every day. Don't get me wrong, being me is pretty damn sweet, but I don't also need to be 'me but in a sci-fi setting', or 'me but now I'm an elf with a gnarly sword'.

It just seems lazy, and even kinda disrespectful to whoever made the RP you're inserting yourself into.
 
It can be argued that lots of main characters are some form of self-insert of the writer. Even though they may be totally different genders, finding snippets of the author's beliefs and personality and perspective might be visible. In those cases, it doesn't really matter because the characters themselves are just fine. It's not like we can just invent a totally different entity without being influence by our own perspective.

The real issue with self-inserts seems to come when they don't even feel like part of the story. They're some random character just inserted out of nowhere so it feels out of place. Of course, the reason why it feels out of place is that authors may write themselves or how they see themselves into stories without considering the theme or the environment or whatever. Like adding an astronaut to a wild west film.
 
I'm mixed on self-inserts. On one hand, people often get invested in the story that they're RPing and thus pour their feelings and emotions into it in a good way! On the other hand, however, this can go overboard, and then the person who did the self-insert gets offended at something rude that was said to their character. Then it becomes a mess.
 
I don't exactly do self-inserts, but I do have many ocs that are obviously based on me.
I don't mind inserting yourself into the story, as long as you don't start playing god. Okay, another character can have a crush on you, that's fine. But it should progress naturally and not be a sudden "hey random person I'm in love with you!", you know? If you're going into a magical world, you can give yourself some abilities that are reasonable in that world, but not make yourself the most powerful character for no reason.
It's all about a balance between the canon and what you want to happen, in my opinion.
 
I’m perfectly okay with self-inserts! In fact, I think that young storytellers should be encouraged to create them! Making self inserts for my first fandoms is what actually got me into writing and drawing, and if someone had shamed me for creating them, it would have been a huge blow to my motivation to create. Self-inserts are a way of expressing yourself, and are plain old fun to make! While my self-inserts developed into their own characters over time, that doesn’t mean that I think they were bad or harmful. My belief is that self-inserts shouldn’t be looked down on, but celebrated, regardless of how over the top and OP they might be!
 
It's definitely an invitation to exercise a power fantasy, but it can be done. The requirement is that the person doing a self insert is painfully aware of their own shortcomings and is willing to mock them or at least lampshade them instead of treat themselves as an all-knowing, all-powerful divine being.
Or wildly change an aspect of the character, like a specific opinion. It can be interesting to play someone a lot like yourself who is an anarchist, technophobe or something really weird. Some people might even find it's a way to explore who you are.
Haven't done it in years, but I might even reccomend it for someone new to the hobby, so they can find a writing style.
 
I am VERY iffy about self-inserts, mostly because this is all over in the Sonic fandom and I recently had a very rude person get pissed at me while they were using themselves to exploit me. I was in a story where my character was zapped by a growth ray, but this asshole got pissy with me when he told me that he didn't like that my character Cyrene was 'mean'. All she did was call him a 'fencepost' in a playfully teasing manner! Well sorry guy who doesn't even have the effort to make a character, get upset that my character who you zapped with a fucking growth ray would have an ego. The best part, he went like he was all "I have to take shit from people at my job", well you know what? So does everyone else, if you cannot handle roleplaying with a character who's not a perfect princess than that's their fault!
 
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