When I began playing Glitch, I had read three things about the game: (1) it had wonderful artwork, (2) it was non-violent, and (3) it featured collaboration among players. I specifically avoided further reading and research before playing, wanting my user experience to be shaped by in-game information.
As I began to make connection with other players, I discovered that many people seemed to be "playing it real," in the sense that their in-game actions were based on their real-world personality and real-world values transplanted into a fictional world. For me, this created both a dilemma and a sense of opportunity. It created a dilemma because I had decided early on to give my character a persona that diverges in some ways from my real-life personality. If I stay in character, those who are playing it real and thinking they are getting to know the person behind the character may be misled. The sense of opportunity, on the other hand, comes from the potential I think this game has to create a kind of social capital that has real value in the real world as a consequence of in-game interactions and in-game community. This makes Glitch different from other games I have played where social capital comes, if at all, through side-conversations and meta interactions that occur in parallel with game play.
If I'm playing with friends I know well outside of the game, I can adopt the persona of a character who gives unsolicited fashion critiques and bossy advice -- and if I do it well, we all will be entertained. When I'm playing with new friends I don't know well and people I don't know at all, it becomes more complicated. Some may be able to separate the persona from the real person, but others may not. So, over the past month, I've increasingly been "playing it real." As a consequence, I've stopped doing some of the things that may have amused some other players. However, this has given me the freedom to develop and deepen friendships based on my real personality, and that has more value for me than the entertainment I get from playing a role.
Perhaps, over time, I'll figure out how to have it both ways. However, as another player sagely observed in a recent thread here, you can't really roleplay with other people who aren't roleplaying. Unless you organize your actions to have no impact on them, you will either be entertaining them or harassing them, and the line between entertainment and harassment can be fuzzy. For example, some might find an in-game fashion show entertaining, and might think that those who don't could simply ignore it. However, a fashion show at Jethimadh Tower might get in the way of those seeking to explore or complete a quest. A fashion show in Ajaya Bliss would almost certainly get in the way of those trying to mine there, even though my in-game character might think it a fabulous venue.
So I'm curious to know what others think about this. Are you playing a role, playing it real, or doing some combination of both?