This week's poll was suggested by Ceiye. It's kinda relevant to me because I started playing Lost Ark, which has decent (oversexualized) character customizations. I've seen some Youtube videos from The Spiffing Brit where he does absurd character creation stuff.

You can submit poll ideas here
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: What hurts more?
Choices:
Stubbing your toe - votes: 2192 (63.6%)
Hitting your funny bone - votes: 618 (17.9%)
Banging your knee against the table - votes: 634 (18.4%)
There were 3444 total votes.
The poll ended: February 26th, 2022 10:07am PST

Imagine walking around in the dark while barefoot

A just ruler amongst tyrants

Most often a mixture of whatever looks good and various characteristics of me - glasses, beard, hairstyle... or whatever else fits the theme of the game. Straight up whatever looks good/what I would prefer to look at for 50+ hours whenever a female character is needed.

~4400 manga completed
~1700 ongoing...

Since it varies for me, I chose "whatever looks good"

That being said, I will sometimes try to recreate myself. Especially in games like The Sims.
However, if it's a fantasy RPG or something, I'll typically just go with something that looks cool. A unique character that I feel like roleplaying. This could range between a human character that looks like a cooler/more ideal version of myself to something completely different, like an orc, an elf, a cat-person, or some kind of demon.

I'll never just hit the random button and go, though... I have to craft the character myself.

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::End of Transmission::

I always created female characters when possible even though i am myself a male, and i try to make her attractive for myself, so i suppose significant other it is... Though whatever looks good and matching some specific character happens too... It is funny to see how my tastes shift with time by looking at old saves.

I am envoy from nowhere in nowhere. Nobody and nothing have sent me. And though it is impossible I exist. © Trimutius

I usually go with the "whatever looks good" route, but sometimes I just wanna fuck around and create some abomination that makes me laugh simply by looking at them xD

I rarely bother since in most game I either don't see my character enough to care about it, or my character end up being covered with armor that hide everything so I don't see the point.

In most case nowadays I just start with default choice, but if it end up being a game where I can see my character I will often restart a new game and make a nice looking character.

Quote from Trimutius

I always created female characters when possible even though i am myself a male, and i try to make her attractive for myself, so i suppose significant other it is...

I'll admit, same here, except switch the sexes. I'm a woman but tend to play as a male character if the game has the option, especially if a male protag is implied as the default. I make them look very hunky, tall, and unrealistically handsome if the character creator is top notch.
When I do play as a female character, I just make it look good.

Joining the chorus of Whatever looks good

Am a male who generally makes female characters, try to make their aesthetic fit whatever playstyle I intend to use. I get really into games and staring at a male character or listening to male voices for hours would just be... annoying

It depends on how many options provided by the game. For games like Pokémon, I usually choose the same gender as mine. For games like the Sims with more various options, I usually match it to my ideal version of myself.

I think for this polling, I'll choose "make it look like myself", or whatever closest to my real life appearence. Generally speaking, my "ideal version of myself" in games usally was just some small "improvement"/changes than my original self.

Oh boy I asked this but even I don't have a strong answer. It depends on the game for me. If it's a game where I want to be part of the world, like Pokemon, I customize my character to be like myself. If it's something where I can create multiple characters, I go with whatever looks good or my old OCs. If it's a story-based game where the player is an actual character, I go with the default until I finish the game and then I customize. I used to spend so much time just customizing characters, but I barely have time to play games now, much less anything large enough that would allow for customization

I often go with a bowlcut and a stache. Possibly hot pink. Age slider goes all the way to the end. Fake tan too. I aim to make a character who looks horrible, but still somewhat human. The more serious the game, the more you should take the piss. As such random is the closest option, although it isn't that random in a way since I never ever make a character that a Brazilian 15-year-old would've made in Ragnarok Online.

As others have said, it depends on the game. On first playthroughs, especially if a limited amount of customization is available, I usually try to incorporate some elements of myself. On subsequent playthroughs of games with large replayability like Skyrim, it becomes easier to break away from the "ideal self" mold, considering you're going into it with more knowledge about lore, different races, factions, etc. I went with "whatever looks good" on the poll, as that's what it ultimately comes down to for me.

I’ve never played a game like this, but it would be ‘whatever looks good’. + If given the option I would choose my own gender.