One of the things I like to do when I’m bored is to start a Civ3 game with maximum number of civilizations, lowest AI level, and then see how many civs I can conquer. I like to use the Japanese for this because of the Samurai unit. You have to divide and conquer, because if you get to the modern era and there are still lots of civs next to each other then they gang up on you.
It’s just my way of keeping score.
I do that too.
In Galactic Civ II, while all the other civilizations are randomly declaring war and calling truces, I tend to favor diplomacy and research. It usually sticks me last in the power ladder. Then, after all my enemies have wasted their resources in maintaining and/or replacing ships, I start researching war techs, and build a massive fleet with superior technology that wipes everyone out.
Although, due to lack of time to really play the game these days, I haven’t tried this strategy on the more advanced levels of AI. I’m thinking, they might be a little more blood-thirsty toward me and possibly wipe me out before I exert my technological superiority.
I’ve probably taken longer than I should to finish Nippon Ichi games because I have this obsessive need to 1) unlock all of the job classes and 2) keep all of my party members at approximately the same level.
Not me, but a friend of mine always trashes his starting FFT party and hires new people who are optimally compatible for each other and gets said party to level 99 in CHAPTER ONE. I make fun of him for this because it results in nightmarishly difficult battles at Bariaus Hill.
In RPGs I will always start out playing the pristine perfect good character. This lasts until the inevitable point where something small and cheesy pisses me off (a shopkeeper rips me off, an NPC refuses me, a favorite henchman dies, etc) at which point I irrationally turn to extreme evil and use the petty slight as justification to wreak vengeance upon the universe through the rest of the game.
Mass Effect was most satisfying for me…“The Council questions my noble and honest proposals? I will unleash suffering for eternity!”
I turn into a shoplifter in every single computer game where stealing, pickpocketing, lockpicking and/or pilfering stuff is possible. It doesn’t matter what kind of character I decide to play from the outset, I still end up spending most of the gametime stealing everything not bolted to the floor. Needless to say, the *Thief *games were orgasmic to me.
In RPGs, I will inevitably:
Play Defensive. Go for high physical/magical defense when applicable/possible, unless the character is meant to be the powerhouse, where then the attack property will be buffed as much as possible. Also: healing magic. When possible, have at least two or three characters who can heal and/or buff.
Hoard items. Elixirs and other strong-healing items I will not use unless I positively have to, and will save them for the final boss of the game. Ditto for any item that restores magic power/points.
Also, healing items in inventory must be kept or balanced in multiples of five. If I have, say, 23 Antidotes when I enter an item shop, I will buy 2 more just to round it to 25. If it goes to 26 after a dungeon, I will buy 4 more for 30, etc.
Light me up. If there’s a character who is/has an alignment with Holy or Light, they become my insta-favorite. Roxis in Mana Khemia for the PS2, for a recent example. That and he fought with cards, which is a favorite thing of mine in games, too. Yes, I will play a Paladin or Paladin-esque character as a favorite as well, which ties into the whole defensive thing.
Same for anything with a lion/cat-related thing going for them.
…and yes, my Paladin will be gay and neutral-good, and you will like it. 
Yes big Brother, I know it goes against the rules, but since I’m sure the diety will look more at the character’s heart and reasons for doing what he did. No, I will not cut off that peasant’s hand for stealing bread so he could feed his family today. Yes, I know it’s the law. No, my character actually has a heart and can think for himself.
Et cetera, et cetera, argue argue. XD
Also, character will be an anthro-lion when possible. If not possible, find loophole, or at least work a lion into there somewhere. I have a theme in life and I’m sticking to it.
Edit: And never use a walkthrough/strategy guide for the first playthrough of a game. Also, never change characters’ names the first time through.
I do this too. It’s just so much more aesthetically pleasing to look at an inventory with nice round numbers.
Also, in M:TW I will rarely or never agree to a peace treaty unless I’m fighting 3 or more factions at once. Even if the Pope intervenes I will only make nicey-nice until his mandate expires. They started the war but damned if they will end it.
Oh, and in colors for other games, I pick blue. Looks like someone’s stuck with purple 
I like being the iron. I hate being the doggie.
Okay, I’ll be the wheelbarrow then.
In games where I can name my characters and my pets, my characters will always be named after George R. R. Martin characters, and my pets’ names will always be puns. So far I have Daenerys, Rhaenys, Marwyn, Harmune, and HeyBabyWhatsUrsine.
In the Civ games, I never ever found cities with overlapping radii. When I conquer a neighboring nation, I generally raze every city so I can found new ones where I want them. The only ones that survive are the ones on tiles where’d I’d found a new city anyway.
In Morrowind, I always use the cheat to max out my acrobatics. I LOVE jumping from rooftop to rooftop in towns like a ninja!
In Warcraft II, I always built up towers around the extra gold mines, so that when the computer ran out of gold, it would send an endless stream of peons blindly to their death. Once it wasted all it’s gold doing this, I would rush in and obliterate it’s base. It is wonderfully satisfying to rampage the computer’s camp when it can’t even train a grunt to defend itself!
In Starcraft and Brood War, the AI was a bit more intelligent, but each race had an ultimate strategy that the computer had no defense against. My Favorite thing to do with the Protoss was to Mind-Control the Zerg’s Ultralisks, then when I had a dozen or so, send them on suicide runs into the computer’s base… Followed by a wave of Dragoons FTW.
wtf, are you me??
I am always the theivering type. I steal everything that isn’t nailed down or surrounded by fire and rabid helldogs. And yet I cannot help but be the Paladin of Goodness and Wonder in every other way… I have tried, dammit, I have TRIED to be evil, but it seriously haunts my dreams. I’ve given up. I’m stuck being a sneaky, theiving, otherwise wonderful person.
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Only use specials until about midway through Silver level; from then on, nothing but fast 'n repeatable. Nat Daddy is my least favorite precisely because he has no speed.
Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires: Every campaign, from beginning to end, I play either 1. soulless, iron-fisted, peasant-exploiting greedbag tyrant, or 2. straight-down-the-middle plain-vanilla neutral (maybe an occasional tiny bump one way or the other depending on how I handle captured officers). This only makes sense…I mean, if you’re not willing to deal with constant peasant revolts and everyone but the palace groundskeeper after your head, may as well just stick to Promote Craft+ and get an extra 100 gold a pop, right?
I have trouble with evil too, I can do it, but it takes effort (and it’s usually because I want to see how the story plays out).
I think it’s because there’s no middle between “save the orphans” and “carpet bomb the nearest city for kicks.” Or failing that there’s no real creativity in the choices. Why slaughter the whole city when I can swindle both sides of a conflict into helping me with my goal and then letting them kill each other? What about duping peasants into paying me a totally unnescessary tax? Why in the 9 hells can’t I start a ponzi scheme in Neverwinter? Okay, before I get more mundane… I guess I’m jsut saying it’s not my detest for evil so much as the unappealing nature of “utterly make life miserable for everyone just because it gives you a jolly.”
Blackjack: Basic Strategy. All day, every day. No exceptions.
**Carcassonne: **First “dude” (as he is known around our house) is ALWAYS a farmer.
I’m another steal-everything-that’s-not-nailed-down type in games that allow it. It’s funny in Oblivion to see some guard walking around armorless because I robbed him while he slept.
In games that have female characters and nonhumans, I always choose a female first, then a nonhuman. As a straight guy, I find females nicer to look at, and nonhumans are more interesting that another bland human.
I immediately go straight to any waterfalls I see in an RPG, hoping there will be something behind it. I feel cheated if there’s a waterfall and it isn’t hiding some fantastic treasure or hidden room.