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So, while I'm trapped under a sleeping cat and not actually writing... I'm considering using first person for my next game. That would be "I" for the protagonist instead of "you." 

One of the things I'm not thrilled about in Paladin is that there isn't a strong sense of who the character is. Maybe that's just a limitation of the form, or more likely, of my own skills... but I can't help but think that all the you-ing could be part of the problem. The character is 'you,' and has no voice of its own...

I dunno. Maybe I'm crazy. I'd be curious to know what you folks think.

I prefer 4th person. :)

But in all seriousness I actually enjoy reading storys in a 3rd or 1st person point of view. But 2nd person is okay as long as you make sure the character is already established. 

I've seen some stories start out with 3rd person and then go into 2nd person once the character is established through other (usually) unimportant character views.

Second person is my preferred one.

I'd say there's no real strong sense of character because you don't really make a character defining choice in the game. They're mostly trivial decisions about small preferences. Though this ends up playing back into our earlier discussion about lots of choices vs few haha.

I also find the character comes out in a more subtle way. How they describe a situation, or a person, or how others interact with them. A character who is friendly will have more people approach them easier, whereas a character who seems hostile will have fewer and they'll seem more aware.

As long as they describe how the character thinks about the situation then any Pov is great. 

See, I feel like that's kind of awkward in 2nd. Like I'm imposing thoughts on "you" that you might not agree with.

(Re: character defining choices) Yeah, that's the biggest problem I have, I think: It's not really your choice to become a paladin. You have very little agency until Justice comes along and makes you one. It might work in the context of a larger game... or it might not. :/

If you say "I", you might get into the habit of thinking of "what would > I < do?", which, IMO, is not good for a CYS, where it might have to accommodate different kinds of people.

Also, "I" gives players the feeling that they're commanding some guy that ISN'T them.  That's something that should be avoided, unless you KNOW how to pull of a FPPOV.

Well, but the player already isn't themselves -- they're whatever character they're playing. I feel like 'you' feels more like a blank slate, whereas 'I' gives them a more defined character to (hopefully) empathize with.

Well, if you put it that way, third person could also work just as well.  Because it sounds like to me, you're just replacing a name with "I" instead.

"I was born at the dark of the moon, and I killed my mother.

She was old, too old, but she had wanted a child. Wanted me.

My father didn't."

"He was born at the dark of the moon, and he killed his mother.

She was old, too old, but she had wanted a child. Wanted him.

His father didn't."

I think the first version is going to grab the reader more, but I may be biased...

Also, I think there might be a necromancer in this one. Sort of. XD

... Uh, when a person speaks, regardless of the narrator's preference he's gonna talk about himself as 'I' haha.

Yeah, true. I like the first one best ^_^

First person sucks for CYOAs. "I" always makes it sound like you're being forced to play as the author and it comes across as a weird form of author self-insertion. (Which I hate anyway when its done regular writing)

Third person works a little better, but you're more of an observer.

"You" is more immersive for CYOAs since it directly addresses the reader.

If you hate first person regardless, of course you're not going to like it in a CYOA. :P

I don't know, maybe I just need to get better at second person...

Didn't say I hated first person in regular writing. I said I hated author self-insertion in regular writing.

When you do a CYOA in first person it comes off as author self insertion due to the way its read.

Why? I don't see why 'I' is more likely to seem like the author in a CYOA than in a novel...

Because when I'm reading a CYOA I'm supposed to feel immersed as if the character is "me".

If the CYOA is always addressing the reader as "you" then it's referring directly to "me" thus aiding in the immersion.

If I'm reading "I do this." or "I do that." it feels more like I'm playing as the author of the story since the "I" feels like the author is talking about what he or she is doing.

If I'm reading, "Bob did this." or Bob does that." it's better, but it feels more like I'm observing rather than actually doing.

Ultimately though it's your story so the best thing you could do is just do whatever makes you feel works best for your goals.

Thanks. Just not confident I know what that is yet. ;P

I have to agree with you in this case, E.M. If I'm going to read a CYOA, I prefer to be addressed directly. The game I'm playing is (usually) suppose to be -my- adventure, right? There are always exceptions to rules, which is why saying "whatever works best for your goals" is good advice... but still...

^

Wouldn't the second one be:

"You were born at the dark of the moon, and you killed your mother.

She was old, too old, but she had wanted a child. Wanted you.

Your father didn't."

He is third person isn't it?

She was making a point against my statement of saying "might as well do it third person".

Didn't realize it went in that direction.

Still think second person sounds best. Endmaster pointed out the logic behind it already.

Better be a hottie.  A bi hottie.  JKJK you can play with whatever concept you want.  ;)

Wellllll, she's based on Baba Yaga... XD

I'd say it depends on the game. If you're writing a story where the character has a set name, gender, personality, background story and other characteristics, I'd say 1st person could work really well. I know some of my favorite books are written from first person perspective because you really get into the characters head and get a deeper understanding of their thoughts, feelings and motivations.

If on the other hand, it's a story where the player gets to choose what sort of person they are at the beginning and what sort of person they become as they progress, I'd say 2nd person is better. This is especially true in games where you get given choices to decide whether your character is good or evil. You don't want to write a massive, detailed scene with the main character crying and vowing revenge over the body of a dead friend or lover, when what the player wants to do is roll their eyes and say "Pfft, at least I don't have to listen to them whining every time I kill a small child." 

Well, sure, but regardless of viewpoint, that scene should only show up if the player has been making choices that show that they care about their friends...

And while I tend to agree overall, I did just play a first-person game with pretty much nothing pre-defined (Life of a Wizard), and it worked reasonably well.

Do what "The Free hand" did and write in any two persons you like!

I prefer second person, namely because it suits CYOA's better (or at least IMO anyway...)

Well, since it seems to be the majority preference, I'm going with second person.

Thank you all for the feedback!

I don't think you should completely disregard telling a story in a different point of view other than the second person. Even if a story requires a lot of reader participation in the character's development throughout the story, second person still may or may not be the way to go. It all depends on what you want out of the story. How much control do you want the reader to have over the character's development? Do you want a story where the reader may embody whomever sort of person they wish or decide what person they want to be and carve out their own path and destiny? Or do you want a story about a separate character with their own personality that makes choices not because the reader wanted them to, but because they wanted to?

Having your story in the second person allows the reader to nearly embody the protagonist and choose what they want to happen. It literally sucks the reader right into the story and makes the reader a part of the story to. No other medium does that. But at the same time it can give the protagonist a lack of character. Often, the protagonist must be somewhat hollow in personality to allow readers the flexibility of embodying that character, but at the same time when that character says or does something the reader wouldn't do, the illusion is shattered and the reader is staring out of the eyes of someone else.

However, this feeling of "staring out of the eyes of someone else" may be what your looking for. The second person point of view doesn't just allow you to be yourself, it also allows you to be someone else. This is more commonly known as "Role-playing." In this sense, you are 'you,' but not really 'you,' you're really someone else that isn't you but you are still you. If you're seeking a role-playing experience, or if you're seeking a full character embodiment, then second person is for you.

Third person point of view completely flips everything I said so far around. Rather than turner the reader into the protagonist, the connection between the reader and the character is severed and the reader becomes an onlooker. Or to put it another way, rather than 'staring out the eyes of someone else' the reader is 'staring over the character's shoulder' which adds in a whole other set of different rules. In this way, the reader plays as a little tick in the protagonist's head that pushes them to go one way or another, but as for the reasoning behind the choices, that rests on the character themselves. While it is fun to 'pretend' to be someone else and go through character development, it's hard for the reader to actually develop as a character. The reader may be sucked into the story, but it's hard for the reader to really go through any life changing experiences, and what usually happens in second person point of view stories is while the protagonist is going through these life changing experiences, the reader is slowly being alienated from the character while the character gains an individual identity. This person may still be 'you' but the reader gets the impression of being possessed by the protagonist as he/she continues to display individualistic traits. This 'you' serves as a constant reminder that this person is supposed to be 'you' but isn't you.The third person point of view completely severs this connection entirely. While this point of view completely separates the reader and the protagonist, in some ways it brings both of them closer as the reader is able to experience everything the character is experiencing in an over the shoulder point of view without the awkwardness of trying to be forced into the character's personality. This allows for a lot more freedom in character development as it has already been established that this person is an entirely separate entity from the reader therefore this character does NOT have the reader's personality, and it also allows for the reader to relate more easily to the protagonist for two reasons: One, it's hard to relate to yourself or the person you're pretending to be, for as soon as that happens the second person point of view illusion is shattered, and Two, the reader gets to know this individual character in a way that no book can ever do. For one thing, you are not only seeing the protagonist's actions and character development on the basis of those actions, but you are also seeing how the protagonist would develop if the protagonist did not choose those actions, and you get to understand why the character would perform two entirely separate actions. In this way, character development in a choose your own adventure story goes beyond any storytelling medium. So yes, I do think you should definitely take this point of view under consideration.

And notice how I haven't even STARTED talking about first person point of view yet!

... Wow O.O

While that sounds good in theory, I don't know if I've even played a third-person storygame. Are there examples you'd recommend?

I really want to say Eternal is a 3rd person story that slides into 2nd person at times but I could be wrong.

Um... looks like second person to me...?

I don't think that's a good example of third-person, but anyhow...

For some reason, I just have a general aversion to first-person usage in an interactive novel, or maybe for the reason I already stated above, or for the fact that I already have enough time spent IRL telling other people what to do :P

Lol, what? Eternal is second person. Every CYOA I write is second person.

In case Morgan was still considering which one to use, there is a good example of a first person story on this site.

Snow by Seth. Sometimes it even switches out to first person plural since he uses "we" a lot too. 

I think why I didn't mind it in this story, because of the style (definitely not a typical CYOA style) and it was fairly minimalist.

Still looking for a good third person story example on here though.

Snow is really good, and exactly the kind of thing that wouldn't work as well in second person. Thanks for pointing that out.

I'm happy with how my latest second-person attempt is shaping up, though. ^_^

I don't like first person because it seems like I am reading a diary of some one, It feels strange then to control the person's actions. I think a better way is to have some thoughts that the reader hasn't chosen to have. Also, you can have the character have habit's that the reader can't control.