40 year old roleplayer bloke. Been doing this since I was 11, starting with AD&D and Rifts.
I'm in Seattle, WA and I have heaps of free time for my true passion: Tabletop roleplaying games. I'm typically a quiet person in real life, so I type more than I talk until I get really engaged; a habit I picked up from my years in the Air Force and then Army. (Listen, before you speak.) That being said, if I get to love the game after a few sessions, and no one else is speaking up, I'll gladly talk, in character and out of character. Jokes welcome.
Usually, I'm interested in seeing a character progress. Not to be powerful per-se, but to see what happens around me in a long campaign. I'm not afraid of setbacks or doing the 'wrong thing', but I do like to play these games to escape the real world and be a tad heroic (or usually a shade of grey, just not an arsehole character). There's more to experience gains than combat and killing, after all. I do kind of suck at puzzles in general, so I shy away from that when they're in the spotlight. Generally, I like to be the support (or XO for military-themed games) of character. Basically, I love more role-play moments than just roll-play moments. You could describe me as the 'actor' type of play style.
For players: Not into optimised, min/max (munchkin), meta-gamers and rules lawyers. Nor am I a fan of murder-hobos and people who treat NPCs like they don't exist in the game world, or are only walking loot bags. Out of character, if all you do on voice chat is talk about your game mechanics details, builds and how you killed this and that...well, yuck. Please, stop treating RPG's like a wargame, boardgame or MMO. Interact, be in-character, and don't just wait for the GM to tell you what to do. Think ahead a little, but don't over-analyze as it has the word anal in it for a reason. :P
For GM's: On that same note, please engage me in the story/world and the characters/NPCs. Don't assume I'm going to be everywhere, if there's no in-game reason or no character interaction. I'm a character, not a game piece. Remember, this is not You vs Us in the end as well. If you offer some consequences to our actions/inactions, that helps. (The good and bad kinds, and remember it's not just us who gets affected. There's an entire world you built.) Railroading characters is a big let down, especially if you're going to over-penalise us for not doing exactly what you want us do and nothing else. It's why pre-written adventures usually suck, as they force you on a certain path with no leeway to do something else. Unless of course you modify them, and are willing to go outside of it from time-to-time. Better yet, after the adventure is done, it would be great to play without pre-written modules and keep adventuring! (Long term campaigns are good, especially if the group is willing.)
See Critical Role for the kind of character driven narratives I love, and although no one else is Matt Mercer and he has a flaw or two of his own, we could all do better following that example of game play.
I like my game mechanics with some crunch and fluff. Both ends of that spectrum aren't my bowl of rice: Pure fluff like FATE is not my thing, but neither is a maths heavy crunch game like GURPS, something I'll ever enjoy.
Things like 'leagues' and organised play isn't what I'm after, ever. Nor are one shots and limited-run modules something I have much interest in. (Players may have already read ahead or ran it before and so will spoil it, and I want to play a character for as long as possible, not be still-born). Long-term tabletop home campaigns are my forte. I've played a lot of different genres and systems over the years, so I just know exactly what I like/dislike is all. Don't let my age fool you. I don't look it, let alone act like it, most times.
Hard to find home games in the real world, these days. So here I am to supplement what I can find. But let's face it, Roll20 is random. Either games never start, or they fizzle from too many lame excuses for not playing (Missing one week is fine, but four in a row? No thanks.), we players never really gel together, or someone drops out because of reasons and the game dies. Frustrating eh?