I'm a gamer from NYC, I've been gaming for man many moons. I find I mostly end up running for friends but I have gotten to play quite a bit through local one-shot gaming days a few times a year. I started with the red box basic D&D moved on to AD&D and also ran the old Elfquest game for awhile, During high school it was mostly paladium games starting with TMNT then Heroes Unlimited then Rifts although I've played or ran all the other ones at one point or another. Late high school and most of my early 20s was spent on World of Darkness stuff (although I own some of the New WoD stuff I just don't like the games that much although the system is much more streamlined) also had forays into Deadlands, Fading Suns and Warhammer Fantasy. In my late 20s I moved back to D&D with 3.5 and stayed there for quite some time. In the past few years during the ne shot events I have played The Dresden Game using the FATE system, 3:16, Feng Shui, Mousegard (once) and a few other games I don't really remember. Now I mostly run Pathfinder when I get the chance or 3.5 D&D, I just won't play 4E sorry.
I'm a gamer who doesn't fit easily into the moniker of Rollplayer or Roleplayer. I see nothing wrong with character optimization, but I will also research a character through thegame world written material and at the very least write a one page backstory even if its just for myself. In my Vampire days I did crazy things like learn to read and write the basics of Egyptian Hieroglyphs to play a character, for my 3.5 Dervish from Calimshan I learned a few Arabic phrases (since Calimshan is basically Arabian nights in Faerun for those who don't know) so I could curse my enemies. I also enjoy tatics and don't mind drawn out combats so I really just go all ways.