Do you prefer a named protagonist or a self-insert?

Generally, self-inserts fail, as you can't take into account every possible interaction a person could take. It's better to just live vicariously through an MC and their story

This one's a bit hard to choose because both are great for different types of games. Named protags are good for visual novels or story heavy rpgs, but custom protags elevate the replayability, immersions, and roleplay opportunities of more open-ended rpgs where the story is less linear, and more what you make of it as a player (like the sexy equivalent of Skyrim). Ultimately, I ended up choosing custom protags in the poll because I'm a big fan of open-world or semi-open world rpgs, but I do really like story focused ones also.

I really prefer being able to put at least a different name in, because there are SO many games out there where it accidentally will use like my dad's name or something and thats so awkward I usually end up not playing

A self insert will always be peak, if Dinotonte could make a Lust's Cupid game or any H-game similar to isekai slow life with a self insert name, it would be peak, but what they make now is already the best 👌

I think either is fine, the bigger preference comes down to voiced or not for me. If I'm doing any kind of serious customization I would prefer full control over my character, so no VA and a lot more chat choices.

I assume you're thinking about porn games here, and in that context I definitely do prefer a custom character, but for "sfw" games I think ones that ask you to roleplay as a specific person and act in their interest, rather than giving you a blank slate to self insert into, often result in more cohesive stories. For example the Witcher games or the KCD games wouldn't be as good I think if you were a custom character rather than specifically Geralt or Henry. Neither of these are story-driven games at all, but my mind goes to the contrast between Vermintide and Darktide. The former has characters who are well-written and surprisingly deep, whereas the latter has you create your own characters and pick a personality for them to have - but they end up being really shallow and Darktide's story in general is very aimless, whereas the Ubersreik 5 from Vermintide have not only more complex personalities but also show character growth over time.

It REALLY does depend on the kind of game you want to make. A named protag allows you to view the story from an outside perspective and thus focus on the story, while self-insert allows for greater immersion into the world and game play. I think allowing the player to name the characters as you meet them is a nice middle ground, as seen in early final fantasy and Zelda games.

it really depends on how story focused the game is, if its fairly sand-boxy the no set name, if its fairly story focused? named maybe a male/female version if you can change it.