Hmm, this seems a good thread to release my pent-up frustration.

After spending some time skimming the debates, I can't say whether this has been specifically mentioned yet, but...

Why... oh why...
Do so many players...
Think it's a good idea...
To play as a clone of master chief.

This is really more of a subset of Gary-Sue syndrome I've seen that suggests that the player would like to treat this like a game rather than a collaborative story, and has reflected it by constructing a silent protagonist from your average FPS. I understand that, on paper, the concept of making a badass who's equipped for every situation and adaptable for anything else sounds reeeeeally cool. The problem is that I've run into so many people who forget to give these characters any more depth than a cardboard cutout of their reference picture. They very quickly become boring to play with, and (surprise, surprise) guess which player tends to drop out wordlessly from boredom at the first lapse in action? Hint: It ain't me.

Speaking of badasses, why does everyone feel the need to equip themselves with everything and anything at once? You don't need twenty knives unless you decided to make them from glass or something. Even then, why can't you do whatever you intend with one knife? It always slightly comical in my mind when someone equips themselves with a rocket launcher, two assault rifles, three pistols, enough spare magazines to equip a small country's army and the heaviest body armour known to man. To me, such characters will always look like a toddler swaddled in winter clothing when they try to run. I'm pretty sure I read a quote from a Terry Pratchett novel which outlined this perfectly. I can't remember it exactly, or even the source, but it went along the lines of an entire page describing an assassin equipping himself with every tool he had, one by one, then looking in the mirror and slowly collapsing under his own weight.

Phew! that feels better now. I feel like I wasn't scornful enough though. Welp, in any case, thank you for putting up this thread!