Ranger

Usually a human male, combat focused. I tend to prefer two-handed swords focusing on range and damage (don't care much for sword-and-board), while using lighter armor and focusing more on mobility for defense. A small bit of magic mostly for restorative and defensive purposes (often focused on negating enemy spellcasters). Always strong conversation skills to try to talk my way out of situations first, but with the backup of being able to kick serious ass in an up-close and personal manner if necessary. Actions and choices typically tend to fall in the neutral-good to chaotic-good range.

Heh, along these lines I occasionally have a fondness for warriors using large warhammers solely for the purpose of using a battle cry of "GET BACK HERE SO THAT I MAY BRAIN THEE!"

Paladin.

What's a paladin?

I always choose female characters whenever I can; also, shotguns whenever possible :o

Elven ranger (or cleric but they seem out of fashion in current day rpgs....)...i like the Drizzt Do ' Urden type chars. Fill rest of party with female chars when possible ;)

I usually go for a fighter type on my first playthrough as the sort of default option. If the game has enough replay value to warrant a second playthrough (or it gets too difficult/boring later on), I may start over with another class.

I prefer to play a magic-based class if they are available, and a non-human species if there are any available (preferably a elf or elf-like species).

I like melee 1h sword + shield with decent self healing power, paladin style. Spellcaster as an alternative, mostly firenuker and a few cool summons are always welcome.. :)

Ranger, rogue or mix of the two. Usually non-human, half-people(half-elves, half-orcs ect) or gnomes (in suit with half-ogre bodyguards or in leather with sniper rifle/crossbow). Also half-ogre (also arcanum) was my roleplaying love.

In elder scroll games I am fixed to khajits. I love killing slavers as a 'üntermensh' :)

half-elf, if I have a chance :D but mostly elf as they are superior in magic (duh! :o)

I often start as a multitalented class such as a bard or a spellsword, fail miserably to make any progress with the game and reroll as a fighter. For race I either choose a non-humanoid if available (such as Froglok in EQ2) or one which has a good looking character portrait.

Exploration and story mostly. I play games to visit other worlds, to escape from real life for a bit and be immersed as if I were traveling. RPGs are good for that.

I like to play a mage if I have a party or at least a pet to back me up; archer is a close second. Otherwise, maybe a rogue. I don't actually like fighting with monsters in my face! Mages also seem to have a lot of flashy abilities, which I like. For race, probably a gnome if available or an elf.

Generally I like to go with magic as it usually offers the most interesting and fun playstyle

Where possible, I like to be a Rogue/Thief as well as generally they are very interesting to play as well