In games, do we choose a class based on buried emotion?

In MMO's and various other roleplaying game, we often want the characters on the screen to represent us as individuals. We want them to be the best they can be because, in our minds eye, they are us. But when it comes time to choose what class/archetype you are going to be, and your playstyle, do you really have a choice? Or is it all pre-chosen by your subconscious?

I ask this because of a course of conversations with friends and family over the last several months. I have one friend who has trouble confronting problems in real life. He tends to run, and no matter how strong he wants to be, he just emotionally can't handle facing things. Yet in Warcraft, he is always a tanker. He has tried mage, he has trield a casting druid, even a healer. But every time, he reverts back to tanking (He has 3 70's, druid, warrior, and paladin, all of them tanks). He mentioned that there is just something about not being on the front line that he doesn't like. Which is completely contradictory to his nature.

Take the case of our friend who is the namesake of our soon-to-be born daughter. In real life, she always gets into problems with her relationships. She has low esteem because of it, feels like she can't stop it before things go bad. In the game, she is a frost mage because she likes the control and power of it all. She loves being able to prevent things from stopping her, to be able to stop the issues before they affect her.

Finally, take me. I always want everything to be "okay", so I am a shoulder to cry on, people try to tell me everything wrong with their lifes, and expect me to have the answers. This also extends to work, where people (even those not on my team!) come to me for advice on both personal and professional issues, instead of talking to their own supervisors or team leads. heck, I'm not even a team lead! Yet i get more questions in one day then half of them combined. So what is my main and favorite class? Warlock. I make people run away, I ruin their lives instead of helping them.

All in all, I think our characters represent our deepest emotions and wishes about our life. From the christians who play druids because it "feels dirty" (i kid you not, i know three of them), to the EMT's who flunked out of med school yet can only play Priests, to the outcast teens who in the game are powerful leaders. In game we are who we want to be, whether we realize it or not.