k, now (in Wengerian terms), I can add to my list of identities that of Perrenelle, NightElf Druid (currently Level 6), member of the Alliance in the Realm Blackhand, carrying out quests in the World Teradissal, aspiring to be at least a Level 10 in a couple of days and an herbalist/alchemist (or herbalist/skinner – if that will make me more useful and attractive to a guild, because I want to be a guild member). Since I believe names are very important and powerful representations, I chose mine very carefully – she was an alchemist working in Paris in the 1300s with her partner, Nicholas, trying to turn mercury into silver and gold. Most of the time in the formal education environment, I feel like I share with Perrenelle a very similar fruitless task (starting with the wrong assumptions and working with the wrong ingredients).
I’ve been met in world and given very helpful first tour and guidance by two Pepperdine cadre members Eric (Twinkleheal) and James (Baramor), and I’ve teamed up on different occasions with two anonymous partners to kill spiders and raging furblogs (not possible as a solo quester). I’ve figured out some ways to powerlevel – collect all the related quests in a hall before starting out on any one (like, initiate all those darn spider quests before heading off for Shadowthread Cave, ‘cause you might as well multi-task while killing and being killed). And speaking of being killed, when I’m not wandering around halls in cities looking for a quest giver or a Druid trainer, I’ve spent more time as a ghost than any character on “Whispers.”
Interesting post on how much care you put into the creation of the identity of your character. It might be interesting to study how many players take similar care - I find the creating a new character is a curiously liberating experience. Yeah, they're weak as a newborn babe, but new name, new abilities, new way to explore the world. Since I haven't taken a character much past lvl 20, I don't know if at the higher levels one feels so invested in the character that it's difficult to leave. For me, it about the playing, and really, the playing between 1 and 20 seems pretty similar.
ReplyDeleteRelationship to character in these MMORPGs seems to vary by person (and probably by reason for game playing).
ReplyDeleteI talked to James, and he usually invests pretty deeply into one character, of one type (e.g., tank); one loses time and levels if always starting over. And he identifies pretty strongly with the tank type, and gets a lot of satisfaction out of that kind of gameplay.
I talked to the sixteen-year old son of a friend, and he has multiple characters, some he uses when playing alone, and some he uses when playing with friends.
That makes sense to me, Vicki. Already I can see how I could have made a more strategic choice in my character traits. I would love to have a second character, but have to decide if I am willing to work the grind, to bring it up to par.
ReplyDeleteThere's always Christmas break...And I find myself using WoW to encourage myself to to do work, i.e., time in-game as reward.
I'm also starting to think of game time with a phrase, in-game that means, for me, the same as in-country meant for VietNam era military personnel. Weird. It is meant to demarcate not just a physical location, but a mental state.
omg (as Sarah's might say), have I begun to experience true immersion in WoW? You betcha.