Hehe. As promised, I'm posting about the thinking I've been doing on what makes a "good" or a "bad" player.
One of the things I don't think we've touched on directly, but seems to get sideswiped by Gee and the author of Creating Virtual Worlds, is what motivates players to play a game. If we agree that it's the search for a fun experience, we're left with the question of what is it that the players identify as fun.
There are surely lots of answers, but the one I've been thinking about, is my own motivation to transition from being a noob, to being good at the conventions of the game and the game community.
The number of times that I've been in an instanced dungeon is now climbing to the point that I'm not sure I remember the exact number. It's not that great, it's just that the experiences begin to meld into a perception, not a distinct memory. What comes out of that is an impression of what type of companions I've enjoyed working with.
Balamor actually wasn't the worst of the companions - I like needling James - but at the time I was running with him, he was so advanced and I so much lower that he could literally run through the instance without pausing much. I, on the other hand, was struggling to keep the mana up, the buffs up, and remember to avoid the mobs. It was disconcerting to feel like someone I liked was killing me with his enthusiasm.
In another situation, I got in with a couple of folks who unilaterally decided to jump ship once we got a ways into the instance, leaving us to die rather abruptly. That wasn't a pleasant experience.
On the other hand, yesterday, Brudie, Felison and I ran Deadmines. Deadmines is getting a little low for us. We started with 5 in the party and we just killed. Then the non-guildies had to go, and we were left to continue on. Things slowed down, got a bit more deliberate, I began to play a pure healer rather than a hybrid, and we worked our ways in. Brudie seemed to be surprised how we made it in, but in the end, we got all the way to the big boss, and just as we took him on, I got jumped and died - but Brudie and Felison cleaned up the boss and all the minons. I couldn't get back to the party - I rezzed just as I came in the instance - but even so, it was a clear win. And it was a good example of what it was like to play with good players.
What became clear was that "good" and "bad" in the context of MMO becomes defined by the social context the actions take place within. Balamor was "good" to be able to grind solo, and I was "good" in my ability to keep Brudie and Felison buffed and healed.
Which led me to think about what sort of player I want to be - I want to be the sort of player people want to roll with in instances. I want them to see an expertise in how I manage the care of the party, and that they don't have to worry, that when they most need it, the heal will arrive. I want to be the sort of player who doesn't inadvertently pull the mob Brudie's sapped before the other mobs are finished off (I'm not quite there yet on this one...), and I want to be the player who gives the necessary cues to the tanks to pull back, to hold on, and to help the cloth monkeys when they need it. In short, I want to make Balamor a better player, and it's interesting to see how much fun I anticipate that goal being.
Great posting.
ReplyDeleteI've had another experience, just a few days ago, or maybe it was last night (lol). I was noodling around with Feli. I thought he might be available to help me finish off a warlock quest in Desolace, but we got lost walking down from the north.
I recognized some elements of the way south from my last warlock quest and told Feli we could walk all the way to Ratchet. He was kinda nervous as we passed through (or rather around) Crossroads, but we worked together and got there without much fighting at all. We chatted a lot along the way and I decided I really liked Feli. What a decent human being, salt of the earth, all around good guy he is.
We boated over to Booty Bay and ran into Brudie, who made me get on Vent. [Sidebar tirade on vent. It sucks. Skype is way better. Who wants to have to press a key to talk in the middle of a battle!] Then he introduced Feli and I to his buddy, Devion, whom he knew on Blackhand as a level 60 warlock. He invited Devion to join the guild, which he did. Then he added him to our party and we were off to fuflill some fairly tough Stranglethorn Valley quests. About twenty minutes in, as I was getting bored and frustrated, Feli whispered to me that he was getting bored and frustrated. Brudie and Devion were slaying everything in sesconds and running forward. Feli wasn't getting much of a chance to whack things and I was getting none. I suggested via Vent that Brudie slow things down a bit. He and Devion tried but not very hard.
It was a lot like the Balamor runs amok entry you've just described Eric. Pretty soon thereafter Feli feined the need to log off and I joined him in begging off. We were both kinda miffed.
If we just wanted to rack points, we could have paid someone to power level for us and gone off to read a book. We wanted to engage with the game, not simply benefit from being logged on and dragged around by better players.
That's what it is, Eric, the degree to which other players not only let you engage, but support your engagement with the game.