So, over the weekend, Holly opened up a whole new realm of thinking for me when she let me play as Eddiva.
I was surpised that this was an option - I assumed that somehow Blizzard had tied my login UserID and Password to my installation media, so that people couldn't play as themselves on a computer other than their own. Turns out, if you know a login and password, you can be anyone.
It turns out to be quite illuminating to see what someone else is seeing. As a noob, not having played a hunter, I couldn't get a mental picture of what Holly was seeing, and now that she's embarked on having a pet, that added a layer of uncertainty to helping answer questions. I've also never played a character with a bow, and that has some quirks too. It only took an hour or so to get comfortable with those options, and I feel more able to comment now.
What surprised me was how uncomfortable I felt playing as someone else. Eddiva had run all of her equipment down to 0 durability, and was in need of new stronger armor. I took the liberty of repairing and replacing as needed. I freed up space by selling vendor trash and banking other items. I visited the First Aid and Fishing trainers to start those training paths. But all along, it felt wrong - not cheating, necessarily, but uncomfortable because of the individual nature of the decisions.
The more I play (and this popped up again last night as I finished Gee), the more personal the expression a character represents. I personally don't care to be called by my "outside world" name inside the game, and I don't care to be identified by my character name(s) in the outside, either. To play as someone else's expression - even for a short while - well, it was illuminating, but probably not something I'll do again.
That's fascinating, and yes, especially in light of Gee. I have a similar experience on a different level which I'll describe in the posting I'm about to make after this.
ReplyDeleteHolly had told me that you were doing this. I thought it was great cause it would sort of straighten her out a bit, e.g., with professions. Of course I hadn't thought about the impact on the development of the character (I'm thinking of Gee's Bead Bead here.).
The interesting question now is what Holly thinks and feels when she steps back in to her skin after you've been wearing it a while (lol, can't help but think of the MiB Egger suit).