Twinkleheal, Shadowpeeg, DoubleE, Eric and . . . my response to my "friends".

“I think those rules generally serve to temper our own tendencies, not replace them. “

So, I was supposed to level up a character to play in SMASH. I mostly did. BobNotBob sits there in my list of characters, but I never load him. Hellfire, I think he has 50g even that I . . . well . . . ViaMedia . . . err . . ok . . “I” could use. DoubleE can be Twinkleheal AND . . . it’s something Peeg . . . I know that, but can’t recall. Yet, I don’t like “being” “other” than “ViaMedia”.

I’m starting to think Hallgrima has more alts than Bany. I get ‘tells’ [holdover lingo from Planetside] from “people” I don’t know who have to identify themselves NOT by their actual names, but the names of other alts . . . or non-alts . . . what is the lingo for our main toon?

Back to ViaMedia . . . it took me a very long time “become” ViaMedia in WOW after “being” “OrneryBob” in Planetside. Yet, in the end, they really are not different. Same bad jokes and borderline humor and. . . ok, sometimes the humor is on the other side of the border . . . but still, same show, different game . . . same “e-dentity” . . . different alternate reality.

“. . . but ignoring the ruleset will limit the immersion that a player can achieve.”

My thought here is that this “ruleset” of the "game" must conform to the “ruleset” of the "player" or "person" or "personage" or . . . damn, I'm confusing myself with all these quotation marks. The more “games” accomadate greater latitude in rulsets the more "people" will “play” them.

“. . . he’s [James] become clear in his choice of the fury spec. Making this choice opens some doors for Viamedia and closes others – he’ll never be the main tank in Molten Core, for example – his hold on aggro, improved though it is, is still too light – but he’ll always be able to solo safely.

Thank God I will NEVER be the main tank in Molten Core!!! Do you have ANY idea how much responsibility a MT has? Every wipe is your fault. Every death is your fault. Every time someone doesn’t know their class or their jorb and it leads to accusations . . . leveled at the MT.

So, the solution? Bill yourself as a ‘drunken’ tank. From the start, play up your lack of responsibility. Make everyone clear they need to do their jorbs . . . then do yours. Tanking is a specific activity and action. I don’t know Twink’s jorb . . . or Hallgrima’s. Yet, I know what it isn’t. When I run with what I call my family they are the best runs. I don’t try to do Twink’s jorb and he doesn’t try to do mine. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what he does or even why he does it [how dull must healing be compared to killing?], but I know to keep agro off him so he can do it. I trust him to always heal me regardless of how low my health gets [that isn't true, I will drop a pot if it gets too low, but I never think it is cause he isn't doing his jorb, but that he is busy doing it] and he trusts me to let a mob hack at him for a few moments . . . that I'll not let him die willingly anymore than he'll let me die willingly.

“He [James] may still have a greater tolerance for losing party members than I do, but now I’d argue that that’s a personality choice, not a reflection of the ruleset.”

This is where Twink and I diverge in our playing style. I love a wipe almost as much I love a successful run. I love to see the social interactions . . . anger and accusations and accommodations . . . but I am the ‘drunken’ tank and have few responsibilities.

“I’m changed by Twinkleheal, just as I change Twinkleheal – but even at my most immersed, I’m never not simultaneously me as well. What’s fascinating to watch, I guess, is where the boundaries are, and how they shift.”

And here is the interesting thing . . . I’m not sure DoubleE is the same friend as Twinkleheal. I think I like Twink better. I’ve spent more time with both than “Eric”. I think I've been a better friend to Twink than Eric. I watch my interactions and they do vary with them. So, expanding the question here . . . not just the question of our e-dentity, but the e-denties of others.

I am reminded of the fifth part of T. S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” as I think about all of this . . . and perhaps it is fitting that it is poetry and not prose that leads to an understanding of e-dentity.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper

. . . and respawn!

Identity and why Viamedia's a good player

Some time ago I wrote a posting that argued “Viamedia is a bad player and I don’t want to be like him.” While the title was meant in jest, the discussion really did touch on some observations about how players play within an alternate reality like WoW, and how some players’ responses to the rulesets of the realities make them more or less fun to be around. Experientially, the post was a long time ago in our WoW lifetime, and over the last month or so, Via’s been needling me about that post – he’ll pull off a really nice piece of warrior-work, and then whisper me saying “tell me that wasn’t a nice jorb – who’s a good tank, huh?” We both recognize that things have changed in our approaches to the game.

From my reading this summer (Bartle, Castronova, Taylor and Dibbel) I’ve come to see that MMO’s, and games in general, are less “other”, but rather are “representative”, which is why the moniker “alternate realities” makes sense – when we enter into a game of chess, or a run into Dire Maul, we take our selves into the game. And, though the gamespace we enter may have different structures on the surface, (knights move two forward, one laterally, or only priests can dispel disease) in the end, I think those rules generally serve to temper our own tendencies, not replace them.

Perhaps it’s put better this way – alternative realities are more significantly impacted by the social expectations of the participants than by the ruleset of the specific reality, but ignoring the ruleset will limit the immersion that a player can achieve.

There are several examples that lead me to think this. First is Ken, who’s playing Turbulence up to 60. As a mage, Turbulence is the proverbial “glass cannon” – wildly lethal, DPS to die for, and incredible mana pool, and no lasting power. If you’re not watching the mages pretty carefully as a healer, you’ll lose them.

Ken’s a fast player – not necessarily impatient, but he likes the challenge of killing quickly and moving on. He’s had experiences in raids where the push is always to keep moving, so he’s trying to impart that to us as we play together. Most of the time, that’s not a problem, but occasionally it can backfire. In those situations, he and I joke about the “Mage tank” – thinking that he can overlook his class limitations and take on the world by himself. As a practice, it’s something he can recover from when the mobs are lower, but not so much when they’re higher. Right now, however, Ken’s a generalist mage – he’s still taking the middle path, so to speak.

James is the other example. As a player, as a participant in the virtual world, James has come to really understand what the warrior class is, to the depth that he’s been able to make decisions about which subset of the warrior roles he enjoys the most. I’ve watched him experiment with the protection spec and the fury spec, and he’s become clear in his choice of the fury spec. Making this choice opens some doors for Viamedia and closes others – he’ll never be the main tank in Molten Core, for example – his hold on aggro, improved though it is, is still too light – but he’ll always be able to solo safely.

I’ve watched both Ken and James push against the ruleset. I don’t think it’s quixotic or futile pushing – rather, it’s learning and accommodating the virtual world with their own personal decisionmaking. I happen to think that James has become a very good warrior, and in the five man instances, I’d rather run with him than almost anyone. He may still have a greater tolerance for losing party members than I do, but now I’d argue that that’s a personality choice, not a reflection of the ruleset.

Ken, I think, is still in contention with the ruleset. The march to 60, long as it is, I now see as analogous to the first several years of a seven year apprenticeship. The magetank phenomenon, I suspect, is a bit chrysalis-like – you emerge from it at some point after 60, and at that point, the mage decides whether they’re an initiator of action (a style more attuned to soloing), or a concluder of action (more supportive of the raid, I’d argue).

In both cases, there’s not a correct path, just a personal path, and that’s where the virtual world becomes representative for me, not “other”. We can, I suppose, choose intentionally to play against ourselves – James could have been a healer, I suppose, for the challenge of it, or I could try to level a protection-specced warrior – but even if we do that, the game we’re playing is inflected by what we bring in. To be sure, if we’re being reflective about it, the experience is a two-way street – I’m changed by Twinkleheal, just as I change Twinkleheal – but even at my most immersed, I’m never not simultaneously me as well. What’s fascinating to watch, I guess, is where the boundaries are, and how they shift.

Guitar Hero Lessons

Funny, poignant, pathetic, and informative...you don't have to be doing FPS or MMO to get schooled.

from Escapist this month

Magic Muffins and Math

This afternoon, the new kid in the guild was chatting on the guild chat. Mostly I wasn't "listening" but then a snippet caught my eye.

"I just realized I can make 400 muffins an hour and if I sold them for 1 copper each, I could make 40 silver in 10 minutes."

One of our senior guild mates engaged him in chat to discover what these muffins were (magic muffins, which made me remember the muffins bit in the Illegal Danish movie, which made no sense at the time). I gather this is a cooking thing or alchemy or something.

After a few minutes, he posted again in guild chat, and you just know he had been calculating this answer in the space between his remarks:

"I could make 2.4 gold an hour."

Finally a real word problem worth solving, eh?

English/Murloc Translator

So where's the Horde translator?

English/Murloc Translator