So I decided to play warcraft as my avatar based game, as the others seemed rather un-inspiring. I have a friend who plays warcraft, and for a very long time I have regulary taken the piss...
However it seemed the lesser of two evils, so here goes.
The game started with prompting me to choose a race, and then a class. I decided to choose an Orc, simply because this was something i had heard of - Lord of the Rings anyone?
From the classes point of view, there was all manner of things such as mage, warlock, hunter etc to choose from, however i chose a straight forward warrior. So heres what I look like right now.
Pretty ghey. I continued with the game, and had to complete a few 'quests' in a training area - killing small creatures and collecting items, all fairly routine. Once i had completed a quest, I have to return to the character who orignally gave me it. In return for my hard work, I get some money and some experience points. Once I had completed enough quests, my XP bar reached full and I levelled up! Cool? I guess so, as all my stats increased, making it easier for me to kill all these creatures.
I had however run into a problem. I had to slay a particulary nasty scorpion...but couldnt find it! I had no choice other than to interact with other players...one of which was nice enough to let me follow him to my target. It quickly dawned on me that if it was this difficult to find things already, I was in trouble.
Week 2
I decided to carry on as I had started - collect all the quests from the area I was in, go complete them, then hand them all in at once. This removes pointless travelling back and forth, which is very time consuming. I quickly realise how huge this game is...theres thousands of people playing on each realm, with there being around 30 realms just in europe, I shudder to think how many of these realms exist in america and indeed collectivley around the world. The playing area is huge - rediculous. My identity in this world is severely insignificant. There seems to be a huge sense of pride in your personal character, from the armour you choose to the weapons you carry. I asked a person whos character looked particulary impressive, who told me his helmet alone cost 400 gold. I at this time have 50 copper - quite a way off affording anything such like. I was please with my level 8 character, because it had taken me hours to achieve it. However one step into the real game, and I am surrounded my level 50 and even 80 characters. I asked someone in the game about this, and it had apparently taken him over a year. Wow?
This screen shot shows the city of 'Ratchet', which i discovered after a lenghy swim.
Week 3
I feel im getting the hang of this now. My friend installed a file for me that shows me where the quests are on my map. Result. No longer did I have to search endlessly in general areas, I could find things so much quicker. I had levelled up considerably too, reaching a respectable level 22. My identity in this realm had become far more respectable, as now the low level guys were the ones asking me for help! 10 Geek points to me. It seems that this game has alot to do with creating an alternate ego...and to earn respect. Guys were always talking about 'awesome swords' and stuff, which was still abit too much geek for me, however it was obvious that by completing quests and gaining high quality items, respect could be earned. I decided to attmept to get into the spirit of things, and promptly set out on more quests. Perhaps some kids on the other side of the world will think I am cool if I get a better weapon? lol?
Week 4
I have literally been playing this game for hours on end. I hadnt realised, but each time you level up, it takes even more points to reach the next level. by now I am level 40, and it has taken so many hours I dont want to think about it. I have had several 12 hour straight sessions, and cannot deny becoming slightly addicted. It is easy to be consumed into this world, and I had a strange desire to make my character more impressive. I had joined groups with other players, to go kill large boss monsters to gain better weapons, where several had commented on what a good job I was doing. I have somehow transformed into some respectable character, who other players look to for help. Cool I guess. I had also been running around with a new sword, which had purple writing for its title. Another player had clicked on my character and inspected me, and told me that this sword was extremley rare. This seems to give me a much stronger identity - now im the guy with the cool sword!
Here what my character looks like now, quite a transformation from when I started!
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