by Julie Whitefeather 

Who are you? A simple question on the face of it; but there is actually quite a bit to it.  Ask someone that question and the first response (if they are willing to give you an answer in the first place) will be their name.  But enter the world of gamers, and not just any gamers but MMO gamers, and you will start to get a much different set of answers.

Read on

Who are you?

by Julie Whitefeather

 Who are you? A simple question on the face of it; but there is actually quite a bit to it.  Ask someone that question and the first response (if they are willing to give you an answer in the first place) will be their name. So let me go first…

Who am I?

I am a nun.

That’s usually the second response – something they do. But enter the world of gamers, and not just any gamers but MMO gamers, and you will start to get a much different set of answers. So let’s try again…
Who am I?
Well, in World of Warcraft (WoW) I’m a troll hunter named Erzulie, a gnome fighter named Gnomercie (or super, mega, ultra, lighting gnome for those of you who read the forums). In Warhammer I’m a Dwarven Ironbreaker named Brighde, a goblin shaman named Inktomi, and an Elven shadow warrior named Sister – and the list goes on from there. So again, a list of names, and professions, but this time a panoply of personalities and none of them actually our own. And there, as the great poet once said, “lays the rub”.
 

I have brought up the subject in articles many times before, but the fact of the matter is that if Marshal Mcluhan had lived long enough to realize how pervasive the internet had become on it’s way to realizing his vision of a global village he would probably have defecated large green bricks. In fact, the internet – that global village – is a two edged sword. It allows us to immerse ourselves in a fantasy world as never before. (On a side note that’s why I don’t like ventrillo or other voice chat systems in game – it breaks the immersion).  But while the internet allows us to step outside of ourselves and become someone else, the other edge of the sword is it also brings out a side many people never see.  And all too often that side is not very pretty.  In fact one of the dangers of role playing in MMOs is that it can be taken too far.  It’s interesting that MMO communities are full of players who laugh at “role players” and “role playing” servers; ever more so because if you have ever played on a role playing server you will see that very little role playing actually goes on.  Most people seem to play on role playing servers because they believe they will meet a better class of people.  Yet what often happens is that those people who come to play on role playing servers to get away from aggravation they don’t want to deal with are merely bringing the aggravation with them.
 

The very people who laugh at role players and call them “care bears” will get involved in a raid and start screaming over a live chat channel (another reason I don’t like ventrillo) over who should have the right “spec” to join their group. Otherwise, they feel they might be disadvantaged in obtaining the “uber sword of uberness” that they have long sought after.  What brings the whole thing back full circle is that the very person calling someone a “care bear” for role playing is actually so wrapped up in the pursuit of pixels on a screen that are really no more than a stream of the numbers 1 and 0 that they end up being the sort of people who would  sell their own mother for a nickel to get the collection of pixels.  But the pursuit of the imaginary sword doesn’t make them a role player does it? Nor does pursing that sword while pretending they are a dwarf, elf, or orc. Or does it?
The sad truth of the whole matter is that people get so engrossed in the roles they play in games, and the pursuit of virtual treasures that game developers now have to protect gamers from themselves.
(cue developers from Mythic to enter from stage right)
Enter one of the most popular game mechanics to come down the pike in a long time – the public quest from Warhammer Online.  Paul Barnett, creative director for Mythic Entertainment once said that the public quest passed his “genius test”.

“My genius test is simple: if you see something, and upon seeing it you go ‘my god, that’s blindingly obvious,’ and yet you had never seen it up until that moment, then whatever it is that you’ve just seen was probably genius. Public quests will change the face of MMOs forever.” – Paul Barnett

There is little doubt that Mr. Barnett is correct. The day will come, as now, where we will expect things like the now infamous “go kill 10 rats” quest archetype. Imagine an MMO without those quests. What would you say? One day we will all have the same reaction if a game is missing public quests.  But what is it that makes public quests so great? One factor that makes the public quest so great is the most ironic of all: public quests protect players from themselves.  That person from games like WoW who spends their time pondering whether or not others around him meet their expectations; who wants to see if others around them measure up to his standards before he will group with them is a thing of the past in the public quest.  If you don’t want someone in your group because you don’t like who they are or how they play that’s just tough – you can always go find another public quest. Those arguments about who gets what loot? Gone baby, gone: the system rolls and decides who gets what loot. You even get a bonus to your roll for how much you contribute. And if you don’t contribute enough you don’t even get a roll, so even the people who go “afk” in groups are a thing of the past, at least as far as public quests are concerned.

But when all is said and done; when the last player hits the “exit program” button for the night – the simple fact of the matter is that everyone who hit the “start program”  button on an mmo in the first place is roleplaying in one way or another.  The main difference is that the people who DEFINE themselves are role players are just a bit nicer about it.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather