Tag: roleplay

Celebrating the Wrinkles

Posted on by Gazimoff

WildStar already holds my attention as an upcoming MMO. But in among the regular feature updates and videos, there’s a special reason why I’m watching it closely.

It’s the first time in a very long time that I’ve watched a roleplaying community form, share ideas and develop their own character concepts.

The last time was about seven or eight years ago, as some friends and I started planning our characters for World of Warcraft. Of course, back then we didn’t have the benefit of preexisting communities or comprehensive wikis. All we had were some rough ideas sketched out in emails, or discussions over a pint in the local pub.

I mention it now, because WildStar invokes the same feeling. There isn’t a monstrous tome of lore to base characters from. There isn’t a sprawling franchise of games to give us heavy guidance about the world we’re planning on diving into. All we have are a series of edges and outlines on which to put our own imprint.

And that’s incredibly liberating.

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Building a Character: Bay Stuggs

Posted on by Gazimoff


I’m a strange breed of MMO player. Even though I love raiding, questing and the occasional spot of PVP, I have been known to dabble in the mysterious arts of roleplaying. It’s a habbit – creating a character in a fictional universe who’s more than just an extension of myself. They become their own thing, take on their own life. I guess it makes me more attached to them as characters.

As a result, I tend to do this for all my new characters, even if I don’t end up roleplaying with them. So when I created a new Bounty Hunter in Star Wars: The Old Republic, I gave him a backstory. Who he is, where he came from, who he knows. That kind of thing. It’s your typical trashy pulp sci-fi, but I thought I’d share it, if only to raise a laugh.

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Managing Limited Game Time

Posted on by Gazimoff

There are times when I miss my youth. Back when I was a student I’d be free to play the night away, blasting cyborgs in Quake 2 or bludgeoning head-crabs in Half-Life. I’d blitz through a game in four days straight, chomping through single player content like a man possessed.

The other thing was that back then I’d play through a lot of games. I’d consider buying a new title once or twice a month to give me something new to play. I’d adventure across a multitude of worlds, shooting my way to liberty, freedom or glory.

Warcraft has changed this. In the time I’ve been subscribing I’ve bought maybe a handful of other games for the PC. Gordon from We Fly Spitfires asked a great question recently about what the gaming landscape would be like without the game. For me and probably a fair few others we would never have entered the MMO genre.

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The Back Seat Guild Leader

Posted on by Gazimoff

Ever get the feeling that you’re standing at a crossroads, looking down at the various prongs of a Morton’s Fork? It’s a position that an increasing number of players are finding themselves in during the run up to Cataclysm, and I don’t think I’m an exception to that. And like many people, my thoughts at the moment run to guilds, friends and forward planning.

Like all decisions of this ilk, it’s long and complicated and involved. So rather than doing my usual stint of dispensing advice, I’ve decided to post this to solicit some instead. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this conundrum – maybe you can help me work out how to tackle it or have experiences of your own that can help.

Anyhow, pull up a chair. This may take some time…

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A Socially Aware Warcraft?

Posted on by Gazimoff

When I think of MMOs, I generally think of games that are rick in social interaction. Alongside the gigantic world and the rich environments are dedicated tools specifically designed to help players interact with each other.

But although Warcraft has developed socially with the inclusion of Real ID and Facebook integration, it’s mainly designed to connect networks together. And while the new Guild Management interfaces provide even greater control, they only enhance the existing social experiences. The in-game Calendar has helped, but only as far as co-ordinating events.

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Becoming a Better Barker

Posted on by Gazimoff

I’m probably what you’d call a semi-casual auctioneer. I have a dedicated bank alt and a clutch of addons to help me sell stuff. I tend to avoid risk though – I deal in raw materials, BoE blue gear and items that I can flip easily. I don’t spend much time on it, but likewise I don’t make big profits from it.

Over the last few days I’ve been hit hard from firesales. People are converting the last few badges they have to gems or Primordial Saronite to sell for whatever they can. Prices (and profits) on most materials are plunging as supply far outstrips demand.

Craftables are also a source of anxiety. Get it right and you’re in the money. Get it wrong and you’ve wasted time, effort and materials on something that won’t sell. And right now, it feels like most markets are seizing up. While the smart players are cleaning out their bucket lists and putting down plans, there’s a lot of “wait and see” stagnation.

Right now, the real growth area for me is in barking. By that I don’t mean barking at the moon, I mean having a little advert for my crafting skills that I can paste in the trade channel when I’m not doing anything. Depending on the time of day, it can net me a few hundred gold an hour of pure profit. There are some great secrets to barking that I’ve learned in order to get the best results.

Mementos and Keepsakes

Posted on by Gazimoff

I think that as much as I hate to admit it, I’m a creature of habit. Over the years I’ve managed to collect vast quantities of technical gubbins that I keep thinking will be useful “one day”. The gizmos that were once geek fashion items, but have since been consigned to the plastic crate of a gadget graveyard. And it’s not just smartphones that have lost their shiny sheen – all manner of clips, cables and converters are lying around just waiting for a chance to become useful again.

Separate from all this electrical junk are the things that help to mark parts of our lives. Things like my collection of collector’s editions. Things like the architectural schematic of a lighthouse that hangs on the wall, marking the place where my wife and I married. Things like the huge Lego kit that I bought with my first paycheck. Stuff that probably has little monetary value, but are still things that are very important to me.

It’s not just in the real world where I have my keepsakes or mementos. The BlogAzeroth Shared Topic this week was about these virtual items that take up space in the back of our bank vaults or the bottom of our bags. The stuff we can’t bear to part with, even though it’s no longer useful. I’m no exception, so let me show you the stuff that a mage carries around through the expansions.

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The Jigsaw Man

Posted on by Gazimoff

Every so often, I see a concept or idea spread across the Warcraft blogsphere that just makes me smile. A great example of this is Sven’s Greater Internet Romantic Hero Theory. If you haven’t read it, go there now! Don’t worry about me, I’ll still be here when you get back. Sven’s idea was itself inspired by Pilfkin’s own theories about the Virtual Me, which is also a great read.

For me though the story doesn’t end here. Although I have a main character who I love playing, I also have an army of alts to care for and nurture. Each of them started off as an idea to explore a different idea, a different personality. I’ve got the traditional family man who still goes off adventuring occasionally, just to prove to himself he’s still alive. I’ve got the genius engineer who struggles to live in a world that doesn’t understand or respect him. I’ve got the suave young rapscallion who has a girl in every port and has trouble choosing whether to think with his brain or his balls. I have the bitter, lonely old man who’s angry with the world and everything in it, who would give anything just to see it all consumed in an inferno.

The MMO genre doesn’t just mean that I have one character that I explore and empathise with, it means I have a pile of jigsaw pieces. It’s like someone has taken a hammer to my mind and taken each shattered piece of personality to make a character out of. I don’t think that I’m unique in all of this – I reckon it happens to a great number of people. As soon as we’re presented with choices, we choose them all!

Just like Sven and Pilfkin suggest though, a character is a two-way street and it’s no different with a collection of alts. Sometimes I don’t feel in the mood to play a character. It’s not a case of  “oh no, not the Warlock again” but more something like “I’ve had a crap day at work and want to tell people to go die in a fire”. There are other times when I want to cheer myself up, so I’ll log on as the mad as a trouser full of ferrets Roffles and randomly roleplay at people. Being silly and making other people laugh makes me laugh as well. It’s weird and I guess highlights a ton of approval seeking personality flaws in me, but you play the cards you’re dealt with.

I think that the characters we play tend to affect our feelings more than we give them credit for. Even if it’s just a case of feeling that the character you’re playing is cool and interesting, those feelings tend to reflect back on you. If you feel that a character is dull, plain or boring he’ll probably get relegated to the sock drawer of obscurity.

Meanwhile I’m not going to even try and put together the jigsaw in my head. Besides, I’m probably missing a few pieces anyway.

The Spark of Excitement

Posted on by Gazimoff

Hype is a wonderful thing. It serves to promote new products and bring them to our attention. It’s also there to help build up excitement; to get us thinking about what fun we’ll be able to have when we’re finally able to get our hands on whatever it is that’s being promoted.

The problem I have with hype is that by making tomorrow look so incredibly exciting, it makes today feel positively mundane. It’s like I’m being reminded constantly about the boring drudgery of my boring life. It’s the kind of thing that makes me want to take a holiday. Fly south for the winter, do something interesting, that kind of thing. Wait for the snow to blow over and come back home when everything is shiny again.

I think Larisa mentions the same thing – we’re all beginning to feel a bit down at the moment. It’s like we’re being sent picture postcards from Cataclysm saying “Wish You Were Here”, yet we can’t fly out there for another 6 months or so when the ash cloud finally moves.

But hang on a minute – our lives aren’t dull and boring. We do exciting things on a daily basis, they’ve just become a little jaded and tarnished over time. If there’s anything that’s making us feel run down, it’s the routine and repetition we end up in. The boredom of repetition though is self-inflicted – we can choose to break that repetition if we desire.

So I’m making a commitment to myself. I reckon that I only play about a quarter of all the game has to offer. I normally do endgame raiding, heroic dungeons and some light RP. I always play spellcasters, moving them in the same direction and clicking the same hotkeys. Considering how much of the game there is available, that’s pretty feeble.

It’s time to mix it up a little. Time to make my own excitement.

I’m going to try and get my rogue up from level 50 to level 80. I’m going to learn the mechanics of the class, find the parts that entertain me and make me smile, and make him my own.

I’m going to get to grips with PvP in earnest. I’m going to get a full set of PvP-ready gear on my mage, kit him out properly, learn the ropes and get an arena team going. I’m going to try and find Gnomageddon’s desire to set things on fire.

I’m going to work on some roleplay themes that have been bubbling away for a while, and stop being a passive consumer of roleplay. I’m going to try and present more of a story to those I play with in order to generate in-game excitement and interest for them today.

There’s also another side to this. It means that I’m not going to be moaning at how boring things are at present and how there’s nothing for me to do, because it simply isn’t true. There are stacks of easy achievements that I don’t have, there are tons of quests that I’ve never done. I’ve not even begun to exhaust the range of content there is in the game.

This spark of excitement is something that’s inside all of us. We had it when we first started playing the game, and it’s still with us now. We’ve just grown used to it, forgotten that it’s there gathering dust in some corner of our being. It just needs to be pulled out and cleaned up a little.

The Business with Bank Alts

Posted on by Gazimoff

We love our bank alts. We give them funny names and place them in vanity guilds. We kit them out in fine clothing, almost treating them as digital dolls. But have you ever wondered what it would be like if your bank alt took on a personality? It’s something I decided to try out with mine, with unexpected results. I introduce to you Sir Roffles Roundshield!

Yes, I am sure that you have travelled a terribly long way today. I appreciate that my Secret underground Lair here in the Swamp of Sorrows can be ghastly to get to, despite the signposts I’ve arranged to be erected outside. You see, good business is hard to come by these days. What with the ooze shortage and every local dinghy commandeered we seem to be in quite a pickle these days.

Quite a pickle.

Anyhow, allow me to introduce myself. I am Sir Roffles Roundshield, erstwhile proprietor of the Roundshield Fiscal Management Service, Murloc Express Delivery (We deliver before you can say Glaargblarrgblargh) and the long-term storage business My Big Box Is Holy. Quite a portfolio, don’t you think? I agree, being a Paladin in Lord Uther’s service was quite something, but after the terrible accident and medical discharge, the call of industry was too strong to ignore!

What, you’re not here for this? Well, let’s see what else I can interest you in…

How about the hire of my Private Murloc Army? A team of highly skilled Murlocs, trained in everything  from high-impact parcel ballistics through to cave excavations and management. I even have a platoon kitted out in the latest Goblin steam-armours and weapons. I’m promised they’ll be able to hit a target from ten paces any week now!

Not the Murloc Army? Hrm…

How about my Cheese Sculpting Correspondence Course? It’ll train you how to carve everything from the humblest of truckles up to a scale model of Dalaran itself! If you’ve ever fancied yourself as a bit of an Archimonde just pull on your boots and jump right in! Of course, I can’t guarantee that you’ll have any effect on the fair city itself, but the momentary delusion can be quite satisfying. Yours in monthly installments for only fifty gold pieces.

Not the Cheese either? Well, what else could it be?

Wait… you’re not here about the Marmalade… are you?

You mean you haven’t heard?

Well, you my friend are in luck! A chance to invest at the ground floor, so to speak!

You see, I’d sent my team of Surveying Murlocs out to investigate nearby Elwyn for resources. Running a Private Murloc Army isn’t cheap you know, so we were looking for ways to supplement our income. I remember that it was just after breakfast when Lurky came up to me with a map of Stormwind. The information that he showed me was startling. A seam of Marmalade, running right under the Cathedral! Of course I need to secure a few mining permits, but I’m sure that the Archbishop will be only to happy to let me dig a few holes underneath. Besides, it could provide a surplus of catacombs!

You’re not interested? Sure I can’t tempt you?

So what did bring you here, exactly?

You wanted directions to Nethergarde Keep? Really, my good man, you waste my precious time! Holding me to account, only to squander my company like this! Good day, SIR!

Lurky, show this ruffian out! And don’t roll your eyes at me like that!