Unreal Realities

This week I’ve been playing a lot of Mass Effect 2. When I say I lot, I don’t mean three or four hours after work, I mean last night I was up playing until 2 in the morning and I stumbled out of bed at 8 this morning, booting up before I’d even put on a shirt (sexy image for you right there). Mass Effect 2 is a Bioware game and I’m a Bioware fan boy because they do something so much better than any game company out there, tell stories.

While the story Is taking place around you, while you are shaping the story, you become invested in your character and those around you. You genuinely care, they become so much more than avatars, they are people.

I wonder if that’s how role-players feel about their character in WoW.

Role playing scares this shit out of me. It’s taking the geek to a level I’ve never been and am scared to go, but at the same time I’m intrigued. Serevok does not have a personality, just over-sized shoulders and a bucket load of titles. I’m attached to him, but not in the same way as I am to Commander Shepard. Serevok is an avatar, Shepard a character.

If I was a role player I could give a personality to Serevok, which would be different to Minivok, different to Morvok. The problem is, it’s a little…weird…

Role-players exist in every MMO I’ve ever played, Eve-Online, Warhammer, Conan, WoW, Guild Wars, all of them. There must be something to it. A long time ago I rolled a character on a RP server in WoW, but only got to level three, mainly because it was a US server. I don’t know if it would have stuck and I wouldn’t have known how to talk to people or to interact.

And I think that is the crux of my fear, for lack of a better word, of role play. The possibility of embarrassing myself. I’m happy to write opinions for the world to see, because I’m opinionated, I’m happy to discuss how to get the most out of a Resto Shaman, because I’m confident I know what I’m doing, but role players are creative.

They create personalities and stories and share them with everyone that is interested. Creating something leaves you open to the possibility of criticism, of being laughed at and scorned. What if I do it and, well, I suck at it? Will I be laughed at? Will I be embarrassed?

But then, what if it’s good? What if it increased my connection with Serevok, makes him more than an avatar, rather a character I control, that I care about. WoW is not Mass Effect 2, the hard work, the touching, thought provoking and powerful story is not there for you, you need to make it – if that’s your thing.

So there are a couple of thoughts going through my mind at the moment. Firstly, I’d love to get a role-player to blog regularly on the site. If anyone is interested or knows a role-player that is interested, zip me an email.

Secondly, I might stop being a wuss and try and tell a bit of a story, give one of my characters a personality. It seems that I should start at the start and I might do it come Cataclysm, with a new Worgan leveling to 85. Then I might not too, that’s a long way away.

Regardless, for now, I still think Role players are a little weird. But I think they’re a little brave too…