Mood: Sleepy.
Music: Too early for music. Silence is working for me.
Game: World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Guild Wars.
Book: The Village Voice...finished my book. Need another.
Muffin: Was closed when I passed by at 7am.
Punchline: Someone tell me a joke, please.
A bunch of the fellas over at ijsmp have started alts in World of Warcraft, as Guild Wars really hasn't found its mark with a lot of them.
Through their blogs, and on the forums, they've been marvelling at how enjoyable it is to play their alts...and how much more fun they're having.
The reasons for this are a well-known phenomenon for the veteran MMORPGer:
- You know the game now. Content that was challenging when you first started playing, because you had no idea how the systems worked, is now trivial...and easy to accomplish. You're whipping through the initial content, and earning rewards quickly. Advancement comes easy in the early levels...and carrot after carrot is always fun. Especially the happy ding sound.
- You don't have any false perceptions of what each class does...and you're able to play the game you actually want to play it, rather than trying to force a class archetype into your style of play. Initially, when you choose a class in a new MMORPG, you have a perception on how it ought to be played, and you try to find a class that you think meets your style of play...for me, I need to be up close and person with monsters. I can't do the blaster/magic thing. Never could. Either I'm beating 'em soundly, or I'm sitting back and healing. I don't do ranged damage, and any ranged damage class is right out. This eliminates over half my choices...and I'm OK with that. When I start a new MMORPG, I take a warrior or a rogue. Might not stay there, but that's where I do most of my feeling out. Many new players don't have that knowledge of their play style...and when they've chosen the hybrid pet class, and they're really happier doing blast damage or being up in melee, they're likely to not really enjoy the game as much as they could...because the game isn't playing the way they thought it should. Hybrid classes are not beginner classes, and shouldn't be chosen in the first release of a game in any case.
- Everyone starts at ground zero. That means that the party dynamic of abilities gets reset. Everyone likes a fresh start at being the guy everyone relies upon to do X. It's a nice change from "I'll hang out back again and shoot things." When everyone is equal again, everyone feels like they have a say, and can contribute.
- The early game is full of hooks. The beginner game is designed to pull you in to the world, and sink hooks into you so that you'll stay to level 60. The game has less and less hooks as you go up in levels, because they've already got your time invested, plus other things. But at level 1, all bets are off. So they keep trying to hook you. Getting rehooked is fun.
- Lastly, who doesn't like a fresh look? You've been looking at the back of an undead warrior for the last 8 months, and now you're looking at the back of an orc. New armor styles, new gear...new models. It's a change of pace.
Overall, I view the alt as a refinement in thinking of your initial character choice, if you're not fully in touch with your play style and if you're not 100% sure you know the roles of each class in a new MMORPG.
It's why the fellas are enjoying their alts. They're finally playing the class that they should have chosen in the first place...and doing so with the knowledge that it's what they want to do and how.
Posted by Glenn at May 19, 2005 08:01 AM