Alegulper at 32

Alas, Ale moved past the early stages and into the final grind toward 50! It’s been interesting. I love the Tolkien universe, but I still find MMORPGs a bit tiresome due to the thematic consistency in what constitutes the core of the game play:

• * Acquire experience through killing and quests
• * Choose a secondary profession and gather resources
• * Craft your way through
• * Participate in player economy
• * Kill, kill, kill, loot
• * PvP action

As in life, you start a career. You find yourself thrilled with the prospects of trying something new. You do it for a decade, and you find yourself in mid-career. Now comes the tedious parts of the grind. Day in day out — generally the same old stuff on a different day with similar but slightly altered faces. For example, Orcs and Neeker Breekers tend to repeat themselves in terms of the art and the loot drops with the only difference being the hit points and power being set appropriate to the level and area of play.

The progression one enjoys as a noobster is no longer as fast or as joyous, but the rewards are different. One starts to realize that only the monomaniacal narcissist who dedicates his / her full energy to the job can ever advance to those top 1-3 positions in the chosen field or organization. As in life, this holds true to the MMORPG, as character tuning and optimization will be similar for everyone who achieves the highest ranks through casual play. However, it’s that rare individual who actually goes forcefully and unwaveringly toward acquiring those special loot drops, player crafted goods, and buff applications that give the character that extra zing that sets one apart from the herd. The basic enjoyment of the narrative experience and story arcs are open to all, but the competition minded player really embarks on a different experience than the casual gamer.

Alegulper finds himself in the mid-career moment. He is a seasoned character that can participate in quests, help newer players, and generally engage the player economy in ways that allow him to accumulate in-game wealth. However, every new level comes with increasing time and quest commitment (see earlier entry: The Joy Return) . He also finds that the major quests can’t really get completed without a larger team effort.

Hence, I am participating in more epic level quests, and this means that I am in groups more often than not. A whole new set of shared experiences and relationships begin to form around these joint expeditions, and I look forward to the next phase of the journey.

~ by xaviermorgan on July 8, 2007.