Playing like a GM
Last week, grouchy gnome over at nerfbat had a lot of great things to say about the “class vs skill†debate in game (particularly RPG) design. While I can (and have) ranted VOLUMES on the topic (often exceeding the capacity of comment fields), I found myself sidetracked by one of his more offhand comments.
“I’m one of those players that has altitis–I continually reroll characters because I’m never quite happy with one, and it ends up taking me ages to get maxed out.â€
I’m Chas York, and I’m an alt-aholic. City of Heroes boasts at least thirty of my creations… I needed the Station pass just for the extra EQ2 slots, and in SWG, I explored every galaxy with a different character. I’ve min/maxed with the best of them, and once took great pride in finding the FOTM long before anyone else thought of it that way… but after a week of thinking about it and discussing it with my friends- I can’t agree with the gnome’s rationale.
I don’t reroll out of dissatisfaction and I never really “get bored†with my creations.
I alt because I play like a GM.
No, not an online MMO GM, but as a real-life GM… that man who sat behind the screen, making secret die rolls… and most importantly… wearing many, many hats.
For most of my gaming life, I’ve been that GM. My characters were never the center of attention- they were the supporting cast. I strove to build a vast library of characters, so each henchman was unique, so each villain had some flair to him, so no barmaid would ever be called “just another wench.â€
That was my fun. That was my game. Characters rarely became an “extension of self.†Their achievements aren’t my achievements. Their stories are my own creation, and it is the creation that I’m proud of, not the adventure.
I reveled in establishing them in the world as living, breathing, characters.
My characters’ progression probably doesn’t reflect the “typical†player’s path to achievement. Despite 2 years of active playing CoH, I have no hero or villains break level 45. In my months in EQ2, I’ve taken many champions to level 20… one to 30… but none anywhere near the cap. I don’t get distracted by role-playing rather than adventuring- friends will testify to my rather obsessive leveling that accompanies every new creation. The goal just isn’t reaching the cap. The powerleveling stops when my characters are finally ESTABLISHED.
A game’s “character creator” is only a small step in the character creation process. By the time the name is accepted and the tutorial is starting, my creation has a backstory, hooks, tie-ins with other characters, and a planned role. It isn’t a first-level refugee pulled out of the water, or a promising villain breaking out of prison, or a hero showing up in spandex & save the world. They’re artisans, adventurers, people of power & mystery, and average citizens thrust into extraordinary roles.The “creator†is over. My work at establishing that character in the game has only begun. I need to get that character defined- with the proper gear, skills, spells, -whathaveyou- to make them meet the image I have planned. When that vision is met- when the character concept and the gameplay mesh- I’ve hit the “sweet spot†of playing. My creation has come alive. Her story hasn’t ended, but her identity is set.
Occasionally advancement can continue, and that sweet spot is never lost. Sadly, most of the time the game progresses down paths that don’t fit my character’s vision or where I’d see her “grow.†(This is much more prevalent in class-based games) The vision, once so clearly met, becomes blurred with gear that doesn’t match her style, or powers that don’t seem quite in-character, or even an overarching “story†that just grates against my plans. It’s better just to stop advancing.
Of course, long before reaching that difficult position, another creation starts forming in the back of my mind, and I’m back to that character creator, fleshing out another story, another personality, and another vision waiting to be fleshed out.
I’m still a GM at heart, after all.