Alter Egos

My life in other universes

Yes, I'm a gamer. Have been since before personal computers. I met my lovely wife during a pen-and-paper RPG session (Runequest); I was playing an intelligent (?) duck shaman (think medieval Howard the Duck). My first word to her was "quack". A quarter-century and three kids later, I'm a very happy guy.

Alanora — Guild Wars

I have returned to Guild Wars after nearly two years absence. I began playing again in June 2010, and enjoy all the new material that portends the sequel game, Guild Wars 2.

Everything I've seen about Guild Wars 2 is exciting. No more holy trinity of dps/healer/tank; a scaling system that eliminates the need for henchmen and heroes; an open world that evolves as my character's story unfolds. Almost every complaint I had about the original game has been answered positively, and if the marketing hype matches the final product, this will be my primary MMO.

What I want from a game is to let me play how I want, so I can create whatever character I enjoy, and be able to expeerience the entire game universe. Guild Wars 2 looks to support that style of gameplay. If I want to solo, it will let me; when I'm feeling social, I can join a group. If my wife wants help on a quest, we can team up, and the game will automatically adjust to the size of group I'm with. No more spamming in town for tanks ro healers; no more "you can't do this content because you can't find the right group." Yup, I'm sold, so far. I'm just hoping I won't be disappointed.

Alanora is my main Guild Wars avatar, a Krytan ranger with a Dune Lizard named Fluffy. The short version: When she charmed the lizard at level 17, she dismissed her cat-pet, which had been named Fluffy. I forgot to rename the lizard, and after a while, it became something of a running joke. Yes, Alanora's named for a major character in my A Journey of Dragons novel.

Lochlyn — World of Warcraft

I''ve recently returned to World of Warcraft (WoW), after a year-long hiatus. I'm no longer raiding; instead, I use the game to relax, spending time with Bill the Crocolisk. The game is still about throwing away your old stuff by grinding for new stuff that you&'ll just throw away to get more new stuff. Boring. But I can spend time in-game with my lovely wife, and see fre3inds, and ignore the parts of the game that annoyed me.

Lochlyn works for Bill, the six-legged crocolisk, and you'll find them on the U.S. server named Terokkar. He's a dwarf hunter, specializing in firearms, engineering, mining, and treasure hunting. As a young child, Lochlyn found a crocolisk egg abandoned on the shores of Loch Modan; today, they are inseparable. Which means I don't want to hear anyone complaining that Bill isn't an "optimal" pet for raiding! He works just fine, thank you very much. Ahem...

If I were actually in Azeroth, I'd be Lochlyn. Warcraft isn't very conducive to real role-playing, but that's okay, because Lochlyn is really just me. He's a jack-of-all-trades, with a pack of unsual engineering devices, a gun, and a friendly reptile buddy (who just so happens to have very sharp teeth.)

A cautuionary bit of advice: Online worlds can swallow your soul if you don't watch yourself; like a succubus, they offer a real good time, but the price can be steep if you're not careful. But dang-it, but these games are a bucket-load of fun... and even a succubus can provide an interesting experience, so long as you know what you're getting into...

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Syraqua
 

 
 

 

Original prose © 2011
Scott Robert Ladd

Original artwork © 2011
Elora Marjorie Ladd

Original artwork © 2011
Maria Alvarado Ladd

All rights reserved.

The grey-and-purple dragon logo, the blue coyote logo, Syraqua, Symrall, and Sytherek are all Trademarks of Scott Robert Ladd.