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 protends 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'm was part of the "world-wide phenomenon" known as World of Warcraft (WoW). Beginning in January 2010, I let my account lapse, and have no real intention of going back to WoW. I'll miss Lochlyn and Bill; I had fun playing them. But I don't enjoy the game anymore; it was more work than play, more frustration than fun. Perhaps the Cataclysm expansion will draw me back in, but so far, it looks more of the same old gameplay, just with new art. 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.

As it is, 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.)

Khorli — The Lord of the Rings Online

When this game goes free-to-play in late 2010, I'll start playing it again. Right now, my characters are dormant, simply because I don't want to spend money on a monthly subscription.

My main character, Khorli, is a Guardian, which means he attracts monsters and annoys them while other people stand at a safe distance and kill the bad guys with spells and arrows.

I like the Lord of the Rings game system, and I've been a Tolkien geek from my high school days. I even took a college course in "Tolkien Studies" back in the late 70s — got an 'A', too, for a paper about how the true hero was Samwise. I remember long nights debating the dynamics of Gandalf's transformation after his death in Moria... and yes, I liked the movies quite a lot.

Khorli is still working his way toward the current level cap. Given my gaming focus on Lochlyn, Khorli sometimes languishes for weeks at a time wihtout getting any play time.

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...