My other lives – geek alert!

So in between gorging on beets (0 points, baby!) and not working out, I dabble in MMORPGs. (Massively Multi Player Online Role Playing Games, for those not in the know.) You buy the game software, and log onto a server to play. Other people are logged in as well, playing their characters. So, simply put, I can kill dragons and chat with others while they’re helping me kill my dragon, killing their own dragons, or knocking back mugs of ale at the nearest town’s pub.

I got hooked on them in Feb 2001, when I started playing Asheron’s Call — my first love. I still have that account, and Dierdre the Pain is on hiatus at level 115. There is an expansion pack coming out in July for AC, and I’ll probably restart her then.

Thor is a big Dark Age of Camelot fan. He’s played for four years and has more characters than I do friends and family. I tried DAOC, but I hate games where I lose experience on death. Becuase I die. A lot.

For one bitter, unpleasant month, I played Final Fantasy Online. Ick. Just ick. Like DAoC, you lose experience on death. But unlike DAoC, you can lose levels by dying. DAoC at least freezes you at your current level. After going from level 8 to 7 three times, I quit the game in tears. Not my proudest day.

For two soul-sucking weeks, I played Star Wars Galaxies. I’m not even into Star Wars, but was lured over by the promise of fun and exciting gameplay. And I wanted my character to hook up with Han Solo. My most successful character was — I kid you not — a cantina dancer. I set up a macro that would loop through her dance moves, and leave the PC to wash clothes, do dishes, etc. When I returned she’d have a bunch of dancing experience and money for new outfits. Again, I kid you not. Once I realized that games should be played, and not be something that ‘happens’ when you leave I cancelled that account.

For one year, I played City of Heroes. My best character was Dark Radiant, a scrapper who gained her super powers after being locked in a hyper-radioactive tanning booth. The rays imbued her with super speed, super strength, the ability to know when crimes were occurring, and a killer tan. (I made up her backstory. Can you tell?) I sadly closed that account last week, because I became bored of constantly punching things.

Now, I’m playing World of Warcraft. My highest level character is Leota, an undead magess on the Azjol-Nerub server. She’s currently 33 and a lot of fun to play. Leota’s a big departure for me because she’s an ugly character. All of my prior girls were gorgeous. Because, c’mon, if you’re playing a fantasy game, live the fantasy, right? 🙂 Below, Leota is riding a bat. Yes, a bat.

My other character I recently rolled is Cymbrelei (original, no?), a lvl 8 Night Elf Druid on the ShadowSong server. If you can get past the large ears, glowing eyes, and freaky eyebrows (and believe me, too many guys can and do get past that) , she’s pretty cute as well. Eventually she’ll be able to shapeshift into a tiger and/or a bear and own your butt.

Some of these games I’ve played way too often for my own good. But the most lasting thing I’ve received from these made up characters are the real life friendships I’ve made.