I Eat What I Am
So, I popped on as Ayæ (TN, level 20) last night for a few minutes.
The halloween decorations, though at first nice, were so repetitive and oddly placed, that they kept screwing up my video. It was nearly as choppy as landing in IF on a Saturday night.
I did think the costumes were funny, though. The moment I arrived, standing dumbfounded in the Westfall Inn, I received a party invite, and in a flash and puff of smoke, I was suddenly a human ninja! Hah! Well, that wasn't anything new, but throughout the night, I saw alliance in the guise of skeletons, skeleton raiders, ghosts, pirates, undead pirates, ninja, and many more. I also spotted a few very cool looking "flimsy" masks. My favourite was the flimsy female orc mask on a male night elf hunter.
Well, not wanting to waste my precious time on such twiddles, I quickly pickpocketed the spikey undead guard at the creepy tower in southeast Westfall, completing the poison quest I started a week ago.
Made my way to Darkshire, where I gathered all of the quests I could to begin my Duskwood circuit (where I basically start at level 20 and run circles around Duskwood, performing and turning in quests so efficiently that by the time I'm done, I can get 5 levels in one night). I've done this with at least three other characters, so it was like *autorun* and sit back to wait for me to get back to Raven Hill. A long run.
However, this time turned out a bit different. Within a few hundred long strides of my departure from Darkshire, BAM! Before I could blink, two level 30 undead rogues came out of nowhere and had their way with me. As I collapsed to the ground in painful death, they faded back into the shadows.
Although this made me angry, I did respect the fact that they didn't taunt me afterwards, laugh, or make other rude gestures. As a rogue, myself, I only use those for enemies that have done something to deserve it.
Fortunately, by the time I got back to my corpse, a great number of alliance had arrived, scouring the land for the rogues. Amazingly, the rogues were spotted, and chased down (I was in the pack, but couldn't manage to land a blow). And eventually the rogues fell.
So, why do I bring this up?
Many a day ago (over a year, actually), I began my retail life as a lowly warlock, trying to make my way through this wonderous land. If anyone at all is a sneaky rogue's dream, it's a solo warlock. This same situation had ended my poor warlock's life more times than I could possibly count.
So, naturally, I wanted some revenge. I made a human rogue. I leveled it to 42. Now, at that time, I hadn't learned about being a combat rogue, and my silly rogue was wielding weak daggers, and I still got my butt kicked.
What I ultimately wanted to do was to be the same kind of road brigand that repeatedly ambushed me.
Did that ever happen? No.
Even though I made an undead rogue and quickly advanced to level 59... I don't recall ever ambushing anyone ten levels below me. As a matter of fact, I nearly always targeted higher levels, for the challenge as well as the HK.
So, what happened? Why didn't I pursue the path that led me to the rogue path in the first place?
I believe it's because each of us plays with a moral and ethical style that closely mimics what we'd really do in real life in those situations. Yes, most of us playing aren't criminals, murderers, thieves, or even honorable heroes. But what would most of us do in a world of virtual lawlessness?
Yes, I hear your argument already.... "I'm Role Playing!" You say. I can't deny that I've role played some pretty nasty characters, especially as a game master (it's required!). But ultimately, the characters I play the most, for the longest time, and the ones I enjoy playing (and really have an affinity for), rarely have prinicples and ethics far from my own. I don't stand around frequently traveled paths and gank people because that's not honorable.
Ah, yeah, you got me! You're saying, sneaking up on AFK characters in Southshore IS honorable???
Hah! Well, I guess the difference would be that more often than not, those characters I attacked were higher levels, had epic armor, and quite often reacted immediately upon me attacking. -- Meh. Not enough justification for you? Too bad.
Well, if it's not the "honorableness" of the situation that keeps me from doing things that make most people hate rogues, what is it?
The halloween decorations, though at first nice, were so repetitive and oddly placed, that they kept screwing up my video. It was nearly as choppy as landing in IF on a Saturday night.
I did think the costumes were funny, though. The moment I arrived, standing dumbfounded in the Westfall Inn, I received a party invite, and in a flash and puff of smoke, I was suddenly a human ninja! Hah! Well, that wasn't anything new, but throughout the night, I saw alliance in the guise of skeletons, skeleton raiders, ghosts, pirates, undead pirates, ninja, and many more. I also spotted a few very cool looking "flimsy" masks. My favourite was the flimsy female orc mask on a male night elf hunter.
Well, not wanting to waste my precious time on such twiddles, I quickly pickpocketed the spikey undead guard at the creepy tower in southeast Westfall, completing the poison quest I started a week ago.
Made my way to Darkshire, where I gathered all of the quests I could to begin my Duskwood circuit (where I basically start at level 20 and run circles around Duskwood, performing and turning in quests so efficiently that by the time I'm done, I can get 5 levels in one night). I've done this with at least three other characters, so it was like *autorun* and sit back to wait for me to get back to Raven Hill. A long run.
However, this time turned out a bit different. Within a few hundred long strides of my departure from Darkshire, BAM! Before I could blink, two level 30 undead rogues came out of nowhere and had their way with me. As I collapsed to the ground in painful death, they faded back into the shadows.
Although this made me angry, I did respect the fact that they didn't taunt me afterwards, laugh, or make other rude gestures. As a rogue, myself, I only use those for enemies that have done something to deserve it.
Fortunately, by the time I got back to my corpse, a great number of alliance had arrived, scouring the land for the rogues. Amazingly, the rogues were spotted, and chased down (I was in the pack, but couldn't manage to land a blow). And eventually the rogues fell.
So, why do I bring this up?
Many a day ago (over a year, actually), I began my retail life as a lowly warlock, trying to make my way through this wonderous land. If anyone at all is a sneaky rogue's dream, it's a solo warlock. This same situation had ended my poor warlock's life more times than I could possibly count.
So, naturally, I wanted some revenge. I made a human rogue. I leveled it to 42. Now, at that time, I hadn't learned about being a combat rogue, and my silly rogue was wielding weak daggers, and I still got my butt kicked.
What I ultimately wanted to do was to be the same kind of road brigand that repeatedly ambushed me.
Did that ever happen? No.
Even though I made an undead rogue and quickly advanced to level 59... I don't recall ever ambushing anyone ten levels below me. As a matter of fact, I nearly always targeted higher levels, for the challenge as well as the HK.
So, what happened? Why didn't I pursue the path that led me to the rogue path in the first place?
I believe it's because each of us plays with a moral and ethical style that closely mimics what we'd really do in real life in those situations. Yes, most of us playing aren't criminals, murderers, thieves, or even honorable heroes. But what would most of us do in a world of virtual lawlessness?
Yes, I hear your argument already.... "I'm Role Playing!" You say. I can't deny that I've role played some pretty nasty characters, especially as a game master (it's required!). But ultimately, the characters I play the most, for the longest time, and the ones I enjoy playing (and really have an affinity for), rarely have prinicples and ethics far from my own. I don't stand around frequently traveled paths and gank people because that's not honorable.
Ah, yeah, you got me! You're saying, sneaking up on AFK characters in Southshore IS honorable???
Hah! Well, I guess the difference would be that more often than not, those characters I attacked were higher levels, had epic armor, and quite often reacted immediately upon me attacking. -- Meh. Not enough justification for you? Too bad.
Well, if it's not the "honorableness" of the situation that keeps me from doing things that make most people hate rogues, what is it?
posted by Psyae at 11:59 AM
3 Comments:
Oohh - good topic - I've always said that true character comes out when you give a person the opportunity to act without regard to laws or social repercussions.
One thing I've noticed (as I slowly slide into stereotyping) - is that the only rogues I get nailed by like this *are* undead rogues. They kill indiscrimnately - regardless of level or benefit to themselves. I've *yet* to run into a Horde rogue of the Troll or Orc persuasion that did this.
That said - have I happily beat the crap out of a 'grey' in WSG or Arathi Basin while playing? Hell yes! But in my mind - that's war.
Ambushing someone 10 levels lower than you and your gank buddy is simply MMO Murder and there's no other excuse for it. Maybe if the ganker only chose to attack those with PvP honor ranks I could buy that they were laying ambushes for relavant military targets. But as we've all probably experienced - that's just not the case.
No - these guys beat up on loners 10 levels lower than them because they have deep seated issues with their own personal power (or lack thereof) and are choosing to exercise that frustration on your toon in game.
Heh, always open.
I just take breaks here and there.
:)
This is why I don't think I'd fit in on a PvP server. On a standard server, you get to choose where and when, and so do they, so theres no doubts about 'Is this fair?' or 'Am I ganking?'
The consent is deliberate, and required to be renewed every five minutes, which leaves me without guilt or difficult moral questions. If we're both flagged, then I'm asking for it, and so are they. :)
That said, I have started to take stealth ninja backstab-deaths out of thin air, during the lulls in a raid, somewhat personally, and tend to end up singleing those Rogues out for specific kamakaze runs from then on.
Something particularly galling about dying like that for some reason.
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