In his book Designing Virtual Worlds, Richard Bartel defines virtual worlds as a world “implemented by a computer (or network of computers) that simulates an environment.” These games are often referred to as “multi-user,” meaning all game users share and play together in the same “world.” Starting off as simple MUDs (multi-user dungeons), virtual worlds have grown and expanded immensely throughout the years. Games such as World of Warcraft, Habbo Hotel, Lord of the Rings Online, Club Penguin, and Eve Online are all examples of how virtual worlds have grown and expanded in today’s society.
The first project assigned to our Intro to Virtual Worlds class was to create a “toon” on Lord of the Rings Online. Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) is the first virtual world that we will be studying this term. Together, our class will work together to gain a better understanding of how virtual worlds work. By actually playing the game, we will be able to better comprehend the materials learned in class and be able to apply what we have learned in-game to concepts or ideas our class goes over. Before you begin your LOTRO journey, you must create a toon or avatar for you to play as. You can create them to look a variety of different ways. Similar to many MMORPGs, in LOTRO, depending on what attributes you choose for your character will determine what their strengths, weaknesses and job in the virtual world will be.
The most important decisions you can make while creating your LOTRO avatar is made when choosing their race, class, and skills. I personally decided to play as a character from the man race. I liked the other races (and I knew I did not want to be a dwarf for sure) but I also knew that elves would probably be pretty popular. At first I wanted to make my character a Lore Master. A Lore Master is a class you can choose that has your character using magic to fight instead of weapons or other objects. According to the LOTRO Game Guide, "the Lore-master uses his knowledge of ancient wisdom to attack his foes or to ease the suffering of his companions” and “can even communicate with animals and request their aid, and also use his knowledge to daze, harm, and hinder his enemies." I knew it would be harder to do than be a hunter (which was my other option) but I thought it would be fun. Only the races of elves and men can be Lore Masters, which is why I ended up choosing to play as a man. I also changed my characters physical appearance to my liking, which was quite fun (due to the many options I had to choose from). This is what she first looked like.
Yet when I first started playing, I realized that it was quite hard to play as a Lore Master. Lore Masters are under the "advanced" character. I decided to create a second character (who looks the same) and choose a "basic" level. After I figure out how to play the game a little better, I will go back and play as my Lore Master character. This time I chose to play as a Guardian. A Guardian is described as "the class of choice for players who enjoy hard- fought battles and heavy hand-to-hand combat” and “one of the few classes willing and able to draw blows onto himself, and can retaliate with devastating response.” A Guardian “uses taxing attacks and irksome taunts to draw and hold opponents’ attention, relying on his shield and weapon to turn aside incoming attacks with blocks and parries." I started playing, and so far I am on level 7, so it is going well. I still am not at the point where I know how to strategize my attacks or even know how to effectively fight as a tank. But that is a skill I hopefully will have learned (and maybe mastered) by the time we are done playing the game. This is what my guardian character “Saxith” looks like.
Now, according to Richard Bartel, there are four types of players in virtual worlds. He points out that by having a balance between all four types of characters, which will cause the game to run smoothly, “an account of the dynamics of player populations is given in terms of these dimensions, with particular attention to how to promote balance or equilibrium”. Bartel uses card suits to describe the four types of players found in virtual worlds. He describes hearts (the socialisers) as players who “are interested in people, and what they have to say.” So those who are socialisers participate in games like LOTRO to create friendships. Spades (the explorers) on the other hand are, “explorers [who] delight in having the game expose its internal machinations to them.” Often times, explorers will travel to the ends of the game, searching for bugs to tinker with and understand. Clubs (the killers), “get their kicks from imposing themselves on others.” Killers are often players who are also known as “griefers,” players who purposely irritate or harass fellow players for fun. Finally, diamonds (the achievers) are those who “regard points-gathering and rising in levels as their main goal, and all is ultimately subserviant to this.” This type of players’ main goal is to level up and gain or gather game points. It is the balance of these four types of characters that makes MMORPGs so successful because, when together, the types are balanced out. Bartel argues that if a game is heavy on one type of player, then the balance of the game could be lost. If a game lost a large amount of explorers it could, hypothetically, cause a gradual drop in achievers who are bored without anything new to try and the chain reaction would cause the rest of the types’ numbers to gradually decline. I personally think that I will mostly be in the diamond and spades group. This is because I enjoy the smaller tasks that lead up to my character leveling up and I like to explore the lands I have not yet visited.
Hopefully playing in the world of LOTRO will be a ton of fun. I have never actually played a real action MMORPG like LOTRO or World of Warcraft before, so I am excited and slightly nervous. I am also looking forward to learning more about the game itself (game play, character interactions, quests, etc) and virtual worlds that are similar to LOTRO as I learn how to successfully play the game.
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