10: a n00b's experience in Guild Wars - a 1337 world

An online game that I tried out this weekend was Guild Wars. Guild Wars is an MMORPG in which you create an avatar and they go through a series of quests and missions to develop their character. There are several different classes that you can be. The game is dependent of forming a party which must be balanced (healers, fighters, damage-dealers, etc). You have the option of playing with actual people or NPCs. Currently there are 3 different lands in Guild Wars, separate from each other. One is called Tyria; it is a common MMO type area (desert, mountains, grasslands, islands, volcanos, etc. No real themes). The second is called Cantha; this one is Asian –themed (architecture & scenery). The third is called Elona; this is similar to an African-based area.

I played on my friend Brian’s account and joined his guild. They were very helpful and bombarded me with advice on what to do and how to play. Any question I had, they were able to answer with ease. They also gave me equipment like weapons. Although I still don’t really know the ultimate point of the game, I had fun talking to people and using the headset and going exploring between the 3 continents. My favorite continent is Cantha because I got to battle the afflicted (big zombie-like, amorphous creature).

I think that the avatar did affect the way I played the game. Brian has many different avatars that I got to switch between, and I definitely noticed a difference in how I played. Witht the tall, buff Warrior, I took on a more aggressive role and charged rightinto battle, regardless of the fact that I didn’t know what I was doing and I was outnumbered. When I played a the small, female Ranger, I was more hesitant in my playing style. My behavior in Guild Wars was congruent with the Proteus Effect, which means that I conformed to the stereotypical behaviors of the avatars that I was acting as. I wasn’t treated differently acting as the 2 different avatars, but I couldn’t help but feel that people expected different behaviors from the 2 different avatars.

All in all, it was fun being a n00b in a 1337 world, but it’s not something that I could do daily.