Assignment 4: Lineage 2 and Lambda Moo
For the MMORPG, I played Lineage 2. For Lineage 2, it is clear that my player type is that of the achiever. The only reason I play the game is to have a powerful character. I absolutely enjoy making my character powerful as quickly as I can. The specific server I am on makes it even easier to achieve since Experience and money are dropped at 25X and 35X retail rates respectively. I also marvel at the new and high end equipment that my achievement allows me to buy.
But the game does not lend me many options. Being an explorer is out of the question because there is nothing worth exploring. The environment for the most part is bland and uninteresting. The creatures look unique and interesting, but there is not enough variety for me to go out of my way to look for them. Even the dungeons have little of interest, visually, to make me find new ones.
In a classic MMORPG, the social aspect could allow me to become a socializer because there are usually thousands of players to socialize with. The server I am on, however, only has 50 or so people, so the social aspect is pretty low.
Lineage 2 also makes it hard for me to be a killer because of the game mechanics. Dieing in PVP carries a huge penalty. Not only do you lose a huge chunk of experience that could set you back several hours, but you have a good chance of dropping one or more items. Certain items could take days (real time) of killing monsters to get enough money to buy and enhance. The coupling of these two risks makes it too hard for me to become a killer.
For the MUD, I played LambdaMOO. For LambdaMoo and most other MUD's, it is clear that I am an explorer. Since the environment is not limited by a graphics engine or an artists limitations, it is so easy to get intrigued by the textual descriptions of the environment and scenery. Each room is different and elaborate and usually quite full of imagination. I could spend hours just walking in random directions and trying random things even if it didn't accomplish anything.
Being an achiever I find to be a bit difficult when it comes to MUD's. I am used to playing RPG's (the only games I consider being an achiever possible) with a graphical representation of both my statistics and my power. Achievement just feels empty and confusing in a MUD unless it comes out of exploration.
The social aspect of a MUD is an environment where it is easy to become a socializer since everything is done in text. My problem is that I usually prefer to do something other then socializing when I play video games so this aspect just does not interest me much.
Being a killer also feels empty for the same reasons that being an achiever feels empty. I enjoy seeing my handiwork in a graphical way that just cant be satisfied by text.