By Darvell Hunt
I've been a fantasy fan for years. Lately I've found a new medium for exploring this genre: online fantasy computer games, specifically World of Warcraft. I've found this game to be very addictive. I'm completely fascinated by how well the game developers have created such a complete world in which to interact with other players in a virtual fantasy world.
It's the kind of world I dream of creating in my writing. It's a perfect example of interactive fiction.
I wonder if my Gnome Rogue, my Dwarf Hunter, or my Human Warrior, have ever come to the realization they are characters in a game. I think not. But I can imagine them playing a game called "World of Everyday Human Life," even though that sounds much to boring for me to play.
I could see my Dwarf Hunter creating a character of her own in this game that would be called somthing like a "Human Accountant." Would she find this game interesting and different enough from her world to take time from her hunting and skinning and making of leather clothing? Would she be compelled to stay up half of the night trying to reach level 23 in accounting so she could buy a fancy new calculator to make work with her virtual clients easier and quicker? I wonder if she would be interested in picking up a side profession as a used television repairwoman or maybe learn microwave oven recipes to improve her urban cooking skills to help her stay up late during tax crunch time.
Nah, probably not. She would be much less interested in my world than I seem to be in hers.
But anyway, back to my writing. I have found that reading good fantasy books is an excellent exercise in becoming a good fantasy writer. It also seems that playing fantasy video games may also help my writing skill. At least that's what I tell myself as I try to get to level 27 so my Gnome Rogue can use the new weapons I already purchased from the in-game auction house.
They say that research is one of the most important aspects of writing. I agree. So now I have to stop writing this blog entry and get back to my research.
1 comment:
Do you mean the 23 instead of 13?
It's just an arbitrary number. Games like this have levels that increase as you progress through the game. It's kind of your status symbol while playing. The highe the number, the higher class, greater number of skills, and greater number of monsters that you have killed.
That's all.
Darvell
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