The Gaming Iconoclast: The Road Less Taken

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-- Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken"

Unless you've studiously avoided the forums and fan sites for a particular game (wait, hold on a second... you're here already), you've probably heard endless variations on "the best" build or style for a class of character. "So-and-so should be race X, and spec Y, and wield Z." There are veritable ruts hewn in the terrain from people flocking to established builds and gear sets for most any class you care to name.

But what if you don't want to follow the herd? What if the "you" in the game eschews conventional wisdom, strikes out on their own, and, with apologies to both Frank Sinatra and Johnny Rotten, does it their way? Are you thus destined to spend your gaming life shunned, a scarlet letter, or never-stylish [Noob Hat], branding you as an undesirable companion? Do you, in short, have cooties?

I think not. The real world works because everybody is a little bit (or a lot) different. There's no reason to think that the games we play function otherwise. Sure, your typical party has a tank, a healer, and some damage-dealing types. However, within those roles is a world of flexibility, and space for folks who don't march in lock-step with the established norm is there for the inhabiting, if you can only open a few minds. Admittedly, it takes a crowbar sometimes.

Let's start this off by emphasizing the "RP" in MMORPG - having a strong and coherent concept that defines and delineates what your character is apt to do allows you to make a compelling argument for how you've chosen to build and play them. For instance, my priests invariably come from the same school that Jules Winnifield did in Pulp Fiction -- that bit about "great vengeance and furious anger" and being your brother's keeper? Yeah, it's like that; not just a bunch of that of that goody-goody finger-wiggling. Slinging heals with a healthy dose of wrath, and a side of attitude. "Say 'LOLSmite' again. Say 'LOLSmite' one more time, Murloc-plucker..."

Ahem. My innate composure, allow me to display it for your perusal.

Does this attitude and skill deployment line up with what the chatter on the forums says a Priest's role is? Absolutely not. Does it do well in group play or guild activities? You bet. And, here's the kicker, and what trumps absolutely everything else: Is it fun? Oh, yeah.

It seems like a lot of players are inured to change, and expect Class X to be Role Y with Spec Z that they're caught completely off guard by folks who take an alternate route. Change some minds by doing your own thing, and doing it well. It, literally, takes all kinds. The games we play allow for a huge degree of flexibility, and while some choices may be better at one certain aspect than another, it's hard to be completely, utterly, irredeemably Wrong (believe me, I've tried, as a 23/3/35).

Individualism is a fine and wonderful thing, and well worth standing up for. With ten million folks in World of Warcraft alone, and millions more in all the other MMOs we share a love of; I'd wager that I'm not the only one who feels that gaming is about playing how you want as opposed to how theorycrafting, max/min, and that sort of mindset dictates as "the right way."

Rafe Brox spends an inordinate amount of time annoying people who think they know more than he does. When not causing friends and enemies alike to /facepalm electronically, he can be found extolling the virtues of the weird peripherals in his life, from kettlebells to the Trackman Marble. If you, too, would like to tell Rafe exactly how wrong he is doing it, the target coordinates are rafe.brox AT weblogsinc DOT com.