virtualidentity
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Thank a Tank (and everyone else) Day
I find it really interesting how class roles, originally created completely by Blizzard, have been given their own flavor by the people who play them. Take a main tank role, for instance-- sometimes it's the raidleader (although it doesn't have to be), but usually it's someone dedicated to the success of the raid, a person who likes getting their hands dirty, is super knowledgeable about both the bosses and their own gear, and both supports and benefits from (in the form of gold for repairs or first choice on equipment) the entire raid. The main tank (just like the top DPSer or the main healer) is a position created partially by Blizzard, and partially by the people who play it.Donaven (quite randomly) calls today "Thank a Tank Day." Unfortunately, he himself is a tank, so the actual proclamation sounds more like whining about being a tank rather than a sincere thanks for a tank who knows what they're doing, but the thought is noble. Instead of just thanking tanks, how about we thank all players who take a role and fill it out to the best of their ability-- who take a job, whether it be grabbing aggro, laying down damage in the right places, or playing the whack-a-mole game of healing, and do it well and without question.For all the QQing about PvP and all the crying about how Arena is unbalanced, the best times I have in this game are in PvE situations, where everyone is working together and doing what they're meant to, all the way until the boss' health reaches zero. The main tank plays a huge part in that, by standing where they need to stand, and laying down sunders when it counts. But when a raid is really working together, everyone does what's needed, and that's when it's really great. I'll thank everyone for that.
Voice chat and the virtual identity
Terranova has a great little piece up about what they say is "the inevitability of voice" in online gaming. Blizzard has talked (ha! I just made that up!) about implementing a voice chat system into the default client, but at this point, they don't really have to-- I don't think I can remember a higher level instance run that I've done in a long time that hasn't been accompanied by a Vent or Teamspeak server with my friends on it.But the interesting thing about what Nate writes about online voice is that it's more than just being able to react quickly with strategy in a game-- with voice, we're moving ever closer to a deeper connection between our virtual and real identities. Part of the appeal of online gaming, way back in the beginning, was that players were able to keep their virtual identities separate from their real ones-- if you were an accountant during the day, you could hack and slash away at orcs all night, and no one from either world might ever know about the other.But now, with voice chat, the people you play with get to know more than they ever have about the real you-- first and foremost, your gender, which is why some women still don't bother speaking on Teamspeak. But beyond that, I know much more about my guildies-- their age, their professions, their locations, their situation in life-- than I think I ever would have if I spoke to them only in text. More than ever, as voice chat is commonly and conveniently found in more and more games, it's not just how you play the game-- it's going to be how you sound as you do it.
