I’ve been thinking about play styles a lot lately.  When my kinship was getting ready to get into the Mines of Moria expansion in LotRO, we had a thread running on our boards about how people were going to tackle the content and make the transition between 50 and 60.  Many argued for the “take it slow” approach.  The slow levelers intended to stop and smell the roses, read all the quest text, take in the sights, etc.

My main, a hobbit burglar, is now finally 59 – one level from the max level of 60.  I’ve been all over the area outside the mines and even sneaked my way through to the content on the other side.  I’ve done a lot of quests and am enjoying my time.  I don’t feel that I’ve rushed through anything.  The person who started the “let’s take it easy” thread has been 60 for a while now on his main and is closing in on 60 on a number of alts.

Another event that got me to thinking about play styles is when I stopped to help out a kinship mate with his quests outside the mines.  We raced from one objective to the next, hammered out no less than five quests in the area in about half-an-hour and ended the night when he dinged 52.  It was, by my standards, a marathon of racing around like crazy.  I barely had a chance to think before my kinship mate was bolting off in another direction to chase down the next glowy or mob to kill.  My friend, however, seemed fairly content with our speed.  He is also 60 now, while I’m still getting there.

The two incidents got me to thinking more about how I go about leveling and what’s enjoyable for me as a player.

 

Adventure-based:
I like the idea of adventuring more than leveling.  Kill ten x quests bore me quickly, but give me a mystery to solve, a specific bad-guy to put down, a plot to uncover or some other way to show I’m good at something besides the mass killing of wildlife and I’m all over it.  Even if the mystery involves killing ten things, it’s the mystery that will grab me, not the killing.  In Moria, for example, there’s a quest to set two groups of orcs against each other.  I’ve had to kill a number of orcs, including one of the orc leaders, break apart a barricade and set some traps in the halls outside the dwarf camp.  As the plot developed, I was more eager to see what would happen next.  Will the orcs really fight each other?  Will the plan succeed?  The fact that it was all wrapped up in a series of kill-ten-x quests interspersed by some click-the-glowy quests didn’t matter to me.  The plot was more important than the mechanics.

 

There’s Treasure Everywhere:
I like finding things that are special, different or unique in some way.  I like exploring ruins and finding statuary or ancient artwork.  I like taking in the vistas available in places like the Trollshaws or Moria.  Things that are surprising or inspire awe are tremendous immersion tools in games; they quiet the part of the mind which is aware it’s in a game world so the player can just stop and marvel at something.

The other day, I was sneaking around in Moria in a place called the Waterworks.  It’s an area filled with large machinery and spinning gears.  There are huge underground palaces and flooded areas where I could walk past some ruined statuary just to realize it’s part of a submerged face or broken column which was part of something else.  Lights shine down from the ceiling and play over stone and water.  There are goblins there and fire-breathing lizards so it’s dangerous to get around.  It was awesome.  All the while, the song from the animated Hobbit cartoon was playing in my head.  The one based on Tolkien’s poem:

 

Far over the Misty Mountains cold,
To dungeons deep and caverns old,
We must away, ere break of day,
To seek our pale enchanted gold.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells,
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells….

 

The feeling of being in a place of wonder and beauty and with a history all its own makes my day.  It feels like I’m roaming ancient halls long since fallen to ruin and walking paths which are hazardous.  All of Moria feels like a dungeon crawl with the possibility of treasures and adventures just around every corner.

 

Playing the part:
I like playing a character in games.  I don’t just mean taking control of an avatar in a virtual world, but using their appearance, attributes, itemization, etc., to tell a story, even just an internal one, about that character and what they’re doing.  With LotRO’s cosmetic appearance tabs, I could set up my hobbit burglar to look like a farmer or a knight (albeit a short one) or a pirate or some other thing I wanted.  When I’m adventuring, I usually have him dressed up in leather armor and a backpack or cloak.  The look of the armor plays a part in what I envision him to be: a sneaky and often-scared hobbit trying to quell the evils around him in his own way.

The class abilities I choose also play a role.  Even though there is a non-stealth “stance” I could use which would increase some of his abilities (mischief mode), I still choose to sneak with my burglar when I’m solo.  Quest objectives become things for him to pilfer from under the nose of the enemy.  He defends himself through force when necessary but would much rather use wit and guile to thwart the evil designs of the foe.  My guardian or hunter, on the other hand, would take a dramatically different approach.  It’s not just a matter of game mechanics; it’s a matter of what the character would do.

Some people would call my gaming approach “RP” or role-play.  I suppose that’s correct.  I don’t often engage in role-play with others as much as I used to.  I usually typify my play as “RP-ish.”  I’m usually telling a story or playing a role, but whether or not others know or understand it isn’t something I really care about.

 

Going my own way:
Much of what I enjoy in my play style encourages solo play.  Anyone stuck in a group with me may find my distractions tedious.  I’ll start off in one direction and before I know it, I’ve been swept off doing something else (seeing what’s down a passage I haven’t been in before or looking around for treasure).  I’ve grouped with my kinship leader before – she enjoyed yelling “LOST!” in chat when I get caught up in one of my little distractions.  I’m not lost, I’m just not going to the same destination I was two seconds ago.

Add my hatred of crowds to my willingness to wander off on a whim and it becomes completely natural for me to figure out what everyone else is doing … and then go do something else.  Quite a few friends of mine race off to new zones as soon as they open.  New zones opening means one thing to me: I own the old ones!  Mu wu ha ha ha!  I get to explore areas now devoid of players more completely, grind out any deeds I want in less time and basically gawp at things.  I’m not anti-social; I like socialization, just not near me.  *smile*  (Actually I do like socialization, but I’m often particular about the company I keep.)

To paraphrase a quote on raiding I heard recently: Everyone that levels faster than me is racing; everyone that levels slower than me is lazy. “Rushing” is a subjective term.  One person’s speed-leveling is another person’s leisurely stroll through the content.  A player’s play style may be conducive to leveling quickly or not.  As long as I make reasonable leveling progress, I tend to ignore my leveling speed in favor of other things in a game.