Location: Bedroom
Device: Laptop
Time: 1 hour
I spent about five or more minutes forming a character. The hardest part was choosing the race and the skill set. I ultimately decided to be a male undead creature instead of an elf or the wolf one. I selected the hunter skill set since I liked the idea of having a pet. I named my avatar Razeberk and entered the world of Dalaran with a pet spider. I started completing the quests in the undead world while figuring out how to easily move around with a touchpad and a keyboard. It wasn’t too difficult to control my avatar.
I found my role in the game similar to a game I’ve been playing from 2005 called Fate which can be multi-player or single player (I’ve only experienced the latter). Like World of Warcraft, Fate similarly offers either male or female as the avatar’s sex and the option to change facial features. You have the option of choosing a cat or a dog as a pet for the avatar’s companion (you can also change your pet into any creature of your liking depending on what magic fish you feed it). Most of the time you spend playing the game is set in the dungeon. You and your pet basically fight an assortment of creatures, from rats to griffons.
Unlike World of Warcraft, Fate introduces a set goal: you have to reach a certain level and challenge Fate itself in addition to various side quests (I haven’t reached that point yet). It seems like World of Warcraft offers a wide range of quests from collecting herbs to engaging in battle. There doesn’t seem to be an overall goal other than the ones you make for yourself.
So far, it seems like World of Warcraft is an enacting narrative, according to the definitions provided by Henry Jenkins’ article titled Game Design As Narrative Architecture. It focuses more on performance than exposition, since the game-play doesn’t surround a set narrative or follow a sequence of events. It seems like this game offers environmental storytelling. In the world of my avatar, I’m provided with backstory about the Dark Lady and an ongoing war which I am now part of. I’m interested in seeing if there are any embedded narratives concerning some of the characters I’ve interacted with during these quests.