Videogames have been getting more and more realistic every year for the past several decades. While visual realism is the obvious difference, it is clearly more than just graphics that are becoming increasingly lifelike. As avatars can be customized until each one is almost completely unique and moral decisions affect the games outcome it is easy to begin viewing the virtual world as one not so different from our own. This asks the question, as RPGs become more similar to the player's reality are they in fact altering how gamers perceive the world around them?
RPG’s have dramatically altered the way I view the environment and evaluate my place in it. Every object and event around me now fit into a careful formula to determine worth and future outcome. In both life and game I start with a basic class and build on abilities early game that are more or less solidified by level (age) 20. Its the reason I have such confidence as I unfold the morning crossword, or why I cringe away from the rock climbing wall in the gym. Is this the build I dreamed of? No, but its the one I have to play and this is where video games have the potential set me up for a pretty negative outlook.
Honestly, this was what middle school basketball felt like.
If anyone has ever played a game such as Fable, The Elder Scrolls, or Fallout one rarely sticks with the first character they build. I mean, the odds that you made all the right choices while building your first character are slim to none. That beginning character is just a guinea pig, run around, make some bad choices and remember to avoid them during your real play through. Here’s the problem with real life, we are all guinea pigs. I mean, we don’t even get a character building screen at the beginning. I've often found myself thinking that whoever was in charge could have done a lot better with the base stats. Who puts all of their points on speech and doesn’t save any for strength anyway? Viewing life through the RPG lens creates constant objective comparisons on choices we did not make nor can change.
Just like in RPG’s there are lots of paths to pursue in the game of existential existence. However, some are definitively better than others. How many players jump into their game hell bent on getting that job serving ale at the tavern or foraging through the swamp for edible plants? No, everyone wants to be the champion class with the biceps, battle axe, and dragon slaying chops. I figure this is the equivalent of a high school jock. He's just your basic, likable, hack-and-slash campaign kind of guy, and usually a meat head. Fortunately, this is where my videogame parallelism can offer some hope to those of you still reading this article.
When has right out of the box character been the most fun anyway? There's no question he’s appealing early game; easy to play, plenty of toughness, and you can typically fly straight through the main missions. However, the same combos and basic item builds get pretty repetitive after a while. The champion build is all about instant gratification, but doesn’t really offer a long-term pay off in terms of playability. After the dragons are slain good luck leveling up your intelligence to join the mages guild, or banging your head against the wall on every stealth mission because you’re way too heavy. No, for the file you're going to log 300 hours, something a little unorthodox and initially difficult is usually the way to go. This is my hope for all of the bards that never made it as brawlers, or the wood elves who feel they have a nord inside just begging to come out. We have a lot of skills to consider, and while the main mission may seem daunting we have a whole world of side quests to explore that most players never see.
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