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The Whys, the Hows and the What IfsFollow

#1 Sep 23 2005 at 11:18 AM Rating: Decent
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991 posts
Why did you originally play the race you chose? Was it because you have a thing for High Elf females (I mean, who doesn't Smiley: inlove) or maybe because you thought Iksars were very misunderstood and it was your personal mission to disprove this statement.

When you found the race you wanted, why did you choose your class? The beautiful music of a troubador? The archane powers of the warlock? The "stand back and let my pet work" approach of the Conjuror? Or maybe because you wanted to try something new and fresh from your other MMORPGs.

Next: appearance. How did you approach the look of your character and how long did you spend on your characters appearance? Did you try to make them resemble their RL counterpart or did you just hit random and move on to the Isle? Did you regress to your younger years of playing dress up and get stuck on your toons close because you couldn't find the right cholor scheme for their undergarments?

Now for the what ifs. What if you could go back and change the appearance of your toon? Would you and why? Why not?

Have fun with this one Smiley: grin

================================================================

Personally, I chose a Dwarf because I wanted to be a Guardian and images of Gimli kept racing through my head. Once I got these down it was onto appearance. I love this aspect of the game. Anyone who has ever played Tiger Woods PGA Tour knew this system by heart. I spent about 2 hours just tweeking my toons features. I was going for a wise, but still young looking chap when I created him. It took a while to finally get to where I was happy. I gave him the long gray hair with streaks of white, and a cool white beard. I loved the Woads you could put on them too. That really added some flavor. I would not change his appearance or class for anything. I enjoy playing as dwarf (very easy to dungeon crawl with a shorty) and as a Guardian. I like being one of the main foci of a group. Though, I am only as good as the healer behind me.

Edited, Fri Sep 23 12:35:46 2005 by Mearyk
#2 Sep 23 2005 at 2:10 PM Rating: Decent
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1,885 posts
Race: I picked Erudite because of the higher starting INT, knowing I was going to play a mage. Of course that was before I knew that starting stats will quickly be overcome by gear. If I could do it over, I would pick a different race - I really don't like the alien-like grey skin of Erudites. And the lack of hair makes us all look the same. :(

Class: I planned from long ago to play a pet class. I was a BST in EQ1 and really liked it.

Facial: Since it was a female, I went for a very girly look. I frequently use /mood happy to increase the glow.

I initially took time over the color of undergarments, again before knowing that I will never see them again.

I've built several other alts, many have been deleted. I do take time to ensure I like the characteristics that will match the class. If it's a SK, I'll have eveil looks and hair. A Priest will be kinder, gentler.
#3 Sep 23 2005 at 10:58 PM Rating: Default
race-human =^( i used to play a highelf pally in eq1 and i loved it. i had the wise amn look with grey beard and all. so i wne tfor fora high elf then found out i couldent geta beard so i was like ***** that. i picked human and spent about 30 min on face getin the grizzled old soldir look.

alt- in eq1 i made a high elf mage alt after pally and i loved having pet. i have now made a iksar necro becase iksar look so damn evil in robes. i picked the spikes allover the bak of my head with out eny of face. i colored them blakc so he looks like some evil thing from hell...... i love him hes my baby
#4 Sep 24 2005 at 1:56 AM Rating: Good
I've been playing elven and half elven rangers ever since I began playing D&D with pencil & paper and a bunch of neat looking dice!

Back in the day, my weekly gaming group used to convine every Sunday evening and play for hour after hour on a large dining room table top with styra-foam rocks & hills, model railroad trees, scale scratch built wooden buildings and scads of beautifully hand painted miniatures.

I always liked the way elven rangers looked against the miniature scenery and so when I moved to computer RPGs like Baldur's Gate, I kept rolling up elven rangers. When I finally got to EQ, I tried a dwarven fighter and a couple of other combos but I ended up with... you guessed it, a half elven ranger! Somewhere along the way I tried an elven druid and found I really really liked playing them too!

I have little or no use for finger wigglers and never fancied myself a meat sheld. Rangers and druids are what I do... along with an occasional bard...
#5 Sep 27 2005 at 11:32 PM Rating: Good
Like OldBlueDragon my RPG gaming experience goes back a few years and I have been fairly consistent with the types of characters I enjoy playing.

My first D&D character was a Paladin to the dismay of my friends. It wasn't until some time later that I understood why and it was then that I began to experiment with other character classes. The restrictions of playing a Lawful Good character really began to eat at me. It certainly didn't fit my personality. I found that Chaotic Good alignment suited me much better. Unfortunatly, the ruleset didn't allow for Paladins to be of any alignment except Lawful Good, so I looked for the closest alternative and discovered Rangers.

I loved the close to nature and solitude aspect of the Ranger as well as the solid melee abilities. The parts that bothered me though, were at the higher levels when they began to resemble Druids and took on too many mystical aspects. I never cared for animal companions either.

To change things up, in later years, and to present more of an interesting roleplay challenge for both myself, the group, and the gamemaster, I began looking at a Paladin anti-thesis and was dismayed at the lack of a true antiPaladin class. Evil Clerics didn't cut it, because back then, they were still limited to blunt weapons. My friends and I would debate this disparity on occasion (Why don't the Evil and Neutral gods have Paladins or classes with comparable abilities and strong melee skill), along with the long standing debate on why a Mage could not choose to devote years of study and learn to (even haphazardly) use a sword and why a healthy human of modest strength could not devote many hours of rigorous training and weight lifting to increase his base strength by even one point? By the time that these concerns were addressed in AD&D 3rd edition, we had long since moved to computer games and it was moot.

Baldurs Gate saw my first Fighter/Mage. I had previously looked down upon dual classing, but I decided to do so in this case not for roleplaying reasons, but to max out my characters potential within the limits of the game. Computer gaming made the birth of authorized cheating so much easier and so much more forgiveable. I admit to many a reroll Smiley: wink2 I also discovered that with the experience cap within the first game, I could make 5 levels and still have enough experience to make level 8 in another class. I figured Fighter would be the most profitable as a first class with the higher hitpoints and greater melee abilities, as Mages are not very strong in early levels.

My first Everquest character was a Shadowknight and my choice has been consistent across various other games since. It was great to finally be able to play an evil character. I worked hard at increasing monster factions like the Crushbone Orcs and took great pleasure roleplaying in that zone, often from the throne of the Emperors chair, taunting the good players camped at the far end of the room, huddling close together in fear of aggroing the orcs prematurely. This is one of the things I miss most from Everquest that is not in Everquest 2. I loved working on factions, especially the monster ones. Factions seem to have only a trivial importance in EQ2 and I have not found any real way or any real incentive to raising EQ2 mob factions.

I have almost exclusively played Humans from the very beginning of my roleplaying gaming experience. I tried a brief stint as a Minotaur which was memorable and enjoyable and have made occasional Elves, but never with any satisfaction. Elves have always been too popular and their racial attitude always seemed to elitist for my tastes. I took great pleasure in roleplaying Human mercenaries that specialized in hunting Elves for various Human kingdoms.

Dwarves were always fun to play with, but they never suited my play tastes.

As my tastes swung to the dark side in later years and as the mythology became more abundant, I discovered Dark Elves. The perfect antithesis to Elves that would fit well with an evil class and provide for a roleplay experience that was not Human.

Since Everquest, I have played almost exclusively, Dark Elves. I played a Dark Elven Shadowknight in EQ, a Dark Elven Enchanter in EQOA, as well as a Dark Elven Shadowknight in Champions of Norrath.

When I discovered early on, before EQ2 was even released, that traditionally evil races could become traditionally good classes and vice versa, I was sold. I knew exactly what character I wanted to create months before EQ2 was released. To this day, my Dark Elf Paladin is my main and only character. I have enjoyed being fairly unique on the Qeynos side (at least on my server) and still occasionally get comments like,"Oh, wow, I didn't realize that you are a Paladin!"

From a gameplay perspective, I enjoy playing a Paladin because of the versatility and excellent self reliance. I can and have, soloed very well. The heals and wards allow for me to play unique roles at times, as group healer when no healer class is around. I can also help a group healer in a pinch and have great abilities to buff the mitigation and avoidance of a main tank if I play as a back up tank. My damage output is fairly decent as well, especially with a two-handed weapon. Overall, I am completely satisfied with my choice and my role in the EQ2 world.

I miss the undead pets though and would probably create a Shadowknight alt, if EQ2 SKs had to ability to summon them, like in EQ. I have been considering creating a Necromancer alt, but the only thing stopping me is the time constraints. I barely have enough time as it is, to play one character.

I also don't like the idea that "tank" classes aren't supposed to be damage classes. I never liked being put into boxes and have someone define my character before I've even "rolled the dice." It was because people said that EQOA mages weren't supposed to have high hitpoints or be good at soloing, that I created a Human Mage and put every level stat bonus into Stamina, and found that I could solo very well, despite a lower damage output and powerpool. Which has also contributed to my efforts to tailor my Paladin for the most damage she can.

Live Update 13 decreased the abilities of many of my damage spells and/or significantly increased their power consumption, but the auto attack damage has (supposedly) gone up, which will go well with my preference for two-handed weapons.

I usually spend a long time adjusting and tweaking my characters appearance or abilities at the character creation screen. I didn't keep track of the time, but I probably spent at least an hour on Xczaria. I think her undergarments are horrible and am glad I will never have to see them again, but I like her appearance. The facial options also remined me of the Tiger Woods game.

That's quite a bit of info I've shared with everyone, I hope at least it was diversionary and slightly entertaining. If you play on Neriak server, be sure to say hi! Smiley: smile

Edited, Wed Sep 28 00:46:52 2005 by Kallirye
#6 Oct 06 2005 at 1:33 AM Rating: Decent
27 posts
I made a ratonga. I just couldnt resist those beady little eyes. hehe.

But in all actuality, looking over my years of RP experiences I've always gone for the less common / more exotic types. I like the challenges of them.

I spent a couple hours over the appearances. I loved the customization level in this game. I was going for a gypsy like appearance as shes an enchanter.

over all i wouldnt change a thing. there may have been better options that i over-looked but i have fallen in love with the girl. :)
#7 Oct 07 2005 at 10:41 AM Rating: Decent
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1,885 posts
Quote:
I was going for a gypsy like appearance as shes an enchanter.

Now if we can just get the clothes to match!
#8 Oct 09 2005 at 12:27 AM Rating: Decent
27 posts
i agree tutanbriarpaw. i keep hoping with each patch that armor dyes and/or graphic options will appear. lol.
#9 Oct 09 2005 at 1:37 AM Rating: Decent
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1,885 posts
Quote:
i keep hoping with each patch that armor dyes and/or graphic options will appear

At the recent SOE summit where SOE hosted many players and forum admins, that wuestion was brought up. Dyes are not on their to-do list. :(
#10 Oct 09 2005 at 7:56 AM Rating: Good
Dyes will come, it is just a low priority. I would rather they get combat and tradeskilling finished before the minor add ons.
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