Friday, June 18, 2010

Bio briefing

When you’re standing around at an instance entrance, hanging around when you get there before the rest of the group turn up, or hanging around on the docks, or pretty much anywhere, what do you do to kill the time? I guess in real life I’m a bit of a people watcher and so, when I’m hanging around anywhere in game I tend to ‘inspect’ other toons. I was doing this very thing last night in Lavastorm and noticed the vast array of different ‘Bios’ and style of bios used by players. The highest percentage actually have nothing in their bio going from the 25 or so I looked at yesterday. But those that do have something there, I think have given you a little look in to their personality.

Take mine for example. Usually I will put either, something clever, something funny [something that you think is funny you mean? – Ed], or a bit of dialogue telling a snippet of a story, or describing a brief encounter my toon was in. Have a look at Adurjs old Bio;

Two Blades, No flashing lights or swirly mists. One white, one black. Plain and Simple.
{FSB} Funk Soul Brother

I thought the above was kinda a bit of a dig at the crazy designs SoE are coming up with for weapons now a days, and the fact that sometimes, I like to get back to brass tacks, nothing fancy, just simple and effective. The {FSB} bit is a tip of the cap to my old Quake clan and bunch of old RL/gaming mates. {FSB} still exists on STEAM and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Now take a look at his new Bio which is more in my traditional style;

The boy quietly watched the wiry Dark Elf sitting in the shade, carefully polishing the two cobalt Axe blades he carried. Noticed now, the boy felt compelled to speak easing the tension suffered under his cold gaze. The boy murmured "Your axes Sir? They look nice". Pausing Adurj looked down at the two weapons, turning them slowly in his hands, "Aye, lad. Deaths Song I call 'em. It's said your foe can hear their own death on the wind as they sing". "Are you good?" he asked. Adurjs icy eyes looked over, and he smiled.

OK. So these tell you a little bit about me. They tell you that I think of myself as a bit of a writer with a turn of phrase that likes to create an atmosphere, that I think I’m a little bit clever and funny. It also tells you I like a bit of roleplay perhaps [Also it tells me you’re a pretentious git :) – Ed].

I guess without even speaking to the person you get to know a bit of what they are like from their Bio. The above gives example to this. Another example would be the person who pops their high parses in their Bio, or the person who lists masters they need in there, or even those who have the most ridiculously bizarre content that you can’t even make sense of it. All tell a story. The player who is a bit of a braggart, or indeed proud of their ability, to the player who is focused on bettering their toon and maxing their stats. It’s all there for the telling.

I guess I’m interested by this stuff because I like knowing what makes folks tick and it also kills a bit of time when I’m bored in game. The next time you are grouped with someone and they start to annoy the hell out of you (we all know this happens!) check out their Bio. I bet your bottom dollar if they have bothered to put something in there it will tell you all you need to know.

Be well.

No comments:

Post a Comment