Monday, March 17, 2008

Amelior the Troll

Well, it took me a good three tries to download the game, but once I did, I jumped right in as an uneducated troll in a deadly war. Seriously, I read NOTHING about my special powers or character traits before hitting "play" because, well, by the time I got the blasted thing downloaded I was practically ready to declare war for real.

So, with no knowledge of my options and a vast land of creatures and caverns ahead of me, I decided to make like Forrest Gump and just run, run, run. Maybe I was living vicariously through Amelior since Amy can't seem to get her bum to the gym lately, but for whatever reason I was really enjoying my jog through the land of trials (I think that's what it's called). Then I found Gorek in the Den, who gave me the quest of killing 10 boars. "Eeeewww," I thought. "I'm no killer."

Next thing I knew, I was stabbing a boar to its death. "I'm stopping after one," I thought. Twenty minutes later and nine more boars down, I called it quits for that round.

How could it be that I, a sensitive sissy with the world's weakest stomach, am capable of slaughtering 10 poor ol' boars? I'm a vegetarian, for God's sake!

But was that really me or my Evil Amelior Avatar? (Cue spoooooky music). After all, Amelior looks like death itself, which was one of my criticisms. Since she's Rogue, I wanted her to have the appearance of lightness and quirkiness, but then (in true Rogue fashion) lash out with some sick warrior skillz when her opponents least expected it. Instead, she was a bloodshot-eyed mummy with an alarmingly gruff, masculine voice. The only redeeming quality, as far as her apprearance goes, was her Cyndi Lauper style high pony. Hell yes.

My biggest challenge was that I couldn't get her to talk. This proved to be quite awkward whenever she'd encounter Gorek and others who said things like, "What are your wishes?" or even worse, "WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING ME!" So, yeah, I could use some help in the vocalizing area.

In sum, I guess I'm a little more intrigued than I thought I'd be, but I'm also incredibly resistant to this additional/other world. Even after an hour of playtime I felt like I hadn't contributed a thing to myself (my brain) or the world (the real world), and I wonder if one gets over that guilt/dread or if some people never experience it in the first place...?

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