Answer the call to arms and join the parade of MMORPG avatars

by Mark Kaelin | Nov 08, 2005 2:54:00 PM

Tags: Games, Mark Kaelin, game, MMORPG, avatar, computer game, PC

Takeaway: Join the parade and share a screenshot/photo of your gaming avatars for publication in our gallery.

For fun and relaxation some people enjoy a five-hour long golf match, or perhaps a four-hour football game. There are some who spend hours upon hours shopping for socks or antique hunting or any number of other leisure activities. All of these are legitimate pastimes, but they are not generally how I prefer to spend my off-hours—I am much more of a geek than that.

I play games—specifically I play computer games. I have been playing games on a PC for 20 years now (well, if you consider a Commodore 64 a PC) and I've played just about every genre of PC game there is at one time or another. I even got paid to review the games I played for a few years (darn bursting dot-com bubble).

I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb when I make the assumption that many TechRepublic members are avid gamers themselves. I would suspect that for some members', knowledge of the inner workings of PCs and information technology actually stemmed from the knowledge one had to have to get computer games to work in those early years. In many ways, the satisfaction of getting a PC game to work back then was almost as gratifying as actually playing the game.

The MMO

In recent years, one genre of PC game has dominated my play—the massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). My experience follows a familiar path; one that other MMORPG players will probably recognize or at least appreciate. First there was EverQuest, then a brief foray into Anarchy Online, then a few years with Dark Age of Camelot, which lead to my current obsession with World of Warcraft. Being the gaming geek that I am, I also beta tested several other games, but it was nothing serious.

One aspect of the MMORPG genre that separates it from other game types is the requirement that you take on a role. In most cases, a role requires the choosing of an avatar, a class and a profession. This combination, along with other attributes acquired during your character's development, will uniquely identify your character within the massively multiplayer community. Your character will actually establish a reputation with all of the other game players. This makes your avatar a very personal creation and is often a source of pride for the player.

It is with this concept in mind that TechRepublic is asking members who play MMORPGs to submit a screenshot of your game avatar for publication in our photo gallery. I have posted several screenshots of my avatars to get the gallery started. The characters depicted are from the World of Warcraft, but we will accept avatar shots from any MMORPG. Along with each screenshot we'd like a short description that includes the game, name of the character, and the profession or class. A brief history of your character's exploits would also be welcome.

There is one caveat; you must be a TechRepublic member in order to have your submitted photo accepted. Just include a link to your profile page along with your photo.

View the current game avatar photo gallery to get an idea of what we are looking for and then send us your avatar screenshots.