This post was originally scheduled to go up on July 6th… but it got eated. So here it is now.
-Nau
I probably should have posted this Thursday or Friday. Ah well! I’ll do better next time!
So our first RP Challenge was to walk every time we were in town. I actually tried to do this on all of my characters and did a pretty fair job. For me it wasn’t really an issue because I have a tendency to walk in town anyway.
What did I see? Well I can say I saw a great deal more of Dalaran than I had previously. I think we tend to rely too much on some of the features in the game that are placed solely there to “speed things up”. Need armor repair? Click the mini-map and have it mapped for you. Don’t look at anything but that little gold dot. No time is taken to see the things around you. So by walking, I spent a great deal more time seeing Dalaran. Really seeing it. A lot of work went into designing that city and I truly appreciate the effort because we’ve been given a beautiful setting to play in.
Effort hasn’t just gone into the setting but into the characters as well. How many of you have met Jones? I met him for the first time when he was napping in the stairwell in the Legerdemain Lounge. Jones is an orange tabby cat and this critter doesn’t just stand or mill about like so many of them do. Jones took effort. Jones stands, sits up, lays down and naps. All at random. I had a lovely time standing in that stairwell playing with Jones!
What did I see from players? Hmm… while it would be great to say, “Oh I saw so many people taking the time to walk and interacting with each other!” unfortunately I can’t say that. I can say I did see more people than I’m used to seeing walking. Now I was paying closer attention so it isn’t likely they were participating in the challenge, as much as I would like to think so.
I also noticed more RSP descriptions. I had time to read more of them, learn more about some people whom I never interacted with. I saw some great ones, some not so great ones and some average ones but the most important thing? I saw them.
Now the goal of this was to promote interaction. Did it? Simply walking is a pretty passive way to promote interaction, I will be the first to admit that. But for someone that is shy, that may be a good, safe way to start. Whether you think so or not, when you are walking you do get noticed.
Sometimes notice leads to curiosity. Honestly, if I hadn’t been walking, I don’t believe that Tauren druid would have interacted with me at all. But she saw me, followed me, and we had a lovely interaction even though we couldn’t speak. I’m a narf and should have written down her name but I will watch for it. I would know her again if I saw it.
Final analysis, was it successful? I believe so. There may not have been one other person following the guidelines of the challenge but I did, and I enjoyed it very much. I saw things I never would have seen before, noticed people I wouldn’t have, got to play with Jones, and finally started learning my way around Dalaran using landmarks instead of gold dots! I think there are many people that would find walking a great deal of fun.
Don’t wait for a challenge to try it! Even just for a day, give it a try and let me know how it went.
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