Why do we actually play certain professions over others? It’s a question I’ve thought about a great deal recently after struggling to decide on which profession to play.
I’ve always been drawn to rugged, quick classes that have an air of adventurer about them. This may sound contradictory, but I’ve never found stealth based professions of any interest (though they fit the mould I enjoy) and certainly not those that fall into the traditional backstab archetype. I often find such a play style a little too predictable and limited.
It is strange however when you really begin to think about why you always gravitate towards certain professions. There are undoubtedly many factors that determine this; aesthetics, skill set and mobility being some of them, but I think a large part of why we play certain professions is to do with role-play and our ability to fully immerse ourselves in our character, even if we don’t follow this through with acting them out at all times and even if we don't like to admit it.
Perhaps part of why I’ve always played professions that have an adventurer aesthetic and feel (rather than a spellcaster or warrior) goes back to my childhood, where my home overlooked acres of woodland. My brother and I would regularly head out into the woods to explore, equipped with wooden swords, shields and bow and arrows that my grandfather had made for us. We’d pretend we were tracking animals or searching for treasure in the cave systems. When home, we’d read through fantasy fiction and escape once more into worlds that seemed so much more appealing than our own.
This love of adventuring and pretending to be Aragorn was only solidified further after playing Ultima Online as a Ranger for the first time. MMOGs allowed me to do what I’d imagined for years; to escape into a living breathing world as a character I’d pretended to be as a child.
Somewhere deep in the recesses of my conscience I’m sure there remains the childhood link between why I choose certain professions and why I still want to adventure, in MMOGs, with sword and bow in hand. Unfortunately for me, this nostalgia is regularly at odds in Guild Wars 2 as I've yet to find a direct affinity to any of the professions, due to one reason or another.
What I do find interesting in all of this is my love of the Mesmer, a profession so far removed from everything I’ve ever played. Part of me thinks this is because the Mesmer is incredibly rogue-like in its newfound design, with its possible use of a sword, pistol and stealth abilities. Or perhaps the fact that its ability to manipulate the mind would see such an individual thrown to the outskirts of society and viewed with suspicion by others; a source of role-play tragically underused in the Guild Wars universe and one that fits the typical rogue archetype of 'outcast'.
Perhaps now is the time for me to shake off my self imposed shackles, of professions I do and don’t like, and really dive feet first into something entirely new, away from what I find comfortable and what traditionally adheres to my childhood preferences. The new iteration of the Mesmer certainly has more in common with what I like in a profession than others in Guild Wars 2. Thankfully it also feels much more like a conjurer offering parlor tricks than an out and out spellcaster. I could live with that.
If I’ve come to realise that my love of certain professions (including their aesthetics and playstyle) is as a direct result of my childhood experiences, how have your profession preferences come about?
Comments
Wow. This was a well written post, and I must say that I can completely relate to and agree with it. Personally Ive always rolled warrior, and that has a to do a lot with how I grew up. My adventures, sports I played and even problem solving - head on. But yes, for GW2 I am really pushing myself to break the mold bc all of their professions have an appeal to me.
I always had a hell of a time when picking a class and sticking with it. All of the classes looked fun to me and I wanted to play them all - which was a big part of the appeal of FFXIV... main reason why I have alt-itis too.
GW1 I never really had that big of a problem. I got into Guild Wars with the Cantha expansion, and Ritualist struck my fancy right off the bat... I played with all the other classes, but my Rit had the most play time. Then came the Ellona (?) expansion and I decided to play Mesmer and that became even more well-liked than the Rit.
I'm with you on the adventurer thing. I had lots of woods and fields to play in as a child growing up. Reading Lord of the Rings in 4th grade (and many times since then) really influenced me. I ate up fantasy fictions,sometimes a 350 pg. novel in a day all the way through high school. Also "The Silmarillion was a big influence for it's style and grandiose scope.
I've always been attracted to 'helper' classes like cleric, paladin (always specced for anti-undead capabilities), and classes that provide good group buffs. Bard eluded me in EQ1 because it felt like it had too much micro manager. But somewhere along the line - probably Vanguard when I went Druid, I shifted to more utility casters. Soon after it was Necro's (not sure why, since Pally used to be one of my favorite classes).
I have always been a caster class guy. I would say it stems from my early days playing D&D...not the video game, or online game...the old paper and pencil game, with all the dice and such. I always liked the caster class, perhaps because I always liked the idea of stong intellegence rather than strong muscles.
I was always a bookworm myself, ever since reading my first SciFi/Fantasy novel (A Wizard of Earthsea) and so I wanted a hero who was like me, who used his mind to battle evil.
Of course, even in paper and pencil, wizards were still a bit squishy, what with only wearing a robe and such. This didn't really cause a problem for me, though. I rather liked the big strong Knight in Shinning armor who came in and saved me, allowing me to swoon all over him and...well...you know :)
I didn't want to be the Knight...I wanted to be rescued by the Knight...but being able to defend myself was even better, so long as I could pretend it was only the might of my rescuers sword that saved me. That cone of ice that came out of nowhere...that was just a fluke. :)
So while you were traipsing about the world, rescuing fare damsels in distress, I was waiting in my tower, reading all about you and hoping you would come to my tower soon. Alas, you never came, so I had to put my dreams aside and go out and get a job.
With that said, I should mention that while Ele is definately one of my main professions in GW2, Ranger is right up there, and I didn't hate Guardian when I tried it. So, perhaps my tastes are changing, growing, evolving, but what has caused that is, I think, less me changing, but more the Archetypes changing.
I like smart, intelligent characters. Guardian and Ranger are examples of very smart and cleaver fighter/adventurer types.The holy cleric who studies the scriptures of his god has now evolved into a brute of physique who also uses his mind. The Robinhood figure who scampered about the woods with the animals, has become more skillful with his bow and working it with his animal friend, not just deligating the critter to the role of thoughtless tank, but rather trusted ally.
At least that is what I think about that. BTW...it is a great article, Lewis. I had never really thought to look at this aspect of why I choose what class I choose and it is definately an important element, I would say.
Galen
Galen
I think I've almost always gravitated to Utility/Hybrid classes. I suppose it really depends on the game mechanics to determine that in my own mind. I like being able to do things on my own...probably a hold over from childhood as I was fairly independent.
If there were one class I always do at least try it would be any type of pet based class as well. While in UO (Crossbow GM pre-nerf) and DAoC (Ranger) I used bows primarily, it wasn't until WoW before I played the Hunter with its pet. Then I played a Shaman (Utility) and then capped off with a Warlock (pet).
I've never really been drawn to meat shield classes like any Warrior in any game. I've also almost avoided Rogues until I played Rift, but even then he was a Bard too...utility.
Very interesting article here, got me thinking a lot about my own choices and how they are influenced, personally in 90% of the MMO's i played over the years i roll as warrior, now that i think about it, it really does have to do with my childhood idealism.
I always had a personal passion with the whole "clad in armor hacking down the enemy with shiny blade" thing, in books, movies, TV and my history studies (think the middle ages) it was always the heroic warrior that drew me in and utterly immersed me, has this been impacting my class choice in my games? the connection is glaringly obvious you could say, does it limit my choice in said games?, maybe, i have rolled some hunter/ranger/paladin avatars from time to time but ultimately my main is always my Warrior avatar, and what is so wrong with that i ask you, if someone deeply identifies with one type of class than surely he will get the most long term enjoyment from playing it.
I always found that when i played something other than warrior i had a itch at the back of my mind constantly reminding me that this was not truly me, when i play warrior, even after months/years its still like a blissful sense of sheer rightness, a certainty if you will, that i made a choice i don't have to worry about, sometimes i envy those people who feel no connection to one class, they get to experience the enjoyment of the whole game in a way, but in the end we are all enjoying the game in our own ways, that guy may have more avatars but his game time will be the same, just spread over different classes while mine will be on just one highly personal avatar.
I'm an explorer and collector at heart, so as such the ranger/pet classes usually find their way onto my list of characters, but my first love has always been the casters, and the more flamboyant the better. Mostly it is a question of aesthetics: I like the cloth armor style, that tend to have a bit more flair than the suits of plate, and as a bonus the casters usually also get a good share of utility like teleports. A fondness ofr all things fantastical and magical also helps; I wanted to be Gandalf, not Aragorn.
My GW2 beta experience has been elementalist and ranger so far, but this time I'm taking the mesmer for a spin. The mechanics of illusions and mantras were not immediately appealing to me, so the profession has an uphill struggle ahead to convince me, but it is unique enough that it deserves to be given the chance.
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