I almost fell for it again.
The other night I was logging back into Elder Scrolls Online after a very long absence and decided to start all over with a new character. Without thinking about it much, I clicked on a Breton and started to make a generic good-looking human. Then I paused, stopped, and started over. I’m so tired of falling into the trap of creating model humans in MMOs when there are more interesting options out there. Unfortunately, most MMOs only pay token attention to monster races, preferring instead to focus on six varieties of flawless Elves and the omnipresent and overwhelmingly popular humans.
Not me. I went Argonian this time around and am rocking a mohawk made of feathers and a scaly hide of pure attitude. It’s been a visual adjustment to play this “monster” race, but so far it’s felt fresh and far more interesting than a pod person.
Yet I was all by myself for most of my travels, a minority in a sea of humans and Elves. Are MMO monster character races doomed to be in the vast miniority wherever they appear? How could these games encourage players to roll one up and get out of that human rut?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
