Why your is character so precious
Matt was at it again. He’s broke-ass, he can’t respond to phone messages coz he ran out outta credit. I’m pretty sure his car loan is 2 months overdue too.
I came in the door finding him in WoW, itching to provoke idle players. I felt like pulling the plug on his router, but resisted coz the window is right in front of him and it’s four storeys high.
It’s hard to start a conversation when the man is self-absorbed. Like you’d worried that raising your voice would forever eradicate his spirit and kill him. “You gotta get yourself together man.” I said. He’s not sure if I’m referring to his skill levelling situation or gaming habit.
“Dude, for all the time you’ve gone into building your characters, you better get something out of it other than self-gratification.” He almost wanted to reply that he got something out of it, than registered “self-gratification” two seconds later.
“How many characters going, four?” I asked. “Five. I just had another new one so I can form a super guild.” Matt said. I didn’t pretend I understand what he said either.
“Look, your characters are pretty pumped up. They’re worth quite a lot. Why don’t you put them up for sale.” For a second, the thought of pimp daddy reflected to my mind.
“Yer kidding me… who’d want my characters? Besides, they are like part of me.” Matt said.
“It don’t work that way. New characters are created every second. Greatly-built characters are like well-managed companies, there ain’t many of them around.” I explained.
I went on: “This thing you do with them, it’s beyond power levelling people can do. The way you’ve designed and bred them, it’s a work of art.”
And I piss off people who take themselves a bit too seriously. “Look, you used to study stock didn’t you. What did they teach you about not being emotional about your stocks? This is just a game. It can be fun, or it can be your business. For the amount of time you dump into it, you might as turn it into a freaking business.”
“Think of your character like a custom-made hotrod. Be proud to put it out there. If you got a superstar on your hand, everybody’d wanna own it. Like everybody wanna play James Bond, know what I mean?”
Matt stared at his screen blankly. I wasn’t sure if he got me, but there’s a glimpse of hope.