In a somewhat bizarre turn of events, my usual WoW Level-Buddy has been struck with a sporting injury, rendering them unable to actually play, so in the interests of continued teamwork, I’ve spent the week poking about in other games, in particular Star Wars: Galaxies. Regular readers will no doubt know my current opinions on the whole tangled mess that is Post-CU Galaxies, and with that in mind, I decided to grind away at what I perceived to be the easiest and most far removed from combat profession in what remains of the game; Master Image Designer.
Frankly, it’s a ludicrous profession, based exclusively in reshaping other player’s avatars – a sort of interstellar hairdresser and plastic surgeon. It has levels and XP of it’s own and one example of the sheer unexpected innovation lavished on the original incarnation of the game; XP and progression, for something that in most games is an /emote, if there at all.
The grind was actually a lot easier than I thought, taking about three sessions of determined clicking – something I’m quite capable of doing in short bursts, and now I’m a Master Image Designer. It’s an odd trade and offers a remarkable insight into the psychology of player avatar perception; how people see themselves and so on. It’s also seemingly an empty trade; since the great Everquestification, the luxury of spending half your skill point allocation on a ‘toy skill’, like Dancer, Musician or Image Designer is now not so realistic, and despite a mere six hour grind from start to finish, most people have better things to do with their online selves.
I don’t, but was still surprised to find myself about the only Master Image Designer in the galaxy for the last few nights. God knows how long these poor heroes had been waiting for a decent haircut, but soon found myself in tell-hell, and being paid 20,000cr for three mouseclicks with some curling tongs is certainly a more attractive proposition than using my pathetic eight combat-levels to earn 300cr for half an hours work with an axe from a mission terminal. And you get to meet people too.
It’s an ideal profession for the chatty, social and/or casual gamer, but I doubt it’s something I could enjoy for months at a time. Also, you have to know a bit about Style, which in my case is somewhat debatable. If I was any good with personal grooming, fashion and engendering self-esteem through makeovers, I would probably not be indoors playing SWG…
An interesting few days, but with any luck, the Sporting Injury will have healed soon, and it’ll be back to WoW, and tanking for victory!