Logging in and Out
Logging in and Out
Many roleplayers do their very best to give their characters a life of their own. Of course, this “life” can only be affected and witnessed while the character is in play. What about when your character and you are logged out? If your character is following the most basic life tract of being a full-time adventurer, are they thought to be away on another adventure and simply out of contact while not in game? That’s certainly one possibility, but with the plethora of chat channels available, it kind of makes that notion seem implausible. Housing, inns and taverns, and even professions, are probably better ways to implement roleplaying where your character is and what it may be doing while not in game.
Obvious places where a character could find rest may be the first choices that come to mind, and rightly so. Inns are expected to have rooms for rent, and tavern keepers may be kind enough to allow you the use of a darkened corner while you sleep off having downed a few too many ales. Houses are especially nice for this, whether it’s your personal house, a guildhall, or an open abode that you are roleplaying as your very own. Even if you don’t or can’t own your own in-game house, you can still log in and out in a manner that seems appropriate. Simply find a house or doorway that the game doesn’t open, and log out in front of it. To any roleplayers who may be watching, it’ll look as if your character stepped into the house and out of sight, and likewise when that character logs back in.
Now, what about those characters who generally shun cities and populated places, preferring to spend their time in the wilds? No problem at all; just build a campfire and settle right there for the night. Or claim squatters’ rights over an abandoned campsite if you find one.
Consider those players who may be roleplaying an unsavory character and do not wish to be seen in a public inn. This brings into question another game mechanic, called rested XP, which is most prevalent in WoW. Rested XP builds up for your characters in WoW only when you log them out in one of the major cities or an inn. Personally, this is a game mechanic I totally ignore. You should log in and out wherever it is in your character’s best interest to do so.
Filed under: World of Warcraft