This week started off with playing “World of Warcraft”, which drops you into an open world full of magic and wonder to explore and fight to your heart’s content. However, the first thing the game asks you to do is create a character. The custom character is a huge part of many games, whether they be RPG’s, Action oriented games, Fighting games, or other wise. Developers add the “create a character” function to give players the freedom to express themselves in their worlds, and that was major part of what we discussed in class with the Shaw and Brett pieces. World of Warcraft, for example, has a character creator which gives the player options between several races and classes to choose. While the possibilities of race and class combinations are endless, the character creator itself is a bit limiting. Firstly, there is a small pool of hair styles and clothes for players to start with, no matter which race is picked. In addition, physiques are strictly locked between “Male” and “Female”, which is the bulk of Brett’s piece on limitation and restriction in the game. In most other character creators, sliders are built into the game, in order to make the character look any way you want, and that does mean ANY way you want. You can make the character look like yourself, no matter your gender or body type, or make your character a strange randomization, whichever you like. This should be the point of character builders, giving the player true freedom. In addition, we talked about emotionally investing into characters in games, and putting ourselves in their shoes in one way or another. Whether it be sympathizing with a character or pretending to be the character, everyone attaches themselves to their favorite characters for a reason or another. As for the pyschology of this, everyone has come from different backgrounds and connect with different playstyles. The idea of a “main” comes from attaching to a character, and can tell you a lot about a person, just based on who they play in a fighting game or RPG. When it comes to the characters I play, I have found I always gravitate towards the goofy characters, or the “joke” characters that were put in the game for people to laugh at. For as long as I can remember, I have loved playing King Dedede in Kirby games and in the Smash Bros. series due to his nature and due to Kirby being one of my favorite game series. A big blue penguin that can fly, throw spiked balls named “Gordos”, and lauds himself as a king, only for Kirby to trounce his spotlight every time? Sure, I’ll play as that guy. Some gravitate towards the macho characters, such as Cloud from “Final Fantasy” or Snake from “Metal Gear Solid”, but I have always adored the weird characters in games. Perhaps it’s because, due to my personality, I think it’s funny to beat people as characters that should never be taken seriously, or maybe it’s because I have found myself to be the outcast in real life, and my escape is with these goofballs. Either way, I love to embrace the weird. Claptrap in Borderlands, Murky in Heroes of The Storm, the yordles, such as Veigar and Tristana, in League of Legends. Ever since beating “Luigi’s Mansion” years ago for the first time, it seems I’ve always rooted for the second banana. It’s something that I would be interested in researching more, and why people love the characters they do. As for me, I find my sanctuary in slimy fish babies and little blue sorcerers who “ARE evil, stop laughing”.