This, ladies and gentlemen, is Calanthia. Discipline Priest and pocket healer to Icecomet, Grim’s Fire Mage, and former male Blood Elf Korrax. That’s right, recently I spent a tenner of my hard earned money student loan, and completely reworked one of my characters. I then did it again for another one, but that’s not the focus of this article. That focus for this is more about the new lease of life you can give to your toons through the Character Recustomisation feature, and how to fit this in with your playing habits and the way you see your characters in the world of Azeroth.

I think one of the first things to address here is how you see your characters. People tend to take two different views on the characters they play in Warcraft. You have those who see the characters as an extension of themselves, and those who see them as entirely seperate entities. To help me out with this, I’ve enlisted Grim with giving me his views on his characters, and the way he sees them in the game.

Kiri: So Grim, thanks for helping me out! Here goes the interrogation. Do you see you most of your characters as an extension of yourself, in the game?

Grim: I think to some extent I see them as an extension of myself in Azeroth, maybe more of an extension of my wild side, given some of the things I do with them!

Kiri: I think I can attest to that hahaha. So when you speak to other people, do you speak as yourself, or give things a spin depending on the character you’re using? Is there any distinction between talking to Grimhammer the Orc Warrior, or Icecomet the Undead Mage?

Grim: No not really.  I tend to act the same on whatever character I play.  I’ve not really been one for the whole rp side of the game.

Kiri: I know we’re not on an rp realm, so we don’t see a lot of it, but do you find yourself put off by people who behave differently when they play different characters?

Grim: I dont really know, the people I play with tend to act the same on whatever character they are playing.  It would be hard for me to judge people if they ‘acted’ in a different manner to what they actually are in rl.  I think for me I tend to want to get to know the person behind the character and not the character itself.

Kiri: Ok, thanks for that boss!

And there you have it. Grim is the kind of guy who plays as himself, and behaves in the game as he does in real life. Although I can tell you from personal experience that he doesn’t run into clearly fatal situations expecting me to keep him up when we’re wandering about the town, obviously. For Grim, switching to a female character isn’t unlikely, it’s just not going to happen.

I used to be in the same camp as Grim. My first character, an Orc Rogue named Carnival, was pretty much just me. I didn’t see him as a character, I saw him as me, in the game. Then as I started rolling alts, I got more detached from them as time went on. My second main, Kirioth (now Cthonica), was mostly me, but with some RP edges. He was a bit meaner than me. Not impolite, but confident in his abilities. He took risks as a healer where my personal preference would dictate that I stand back and watch. Then, I rolled a Shaman, who is still languishing at 54. I felt no attachment to this character whatsoever. There was no personality to it. That’s one of the main reasons he’s never been levelled any further.

It was only when I started playing my Priest again that I realised that I no longer really saw my characters as an extension of myself. Over the course of my many rerolls, I’d begun to see them as seperate entities. When I realised last week that I was utterly sick of looking at the back end of a male Blood Elf (and I’d had enough of the casting animation, or the “fondling an imaginary giraffe technique” as I call it), I was a bit stuck for ideas. Then it struck me. Recustomisation was the way forward. I paid my dues, and loaded up the game. Within minutes, I had a female Blood Elf Priest.

Already, it feels like my “new” character has developed her own personality. The reactions from other players when we run instances have changed slightly, making her less forward and sharp. I tend to take a few risks, and try different strategies more. I do things differently. Sorry, she does things differently. When I’m talking to Grim through Teamspeak, I talk as much rubbish as I always have, maybe more when I’m doing something I know won’t work but want to try it anyway! I still spew curses like there’s no tomorrow when someone dies, or splutter in indignation when a mob has the sheer nerve to slap me when I’m trying to heal the tank up. But Calanthia is a little more reserved, letting her actions do the talking, while the daft sod controlling her shouts obscenities.

All in all, the recustomisation feature has given this character in particular a new lease of life.

In the next part, I’ll be interviewing a die hard RP’er, and getting their thoughts on their characters and the idea of changing them.