Altoholic?

I've never considered myself an altoholic--that was/is my husband.  But lately, I'm finding myself with a few more characters than I'm used to juggling.

First, there is Anachan, my level 50 retired Jedi Consular.

Next, there is Hikarinoko, my level 49 rather-retired-except-when-I-want-to-run-a-warzone-for-the-giggles Imperial Agent.

Then there is Kaminoko, my 2nd Agent, who is played when my husband wants to run on his Bounty Hunter.

(Hard to tell in this picture, but she actually does look different than Hikarninoko.  Different face style, and enough make-up to almost make me uncomfortable.)

And Annachan, my 2nd Consular, who started out just for me to play, but might end up playing some with my husband's Shadow Consular, if he decides to play him . . . (The story doesn't seem to be grabbing him, so she may end up all mine, muahaha . . .)

My Bounty Hunter, Karinoko, is now being leveled to play with my husband's Sith, because he asked me to do it.

Surprise!  She's got blue skin and red eyes!

Well, with all those characters either maxed or earmarked, I found myself once again without a "run around casually by myself" character.  Oy . . .

Sooooo, desperate to have a character I could play whenever I wanted, without having to worry about my husband playing, and figuring I didn't really need a third Agent or Consular, I created a Smuggler, who I intend to spec out as a healer, since I know Gunslinger bored me to tears.  Her name is the incredibly unimaginative Ana-chan.  (Haha, I can use hyphens . . .)

You knew she would look something like this, didn't you?

Does this make me an altoholic?  Honestly, I don't think it does.  An altoholic jumps back and forth between characters as if they do not know what it is they want to play.  I jump back and forth between characters for social reasons, so to speak.

At least I know I always have something I can play!

Anachan, Part II

This is my new baby Jedi Consular.  Does she look familiar or what?

When I first made my second Consular (with the unimaginative name of Annachan), I made her a Miraluka, with a purple veil.  It took me about five levels to figure out it simply wasn't going to work.

If the eyes are the windows of the soul, the eyes are also what help me feel a connection to my character.  It might have been somewhat mitigated if I could have used the same hairstyle, but it was unavailable to that particular race.  Long story short, I just couldn't connect with her.

So I deleted her and made . . . Anachan, part II, also named Annachan.  I think I got about as close as I could to my original Anachan, without knowing if I actually chose the right face shape or complexion, which are more difficult to identify.

Below is my Anachan from the Beta, whose feature numbers I recorded and used to make the Anachan I played to level 50.  If they aren't identical, they're pretty close!  I guess I spent enough time staring at my original consular's face, I could recognize her, more or less, while I tweaked the settings the second time around.

But before you shake your head and wonder why I'd play the same character twice, remember--I'm the kind of person who reads stories over and over and over . . . I just recently started Lord of the Rings again . . .

I miss my agent Hikarinoko greatly, but I want to save my other agent until I can play with my husband.  I've gone the entire path solo once, with the exception of one boss, so I know I can do it.  Now it's time to let him experience the story, as we level characters together.

Hikarinoko Surprises

Hikarinoko is now level 13 and has, of course, chosen the Operative Advanced Class.  (Healing, ftw!!)  On the way there, I've discovered a few things which surprised me, given my experience with the Sith Inquistor.  (I'll go against my habit and give a spoiler alert here for those interested in such things.)

First, after a full evaluation of the Imperial Agent quests on Hutta, minus the one where a spice dealer was asking me for help and one of the Heroic 2's, I have one thing to say: Hutta is fun!  And I found myself actually able to do some good, like saving a child from becoming a "monster" in Sith training (believe me, I understand the issue there . . .)  Or slightly disobeying orders by allowing a man to escape instead of killing him . . . Sorry, he'd been such a nice guy, I couldn't see the point of killing him, when advising him to scram would accomplish the desired ends, no matter how he ended up seeing me, personally.  Of course, when I received this mail from Keeper, I just sort of ignored it and pretended it never arrived.  (I must be better at this than I thought, if all those Watchers at HQ couldn't figure this one out . . . /wink)

And here's the rest of the message . . .

Hmmm?  Who me?

It was kind of sad to have to leave Hutta, where I understood everyone's relatively straightforward motivations, and go to Empire territory, where you have to deal with . . . nonsense . . .  Although it is nice to not have people look at me and start to cower in fear, unlike my poor Inquisitor.

Next, I actually like Kaliyo.  When Keeper first talked about taking her with me, I suggested it might be simpler just to kill her, but since then, we've really hit it off.  (She apparently bears no grudges for that comment.)  About the moment I found her suggesting a way to avoid a bloodbath, I decided there was more depth to this gal than I had first anticipated.  She might brag about her abilities to slice and dice (figuratively speaking, of course), but she apparently still has a soft spot carefully hidden behind all that bravado.  (Besides, we've already decided how to split up any male prospects we meet:  I get the smart ones, and she gets the rich ones.)

I love the recuperate ability for this character!  I have a cute little droid which gives me an information board, on which I can quietly update my status or look up stuff while I'm resting.  Nice, efficient use of time.  (And much more restful than glowing red and pacing . . . I always liked the Consular Meditation, too; it almost made me feel peaceful, just looking at it.)

I find that Keeper is a rather sympathetic character, so far, anyway.  I was touched that he seemed genuinely concerned this promising agent would become disillusioned as she learned more about the work she would be doing.  And it's much nicer to be dealing with him than a Sith who would stab you in the back as soon as look at you, and from whom I had to conceal most of what I was really thinking.  You get the idea he's actually "got your back", so to speak, although I'm not sure yet about Watchers Two or Three.  (I'll be frank:  I don't think Keeper was blinded at all when he sent that mail I referenced above.  I'm sure he knew exactly what happened and was just trying to let me know a) he knew and b) questions might arise.)

"For what it's worth--I tried to shield you from this.  But it seems it was unavoidable."

 And here's what he was trying to shield me from . . .

Yeah . . . the Sith don't mess around.  And this guy is wanting me to work for him!

All in all, so far, so good!  (Now if only I can rearrange my action bars and keybinds to my liking . . . Still working on that one . . .)

Once More Into the Breach

At the suggestion of commenters on this blog, I decided to go ahead and try out an Imperial Agent.  I figured since I could heal, I should be reasonably entertained, versus straight dps, as long as I could find enough quests to permit me to level without feeling internally ill.

Aside from the quests, I had one big concern:  would I identify with the character?  For some people, the characters they play are little more than paper dolls with which they act out a story, but I tend to have to find a connection with my characters, or the whole exercise seems kind of pointless.  (Like watching most TV shows . . . I would have no desire to meet most of these chracters in real life, so why would I want to invite them into my living room for hours on end?)  They become an extension of me, so to speak.

You see, I would probably never have started playing SWTOR at all if I hadn't fallen in love with my Jedi Consular in beta.  But now the poor girl is bored to tears, most of the time.

If I love my Consular so much, am sure some may wonder why I ever created anything else.  Well, I created my Smuggler so I could have something to play when my husband wasn't playing, but she and I never truly connected (I'm not a roguish person), and the attempt to make her a dps proved to be the final disastrous straw.

I created my Trooper because I figured I would perhaps enjoy playing another healer, as the dps option hadn't worked.  But hearing her gruff voice, I knew she simply wasn't me (had to remove my headphones), and running the same quests for the third time became quickly tedious.  (And I already knew the class story line, as I had leveled with my Trooper husband.)

(For the record, I have never had a desire to create a Jedi Knight.  Sorry, folks, I hate melee play; you can't see a thing for spell effects and multiple mobs jumbled up together.  It's too hard to target individuals and make sense of the chaos.  Besides, they can't heal, I find dps boring, and I'm a lousy tank.)

I created my Sith Inquisitor in hopes that perhaps playing in the same area as old friends would help to revitalize the game, but although I managed to establish some kind of connection with her, as she is something close to a Consular, I found we were having a hard time remaining somewhat true to our consciences.  I pity her.  I really do.  The poor girl is going to spend a lifetime living in fear, while the powers she is trying to use do their best to suck the life out of her.  (Although she is Light side, her power still stems from the Dark, or it wouldn't be purple.  I wonder if fear is considered one of those emotions which will trigger use of the Dark side . . .)

I decided I was willing to give the Imperial Agent a shot, as I do have pre-paid time, but the success of the venture would partly hinge on establishing some kind of rapport with her.  The character would have to be someone with whom I would be willing to spend a good deal of time, after all, unlike those TV show characters.

/crack knuckles

Yes, you've seen that hairstyle and color before . . .

This time, after examining the options, I chose Human.  I did not change anything about the default character which appeared except the body type, hairstyle and hair color, and, yes, I made her blonde, like me.  (Hey, if I'm trying to identify with her, I'd better give her as many advantages as possible, right?  I wish I were body type 1, but those banana muffins I just made would help to prevent that, even if my natural genetics and bearing five children hadn't done so already . . .)

Choosing a name prompted much thought.  Finally, with a chuckle, I resurrected a name I'd used for a WoW alt, one most people would definitely not think of for an Empire character:  Hikarinoko, Child of Light.

Why didn't someone tell me she would be a spy???  (I suppose it should have been obvious by the term "agent", right?  But an "agent" can do many kinds of things . . . Generally, when talking about people, it's simply a representative.)

I can see some people out there scratching their heads . . . Is this good?  Is this bad?  What's up with this exclamation?

You see . . . /looks both ways . . . my real life job is all about security.  When the "Keeper" tells her operational security is key, I know exactly what he's talking about, because I am the one who briefs everyone in the company about this topic.

I think it might be safe to say that people in this kind of business, while we are supposed to guard against espionage, have a certain fascination with it.  After all, as the saying goes, "Know thine enemy", and in all the study we have to do to know how to defend against such measures, we obviously have to learn something about those measures.  And in our heart of hearts, we wonder how successful we would be as intelligence collectors, ourselves.  (*ahem* My badge number at work is 007 . . . because I was the one making badges at the time and could choose that number for myself when it became available . . .)

Identify with this character?  So far, we have instant rapport!

The folks I'm dealing with on Hutta are far nicer than the folks my Inquisitor had to deal with at her beginning (no surprise there, hm?) . . . and I'm pleasantly surprised how many times she can finish her quests by persuasion, rather than force.  (Face it, a spy who runs around killing people a lot is a spy who will probably be pursued much more diligently by authorities and be less effective in her work.)

Bottom line, in the starter quests, I'm having fun and feeling decently comfortable with this character.  The real issue will be what will happen when she has to face all those quests I declined with my Inquisitor, as well.

Introducing Nishaa

Soooo . . . why waste time?  If I'm going to test out Trooper healing, might as well get on with it!

This is Nishaa, my Trooper destined to be a healer.  Her name is inspired by a character in an older Bollywood film, where, I've been informed, it means "night."  This actually is an instance where I completed the character customization and then decided on a name which seemed to fit.  Interestingly enough, my husband was very surprised at my characterization choices.  I'm not sure if it's because she's got a hairstyle too elegant for a Trooper or because she's a brunette, as I tend to make characters more like my own blonde appearance when possible.  (I will say that the female Trooper voice can sometimes be very . . . gruff . . . which does seem a little at odds with her hairstyle.  On the flip side, when the private on Ord Mantell starts stammering at the sight of her, you can totally understand his befuddlement.)

My husband also questioned me about her race.  "Why Mirialan?" he said.  "Aren't they supposed to be Force-sensitive or something?"

"Well, I didn't want human, and I didn't want machinery all over my face, and I didn't want horns.  So that left the Mirialan,"  I replied.  "Besides, she's going to be a healer."

"Oh, that makes more sense," he decided, continuing on his quest for milk and cookies.  "She could be one of those who isn't strong enough in the Force to be a Jedi, but with enough sensitivity to give her an edge at knowing where heals will be needed."  (Obviously, he thinks these things through more completely than I do . . .)

She's only at level 7 right now, so she hasn't had the chance to learn healing yet, but she'll get there.  As I've done the general quests on Ord Mantell already, with my Smuggler, it seems to be going much more quickly.  (Besides, she's terribly OP and things just sort of fall over when she throws firepower in their general direction.)

This time, by the way, when I was asked to fetch the medicines and return them to either the soldier or to the refugees, I returned them to the soldier.  And, boy, was he glad, as one of his patients had taken a real turn for the worse!  It gave me dark side points, but I didn't care, because it was the right choice.  (Again, is the life of a soldier really worth less than the life of a refugee?  After all, someday the Trooper on the stretcher could be me, and I would be grateful to the person who recovered the medicines stolen from my military physician.)



Yep, there you see it!  Dark points . . . If my husband's experience is any indication, this may happen on a semi-regular basis . . .

So, we'll see how this goes.  Will Nishaa make it past Nar Shaddaa?  Will I decide there is room in my heart for a Trooper, as well as a Consular?  Stay tuned, folks . . .

25 and Bored

Last night, my Smuggler reached level 25.  And I reached a realization.

Playing my Smuggler is boring.

It could be because she was stuck on Nar Shaddaa, not one of my favorite locations.  I thought it might be because she was still running around everywhere on foot, so travel was taking forever.  It could be because I'm soloing her, instead of partnering with one of my husband's characters.

But even after I got her trained and was finally able to pull out a speeder, I realized it made no difference.  Contemplating taking a mechanized travel route in the general direction of my next quest caused a bad taste in my mouth, and I just couldn't bring myself to click the button.  My enthusiasm for playing her was utterly and completely gone.  And I think I know why . . .

She's dps.

Face it:  I'm a healer.  It's what I do best, and what I enjoy the most.

I don't mind if it takes me a little longer to kill something, as I juggle dps and healing abilities.  I vastly prefer warzones as a healer, where I feel more useful and, believe it or not, less helpless.  In either scenario, I just don't like the feeling that I'm desperately throwing things at mobs or players and hoping enough will stick to make the target fall over before I do.  I like the idea I can make my life bar go up instead of simply watching it go down.  I like being able to prop up a companion or a teammate in defiance of the enemy.

Long story short, the Gunslinger play style is just not giving me thrills and giggles anymore, so I think she'll be sitting on the sidelines.  For right now, I'll play my Sage in warzones when my husband can't come quest with me, I guess, or I might . . . might . . . check out Trooper healing, as I hear they do ranged dps.

The bed on the Defender must be more cushy than it looks.  Great place for a Focusing Ritual.

There is one more possibility:  I may just identify with my idealistic Consular so much, there isn't much room in my heart for a sassy mercenary . . . In which case, there may be no hope for me at all in the alt department.

Shhh! Don't tell! She's a DPS . . .

As my husband and I are questing on our mains together and trying to remain at pretty much the same level as we go, it puts me in something of a quandary if he has to travel.  You see, his laptop doesn't run SWTOR very well at all, so we can't play together when he's on the road.

With this in mind, I created a Smuggler bearing my real life given name, with the intent to play her only when I really couldn't play my Consular.  In spite of the name, my Consular is the one with whom I identify the most and who bears my identity in the game.

The other day, my Smuggler reached level 10, and I was faced with a choice:  what Advanced Class should she pursue?

To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it, as I hadn't really thought I would have sufficient time to play her all the way to level 10.  Now, I am a healer; that's what I do best.  So when finally faced with the decision, I naturally first looked at the Scoundrel healing spec.  But as I read more about the choice, I became more uncomfortable.  I realized a Scoundrel's dps forte is at melee range, with stealth.

I've done that kind of thing before.  Playing a Druid in WoW gave me the chance to try that style out, leveling as a feral cat.  The really wonderful thing about playing a Druid in WoW is it gave me the chance to try out tanking, melee fighting, ranged fighting, and healing, at various points over the years, which is how I figured out I am a lousy tank and a good healer.  So I can say with some experience that, given the choice between melee and ranged fighting, I vastly prefer ranged.

But if I picked the Gunslinger Advanced Class, which really focuses on ranged dps, I would be cutting myself off forever from the option to heal on my Smuggler.

Ugh.  (Or, as the Sea Witch said on Disney's The Little Mermaid, "Life's full of tough choices, idn't it?")

I stared at the talent trees.  I read on the SWTOR forums.  And I kept coming back to the idea that I just didn't want to play the sneaky melee style.  But . . . to not be able to heal . . .

Finally, I had a thought which tipped the balance.  This character would be running solo most of the time.  Why would she really need to be a healer?  She had no plans to raid or even run flashpoints--just to quest her way through adventures and story lines, with perhaps a bit of PVP tossed in on the side.

Besides, dual-wielding blasters is sexy.

So, while it may come as a surprise to people that I did not choose to specialize my Smuggler as a healer, her future is set.

/furtive looks . . . This could be a lot of fun.

/giggle