What’s In a Personality?

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:05:45 +0000

What’s Character Personality Got To Do With It?

(This is the text portion of “Off the Beaten Path” as heard on Hearthstone Tavern Roleplay Podcast #17)

Personality is a way of summarizing an individual’s essence, so that a character can enter the world and be more than a cardboard cutout. It’s easy to look at the character that is a druid and already know that they like plants or can shape-shift into cats, and may even have cat-like traits. However, when faced with a trying friends or a personal trauma, what exactly will be your character’s response …and why?

In the world of advertising and marketing, knowing the personality of and the how a person derives at decisions is worth paying millions for. When they figure out the how and why, then they know exactly in what way to target their products to people. It’s not as simple as group a and b like product x or anything like that. The real treasure is trying to understand what movtivates people to make decisions, and in what ways do they allow influences to affect them. An exercise that marketing uses to understand people and their choices is actually a tool developed by authors and writers called the character diamond. This is a technique which allows for a quick snapshot of the essence of person’s personality by building a scaffold or framework. By defining a person (or in our case a character) into four simple quadrants, you can begin to fill out and understand the character, then the rest of the RP can become organic and natural.

The four quadrants in the character diamond should at least represent the dominant traits of your character and are as follows:

your character’s main Primary Strength(s)
your character’s Shadow Trait
your character’s Supporting Trait(s)
your character’s Fatal Flaw.

To use these four areas as character development exercise, the idea is to pick a character and come up with a word or two that best describes each of these categories for your character. Let’s get an idea with a character who we want to create, let’s say a roguish thief.

The Primary Strength is generally something that is admirable and forms the backbone of who the character is. For example, our roguish thief character’s strengths are that he is tenacious and patient. He can get himself out of a jam no matter what, even through sheer will if he needs to. He also has the required stamina to be meticulous.

The Shadow Trait is a secret yearning or something about the character that is hidden. In your character, it is either actively suppressed or sometimes can be something they are unaware of or simply lack the ability to see it in themselves or can admit. Going back to our roguish thief, let’s assume that this trait is Avarice – The acquisition of items for him borders on the drive to obtain them at an almost obsession level. This includes doing just about anything if there is a potential gain to him.

The Supporting Trait is generally an attitude or value which blends and supports the primary strength. Back to our roguish thief, we will make him knowledgeable and skillful. Our guy is an artisan and can make his own amazing tools and weapons. He knows how they function and how they are made which can be very handy when he needs to appraise goods. This supports and complements his primary strengths of tenacious and patience.

The Fatal Flaw is a virtue which borders on the extreme, and usually ends up can being a failing grace. Leadership winds up being a flaw if it becomes controlling. Another example is when nurturing becomes smothering. The fatal flaw is the one thing that almost every character needs and is the item that makes a character more believable and more real (more human as it were.) So for our roguish thief character, his flaw might be that although he is a meticulous artisan, if taken to the extreme he is a scrupulous blathering fussy perfectionist with himself and other people.

Using this marketing and writing technique can help define a basic personality framework for your character. This gives your character a foundation from which they make choices or interact with others and why.

Hope this little exercise helps you with your characters. Have fun everyone.

Suzanna aka Stardancer/Stardancerelf (stardancerelf.com) started doing audio articles in the Epic Dolls Podcast in 2006. She has continued on to host Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast with a fantastically talented and creative cast. She is an avid part-time gamer, musician, artist, and someone known to philosophize. Twitter her @stardancerelf

Natural Roleplay

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:41:01 +0000

Roleplaying Organically

In the Hearthstone Tavern Roleplay podcast, Brent was probably the first to mention it, but several cast members have referred to or use the term “organic” when describing some types of roleplay.

The word organic is used in the food industry when referring to products grown without hormones or other chemicals. In business, the term refers to company and/or consumer growth that happens on its own without a lot of hustling or capital expense. In the past, I have used the term “organic” in music business articles I have written to describe how to compose music digitally with more natural sounds and orchestrations. The term “organic” has come to refer to something that is natural, authentic, or has core value. However, I like the way that the Urban Dictionary defines the term “organic” with regard to writing,

“As an analogy in the creative process, used to describe a work such as a novel or movie script made in such a way that the various parts developed as they were written/painted/whatever, one from another, rather than sticking rigidly to a preconceived plan.”

I think this definition probably applies the most to what it means to roleplay organically or naturally.

Many players look at organic roleplaying more like improvisation. Auburn wrote in How Do You RP: RPing Methods 101,

“Improvisation leans on taking what’s there and running with it. An improvisationist is most happy when random events conspire to become meaningful. ”

While some players may prefer more strict settings in details and goals established through Storytelling ( Dungeon Mastering or DMing), it is important to learn to “roll with the punches” when dealing with additional, artistic, or novice players. Eliot wrote this observation in Storyboard at Massively,

“Far better to compromise and keep things active. Organisms that adapt, survive. It’s a principle to live by.”

In the Hearthstone Tavern Roleplay podcast, we have talked about storytelling, leading, and even DMing organized events within the game world. However detailed those events and storylines can be, everyone pretty much agrees that some of the best nights of roleplay happen when there is no script or storyline, when roleplay “just happens.” It is those random high-caliber roleplays that arise out of nowhere without a script that would be my definition of a truly organic roleplay. When another player plays their character as their character no matter what is thrown at them, those are the kind that deserve standing ovation behind the screen because their “acting” was so good! It is those roleplays where the characters, stories, and interactions become living art to me.

I guess the point I am trying to get to here is that whether scripted or not, what people put into their roleplays, the little random parts of themselves, the spontaneous previously unwritten extras, artistic or otherwise, are truly that the seeds that help their character and stories organically come alive. I might have to get a guest writer on here to write about tips and tricks to play roleplay more organically.

Suzanna aka Stardancer/Stardancerelf (stardancerelf.com) started doing audio articles in the Epic Dolls Podcast in 2006. She has continued on to host Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast with a fantastically talented and creative cast. She is an avid part-time gamer, musician, artist, and someone known to philosophize. Twitter her @stardancerelf

Where In the World Is…?

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Sat, 01 May 2010 22:07:48 +0000

Most people knew me back when I was doing the Off the Beaten Path audio articles for the Epic Dolls podcast. The catch phrase I used for my segment was, “unusual or interest quests, places to see, and roleplaying tips too.” Although quests and locales are not necessarily synonymous with roleplaying, more often than not you will see roleplayers about in the land enjoying what’s out there. Of course, there are many others who also thoroughly enjoy seeing what is out there just in case the developers decided to be sneaky or artistic.

When World of Warcraft’s Burning Crusade expansion came out, players could finally fly around. I am glad that the developers realized that players could and would go everywhere. You may remember the orphan village on the top of the mountains between Nagrand and Zangarmarsh? What about the floating islands in Nagrand, the one with the apple tree? In Northrend, did you fly all the way to the top of the mountains and get a sense of vertigo? It is my hope that in the World of Warcraft Cataclysm expansion, the developers have remembered us in a similar way.

I am curious to know if anyone else is landscape-recreational like I am? Do you explore every little nook and cranny in any world you happen to be playing/gaming in, just to see if the developers hid something? Maybe the designers of the landscapes just want to be artsy? I can imagine to game companies, it may be tempting (and lucrative) to save time and money by simply repeating textures and patterns. You know, the same trees but change it a little by adding a different color? The same buildings but different texture? Although Warcraft has its own style, there are many many things in many places around Azeroth and beyond that are one-of-a-kind.

Do you remember where you might have seen this bridge?

This is the only treehouse like this (although the trees themselves can be seen in Moonglade). Do you recall where it located?

Do you know where this is? Yes, PURPLE mist.

The wacky and weird is what makes the world itself interesting to me. The characters that I have developed and roleplay tend to be a little “off the beaten path” as well. The world in World of Warcraft is a bit eccentric and that works for me and my plethora characters. Just in case you are a little like me and enjoy the more off-beat parts of Warcraft, there is a fantastic blog chronicling the strange and unusual here at Oddcraft.

While You Wait (for Cataclysm)

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 07:24:22 +0000

Yeah, I know… people are getting ansty as they wait for the World of Warcraft Cataclysm Expansion. Some players are even bored as they have been-there-done-that. We at Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast are doing our part to share with and inform players of the many other ways to enhance the game. Over the last few weeks on Hearthstone Tavern, we have talked about character development from drastic character changes to the upcoming “Story tellers” (those players who DM and guide story- arcs.) Richard “Greyseer” of Lorecrafted has been busily keeping players informed of a myriad of lore changes. I was so excited by the For the Horde episodes, that I am happy to say that I switched factions and play Horde. Cataclysm hasn’t arrived just yet, so you probably know what that means. Yep, leveling new characters and replaying characters that were low level back in the old lands of Azeroth, or commonly known as “vanilla WoW.”

Most veteran players who have leveled several characters into the 80′s probably aren’t going to bother with starting any new characters right now. Why would they? Cataclysm is going to change the world so much it will be like playing in a new game. I can understand that completely. Most players are waiting to start any new characters until the expansion when they will have new races and new quests in which to dabble.

I have been playing Horde for quite a while and leveling has been kind of quiet. As you can imagine, the zones are nearly devoid of other players. (They are all in Dalaran. hehe) There’s little to no competition for trades, quests, rares, or anything in between. I have one character up to Burning Crusade, and several others still in the original lands. It has been hard work and let’s face it, tedious, but I am glad I have been doing this.

Through all my characters’ eyes, I have been able to revisit this amazing world that I had come to adore. Raising these new characters, I have had this chance to reminisce and remember the landscapes, the quests, the lore, as well as the incredible vastness of real estate between cities and continents. Seeing all the world from the other faction has renewed the world for me. This has been a tremendous opportunity to visit it all before it’s gone. It’s not just riding around through all the zones either. Roleplaying and developing new characters means re-exploring and relearning… everything!

The world will be fresh in my mind when Cataclysm’s devastation tears through the land. This sort of impact will definitely ricochet into and be felt dramatically by my characters. Where they have recently walked, in many cases will no longer be there.

Strong Female Characters: Go Green!

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:37:29 +0000

Strong Female Characters: Go Green, Play an Orc

We recently recorded for the Hearthstone Tavern Role-play Podcast Episode 13, For the Horde! (which will be able later this month). In preparation, I played through my plethora of World of Warcraft Horde characters for weeks ahead of time. I wanted to review each of the races and cultures in order to talk about the characters that I enjoy, and maybe dabble with a new race. Admittedly, prior to this, I hadn’t played an orc. One of our cast members who plays an infamous orc on Earthen Ring, had spoken so highly of the culture and lore of the World of Warcraft orcs, that I created my first orc character.

Although I am an open-minded woman gamer, I wasn’t too sold on them at first. They were green, tough, and many of the models don’t have a full head of hair. However, I have to admit that I am enjoying my female orc shaman. She’s powerful and looks it. She appears as if she could even drag someone out of Orgrimmar by their hair without breaking a sweat! As I began to get into the whole idea of role-playing an orc, I noticed something interesting about the orc culture. Females were equal to males. In fact, orc females held many positions of influence around the world. For example, two of the most powerful elite orcs in Durotar (one at Crossroads [60] and in Orgrimmar [80]) are both female NPCs .

I am not writing this to state that I am a feminist or to be yet another woman writer/gamer wailing about the stereotyped women bodies in video games. (Unfortunately, that is always going to be the case with any avatars. People don’t want to play a version of themselves, they want to play something more heroic, something more Boris Vaelljo.) What I am saying is that Blizzard paid attention to the lore of their world and with that, presented authoritative and tough women that weren’t merely male characters swapped out with token female ones. Not only are the females in roles of power around Azeroth, the lore supports their position and contributions to the story of World of Warcraft.

Most games, especially first person shooters, allow you to pick a character from a menu. Generally, each avatar is just the same programmed character that is swapped out for a different preferred *skin.* This saves on programming and/or having to write a good story/lore. These games attempt to try and appeal to the female gaming community by including at least one avatar that is female. But basically what you get is something like a gun-toting Duke Nukem (I guess that would be Dukette?) as it were.

After playing for a while, I have come to really like the female orcs, they are tough. They walk with a purposeful stride, and appear as if you wrong them in anyway, they can kick your rear and take care of business. This brings me to the story of those two female NPCs that wander in Durotar…

Sergra Darkthorn is a task giver who resides at the Crossroads, Barrens. According to WoWwiki, she is “notable for being a supporter of gender equality among the Horde, praising female adventurers for having the initiative to push forward into the Barrens and warning male adventurers not to disrespect her because of her gender.”

Scout Manslayer patrols the streets of Orgrimmar and is probably one of the most powerful nonworld- boss in any city (classic WoW). Although there isn’t anything about her, I might have my own ideas. The orc surnames are generally derived through some heroic deed from an ancestor, or some orcs can earn through exceptional deeds on their own. With a name like Manslayer, we can guess that she has some skill with dispatching Alliance infiltration.

In summary, I find it refreshing to see in an MMORPG like World of Warcraft that female characters are portrayed as heroes in their own right and not simply male characters with a female *skin.*

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The Storytellers

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:13:35 +0000

The Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast cast finished recording today, February 21, for Episode 11 (to be released later in the week). We were thrilled to have Jaero the Grim back with us from Earthen.Ning! We also had a great time presenting a preview of World of Warcraft’s Stormrage, authored by Richard Knaak, and round-tabling about role play techniques for established role-players.

One of the topics that stood out during the round table discussions is the idea of a storyteller in role play. I was unclear what this term actually meant in terms of role playing within World of Warcraft. I have seen the use of the phrase “storyteller” when I have read various players’ role playing addon tags while in game. A quick definition of the actual term “storyteller” is, “One who writes and tells stories, a narrator.” However, all of us who role play are storytellers to some degree because we are inventing and writing our character(s)’ story. So, that didn’t really clear it up for me. The Hearthstone Tavern RP cast took a moment to discuss what a storyteller is in an role play setting (available in Episode 11).

In role play, there are participants and organizers. Organizers can be those players who organize public role playing events such as story nights or players who organize storylines written and portrayed. Storytellers remind me a a little of dungeon masters from table top D&D (Dungeons and Dragons). Here is what I mean:

“A Dungeon Master (often abbreviated as DM) is the game organizer and participant in charge of creating the details and challenges of a given adventure, while maintaining a realistic continuity of events. In effect, the Dungeon Master controls all aspects of the game, except for the actions of the player characters (PCs) and describes to the other players what they see and hear.” (ref.: Dungeon Master )

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“Dungeon Master”, or “Storyteller” is. He (or she) is the one who prepares a game or storyline in advance, and then, with the participation of the players of the game, acts out that game. They should try not to “lead” your player’s from one event to the other. Try to design your game as to allow for as much player freedom as possible; many Dungeon Masters design their games and storylines as an outline or a series of notes, as opposed to preparing a solid story. Because you never know exactly what your players are going to do, you should try to keep your games, events, and scenarios as open-ended as possible. Also, remember that people who are playing a game crave action – that’s why they are playing the game in the first.

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The key to a good role playing game is not only the Dungeon Master’s ability to tell his story, but the actions of the player’s characters in game, too. (ref.: Dungeon Mastering )

However, in an already established gaming system such as World of Warcraft, the storyteller can’t really manipulate specific NPCs or PCs, dungeons, or quests… so how do they story tell? They can and do present storylines and continuity between characters and story which often incorporates other players’ characters and their actions within the context of the story within the established world. They do this through writing and planning storylines that are presented and “acted out” within the game and followed up in writing on forums.

Here are a few things which helped me understand more about the storyteller role in World of Warcraft:

Example: “…but little did she know that…” A storyteller’s focus isn’t on the character at all, it’s on the narrative the character’s life becomes. Storytellers tend to write narrative fanfiction, run storylines, and try to introduce continuity between events. Depending on their narrative skills, they can be valuable contributors. A storyteller is most satisfied when things lead to other things and eventually, a logical and kathartic conclusion. The only thing better than a good character is a good story for the character to contribute to. Doing that well enriches everyone’s experience. (ref: World of Warcraft Forums EU)

I loved playing D&D and having an adventure with a character that I developed. It seems sort of exciting to have someone willing to organize a story/event that incorporates your character. I think I will go look around for a storyteller.

Your Character as a Child

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:01:31 +0000

Your Character as a Child : An Interesting Slant on Character Development

A while back I wrote a post at the Earthen.ning forums in the Role Play development section about how overwhelming the thought of leveling another character might be now that you have peaked at 80 in World of Warcraft. I should add that many people are feeling the “lull” in World of Warcraf now that everyone is waiting for the world-changing Cataclysm expansion.

While you wait, you may be ready to dust off a character or consider putting on a more creative hat. Anna, of Too Many Annas, started an interesting role play (RP) series by asking the reader to pick out a character and answer some very basic questions and asking the reader to “let loose with their imaginations.” I am quoting the questions she submitted:

1. What is your character’s name?
2. Why did he/she pick his/her class?
3. What’s the worst trouble he/she ever got into as a child?
4. What is his/her favorite thing to eat?
5. What does he/she have in his/her pockets?

Although these seem slightly basic, it was numbers 3 and 5 which got me interested in something I never thought through before for my characters. I never considered my character AS a child. I think most of us include only the basics in our character biographies –who, what, and when. I knew whose child she was, where she grew up, and an approximation of when. But as I began to think of her IN childhood doing child-like things, I wondered if she was the kind of child who would even get into trouble? Would she be the type of child who brings a frog home in her pocket? Or would she gather a collection of rocks? Did she have an imaginary friend? I am thinking that “Stardancer” would collect shells on the shore, make crowns out of flowers (and wear them), and hum while she walks.

I was wondering if thinking through your character AS a child, what would he/she be like? What would you come up with? For example, if your character was a gnome child, were they the type who did experiments with their “GearFizzle’s Widget Rector Set for little Tykes” and caught the drapes on fire? Or used a magnifying glass on poor cockroaches? I absolutely loved the plethora of responses that were posted at the Earthen.ning site. Take a look here: Your Character as a Child at Earthen.ning.

Suzanna aka Stardancer/Stardancerelfstardancerelf.com Suzanna (aka Stardancer) started audio articles in the Epic Dolls Podcast in 2006. She has continued on to host Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast with a fantastically talented and creative cast. Avid part-time gamer, musician, artist, and is someone known to philosophize. Twitter me @stardancerelf

Avatar Blue, Dilly Dilly…

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:32:46 +0000

After taking a long hiatus/holiday from the Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast, the cast and I finally resumed recording on January 31, 2010. Almost everyone had seen the movie Avatar, so we took a moment to discuss our thoughts about the it.

Richard “Tharion Greyseer” (of Lorecrafted.com) was hoping that the successful visual display and story in Avatar will somehow open the way for the World of Warcraft movie. The Hearthstone Tavern Podcast cast was left wondering if the World of Warcraft movie would be fully CGI as with Beowulf or would it be a combination live-action and CGI as with Avatar? Prior to Avatar, many fans had wondered if a World of Warcraft movie could even be done at all without looking silly.

The Hearthstone Tavern Podcast cast couldn’t help but discuss some obvious similarities between Avatar and World of Warcraft. Michael (aka Anansi) on the Earthen Ring forums had posted a link to such an article entitled, AvatarVs. World of Warcraft . Another humorous article swears that James Cameron Plays World of Warcraft . After reading the article and then reflecting on my own adventures in the Warcraft universe, I came to realize that many items do indeed parallel World of Warcraft even though Cameron insists the outline for his story was written back in the 1980s. I think what troubled many gamers who saw the movie wasn’t just a single thing, such as floating islands or the Na’vi. It was the combination of them all in one story; floating islands, bluish animal-people, epic flying mounts, wisps, world trees, nature goddesses, etc.

Some of the elements resembled Nagrand, Night Elves, and Teldrassil, so what? World of Warcraft isn’t the first place stories of floating islands and and cat-like people have ever been thought up or told. I think what James Cameron does with Avatar is show us all that a movie which encompasses these fantastic people, locales, and story can be done …and be outrageously successful. By seeing Avatar, we can all now visiualize and comprehend that a World of Warcraft movie can happen. I think James Cameron has paved the way and proved that all our beloved science fiction/fantasy stories can come to life. Maybe that was his goal?

The only issue I had with the Avatar film was the use of the name “Avatar.” To me, “avatar” should have been left to the character of Aang from a beloved soulful animated adventure series entitled, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aang, afterall, was and is the Avatar of the Elements. There is currently a live-action movie of that series in the works. The film title had to be changed and shortened to, The Last Airbender in order to reduce any confusion with Avatar. In light of this, and the fact that the “avatars” were only a fraction of the story, I believe that Cameron could have acquiesced and entitled his movie, “Pandora.“

Art of Role-Play

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:24:23 +0000

Art of Role-Play

One of the more interesting things in recent months that I look forward to has been talking and bantering with the cast of Hearthstone Tavern RP podcast. Even though I MC the show, I find the casts’ knowledge and creativity an inspiration. I learn so many things from all of them that I can hardly get through editing without wanting to run out and RP right then and there! The cast members have many more years of experience in role-playing than I do and their contributions and love for the art of role-play is something I try to aspire toward.

Yes, I do think it should be called the “art of role-play.” When I listen through what Mox, Michael, Ria, Matt, Richard, Harper, and Brent say through writings, discussions, and interviews as well as others of you who blog, I can’t help but see how truly ‘artful’ it is. There is an art to being able to see and feel a character and bring it to life through interactions with other characters in a MMORPG. There is an art to developing/managing character histories and multiple storylines with others. …And there is an art to playing a gracious hostess or portraying a villain (and still remain friends IRL.)

Looking up just a quick definition, Wikipedia states, “Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature. ” Through the art of role-play, the players are arranging story elements and characters. This also includes the wide array of activities and expression that are encompassed in story-arcs and biographical backgrounds. Another quick source states that an “art form” is, “The medium or field in which an artist works.” In a sense, the very nature of portraying a fictional character and writing it (since we use text) makes role-play an art form.

The level of detail that some players go into in order to ensure their character has a rich history and current saga is amazing. There are some truly exceptional writer/RPers out there that can make role-playing appear as graceful as a dance and can do so with the ease of inhaling a breath. The characters they create and play are so well-done the roles are fluid and consistent and you could swear they really were that person. A quick chat “off-stage” later and you know they aren’t, but damn, that was a great RP scene they did! There are times I just stay in the background and watch the events unfold like a drama or stage play. I stand in awe of you.

For the rest of us who are still trying to figure it all out and who aren’t necessarily great writers, we will keep being inspired by you!

Suzanna aka Stardancer/Stardancerelf

stardancerelf.com

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) started audio articles in the Epic Dolls Podcast in 2006. She has continued up to host Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast with a fantastically talented and creative cast. Avid part-time gamer, musician, artist, and someone who has been known to philosophize. Twitter me @stardancerelf

Steampunk Greymane for Halloween!

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:22:18 +0000

I saw this at the World of Warcraft website and had to say, “No, I am NOT prepared.” http://www.buycostumes.com/browse/_/N-/Ntt-warcraft/results1.aspx I really don’t have any words for these masks other than, “Why???” I am happy to say that the introduction of new races in the Cataclysm expansion (specifically the inhabitants of Greymane City) stirred my creativity for a Halloween costume in a different direction.

In Episode 6 of the Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast http://hearthstonetavern.com/podcast/2009/09/hearthstone-podcast-6-part-i/ we talked about this new race, the Worgens. They will in available in the Cataclysm Expansion. Finally, the doors to Greymane city in the land of Gilneas will be open. These doors were once referred to as the Greymane Wall and stood in dead silence separating Gilneas from the rest of the world for many long years. Behind the doors contained a dire secret that the people there wanted to keep hidden from the rest of the world. The humanoid inhabitants of the once isolated city are inflicted with the taint of worgen blood. Taint or blessing? That remains to be seen. While the Worgen will be joining the Alliance, that is fine by me. I plan to be taking up residence in their awesome Jules-Vern-Victorian-esque city. Which brings me to why this city is very intriguing– in a word, Steampunk.

If you are not familiar with Steampunk, let me refresh your memory. It is a sub-culture of science-fiction fantasy that denotes a time-period, era, or world where steam-power inventions are widely used and has a Victorian England flair. (See Steampunk at Wikipedia for more information. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk) With the addition of goblin and gnomish engineering, I can see how the Victorian Gothic Greymane city and inhabitants fall under the spectrum of “Steampunk.” I enjoy the gaslight ambience of such city as Greymane. Thank you, Blizzard!

I have been creating my Steampunk outfit for a while now. Because it crosses over various genres, I can wear it to various cons, from Comicon to Dragoncon. I will be able to wear it to Blizzcon as it will fit in with the non-transformed human Greymane city dwellers. Yay!

What are you wearing for Halloween (and beyond)?

Oh dear! I saw this at the World of Warcraft website and had to say, “No, I am NOT prepared.” I really don’t have any words for these masks other than, “Why???” I am happy to say that the introduction of new races in the Cataclysm expansion (specifically the inhabitants of Greymane City) stirred my creativity for a Halloween costume in a different direction.

In Episode 6 of the Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast we talked about this new race, the Worgens. They will in available in the Cataclysm Expansion. Finally, the doors to Greymane City in the land of Gilneas will be open. These doors were once referred to as the Greymane Wall and stood in dead silence separating Gilneas from the rest of the world for many long years. Behind the doors contained a dire secret that the people there wanted to keep hidden from the rest of the world. The humanoid inhabitants of the once isolated city are inflicted with the taint of worgen blood. Taint or blessing? That remains to be seen. While the Worgen will be joining the Alliance, that is fine by me. I plan to be taking up residence in their awesome Jules-Vern-Victorian-esque city. Which brings me to why this city is very intriguing– in a word, Steampunk.

If you are not familiar with Steampunk, let me refresh your memory. It is a sub-culture of science-fiction fantasy that denotes a time-period, era, or world where steam-power inventions are widely used and has a Victorian England flair or Gaslight district. (See Steampunk at Wikipedia for more information. ) With the addition of goblin and gnomish engineering, I can see how the Victorian Gothic Gilneas and inhabitants fall under the spectrum of “Steampunk.” I enjoy the gaslight ambience very much. Thank you, Blizzard!

I have been creating my Steampunk outfit for a while now. Because it crosses over various genres, I can wear it to various cons, from Comicon to Dragoncon.

I will be able to wear it to Blizzcon as it will fit in with the non-transformed human Greymane city dwellers.

Yay!

What are you wearing for Halloween (and beyond)?

Suzanna aka Stardancer/Stardancerelf
stardancerelf.com

Suzanna (aka Stardancer) started audio articles in the Epic Dolls Podcast in 2006. She has continued up to host Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast with a fantastically talented and creative cast. Avid part-time gamer, musician, artist, and someone whohas been known to philosophize. Twitter me- @stardancerelf