I chose the troll because it was closest to "happy" out of all of the characters. I had hoped I might be able to make him look a little dopey, as that is a character I could probably identify with. He would be a troll... not the most intelligent of trolls... but he would be a humorous chap that meant well. I could live with that. BUT he didn't end up looking all that dopey. So now I just had a real, and threatening (on many levels) troll on my hands. Oh boy.
And thus he was given the name Aalfred. Leaving WoW is hardest for me because of the name. Naming is important, and I really like this name, even with the double-a. It has both a ring of the proper English, but with the spelling it has a little bit of Gaelic mystique/history to it. In terms of an Ulmerian writing-of-the-paradigm, I should also note that the shortened version of his name in Chat often comes across as Aalf, or more commonly Alf... which I thoroughly enjoy because the 80's television show ALF was good-times (there's also an Alf Insurance company near where I live back in Michigan, and they have an Elf for a logo... and I always wonder why they made that choice... it doesn't work for me). I am not entirely sure what all the name means, but it strikes me as a meaningful name.
Aalfred is a troll rogue. I don't really know what that means. I was told that I would be able to do close-up damage with him and that it would be useful. That isn't the type of choice I would typically make. Diving into the fray is not usually my method-of-choice. But for this it was about functionality. I wanted to get into the game and get going, so I took the advice of experienced players. I really have no idea what the difference would be playing with a different type of character. Perhaps I should try it. Maybe I would connect with the universe/mythology more.
In fact, I do not connect with the WoW mythology/universe all that much, save for with Aalfred directly. This makes it kind of unlikely for me that I will play much (perhaps At All) after my stay here in 813 has ended. Maybe it is because Aalfred is a little alone right now. Recently he has joined the Venture Guild, and has received some important and appreciated help from others, but even in my 20-some hours of playing so far, I have not developed routine relationships with other players/characters. That is largely because I am a new player, so I am not quite to their level/location yet.
And that's how I prefer it to be. Other than the functional/practical aspect of being "assigned" leveling requirements, learning how to master program tends to be a largely self-taught activity for me. Truth be told, though, I am not sure that furthering connections with others will work for me/Aalfred, because I simply do not find myself getting engrossed by the WoW world, so that real immersion is difficult. Maybe it's a chicken-egg thing. I don't know.
Aalfred is who he is, though. The fact that I am using a personal pronoun for him is probably more telling than I want to admit. He is not me, though. That is for sure. It is not an extension of myself, but rather a character that I have been forced to reconcile with. The puppeteers of the american golden age would often say that you can't tell the puppet what to do, but rather that you have to let the puppet tell you what it wants to do. I am experiencing that first hand with this virtual object-subject me-Aalfred/Aalfred-me relationship.
Boy this post has gotten longer than I expected it to. It's the box of staples all over again.
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