Monday 7 April 2003

Pic of the day: Ordinary's world. (Screenshot from Dark Age of Camelot.) Oh, yes, this snippet of a famous song seems eerily appropriate for the topic:

And as I try to make my way
to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive...

(Duran Duran: Ordinary World.)

Power Leveling

Spent a few hours getting power-leveled in the Barrows. Well, actually that was my character in Dark Age of Camelot. Not Itlandsen the paladin, but Ordinary the Bonedancer. A friendly necromancer took a bunch of us small ones into the dungeon called Barrows, which is best suited for characters around level 40. We just stood there or sat there chatting while he killed one undead monster after another. (Necromancers have a bonus vs undead. I think paladins should have that, but I guess it makes some kind of sense at least.) People in the group came and went, but I stayed, going from level 6 to level 13 and also getting like 10 gold of loot.

Power leveling is not quite like cheating, but a bit like it. You get something without working for it. Levels are supposed to be levels of experience, a shorthand to tell how much your character has used its skills and become familiar with the world. I guess you can get some insight by watching experts - the way I learn from watching people play Go - but nothing can really replace doing it yourself.

I see there is a site on the Net selling DAoC power-leveling services. We're talking dollars here, several dollars, not imaginary gold coins. I am not going to link to it -- if you're not able to find it using google you may be tempted to use it...

I don't mind a little power-leveling, but being PL'ed for a long time is only recommended if you have played the same class before. When you are a high-level character, people expect you to know what spells or styles to use in different situations. They expect you to be able to give advice and protect others. And they expect you to not get lost in the forest. It is kind of like buying a college degree on the Net ... Even if you could do it, you wouldn't last long in any job you got. It's the same here: You get in a high-level group and people realize you are a newbie, you won't feel welcome for long.

Anyway, it was nice to skip a few levels and relax a bit. I sometimes help out smaller players myself. Just don't overdo it ... And don't pay with your credit card. Get friends. Attention is the currency of the Net, remember?