I’m The Dude Playing The Dude Disguised As Another Dude!

I love to customise things; stickers on books, badges on bags, posters on walls, etc. Now my love for customisation has passed into games. The idea of creating a unique character to me makes the game more appealing. The majority of my gaming collection is RPGs and about a quarter make up games that allow me to customise my own character. I don’t always create a character in my image, sometimes I create a character that I would imagine living in the world I’m about to experience.

RPGs and MMORPGs are the genres that allow us to create a pixel version of ourselves or allow us to get creative. We are given many options when we start to customise, from eyebrow shape to nose size to eye colour to height, in order to make the experience that more unique and special for us. Character customisation gives us the opportunity to take on a whole new persona and become a different person or even become a creature like an elf or ogre. We don’t have to have the colour hair we have in the real world or the weight or lip size, this is a chance to create someone perfect, an ideal me! Not only do we create characters in games, but also on our Xbox dashboard, forums, and even when we meet strangers for the first time. It’s really not all that strange, we may want to sound more appealing by creating an imaginary job or even changing the clothes we wear in order to look more interesting or fashionable. A chance to be someone new is always fun! Even in interviews and meeting the in-laws for the first time, we dress to impress and adopt a persona to gain acceptance from that person or persons.

The Sims series makes it more enjoyable because you are making a life for your pixel mini-me, allowing you to have a crazy job, stunning homes and make your own family without the mess. We don’t always stick to our own genders either, we can change those also. Changing these things in the real world costs time and money, so the safe and cheapest way is via games. I know men who design female characters in games and vice versa. A gentleman I knew created a female Bloodelf in WoW in order to see how long it would take before someone would hit on him. And he didn’t stop there — he pretended he was a woman in real life and got some very interesting requests. The things people do and say for gold… but that’s a story for another time! Hopefully more game developers will give us the chance to create new characters with unique looks and personalities. Lately Fable 3 allowed us to go further with this when our own weapons started to become characters themselves, depending on the way we used them. Who knows what will come from the future of customisation. All I know is that I will be first in line if possible to try it out.