I started another Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) this weekend, created a new character in the world of Shadowbane. And as I was playing around, I noticed a few things. First, my Everquest hotkeys don't work anymore. Or at least about a third of them, it seems like the designers used a few of the commands, but not others. Thankfully, the ones they did use work the same. But most of my observations went something like this: What do I think about this game and the people I am playing with? It's an interesting experience every time I start one of these games, because its not only a whole new world, its a whole new culture, with a different set of norms.

For example: In Shadowbane, it is apparently OK to loot other people's corpses. In the Everquest community, this is heresy. Everquest operates on a very important principle of 'thou shalt not steal, unless by cheating the game. Cheating the game is ok, just not other players' (I am speaking from the player culture here, I don't really care what Sony Online Entertainment tries to enforce). In Shadowbane, you are silly for not looting someone's corpse, even in the non- player vs. player areas. I got to watch no small amount of drama as this played out for a member of my group, culture shock extreme as the group looted his corpse and wouldn't return his money. It was his fault for dying.

On the whole, I am left with an impression that the folks I am playing with are younger than they are in Everquest. I don't know exactly how I got that sense, though. I don't (yet) have hard numbers on the player community for SB, but I'd be suprised if the average age isn't lower than EQ. Just things people have said, actions in stressful situations, etc. But who can say. The game itself is interesting but lacks the 'old feel' of my beloved Norrath.

I am, by all reasonable definitions, a newborn. I don't know how to communicate, how to get around, how I fit in the societal structure of the world or its player community. A great lesson here to those that feel they are not "set in their ways" - imagine if you could experience the real world again with no knowledge of it - how would you fare?

I will continue my research of orcs and goblins.