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Question: What are avatars in Tr3s Lunas? :: Total Votes:2
Poll choices Votes Statistics
Something you own 0  [0.00%]
Something you drive 2  [100.00%]
Something you control 0  [0.00%]
Something you are (i.e. a role you play) 0  [0.00%]
All of the above 0  [0.00%]
None of the above [Please reply below] 0  [0.00%]
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Topic: What are avatars in Tr3s Lunas?, What is their function in online games?< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Ugo Offline




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Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 20:27

Wow, three new topics in one night is quite something for me! :D

As some of you may know, it's just very recently that I've started being a "serious" Tr3s Lunas player, especially regarding online games. So I'd like someone to answer the question above, to clarify the matter of what the actual function of the avatars in the game is. I know what their purpose is - they're used so that other people can see where you are. But I have some doubts on what they actually are, or what they stand for. I've read the 'Avatars' tab on the game's starting screen several times, but that didn't help me solve my doubts. So, if you have a reply, please put it here... ;)


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Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian
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maria Offline




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Posted: Oct. 20 2007, 21:07

This is a good question..
For me the avatar is very important, not only a way to be visible for the rest of the people (I fly the firebeing even if I play alone), but something like the "airship" that takes me through the game.
When I tried the firebeing at the very beginning, I felt "home" in it, it somehow fitted me, I mean, I felt comfortable with its size, not big or small, perfect to enter almost everywhere, very stable and moreover, I liked its colour, the sound it makes and the way it moves the wings. The firebeing makes me feel comfortable in the game, none other avatar is for me so easy and pleasant to control as this is.

The avatars are the inhabitants in tr3s lunas, it is very beautiful even when there's no one else, however with the avatars flying all over the place, I really feel it's a world with its own life. It's very nice when we are playing online and some are doing something  together and u know there are some others doing something else in a different place.
It's not easy to explain and right now I don't know which option of the ones in the poll I should choose.. Then, for the moment I won't. I'll think about it again tomorrow after some sleep...  :zzz:


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...morning and evening i'm flying, i'm dreaming...
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Alan D Offline




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Posted: Oct. 21 2007, 03:47

It's a mix, for me, with no clear-cut answer. And it varies according to my mood and the company I'm in.

Something you own? No. At best the avatars are 'on loan'. There's no feeling of ownership, though there is definitely a feeling of association. María feels most comfortable with the firebeing; I feel most comfortable with the blue moth.
Something you drive? Not for the 'creatures'. That would suggest they're inanimate, and I never feel that about them. But the airship and the plane and the paper dart don't evoke the same sense, for me. They are more like things to drive.
Something you control This is the closest but even so doesn't seem quite right. Closer would be something you ride. As if it were a creature that's cooperating voluntarily. At least, that's how it seems so far as the creature avatars are concerned.
Something you are Again it varies from avatar to avatar. I never feel as if I 'am' the dart, say. But I do feel a sense of 'merging' with the moth to some degree. Certainly when I see avatars on screen in an online game, I do tend to think 'There's María'; or 'there's Gary' - and so on.
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Ugo Offline




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Posted: Oct. 21 2007, 08:47

Thanks, María, for your 'feeling'-based reply, and Alan, for your explanations. Yes, I agree on the fact that what an avatar actually is depends largely on the mood you're in while playing. I didn't consider 'riding' as an option, because 'riding' always gives me the sense of being on something (= on top of something) and none of the avatars, even the creature ones, makes me feel like I'm on top of it. Regarding 'ownership' of the avatars, of course I meant it as temporary ownership - an avatar is yours for the duration of a gameplay, and even in this case your 'ownership' of it may not last for the entire game, as you can leave an avatar and pick up another. Indeed, while I was making the poll, I considered writing out the first option as "Something you temporarily own", but then I thought that avatars only exist in the game (i.e. in a virtual world, not in the real one), so everything that happens in that world, including ownership of various items (rings, things to shoot, avatars etc.) is virtual and not real. :)

Regarding the avatar one feels most comfortable with, mine is the hummingbird/kingfisher. I had it for the whole duration of yesterday's game and, despite what I initially thought of it :D, I drove/controlled/rode it wonderfully. :)

I also agree with your impression of people actually 'being' their avatars when you see them on screen. Whenever I saw the firebeing flying next to me during yesternight's game, I couldn't help thinking that it wasn't really a bird made of fire - it was a really friendly girl from Spain. :)


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Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian
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Trinidad Offline




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Posted: Oct. 22 2007, 21:49

The choices I feel are closer to my vision of the avatars (from the list) are "Something you control" and "Something you drive", but I've finally chosen "Something you drive". The reason is very simple: with "control" I feel like being able to make them to do everything I want to, controlling every single aspect of how it's done, but since that's not always so easy, I think "drive" fits better. But anyway, that's only based on my personal interpretation of the words.

However, for me, the (or one of the) best possible description would be exactly the opposite of "Something you own", i.e., "Something you share". In fact, I would say that in MVR you own everything except the avatars. That is, you can go anywhere, take anything, shoot, make noise, etc, etc, but at the end the only thing that it's the same for everybody are the avatars. They're something that's there for all us, while the rest is a private world in which nobody else can interfere.
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4 replies since Oct. 20 2007, 20:27 < Next Oldest | Next Newest >

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