“Well I did it,” begins a recent post on Blizzard’s World of Warcraft forums. We often discuss here at Tap-Repeatedly how killing, in its many forms, has long been the predominant form of expressing progress in the medium of video games. Today it is such a given to seasoned gamers, most of us would never give pause to even consider what we’re doing. Although the how has evolved — from the hell-spawn in Doom, to the majestic giants in Shadow of the Colossus, to even the egg-thieving pigs of Angry Birds — the why has always remained the same: progress.
But is there no other way? Of course there are games that don’t rely on this tried and true method, but they are the exception. Unless a game falls into the genre of sports, dancing or railroad building you’re probably going to have to kill something or someone to complete it. And that is why one person’s recent achievement leaves me in awe.
The player known as Everbloom on the Feathermoon realm in World of Warcraft reached the level cap, 85, three days ago. Ordinary news, of course, as every second I type a word here someone is hitting the level cap somewhere in Azeroth. What is extraordinary about Everbloom’s journey to the top is that he or she did so without slaying a single creature along the way, human-controlled or otherwise. They gained experience in the game world exclusively through exploration and the extraction of herbs and minerals. They briefly talk about it here. And if you don’t believe the claim, see for yourself.
Call it perseverance or call it madness, it’s a curious act; one which asks us each to examine the how of our approach to play. But perhaps more importantly, the why.
Email the author of this post at xtal@tap-repeatedly.com.
That’s really kind of amazing, first as a social experiment and second to manage it in the first place. Every now and then some mainstream game (Deus Ex, Alpha Protocol, etc) materializes where you supposedly can finish without killing anyone. Of course, you usually break a lot of knees.
Impressive stuff, no doubt.
The only game I’ve completed without registering a kill was Metal Gear Solid 4, although this was bourne out of desire to unlock the stealth cammo rather than any sort of experiment or personal goal. It’s also a bit of a cop out.. as technically you do still have to kill boss characters to progress.
I remember reading an article on Eurogamer where one of their writers attempted to play Fallout 3 without killing anyone or anything. I can’t for the life of me find it, but it was a good read and a pretty interesting experiment, although from a gameplay perspective it sounded pretty frustrating..
To reach level 85 in World of Warcraft without killing a single thing is just…unbelievable. Getting to 85 questing and partaking in PVP takes what seems like months, so without killing anything?
Oh god.
The experience earned from crafting/gathering is so tiny…I just can’t comprehend how he did it. Not one thing? I’m honestly dubious.
Call me a pessimist but it just doesn’t seem possible. With the armour and items he’s wearing, he’d be annihilated whilst exploring- without doubt. So how did he survive?
Wow, that is amazing… I wonder how long it took? And how do you not kill at least one innocent rabbit or dear or gopher or snake? If someone in your party kills something, does that count?
That`s so amazing. The amount of patience and perseverance of some people just amazes me to no end.