The GamerTag Series Part 2: Achievement Counselors
The Gaming Update "GamerTag Series" examines various aspects of gamer identity online by exploring issues that are connected with and relate to the social side of life as an online gamer.
In Part 1: Trends in Gamer Identity we examined the increasingly popular field of Persona Designers; consultants hired by gamers to create and package entire online identities to facilitate a planned and predictable experience in the online world of the new gamer.
In Part 2: Achievement Counselors, we examine the practice and necessity of paying for assistance in backstopping the identity that was created for the gamer by a Persona Designer, a process that invariably begins with employing an Achievement Counselor in conjunction with an Image Counselor -- though increasingly today Achievement Counselors also work as Image Counselors...
The point behind availing oneself of the services that they provide is not simply to obtain a minimum of 20,000 Gamerscore and/or the equivalent in Trophies or Steam Achievements but also entails learning how to pick the right games to play to avoid the sort of discrimination and annoyance that being identified as a "Newbie" in online game lobbies creates.In their dual-role as both Achievement and Image Counselor, this consultant not only helps the newly minted gamer in obtaining the base Gamerscore that they clearly need, but also schools them in how to select the right games to support their new serious gamer image, and of equal importance, educates them on what games must be avoided so that all of the money, time, and effort that they have spent is not wasted by having the wrong games show up in their Games Played and Achievements/Trophy lists or making rookie mistakes in the games that they do choose to play.
For the average gamer, the idea of paying someone to help create an online gamer identity sounds ludicrous enough to be funny, but all that the average gamer needs to do is think back on all of the insults and abuse that they suffered when they first began the process of establishing their gamer persona and it suddenly sounds a lot less amusing and a lot more useful.
When you read Part One of the series -- and you should read it as it will help to fill in the foundation points -- you will learn that there are different reasons for hiring a Persona Designer (not all of them are obvious), and that their basic service is distilled down to one theme: creating an online identity that allows its owner to skip all of the less-than-desirable experiences of being a newbie, and emerge from the cocoon of gamer identity creation with all the right stats on their Gamertag to be accepted as an accomplished member of the gaming community.
The Persona Designer begins by getting to know their client and helping them define what their goals are, and then assisting them in choosing a good 'nym (pseudonym) as their identity, and securing that identity by creating an Xbox LIVE Gamertag, a PSN ID, Steam ID, OnLive ID, and in registering the same 'nym on the different chat boards and gaming community sites that are thought to be currently vogue. In addition to that, a good Designer helps in creating the underlying information for each of those accounts; choosing the right Zone, a good Gamer Picture, and writing an expressive motto, and also helps them in crafting their location listing and a brief bio that portrays them in the best light.
This process is repeated over and over again for each game ID, site, and community, and usually includes establishing an email address with their new 'nym as its identity, and helping the client to formulate their plan for presence, which usually includes recommending the additional consultants who will take the process further, delivering the sort of education that most gamers come by naturally, while the manufactured gamer must seek out from an expert or experts -- in this case, from Achievement and Image Counselors.
Professional Persona Designers like London-based Rachael Dean, the Designer who served as the focus for Part I of the series, offer a number of different levels of service -- as mentioned earlier the cost of the basic design package starts at around $1,000. For the more sincere and serious clients who understand that you get what you pay for, the next level in identity packages starts at $5,000 but that includes a Gamertag with a three or four year Veteran Number attached, which nicely supports that well-manufactured new identity...
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