[Contents]

1. An avatar is an avatar

2. The play styles of 마비노기 모바일

3. Combat: challenge, repetition, and growing stronger

4. Life skills: solitary country living, and going deeper

5. Community: the character is still, but the keyboard is very much in motion.

6. What will you choose?

When I log into a game, my character appears in the center of the screen. Maybe I made them through customization without giving it much thought, but the more time I spend with that character, the less they feel like a mere bundle of polygons and the more they become my persona.

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Put another way, an avatar (AVATAR) is, in the religious sense, an incarnation. My incarnation descending into the cyber world... it really is such a fitting expression. And from that angle, it feels worth pausing for a moment and looking back.

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How much does my avatar really represent who I am in real life?

When I look at Nao, whose meaning clearly goes beyond that of a simple mass of polygons, and when she almost feels like a first-person self, it is hard to deny that she has already gone beyond merely representing me to some reasonable degree. That feels good—really!

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And in truth, most players, whether they realize it or not, project their own identity into the way they move their characters. We call those patterns of behavior a play style.

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In Mabinogi, players can usually be sorted into three broad play styles: combat characters, life-skill characters, and those who simply love to chat. Do you pursue strength without end, enjoy watching your life-skill levels rise, or use the keyboard as a kind of weapon and delight in connecting with other people? There probably is no right answer.

If your play style centers on combat, then the screen you will probably see most often is a dungeon corridor. Running dungeons over and over can certainly grow tedious, but unexpected rewards—Mythic drops and the like—always yank us into that startling little world of dopamine. And the road of character growth is, in the end, a long chain of very small increases in combat power.

Of course, even when you are running a dungeon solo, Mabinogi still lets you feel, if only for a moment, as though you are sharing the experience with passing strangers through its chance encounter feature. Of course, if you spot a glowing notice above their heads announcing a Mythic drop, then what rises up is not exactly a sense of fellowship but jealousy—and that, more than anything, becomes fuel for diving back into dungeon hunting with even more fervor.

If your play style revolves around life skills, then the screen you will probably see most often is a gathering screen. You raid chicken nests, chop trees, and mine ore. These simple actions seem as though they might continue forever, and that very repetition accompanies you on the road to becoming a life-skill master. And just when boredom is beginning to fill your whole body, something arrives.

That radiant moment called a life-skill level-up. It may be only a small change in numbers, yes, but for those aiming to master life skills, those small steps gather one by one and eventually carry them toward a moment of deep, complete satisfaction.

For life-skill characters, there has also been some pleasant news lately: the AI Connect beta. For players devoted to that kind of life, it may well open the door to a more efficient life-skill routine. It seems even fantasy life cannot stop the hand of AI from steadily reaching in.

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For those who mainly enjoy community life, both combat and life skills become little more than launchpads for chatting or taking screenshots. These are the players with the play style most suited to the MMORPG genre, and they are always hungry for conversation. They rather enjoy snaring introverts who happen to pass by the town campfire.

If the town feels a little empty, they will stand in front of the goddess statue in the dungeon, making themselves known and hoping someone—anyone—might say a word. The road to becoming a master of community life is not an easy one. Still, as with most things, only the beginning is hard, and once you become genuinely invested in community, this too becomes a joy.

Even while playing the same game, Mabinogi Mobile, each user ends up pursuing a different play style. You, running dungeons even now. You, endlessly swinging an axe somewhere off in a remote corner. You, whose character stands still while your attention is fully committed to world chat. There is no right answer. There are only different play styles.

So then, what kind of play style defines the way you approach Mabinogi Mobile? Even today, the world of Erinn is probably filled with different wishes crossing paths. May fantasy life take root in your character...

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