04/23 FoE #2 (avatar & GUI)

This weekend I played and discovered new worlds in FoE, while additionally changing my avatar and adding players online. I explored the avatar choice menu and it was extremely interesting. First off, I immediately noticed there were less women than men, but it is also difficult to tell what they look like since we only get the pictures of the faces not the bodies. This game is set in an earlier era and has a Scandinavian feel to it, so it makes sense that there is only one apparently “ethnic” avatar choice. The ethnic lady also seems to be of a lower class than the other avatars provided, as they are wearing jewels but she is wearing “rags.” I believe the main point of the avatars is to show different occupations of people in the time and the empire being created. Lastly, I see a woman who is a knight, which is interesting, since it brings up the masculinity in women and how it was accepted in the past. She does look created to look more manly rather than womanly. In terms of the GUI, the mouse is mostly used to interact with the game: people, buildings, fighting, research, etc. I haven’t experienced much use with the keyboard in the game, but I think there must be a way to use it to play. The game is mostly easy to navigate, it’s just hard to remember where everything is. This is aided by the story/ mentor that you receive quests from. Most menus pop out with many options, most I haven’t unlocked yet since the game is still fresh. I hope to keep playing to complete more quests and gain more land, people, and buildings.