Long Live the Chase
By Zara Williams-Nicholas
My gaming repertoire has mainly comprised of obscure free-to-play games from the RPG , strategy , and mystery genres . However , one game in particular has consistently stood out from the rest . Grand Chase , a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game ( MMORPG ), became the love of my gaming life . This is the story of how this love story blossomed , unfolded , and was unceremoniously cut short by gaming politics .
I began playing Grand Chase when I started high school ( which , in Jamaica , begins around age 11 ). Every evening , all the boys in my community would meet up at the park after football and discuss games they were currently enjoying . Since I was a good friend of Nathan , one of the boys in this exclusive group , I overheard many of their conversations . I played many of the games they were into . However , since they did not invite any girls to play football or talk games with them , I was pretty much an outsider . That changed when Nathan heard about Grand Chase . He and his brothers came over my house one day , and he told me about the game . I remember watching wrestling with his older brother Adrian while we were waiting for the game to load for the very first time .
When Grand Chase finally loaded , I noticed something very unusual for an RPG . The game ’ s story focused on the Grand Chase group , whose original members were three women : Elesis , the swordswoman ; Lire , the elven archer ; and Arme , the mage . What this meant was that every player had to start with a female character . There were no male starter options . I had only ever played games that had no female options , or that offered both . Controlling the stubborn Elesis as she bashed in the faces of countless enemies with her sword was empowering . Traversing difficult terrain with Lire , the quick-footed and nature-loving archer , was energizing . Dominating the player versus player arena with Arme , the opinionated and overpowered mage , was exciting . It was rare to see a game where strong female characters were not only common , but expected . The characters were not overly sexualized or weaker than the male characters . Their personalities were varied , and their plotlines were deep . If you wanted to be a swordfighter , a mage or