Chapter 10 Odds and Ends

My training at the Waterworks had been going on for about a week and I had learned a few new things. The only real interesting thing that had happened was when I logged out of the game for the required break. My avatar had been discovered in my room floating in what looked like an energy sphere, unreachable and untouchable which had faded away after an hour.

When I returned to the game I was questioned about what happened. Not having any answers I could give to an npc, I simply said, “My spirit was summoned back to my home realm.” I had the feeling that this did not satisfy the instructors but what could I say. I knew there would be reports of this happening to the other visitors. Also, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) running things should be toning down the curiosity of the npcs. If that was not happening it was not my problem.

Once I was out of the game I realized I would only be available to play for about 5 hours of real time each day after working Monday to Friday. After looking at my schedule and then looking at the bookings for my car cleaning and detailing business for the last 6 months, I decided to continue to work Saturdays and Sundays as they were my busy days. I would take off Mondays and Tuesdays, they were my slow days and that would give me more time within the game. Also, weekends were when the game would be crowded and full of players, I wanted to avoid that. My plan gave me 2 full days plus 5 evenings, it was about all I could handle, while still running my business.

Once I had my timetable sorted out I began to peruse the forums, players were constantly adding information and asking questions. I discovered that several other players had managed to enter special story arcs, but no one mentioned having a compulsion spell on them. One of the interesting things I read was how the game AI was tweaking people's xp rewards and speed of leveling. Many players had questions about this and several of the game developers actually got together and posted replies to some of the questions.

The game AI was basically developing and learning, and the game dynamics were becoming more lifelike. The example given was that the game did not require a player to earn 1500 xp in order to level up from 7 to 8. Instead, the AI would look at all you had done, how you had achieved success or failed any quests if you had given up or had continued on trying to grind out the challenges. It then would determine your rewards, if a lazy player did nothing he would get nothing.

I also had a close look at the different classes and leveling pathways, and it became clear that the game was much more open ended than I had thought. All the classes could learn spells and skills that were based on other classes, they would just have a cap on them. In other words, a warrior could learn to cast a firebolt but the same fire bolt from a mage at the same level would be more effective. The only downside was the cost, it was 10 times costlier to learn other classes spells. It made me realize just how lucky I had been.

Still, the ability to mix and match spells from the different classes was pretty amazing, and that also explained how Langshank had been able to put a compulsion on me. I was sure the man was playing at something and I felt like a pawn on his chessboard. The only other thing of note was an actual email from one Ghandara, gm and level 100 mystic. He briefly greeted me with the standard greeting and then went to the meat of the matter. The game had only been out for several days, and they were finding bugs and glitches, some apparently more serious than what I had experienced. A patch was coming, that would address all the issues discovered so far.

When I logged back into the game, I would be credited the xp I should have received and also my rep status would be updated. That was good news for me, I had hope that I would end up level 5 when I returned to the game and could start to choose my class and pathway. That is pretty much what happened, I logged back in and found that I immediately leveled up to 5 as well as received a couple of reputation increases.

Factions

Nobility

Neutral

Merchants

Friendly

Guards

Neutral

Citizens

Neutral

Ghosts

Friendly

The reputation was set up with 5 levels both positive and negative,

Reputation

Unknown

Unknown

Neutral

Neutral

Friendly

Disliked

Honored

Detested

Loved

Hated

In order to change your reputation, you had to do something that on a small scale would work slowly with individuals like personal quests or something on a large scale that would impact many people like building a new shrine. It was not easy to build up rep, but the rewards were worth it in the long run. I had been lucky in dealing with the merchant at the starting zone that had given my rep a big boost to friendly.

Having leveled up I checked my stats, I was interested in seeing how the AI had graded my performance so far. I did not expect much but now that I was at level 5 things should be kicking in, my base stats would increase as normal but now I could get a bonus on top of the base stat if I had worked hard enough. Basically, the players xp and stat bonus were now based on gameplay. It worked for me, a fair system I thought, but it was not written in stone if there were too many problems things could be changed by a hotfix at any time.

My stats and spells now showed,

Stats and Spells

Fire blast

Does 55 to 75 fire damage

Ice blast

Does 55 to 75 ice damage

Health

Heals up to 60 percent of targets health

Stun

Stuns target for up to 5 seconds

Portal

Creates a portal to the starting zones capital city

Charisma

180/200

Defense

170/200

Will-power

165/200

Charisma

220/300

Strength

350/400

Agility

360/400

Wisdom

155/200

Knowledge

210/300

Energy

450/500

Health

450/500

Mana (dagger equipped)

700/700 + 10 mana/ 3 seconds

Night vision (dagger equipped)

See in the dark

Gold

167g 8s 31c

I was pleased, my growth was happening, slow but steady. I decided that I would spend any of my free time while in the game, trying to find quests within the city and generally doing what I wanted, having a weekend that was free from learning or work. The last 2 days of game time had been interesting, I had received a lot of advice on the class to choose, and the spells pathway that would work best for each class. It was amazing how everyone becomes an expert and starts throwing out free advice. I had my own thoughts, once I bailed from the game for the weekend of work I would be checking the forums and a couple of the new sites that had just gone live, they had calculators that would help you get the most out of your class.

I just had a sneaking suspicion that the best leveling path would be hidden, it would be interesting to see what kind of hybrid could be built, but that, of course, was dependent upon gameplay style. Some like to group up and others like to play single, the same is true for dungeons and raids, some people love them others don’t. I was not fond of pugs myself, but running dungeons is the best way to upgrade gear. Crafting was a long and expensive time sink. The gear was some of the best in the game but almost impossible to get. This was something that was true for every vrmmo that had ever existed. Get the player hooked on making something that will take years to produce and then he will pay to play for years.

I had hoped that this brand-new game would not fall into that trap but it was becoming clear that this game was like all the others in that regard. Fortunately, I was sure that there were shortcuts for crafting, the game seemed to be full of hidden arcs and secret quests. I am sure some of them would relate to crafting. In the meantime, I had to decide if I would take up a crafting or gathering skillset. I had originally thought would do so later in the game but having seen some of the game world, I was sure I could make some progression while running around and questing. Even in the city, there were herbalists hitting the parks day and night.

My choices were limited to 5 gathering and 5 crafting options, more would be coming in later patches I had read. For now, this is what I had to work with in gathering,

Gathering

Mining

Copper

Herbalism

Wildflowers

Skinning

Random drops

Elements, fire, water, earth, and air

Random occurrences

Information

Study of occurrences

The crafting option also had 5 choices some of which went hand in hand with the gathering choices,

Crafting

Smithing

Weapons or plate armor

Herbalist

Potions or Beer

Jewel crafter

Rings, trinkets, and necklaces

Leatherworker

All armor except plate

Enchanter

Use of elements to make enchants

I was still not sure what I wanted to do, it would have to wait until I choose my class, some of the gathering and crafting choices worked better with certain classes. I was done trying to determine what I should do next when a pounding began on my door. Not the steady knock of my wake-up call but a frenzied hammering that left no doubt the person on the other side of the door wanted my attention now.

Opening the door, I gazed with surprise at a level 10 student, he was wearing his full gear and it was clear he was in a hurry. I think his name was Toma and we shared a class but before I could say hello he began to speak, “Hurry damn you, and get dressed, we have been selected to go on a mission, into the Catacombs. We are to meet in half an hour in the gymnasium, in full gear, hurry or you will miss the briefing.”

His enthusing was apparent by his glittering eyes and the fact he was jumping from foot to foot as he spoke to me. Clearly, he wanted to go both from my room and to the Catacombs. I waved him out and grabbed my gear. After putting it on I also made sure that my pack was empty, how knows what might be found down there. I then left my room and stopping at the dining hall grabbed several skins of water and some cheese and smoked sausage along with bread. If I was down there for a while I did not want to go hungry or thirsty. Also, I was pretty sure I would be with a group of 4 of the other students, and if Toma was an example of how they would act I had the feeling I at least had better be prepared.

Making my way to the gym I entered and stood near the back of the group of students. I was in time to hear the breakdown of the mission. One of the senior students had been tasked with going through the Catacombs to an area called the sunken city, where he was supposed to retrieve a scroll from the library. Something had gone wrong and he had not returned, and this was a problem. Doing these simple missions was supposed to be a final test before leaving the Waterworks and actually doing work. It was a tough assignment but not something that anyone would fail.

Our job was to make our way through the Catacombs and get to the sunken city and then using the map that they provided us with, go to the library find the student, and the scroll and return. If we did not find the student there we were to return with the scroll. That was it, I found myself bundled together with 4 other students, all level 10 and then we were off. One of the instructors led us out of the Waterworks and down through the city, finally arriving at a rundown area of the city that had a building that bore the mark of a sewage entrance.

We all trooped inside and the instructor gave us torches and then left. The big blond guy assumed leadership, with the tank at the front and then a rogue and an archer with the healer behind them and me last. I could tell he was not thrilled to have me in his group, I did not blame him I would not be adding much to this party. After he laid down the law he asked if everyone was ready and I received the mission as a quest. The rewards were unknown but the fact it was a quest made me happy. With a groan, the leader opened the doorway and we began to go down a flight of stairs. Once we had all entered the passageway the door closed with a boom.

That is when it became interesting, in any city of size, it is amazing what can end up in the sewage system, much more than sewage and waste end up washed down there. At least that is what I thought when I saw the first ghost.