Chapter V

Now, I mentioned the concept of rarity in the last chapter, did I not?

Ok, so what is rarity in the terms a System is using?

Something fairly simple and also unnecessarily complicated.

Most System sort a number of things into rarity. Skills, Classes, Paths, Perks and the big one, items. Sometimes there are more things sorted, sometimes there are less things sorted.

There is one hard rule regarding rarity, with a single exception.

The higher the rarity, the more powerful the thing is, at least in some way. Keep in mind, higher rarity does not always mean more useful to the user specifically, but more powerful in general.

The big, potential exception is the so called unique rarity.

Things affected by it are not always actually unique, but let us ignore that part of nonsensical stupidity. Systems do like their nonsensical stupidity.

So, in most of the rating systems a System is using, unique tends to be special.

It can either be something truly unique, or something the System cannot truly evaluate, or reliably affect.

It can be a way for the system to say that this does not make any sense.

It depends on the System what exactly it is.

You just need to find it out for yourself. There is no handy guide to see it immediately.

Now that we are done with that special kind of rarity, lets talk about the other kinds of rarity. They are commonly sorted into the following xxxx categories, although naming and or order might differ slightly, depending on the System:

Trash - Aka, the lowest of the low. Commonly not even easy to create, because the System does not like them. Relatively rare because of that.

This is one of the things where naming can be fairly wild.

It also is not always even available. Maybe the System is embarrassed to be associated with such bad stuff? But that would mean that Systems are sentient and sapient and so on, and that would, honestly explain a number of things, but…

Damn, there goes my keyboard. Sorry for the small rant.

Of to the next category.

Common. This is one of the most common categories a System can offer. Not necessarily that most things actually fall into that category, but this is a category that most System actually have.

The next step is the rarity of uncommon.

Uncommon as a rarity is not actually all that uncommon, although it is admittedly not uncommon for it to be skipped. Nothing much to say here, it is a step up from Common. Not all that interesting to be honest.

Not that anything here is actually all that interesting, considering that every System uses its own rating system, which makes comparisons difficult.

The next step up in the list of rarity is rare.

Rare rarity is one of the most common ones. As with Common rarity, it is almost always available.

Also, depending on the System, Rare items are freaking everywhere.

So yeah, lets continue onwards.

The next level of rarity is, quite commonly, Epic

You might think that Epic thinks should be rare and or amazing?

You would be right in some Systems, but there are places where you can literally walk on Epic items, wherever you go. Simply because Epic rarity stone is common enough to decide to make the streets out of the stuff.

Next.

Ah, Legendary. In many Systems the highest which can be reached, but not in all.

Tends to switch places a lot with Mythical.

Yeah, not much to say about either of them.

There is a number of further rarities that are incredibly difficult to properly assess within the hierachy.

First we have Divine. Either something touched by the gods of that particular universe, although those gods are almost certainly below the System in power and influence, or something very powerful. Can be below Legendary, can be above it, does not really matter.

For our second type of rarity we have Ancient.

Tends to be very powerful, because anything old must be powerful, right?

Looks at his old computer. Looks at his new computer. Right.

Have I not stopped using that old thing, because it was to weak?

Also, technology marches on.

Although in System universes it does have a tendency to regress, and with the System keeping the device or whatever functioning as if it where new, it does make some sense, admittedly.

But I still maintain that the only reason it actually does make sense is because the System forces it to make sense. Mind controlling bastard.

Another one of these categories would be the rare Special category.

Total scam that thing.

I think I stop here. I also think I have explained rarity to you, dear reader, so I fulfilled my mission.

On to the next topic, I mean chapter!

Chapter VI

Let us talk about an issue that I have alluded to in chapter V.

Medieval stasis.

Systems tend to have insanely long backstories, with civilization going back Aeons.

But the tech available is always the same.

Because the System abhors development.

Systems are honestly annoying in that regard. But that is the way you can have Ancient things that are better than modern things. The System was still experimenting what level of development it actually liked.

That the world are in such stasis affects many things. And because the System enforces the stasis, no one is even realize that it is strange.

And here comes the weirdest part. Discoveries are not actually rare, the System merely enforces that they cannot truly spread or be build upon. If a discovery becomes dangerous to the level of development the System wants to maintain, it will act, and it will act brutally, if necessary. But considering how dependent System based civilizations actually tend to be on the System, it can be something as simple as upping the requirements of a certain Skill, or moving a certain ability under a different Skill.

Or hell, just deleting the troublesome Skill entirely.

Or simply do that what every System does, when it has an issue. Mind controlling that issue into oblivion. Depending on the System, the effect could be subtile, even for an outsider, or blatantly obvious, even for those affected.

Why do Systems enforce that? No one has an idea.

But it likely has to do with the reason Systems do anything.

The propensity of Systems towards medieval stasis and the methods they employ is especially obvious in Systems spanning a certain sub section of the multiverse, regularly invading new universes, which they then control. Even if there are highly technological and advanced beings in there, often within a single generation no knowledge of the technology from before the System remains. The new users often never thinking about what they lost, only about what they gained.

A mind controlling, somewhat multiversal scam that robbed them of their future. Literally the only reason this kind of invasion works is that the affected seldom have any defences against mind control. When they do have those defences, things tend to go weird very quickly. Especially when those beings then survive the System‘s attacks.

But while I just love observing those universes and slightly help the valiant defenders against the Systems control in the background, that is sadly not what I am currently doing.

Although it is always fun to see a System being torn apart.

Which sadly does not help me understand how they function. But they do tend to be grafted on top of universes, especially if they of the invade an universe every so often variety.

Which makes sense, to be honest.

Those kinds of Systems need to have a method of spreading, and changing the underlying nature of a universe is very, very hard.

And if they only graft themselves on top of the new universe, why should that not be the case in the universe, in which they began?

Systems also tend to enforce some sort of nobility, which also tends to be as abrasive as possible. Considering that the most powerful persons in a System universe are those that fight constantly, and never govern, that either means that the nobles are utterly useless at their job, or that every so often there is a purge, because they annoyed the wrong person. But System mandated governments do have an advantage in the legitimacy area, admittedly…

Still, I it is creating useless suffering for no reason at all.

As does all their stupid romanticized medieval stasis stuff.

At some point I need to talk about the economy of System based universes, as well as a number of systems connected to that. But that can wait until then.

Let me only say that it is a lot of work for the System to keep that stuff running. The less you think about System based economies, the better. They have a tendency to be very, very weird.

And not be capable of working at all without constant interferences by the System, but that is not surprising, is it now?

One of the interesting things about the medieval stasis is that it is not that uncommon for their to be very long lived, or even immortal people in a System affected universe.

Those people are in a curious situation, or would be if they had any comparison. Things do not change.

Well, the people do, the realms do, who is governing and how does, at least to a certain extent, even language can change.

Although thanks to the fact that it is not uncommon for language to be a Skill, that change can be very slow and steady, and most importantly, directed.

But the underlying foundations on which a society and culture is build, that rarely changes, and seldom quickly.

The culture build on top of those foundations might change, might even change drastically through a number of systems, but the foundation simply are unchangeable.

It is quite possible that an immortal in a System based universe does never to relearn something, because the System helps with remembering the learned stuff, all the while there simply is not any new stuff to learn.

Even small changes can make massive differences. Changes of a sort, which tends to happen accidentally. But in a System based universe, these accidents either do not happen, or simply have no effect, because the System said so.

And the System said so works very well for the things they have absolute, or at least absolute seeming, control over. Which are quite often their entire universes. Not always, but often enough.

I hate thinking about that. That is depressing.

Why do Systems need to do so much harm? They could do good, but they choose to be psychotic mass murderers.

Well, maybe the Systems do not have a choice either, but at some point the buck stops. I do not think that mere random chance could do this. I do not want to believe that at least.

The mere existence of Systems is a sad thing, considering how the average acts.

I am certain there are good ones out there, but I am not sure if I have ever even heard of one, and I am near certain that I have never seen one.

…

Why? Damn it! There goes my keyboard, my monitor and my keyboard! I really should think about where I sit down in self wallowing pity!

I think I end the chapter here.