Official Road to Purgatory-Beta Forum

-Ghostblade, confirmed Beta-Account

Hey guys

Maybe one of you can help me, is this a bug or what just happened?

darkness.avi

Two figures stealthily get up next to the one recording, in an almost entirely dark room, the only light-source a small candle burning in a corner, next to the door. The floor is almost completely covered in furs, a few of which have someone sleeping on them, wrapped in blankets against the cold. One of the three, a wolf-beastman with slightly glowing, ember eyes, gestures towards one of the corners and all three start making their way towards that corner, taking care not to make any noise or wake anyone.

The one recording must have some sort of low-light vision, as the image is far clearer than it should be, considering the light-source and the colours seem slightly false, but even with the low-light vision, it is far from clear what is going on. In the corner that the three are sneaking towards, four people are huddled together in two pairs, sharing their blankets and body-heat against the cold that is made obvious by the misting breath of the one recording.

When they are almost in the corner, just a few steps away from the four sleeping figures, the image is plunged into darkness, the type of darkness one normally only finds deep underground, or in the heart of a banker.

Seconds pass, the image a solid, black nothingness, the only indication that it is not simply a broken monitor is that the heads-up display is still there. One might think the video froze, but there are some slight, strange noises that could mean that the one recording tries to move until, after maybe a minute, a blue box informs the one recording that he died and will respawn in twenty-four hours.

The image shifts, back to the beginning, and this time, all three viewpoints are displayed. The original one does not change in the slightest, the one that has to be from the wolf-beastman shows that the wolf has superior night vision, no false colours and the room if fully visible and the last one has no low-light vision but is guided by his two companions. The other two videos don’t differ much from the original, the three get up and sneak towards the corner and things go dark.

But there are differences, the one from the wolf-beastman shows the lying figures a lot better and that one of them figures opened her eyes just before the darkness enveloped them.

Once things went dark, the original video is unchanged again, but when the blue box tells the player that he is dead, strange noises and swirls and flashes of colour disturb the darkness in the second point of view, creating what appears to be some sort of strange drug-trip. But the trip does not last long and soon, the swirling colours are replaced by another blue box, again telling the player that he too, died.

Seconds afterwards, slight noises, like a soft scratching sound is heard from the third view-point. The noises continue, until suddenly the darkness is gone, for a second replaced with a view of the room the recording had started in. But right in front of the recording one’s eyes, a small figure stands, wrapped in a dark cloak and holding a glinting silver knife, dripping with blood.

And then, that image too, is replaced with the blue screen, telling the player that death has come for him.

--

So, you’ve seen what we have seen. What you can’t see on the video are the strange sensations. When I was in that darkness, I was sure there was something or someone else there with me.

Ghostslash, the second viewpoint, said the same, only that he was experiencing strange sensations he can’t explain in addition to the swirling lights, some smells a taste in his mouth, stuff like that. In addition, shortly before he died, he felt some sort of burning pain in his chest.

And, last but not least, Ghostfire, the third viewpoint, says that at first, he was feeling cold, as if he was walking outside in the snow, just worse. As if he was lying in frigid water or something. After the cold, he felt as if someone was touching him, just soft touches, maybe some wind, hard to say.

But once the touching ended, the pain began, small pin-pricks, followed by something cold ripping into him, he says it felt as if the cold froze him alive. And then, what he described as the worst pain he had ever felt, inside the game and outside. As in, not even funny, why the hell would anyone subject themselves to so much pain. Normally, the pain-response in Road to Purgatory is unpleasant, short bursts of pain that tell you when you screwed up, but never seriously bad.

Well, that is, until yesterday, when we recorded the video. He described it, as the sensation of having your brain ripped out through your nether-passage.

So, guys, can anyone tell me what happend? I mean, obviously, we got killed. But how? What the hell happened there? Some kind of bug? Some kind of cheat? I mean, it just got dark and we died, seems slightly imbalanced, even if it is legit. And what’s with the pain-response Ghostfire talked about? Should a game seriously hurt?

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Cheers

Ghostblade

-Harms, confirmed Beta-Account

How about git gud?

Seriously though, not a lot to work with here. I mean, you died one by one, so that might mean something. But what? No idea. Guess you got hit with some sort of crowd control and finished off once you were helpless but that’s just my assumption, no idea how valid it is.

About the pain, good question, there might be types of magic that amplify the pain itself, not sure. Let’s see what Pantheon says about it, before going apeshit, might just be a bug.

I could swear I’ve seen the chick before.

-Tarrin, confirmed Beta-Account

Wait, I’ve seen you around, right, Ghostblade? The three of you were the guys who made that stream in which they just made the first couple of quests in their starting-towns before meeting up and heading out together, on their own. You made a couple more, mainly showing how you got to some other town and started trap-hunting in the area, claiming that the EXP were awesome. But you only started wave three, so if you managed to get anywhere near level twenty, I would be quite surprised. If so, I think I know what happened with you.

-Ghostfire, confirmed Beta-Account

Yes, we peaced out of the starting-town post haste. We play online cause we want to play together, if we wanted to play with scripts, we would do theater.

-Tarrin, confirmed Beta-Account

Well, okay then, here is what I think. Unless I’m grossly mistaken, I’ve seen two of those you attacked before, in one of the highlights from Pantheon, the first or the second, I don’t remember. There, they stood on some sort of plateau and the smaller one was showing that magic was serious business, as she skewered a couple dozen wolves on falling icicles.

Made quite a few people take note that someone had serious AoE-magic that early, like, a week or two after the game launched. People placed bets that they are among the most powerful player characters at the time.

So, unless you observed them and got some info you are not sharing, I’ll assume that the two of them continued to kick ass and take names. That means, you took three low-level newbie scrubs and tried to mess with someone who is probably placed somewhere near to top when it comes to power level.

Anyone surprised that the three got their asses kicked into orbit?

-Do’rodra, confirmed Beta-Account

Wait, I remember that video, Highlight Reel, Week two.

Shit, that looked awesome.

-Morgana, confirmed Beta-Account

To shed some light into the darkness here, even if it is against my inclination, let’s start with some facts. First of all, sneaking up on peacefully sleeping people is a no-no, someone might just take that as a hostile action and take measures to protect themselves.

You know, like we did.

Thus, the next thing: anyone sleeping without some sort of alarm-system is simply a fool, whether in the wild or in an open tavern-room. That alarm-system can be formed by setting guards and sleep in shifts, or you can use other measures.

You know, like we did.

And finally, if someone gives you a warning, after demonstrating their ability to make good on that warning, maybe, just maybe, consider following the warning the next time.

I told you, I would teach you the meaning of pain and the meaning of fear.

Consider that lesson one. And, unless Pantheon blunted a couple of my toys when used against players, lesson two will come after you respawn.

And No, I’m not sharing just what I did to you or what I’m planning to do.

Finally, just as a public service announcement, trying to take on an elemental spellcaster who is surrounded by his or her chosen element(s) increases their power multi-fold. In other words, if you attack a watermage on the ocean, don’t be surprised if you drown. Or, if you attack a fire mage in a burning building, expect to get burned. Which you should anyways, if you are in a burning building, but a fire mage will do a better job of it.

Oh, and just for the fun of it:

The unknown troubles on your mind

Maybe your mind is playing tricks

You sense and suddenly eyes fix

On dancing shadows from behind

And have you felt your neck skin crawl

When you're searching for the light?

Sometimes when you're scared to take a look

At the corner of the room

You've sensed that something's watching you

You find it hard to look again

Because you're sure there's someone there

Yes, someone is there. And it is I.

So stay within the light

There's something alive in the darkness

I can feel the power and my might

I am the one you should not blame

Hallowed be my name!

-Harms, confirmed Beta-Account

Ass-kicking confirmed, I guess. And, quoting Iron Maiden while doing it, so bonus points.

But even when you said you won’t share, just a hint how to get that sort of multiple minutes-long crowd control? I mean, shit, once you get hit by that, you are just boned.

So, you were highlighted in reel two? Don’t think I’ve seen that, but I’ve seen you before.

Right, in [that] thread, that’s you right? Where did you get the awesome NPC-companion?

- Danilli of the Raging Storm, confirmed Beta-Account

I think I tried calling your boss once. But he screened my calls and tried to reach me afterwards by contacting some strange alien-guy. Could you pass on a message?