Welcome, Joseph. To the Kingdom of Valinor. Now it is time to choose your class. You may choose between:

Warrior

Thief

Sorcerer

Druid

Priest

Hunter

In the blackness of my vision there were only these words in white with the six class options above. I noticed that if I focused my attention I could select between the options. As I mentally hovered over each drop down displayed.

I weighed the pros and cons of each class. I was no stranger to MMOs but unlike in the past where I often casually played for fun, the whole of my future rested on me succeeding in this game.

I ruled out warrior right away, it seemed a sure fire way to experience a lot of pain and not have any of the self healing I would require to potentially solo a lot of content. Sorcerers appealed to me, I liked the idea of flinging magic from afar but I knew that in many games sorcerers were glass cannons.

The thief was also appealing, stealth meant I might avoid the nastiness of combat and I could potentially sneak my way around the game-world able to avoid combat. But what if I needed to take on a final boss? A big bad? Thieves and rogues were notoriously bad at soloing high level content.

The priest was attractive because I loved a healer class, but no damage output was a big no no.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I thought suddenly of the screams and fire of the hell portal. Who knew what demons awaited me in Valinor? What kind of monsters would I have to fight?

I tried my best to ignore the rising panic in me.

Focus. Just pick your class. One problem at a time.

There were two classes left: the druid and the hunter. Both appealed to me because they often were classes that came with pets to help assist in fighting multiple mobs. They usually had high survivability and hybrid abilities.

I finally decided on a druid after reading in the lore they were, in Valinor, noted for their beauty. I mean… I mean why not pick a better version of myself if I could?

And if Valinor had any ladies… all the better.

The next screen was a character customization screen. Oh man! This was going to be amazing, I could actually choose what I would look like! I looked at all the attributes in front of me, mentally focusing on each as they highlighted in my vision.

Face

Torso

Tattoos

Build

Skin tone

Hair

They had everything!

My mental gaze landed on the final word on the list of options: randomize.

Randomize? Strange…

The button highlighted for a second and then pressed inwards. The character attributes whirled and distorted and finally settled down.

“No no.. wait!!” I called out, but the system didn’t listen. My avatar’s randomization was complete.

I was given a look at my character:

I had long blonde hair, a tall athletic build, a wide jaw, and striking green eyes. I looked like some kind of California surfer hippie.

I hate it.

“Wait! Go back! That’s not me I don’t…”

Character selection complete! Entering Valinor! Welcome Joseph the Level One Druid!

Let your journey begin.

Shit.