CHAPTER TWO
Research that’s what I needed. Any decision made should be made after all the available facts have been gathered and analyzed. The rule I live by, the five Ps,--Proper planning prevents poor performance. Step one gather all of the available information regarding Horvat’s World. Could I really utilize this game to reduce my stress levels?
I began by downloading all of the available guides, followed by reviewing all available articles discussing the game itself and the artificial intelligence utilized to operate the world. I then read all of the available forums and recommendations of current players. I did this during my free time between midnight and 2 A.M. I learned that Horvat’s World took place in a fantasy setting similar to the world of Dungeons and Dragons that I had played in my teens. Differences had evolved with the maturation of the game but it remained basically the same. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and a myriad of other races and creatures in a land of swords and magic. The world was operated by a pyramid of A.I.s of various capabilities. One overall A.I. was responsible for game oversight and direction, under that A.I. were A.I.s acting as Gods directing and interacting their followers and from there a multitude of lesser A.I.s acting as NPCs populated the world, handling from one to one thousand individual NPCs. Based upon this framework and direct character interaction, game play was completely different for each and every user.
Step two, determine what my goals were in playing Horvat’s World. Well, I needed to relieve the stress that was killing me. I needed peace and maybe I needed to release the natural aggression that builds up in real life that is politically incorrect to reveal. In other words it would be good to get my mad out. I also didn’t want to have to rely on anyone. Worrying about whether others were going to do their jobs correctly was half the problem I was having in real life, I certainly didn’t want to encounter it in the game. I didn’t want to really interact with anyone other than casually, again I wanted peace not a new set of demands or expectations that I was going to have to worry about fulfilling. I didn’t have long periods of time to devote to the game, could I still perform quests with my limited play time, including the crafting quests?
Why learn all of the crafting skills? The answer to that question was easy, in order to be self-sufficient. I could do it. It would be slow going but, the idea was to reach a level where I could be on my own and relax. I envisioned creating a sanctuary far from everyone where I couldn’t be disturbed. I also knew that in order to learn the crafting skills and to play the game itself, I would have to complete quests from various NPCs. The game mechanics would allow me to accomplish this even with my limited time play. The game had a feature which allowed a player to pause a quest if a player had to log off. All a player had to do was say ”pause quest” and when you were ready say “resume quest”. All NPCs would disregard the time delay and act as if there wasn’t a break in time. This only applied to time quests.
I would have to also be strong enough to be on my own. This would necessitate physical and combat training. As the game allowed anyone to learn magic, I also put that on my list. My vision was going to take a ton of time.
Step three, I started reading up on basics such as skinning, ancient tailoring, and primitive black smithing to get head start on basic skills that would be involved in the game.
All in all, I spent more than two months doing my research before I was ready. I also didn’t mention to anyone that I was going to play. Who wants their lawyer playing games? The day finally came, I ordered the latest in VR helmets and software for my portal room, and everything checked out. I spent the evening after work re-reviewing the instruction manuals for each and was ready to go.
“Joanie, I’m going to start now. I’ll just long on and start character creation tonight and then try out the world tomorrow.”
“All right, good luck let me know how you like it. Oh, honey, if you do like it and are going to play it often, why don’t you check out the Sensodyne biofeedback suit. I heard that you can get workout benefits from using it while playing Horvat’s World.”
“I will but, I’m not sure I want to go to that much trouble to play a game.”
“All right, just please promise me you will consider it.”
From Joanie’s point of view, things just had to change. I need him to do something to change his life. He’s out of shape, he’s overstressed, and he is going to die if he doesn’t do something soon. That’s why I suggested Horvat’s World. I mentioned the game first. I knew he was a sucker for sword and sorcery games. God knows we fought enough during our marriage over those games. I already knew about the Sensodyne biofeedback suit when I suggested the game. My plan was to hook him on the game and then get him to buy a Sensodyne suit so he could start getting his body back into shape. Every other workout plan I had tried had been a dismal failure. I was hoping that this would be just the thing to save my husband’s life.
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While my wife went to another part of the house, I made myself comfortable on my home office chair, placed the helmet on my head and initiated start-up. I felt a moment of disorientation and a kaleidoscope of lights. The lights went away and I found myself in a 20 x 20 white room with a door on one of the wall which had a sign “Horvat’s World” over top. Standing in the middle of the room was a tall thin man dressed in what could only be described as an Englishman’s personal servant’s uniform.
“Good evening, Mr. Dellman, welcome to your portal room. I am Paul you virtual assistant, part of the portal software you purchased from Stifler Graphics, an approved third party vendor for Horvat’s World.”
“Good evening, Paul”
“Mr Dellman, please let me explain a few things regarding your portal space. You may utilize this space at any time, even if you have suffered a death and are unable to reenter Horvat’s World. You may purchase any items and decorate this space in any manner you wish. A catalog of furnishings is available just by asking me.
The time dilatation of the game also applies to this portal room, therefore for every six hours here only one hour will pass in the real world. You also have full internet access and the ability to text. You can import 25 terabytes of data for local storage, all web based third-party document sharing is also available to you.”
“Oh, this is so much better than I thought. Well worth the $500 purchase price.”
Paul: “Do you have any questions Mr. Dellman?”
“Well, first things first, let me see the catalogue Paul.”
“Certainly sir.”
I started with the basics. I purchased a red wall to wall carpet for the room and offset it with a light yellow print wall paper for the walls. I then chose an elaborately carved cherry wood desk with pecan wood accents, a leather chair for behind the desk and a pair of client chairs to balance out the set. I chose a grandfather clock to keep real world time and a separate digital clock to keep Horvat’s World time. I also chose a state of the art Mac to interface with the data storage and internet, and then linked it with my office computer. The total price $3,000, about two percent of what the real life costs for these items would have been.
Once I finished purchasing and decorating my portal space, I dismissed Paul and started testing my internet connectivity to my office computer. I then had an epiphany, I could get so much more work done with the time dilatation. I immediately dove right into my work, forgetting all about Horvat’s World. Two hours later, I signed off.
I found my wife reading in her study and I let her know I was off.
Joanie: “Well how did it go?”
“It was great, I set up an office and with the time dilation I read through all of the medical records in the Dillon case, I drafted discovery in the Chavez case and I prepared an outline for the Custas depositions. I can’t believe how much work I got done.”
Joanie: “Are you telling me that you went into VR and you worked?”
My wife seemed to be turning a little red. She did not look happy, as a matter of fact I was beginning to think that I may have screwed up.
“Well, yes. But, think of all I got done.”
Joanie:” The purpose for you to go into VR was to relax. At what point did you forget that you are working yourself to death?
If you use VR to work again, I will personally toss that VR helmet in the garbage and I may not take it off your head first. And then I will let you really know how I feel about it. Have I made myself clear on the subject?”
“Yes, dear”, I responded.
“And order a Sensodyne suit now. You are going to get in shape even if it kills you.”
My God she was ticked. Yes, I screwed up. I completely forgot what I intended to accomplish. When I was given the opportunity to get additional office work done, I couldn’t resist. I may have a tendency to be a workaholic. This also may be an understatement. After reassuring my wife that I wouldn’t work from VR ever again (unless it’s absolutely necessary), I called it a night leaving Horvat’s World for the following evening. However, I did order a Sensodyne biofeedback suit and requested overnight delivery to appease my wife.