“Alright time to get down to business.” Chris said later after we’d finished hooking everything up. “What class should I pick? We also have to decide what kingdom we’re going to start in, and come up with an epic guild name. Then we have to map out some leveling patterns although you know how much I hate grinding mobs.” He said seriously, taking out his laptop and starting to make notes.
I shook my head. “Your looking at this all wrong. The game doesn’t work like that. Sure if you want to mash out levels you can farm on mobs all day, but you're better off taking your time, working, leveling skills, and even exercising from time to time. You gain stats based on your actions, they are awarded on level up based on what you did during that level. You don’t just get a set amount like most games to distribute or get them assigned for you automatically. And I already told you. The classes are really important. You don’t just wanna pick something random even if you're just going to stay in town and be a blacksmith like you always are doing. Hell, there’s probably a blacksmith class if you try and get it. Although how exactly you unlock it I’m not sure.”
“A blacksmith class?” His eyes were excited. Chris loved to play MMO’s but didn’t actually like playing MMO’s. Instead he spent about 90% of his time in the cities, just hanging out browsing the auction house and leveling blacksmithing. It made him a rather poor adventuring buddy, but it was always good to have a good crafter contact. Fortunately, this was the perfect game for that. A good smith in this game would make mountains and mountains of money, and could deck me out with good gear.
“I’m pretty sure there is.” I continued. “Like I said there are 250 classes. I’m not sure How you’d be able to level as a smith, but I bet if you screw around in a forge long enough without picking a class you’ll be able to unlock it. You’ll want to pick a dwarf by the way. They get like 15% to crafting or something. Although there might be some better ones, I didn’t actually read the whole list.” I explained.
“Good enough!” He said smiling.
We spent the next few minutes mapping out our plan of attack before we finally got too impatient and hopped into our machines. I walked over to my system, stuck in my arms and legs, and booted it up. It was a little weird when the hand and feet holders tightened but I suffered through. When the program started I had to register my account using the serial key I’d bought from BestPrice.
I got all the account crap taken care of and accepted the terms of service. Then the screen changed and took me to a character creator. The Machine must have done some kind of scan because I looked exactly like me. I was in better shape than a month ago now, but a month stuck in a glorified exercise machine will do that for you. I started flicking through the options. Let’s see. Undine? My avatar’s skin gained a blue tint and gills appeared on the side of my neck. I chuckled then flipped to another option. Abiri? An elf-like creature with weird quill things all over it. Lapith? A vaguely equine humanoid with +200 fame with female NPC’s as a racial. I snorted and flipped to another choice.
I was more than a little sad about losing my char. I’d had some sweet bonuses. Not to mention the weeks I’d put into leveling my skills and all the cool stuff I’d unlocked. It was interesting that they’d actually made a character creator, but I was having a hard time actually committing to anything. I was not looking forward to leveling-up all over again. Feeling nostalgic, I selected human and named myself Noob Slayer. Shrugging I finally hit accept.
Unable to Create Chracter User Name Already Exists
That didn’t seem very likely. Granted Noob Slayer wasn’t exactly original, but there couldn’t be more than a few thousand people in the game yet. Maybe they hadn’t wiped my character. Didn’t they wipe all the characters though? I looked around for options. I opened a menu browsing the game settings. There was a small button in the corner that said Promotional Codes.
Please Enter Promotional Code_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I looked at the blank line. That was usually for things like contest winners, or for employees to grant themselves in-game advantages. Shame they couldn’t have given me anything like that for beta testing. I was about to close the window again when I paused, remembering the words of the golden goddess.
Remember my name and use it to find your way back.
I shrugged, then typed. B A R I A.
The screen went black and text appeared in the same golden color as her eyes.
Welcome Back Thomas Ritter
Then screen went black again and when my vision came back I was standing in a copse of southern pines. A light breeze played through the trees but the air was warmer and more humid than anything I’d felt near Valor’s crossing. I smiled as I noticed my crappy white clothes and felt the familiar weight of my hammer. Hell yes. I’d gotten my character back.
Then a pang of loss hit me. I missed Hanna. I don’t think I’d been in love with her, but we’d grown close during our time in the dungeon. It was a shame to think she’d had her memory wiped and forgotten all about me. I missed her stern voice and angry glares. Not to mention the feel of her lips. Otherworld just didn’t feel quite right without her here. Sighing I pulled up my character sheet.
Name:Noob SlayerLevel: 12Race:HumanClass:GeomancerAttributesStatusUBStr: 37(+3) 40LBStr: 36HP: 162/162Mana: 63/63End: 26Con: 38(+2) 40Stam: 104/104Panic: 1/10Agi:22Cord: 31Hunger: 100/100Thirst: 99/100Int:28Wis:31WoundsRes: 23Faith: 10SocialGuild: N/ATitles: 3Fame: 205Friend List: 0/0LinksInventorySkillsSpell BookLog
My smile reluctantly returned. I was a beast now. I’d leveled up to ten killing the rat boss, and twice more from completing the quest. Three levels had boosted my HP, Mana,and stats by a monstrous amount. All those class bonuses were really paying dividends. That left me to sort out my skills which I’d never gotten around to. Chris was going to be super jealous I’d gotten my character back.
SkillsPrimary Skills: 1 Secondary Skills 4Weapon Skills
* One Hand and Shield:
* Daggers
* 2 hand Weapons:
* Spears
* Staves
* Maces
* Hand-to-Hand:
* Wrestling
* Striking
Novice I
Novice I
Novice V
Novice I
Novice I
Novice IV
Novice IV
Novice III
Novice IV
Magic Skills
* Witchcraft: (Secondary)
* Barriers
* Blessings
* Meditation:
* Elemental Magic: (Primary)
* Earth(Spec)
* Fire
* Water
Novice IV
Novice III
Novice I
Novice I
Novice I
Novice I
Novice I
Novice I
General
* Camping:
* Outdoorsman:
* Fury:
* Dungeoneering:
Novice IV
Novice III
Novice IV
Novice I
Crafting
* Cooking:
* Seafood
* Fishing:
* Freshwater
* Spear Fishing
* Diplomacy:
* Bartering
* Mining
* Herbalism
Novice III
Novice III
Novice II
Novice III
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Novice III
Novice II
Novice II
Novice V
Novice IV
Well Apparently I had some skill points now. Although, I still had no idea how the skill system worked. I tried details, but that only gave me a detailed description of the various abilities. I needed some general help. Then realized I was an actual player now, and not some weird trapped guy.
“Help, Skills”
SkillsThe skill system in Otherworld offers an unmatched level of customization and depth. A player unlocks a skill by completing a hidden objective through combat, crafting, diplomacy, or exploration. These skills fall into one of four basic categories, combat, magic, general, and crafting. After a skill is unlocked a player will gain experience in a skill through use. Finding new and creative uses for a skill will increase give you a large XP boost. There are ten skills ranks ranging from Novice to Legend. These ranks are then subdivided into five sub-ranks. All skills are locked at Novice rank until level 10. At level 10 a player will receive one primary and three secondary skill points. A primary skill unlocks a skill to rise as high as a player wishes. A secondary skill allows a skill to rise, but to a maximum value of 3/4 the level of any primary skills in that grouping. If there are no Primary skills in a particular group, then a secondary skill is capped at 3/4 of your highest primary skill. Secondary skill caps will only become active once a skill advances to Apprentice I. For example If a player was to select One Hand Weapons as a Primary Skill and Heavy Armor as a Secondary skill. When One Hand Weapons reaches Apprentice I that would cap Heavy Armor at Beginner III. A player may receive additional skill points as quest rewards, achievements, class bonuses, or in other ways. If a secondary skill is made into a primary skill the secondary skill point will be refunded. Be careful. All skill choices become permanent once confirmed.
Sub-Skill SpecializationSome skills have a number of sub-skills. These sub-skills have levels independant from the main skill, but large amounts of the XP gained in a sub-skill will be shared with it’s parent skill. A player may, if he or she chooses, select a specialization. This gives the player a bonus to a particular sub-skill but will limit a player's advancement in the other aspects of the skill.
Wow. I was really glad I got my character back now. Two free secondary skills was a huge boost. My happiness was tempered by the fact I was finally going to have to choose what skills I wanted to continue advancing. I had a bunch of good ones and there were probably a ton more out there I hadn’t stumbled upon yet. I sighed.
Time to make some tough decisions. I’d known this moment was coming and the skill system in this game was as complex and in depth as all the other systems were. I honestly felt bad for all the other game companies. It was gonna be a rough couple years for them while they frantically played catchup.
The smith in Valor’s Crossing had given me the shiny new hammer I’d ordered and I loved smashing things. So Two-hand weapons got my primary point and I picked maces as a specialization. The secondary points were a bit more tricky. I thought about it for a moment then made my choices. I wasn’t like some people who’d plan a build forever. I mostly just went with my what gut told me and let the chips fall as they would. I selected Mining, Herbalism, Hand-To-Hand, and Camping. Leaving myself another point if I discovered something else of interest layer.
The warning box popped up and I quickly hit accept. That prompted a bunch of pop-ups. The most interesting of which was my specialization notification.
You Have Selected Two-Hand Mace SpecializationYour attacks with Two-Hand maces have permanently gained 15% armor penetration. All other Two-Hand Sub-Skills now gain only 25% experince.
That would give me a solid boost.
Time to get a hold of Chris and see what he was up too. I opened my friend list, happy I could finally add a name too it. It was always too depressing to have it empty. Looking at the 0/0 all the time always made me feel friendless. I hit the add friend button and typed in the name Chris had Picked for his dwarf. He’d decided to RP it up a bit and went with Allric Stoneforge for his dwarf.
I sent the request and it was accepted almost immediately. Then I could hear Chis as if he was standing right next to me.
“Dude this game is too sick. You were right. totally worth every nickle. Everything is so crazy real. I just wish I could get this stupid HUD out of the way. It makes it easy to navigate the menu’s by it’s killing my flow.” I smiled as he continued describing everything around him.
“Where are you?” I asked cutting him off after a few minutes. “We should meet up. Oh, and if you go to settings and switch to Full Emersion Mode It’ll turn off your HUD and stop most of the pop-ups.”
“Ohhhh, nice catch. Not really sure about meeting up. There’s no map that I can see. Oh wait. I found something. It’s on the friends menu. You are 342928 meters South-by-SouthEast….. How the hell did that happen!? I told you to spawn in Merrik kingdom!” He yelled.
“ I didn’t get to pick.” I said defensively. “It loaded up my beta character and stuck me somewhere random. I guess I’ll start working in that direction. It’ll likely me a week or two though.” The distances in this game were staggering, and walking three hundred Kilometers wasn’t something to do in an afternoon. “Oh and you should pick up a stick or something for protection. Goblin’s can be pretty vicious. You can sharpen it with a rock if you wanna get a jump on your crafting. ” I said, hoisting my pack onto my shoulders and picking up my hammer.
“A rock?” He said incredulously.
“I’m telling ya man it’ll work. This game is that real, well not real exactly, but it rewards ingenuity. Just kill some stuff and hope for a few crafting drops. You can sell those for decent money to NPC’s. Although you might feel like saving them to level crafting. Honestly not sure how all that works yet. Anyway I’ll talk to ya later Have fun with level one.” I ended the chat, using the sun as a rough guide and headed North-West.
**************************************************************************
Jasmine woke to find herself in the Windrip Inn. It had taken her a couple hours to get home, and get her account sat up. She wasn’t planning on playing all night, but she thought it would be fun to get a couple hours in and to check out all the players coming in everywhere. She walked out into the city and found it busier than normal. She could tell the players from the NPC’s easily enough. The NPC’s were all going about their day, while the players were sprinting around town, or just staring and pointing at various things. She smiled as she left the village and headed into the forest.
She was only a mile or so from town when she found a rather odd looking girl laying on her belly staring intently at a near-by stream. She looked young, her face still had a roundness to it that made her look like a middle-schooler. The girl had picked some-sort of anthropomorphic race. She was covered in russet fur and sported a large bushy tail, with a matched set of animal ears. She continued to look at the water rushing by even as Jasmine approached and sat down next to her.
“That’s an interesting race choice.” Jasmin said as she plopped down next to the girl. The animal-girl rolled over revealing the rest of herself. Her front was devoid of fur and the skin that showed around the normal clothes female avatar’s started with was a pale.. Jasmine re-evaluated the girl’s age, definitely older than she’d thought, likely fifteen or sixteen.
The girl was straining her chest wrap to the breaking point and the entire picture was every bad fantasy trope rolled into one, the big-boobed, clumsy animal girl who sat around staring at odd things as the world rushed by around her.
“That’s a touch hypocritical coming from a she-orc.” The girl's voice in no way matched her appearance. It was cultured, precise, and even had a hint of a British accent. Jasmine raised an involuntary eyebrow and the girls smile sharpened. Her eyes lost their far-away look and the storm-grey orbs nearly crackled with intellect as they met Jasmine's own. “Not what you were expecting? That’s a rather common reaction. It’s what happens when a girl who’s far too intelligent for her age is endowed a tad too generously. Believe it or not this is my actual appearance, well minus the tail obviously. I was attempting to study the water effects in this game. The realism is incredible.”
Jasmine laughed. “I can see how that could be a problem. I bet high-school is hell for you. This is how I look tool, minus the tusks and the muscles. I could kill myself at the gym for a year and not have this kind of tone.” She stuck out her hand. “Jasmine”
“Meridith.” The girl replied shaking her hand. “Actually I finished high-school last-year. Yale accepted me to an early entry program but father would not allow me to go.” The girl explained, looking put out. Jasmine mentally snorted. No father in his right mind would let his sixteen year old daughter into a class full of college guys. Especially a daughter that had the body of a porn-star with the fresh-face of a seventh grader. “So what brings an orc out here?” Meredith asked sitting up as Jasmine brought her mind back to the conversation.
“Just taking in the sites. Think I’m gonna head South. I’ve out leveled most of this area, I mostly just wanted to log-on and take in the atmosphere. I was beta tester it’s odd to actually see other players around now.” Jasmine explained.
“You’ve leveled up quite a bit then? What class did you choose? There is a scarcity of choice at the moment, and I’m wondering if I should pick something or be patient.” The girl asked biting her lip in thought. That look would have left a male blubbering on the floor and drooling. She was honestly surprised there wasn’t a covey of young men around the girl making asses of themselves. Maybe they just hadn’t found her yet. She was in the middle of the forest, and 200,000 users stuck into a couple hundred thousand square miles didn’t mean people would run into each other all the time.
Jasmine laughed. “That’s a funny story actually. I clubbed some bitch elf to death with my lute. It unlocked the Bardbarian class. Apparently you have to kill someone while in Orc Rage with an instrument to unlock it. The situation hadn’t been funny at all, but she didn’t want to put the girl off by getting too serious on her. This oddly cultured animal girl seemed alright.. “As for classes? I’d wait. There are a ton of classes to unlock. I wouldn’t lock yourself in before you try out some stuff and decide what direction you might want to try in. If you haven’t found anything by level 10 or so, then you might consider just picking something, but the leveling is kinda slow , so it shouldn’t be too much trouble. ”
“That seems a rather stereo-typically orcish thing to do.” Meridith laughed, an oddly childish sound coming from the over-proper girl. “I’ll wait then. I think I wish to become a druid or a healer, but I’m not sure what I need to do to unlock a satisfactory class. Someone will likely discover it shortly and post it online though. I shall remain patient until then. Do you wish for a traveling companion?”
Jasmine nodded. She did actually. I’d would be fun to have a girl to talk to. Although Jasmine wished the girl would stop talking like some British aristocrat, but the girl likely couldn’t help it. “Welcome aboard. Let’s see what trouble we can stir up.”
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