Chapter Two - Orientation

While waiting for the date of his plane ticket Harold spent his time trying to dig up as much information about Kingdom Shattered as he could find. Most of what he uncovered was just rumors and speculation, however he did stumble across an old thread on the game's forums where someone claimed to have been working on the project for a while.

According to the insider, the racial bonuses and penalties was the single largest factor on how strong a player's forces could be and their viable playstyle. He went on to claim that there were some races that a single unit would be able to fend off or completely annihilate three or four or even up to ten units from other races with ease. The downside was that the stronger units cost more to recruit into your army, and some had further restrictions to how many of a type you could have recruited at once or other unique requirements.

There were several other threads that had just as detailed explanations, most went into even greater detail about how the game's mechanics were supposed to work. What Harold found strange about this particular thread however was that it was the only one he had found that had been locked by a member of the development team directly and not by one of the forum's moderators like the other posts he had scoured through.

'Is this a clue?' he wondered to himself. 'Could this actually be how the game works? Even if it's only partly true this could give me a slight edge. Would it be better to go with an inherently stronger race with less units or choose an option that was weaker but more numerous? I've got plenty of time to consider everything while everyone else is going to be going in blind. This could be huge.' Harold spent the next few days going through different scenarios in his head and before he knew it the two weeks had already whizzed by. He was soon getting off the bus that had taken him and several other beta test raffle winners from the airport to Borester Games Studio.

When they got off the bus the group was ushered toward the front doors while security kept a crowd of reporters and fans away. It had obviously not been kept a secret about the upcoming beta testing dates and people were clamoring to find out more about the lucky raffle winners. Reporters were yelling out to the hurried contestants, begging to find out their names, where they were from, what race were they going to play. A couple of the players responded, hollering back what race they planned to crush everyone with to take the grand prize.

Harold sighed with relief when they made it inside and the doors closed behind them. He had started to get annoyed by the arrogance displayed by a couple of the more vocal players around him. One man was even claiming he'd burn everyone beneath him like ants by playing a dragon. 'Come on, like Borester would let someone play as a freakin' dragon when someone else picks human or sprite. Pfftt,' Harold thought to himself.

Everyone was checked in at the front desk and then led to their rooms for the week.

Orientation started early the next day. The company split the contestants into multiple smaller groups where they were then familiarized with the new FIVR pods they'd be using. To Harold they looked similar to the cryopods he remembered from classic sci-fi movies.

The physical exam went smoothly. Although Harold wouldn't consider himself particularly fit, he had never really been out of shape. The physician informed him it was more of a formality than anything. Still, there were several of the contestants that were unable to pass due to medication requirements or other medical conditions. Borester Studio quickly filled the vacant slots over the week while Harold and the others became more comfortable with the FIVR pods and the staff that would be monitering them.

Most of the beta testers also used this time to socialize. Several cliques formed as people made friends with each other. Harold avoided them as best he could. It wasn't that he was anti-social, he just kept in mind that in order to take first he would have to defeat everyone else in the beta test. He didn't want to hesitate to finish someone off because he'd become friends with them.

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This didn't stop people from approaching him however and he was forced to excuse himself constantly. While he tried to be as polite as he could, he eventually lost his patience near the end of the week and snapped at a lady when she'd approached him during their lunch to invite him into her group. She left him sitting alone at his table and returned to her group of acquaintances in a huff. Most of the room had heard his outburst and he was left in peace for the last couple days of orientation.

Finally, June 1st arrived. Borester provided all of the participants with a change of clothes to wear for the day and directed them towards the building's auditorium. The clothes were all the same design, resembling something close to a cross between scrubs a nurse might wear and a track suit. The tops and bottoms were a single solid color with a stripe running down either side. Each participant chose their colors earlier in the week. Harold's own suit was his choice of black primary with stripes of dark crimson red. He had thought it would be a simple, clean look but was starting to feel out of place with most of the other players sporting a myriad of bright colors around him. His choice of a more somber color palette was definitely in the minority.

As they filed into the auditorium and got situated Harold noticed the woman from the other day nearby with her group, staring daggers at him. Just as he was considering finding somewhere to relocate to the lights dimmed and speakers came to life around the room playing soft music. Spotlights brightened at the front of the group illuminating a small, slightly raised stage where a well dressed man was walking across. He looked to be about middle aged, with his hair cut short and even from near the back of the room Harold could sense the man was currently oozing pride and accomplishment through his bright smile. Stopping once he reached the middle he raised a hand in greeting and started to address the room.

"Test one test one, can everyone hear me?", the man's voice came over the speakers. "Excellent. Everyone allow me to introduce myself to you. I'm Jack Bormer, one of the two founders of Borester Games and current lead for this project. On behalf of Borester I'd like to thank everyone for their participation during this beta test event. This game is the brainchild resulted by years of sweat, tears, and countless hours. We at Borester have poured our souls into this project and I wish that you all enjoy it as much as we have had making it." He started paced back and forth across the stage with his hands behind his back.

"Now today everyone will be logging into Kingdom Shattered and starting their journey. This is the first round to be done outside internal playtesting and while we're excited to let everyone jump straight in, there is something we'd like to address with everyone. While we have tried to make the game-play as intuitive as possible we will be providing each player with an NPC adviser. You will only have one and if you lose them there is no gaining a replacement. The advisor will assist you by providing more in depth information, planning advice, and fighting strength to your forces."

Harold was quite happy to hear that bit of information. While he had a rough plan for choosing his race and such, he hadn't been able to find any further solid information about the game. Once he logged in he'd be on the same playing field as everyone else. From the sounds of the people talking among themselves they seemed just as excited as he.

Jack continued on the small stage, "After we are done here everyone will be escorted to their FIVR pods. The Beta Test will immediately commence when all pods are ready. You will have an hour to select your race, complete your character creation, and your adviser creation. If you are unable to finish by the end of the hour the remaining unfinished fields will be randomized. Afterwards players will be assigned a region on the game map with preferences for a biome favorable to their race. Each region will be seeded with three players and several minor NPC factions. A region will provide special resources to the player that is able to defeat or drive out all rival factions and become the sole ruler. That concludes the briefing. If you would all now please listen for your name and follow your guides we'll get started as soon as we can."

With that the lights came back on and Jack was replaced by several of the medical staff that started organizing the players and after a few minutes started leading them to their FIVR pods.

Harold laid down inside his pod and the lid was closed with a click and soft hiss as it sealed. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body, soon feeling weightless like he was floating through a dark void.

The darkness slowly brightened, gradually replaced with a thick white fog that swirled around Harold as it started to coalesce until he was standing in a white room, barren of anything but Harold and the notification screen that had appeared infront of him.

Welcome New Player to Kingdom Shattered!

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