Going through the plethora of options, Roh browsed through the gender section. Male, female, nonbinary… What to choose? Do I go female to check out my character as I play… nah, I feel like I will go male since this game is more realistic than any game I’ve played before and I really want to feel immersed like I’m actually in the game. Like my avatar is a true representation of myself… ah who am I kidding I will add quite a few embellishments, but at least it will represent the persona that I would adopt had I complete freedom of choice and more exciting options like these in the real world.

Using the character creator tool, he proceeded to create a rugged physique.

I sure as hell don’t want a character with a lean build. If i can't bulk in the real world I'm sure as hell going to in here... Ah yes! These big burly arms were great at raising an axe and crushing a Behemoth’s skull during the beta. Hopefully, I will be better at withstanding the harsh terrain too since I’m yet to experience the other biomes. My character’s build is still not as hefty as Darian’s Half-Orc, but it is pretty large for a Dragon-blood.

I wonder if Darian, Florrie and Arkie will create the same characters. It is tempting to try some of the other races and classes, but I’m just so happy with mine.

Hair color caramel, skin color bronze, eye color blue. These are all just like my own, but I’ll add a little flair with a Viking-inspired, tousled Mohawk. I may have gone a bit overboard, but the character creation tools are just so impressive. Besides, I want a character whose appearance can impress the ladies, but also strike fear in the enemy.

As for my name, I will go for the same one as the beta as it’s awesome and matches both my ancestry and class. Plus I’m not fond of leetspeak and unwieldy gamertags.

Username: Rohgar The Rage

Now finally, my weapon. I can choose from any of the ten available starter weapons. It seems they are all initially made of bone - common bone - so not even from a strong creature at that. I’m gonna upgrade, craft or buy a better quality weapon first chance I get. As for weapon type… I’m going to make great use of this bulky figure of mine and go for the mighty Two-handed War axe. This means I will have to forgo any shield, and it’s no doubt going to be quite unwieldy with a slow attack speed, but I guess that’s the sacrifice one makes for more offense.

Once he confirmed that he was happy with his character, Roh made sure to toggle off most of the notifications within the settings similar to how he had done before when playing the beta since he did not want repetitive callouts flooding his vision every time he gained XP, did damage, took damage, picked up loot, etc. He also didn’t want the frequent warnings from his hunger and cold vitals or his encumbrance. At the best of times, it breaks the immersion and, at the worst of times, it just gets plain annoying.

The next screen bombarded Roh with a selection of gacha NFT purchases. There were loot boxes and in-app purchases for NFTs of all kinds: pets, mounts, weapons, armor, equipment, items, spells, furniture and land. Ooh Land, me likey a lot! Hmm… all the things I could do with my very own piece of land. All the rest of the purchases are liabilities and would only drop in value, but land - now that’s an asset. And gachas are risky. Everyone knows it’s so rare to get anything good so no doubt if I chose a pet or mount I would get the most useless, laziest one that would just slow me down, get in harm’s way and get me in more trouble than it’s worth. And if I chose from one of the other categories, I would again get the most common, cheapest piece of junk. Land is the safest option. You can’t go wrong with land and worst case, I could just sell it off for a neat profit. He smiled to himself, content with his decision.

I bet Florrie has bought a pet. Who am I kidding? She has probably bought an entire menagerie. Arkie has no doubt gone for weapons - his pride and joy. Roh rolled his eyes. And Darian… hmm… well, he has no doubt gone for armor. He’s all about defense and style, that one.

Roh’s curiosity got the better of him. I guess a sneak peek wouldn’t hurt. Resting his chin on his left hand, fingers drumming against his cheek, he motioned for the [Pet Shop Screen] with his right hand.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

An overabundance of vibrant colors assaulted his senses as a variety of different pets were advertised. One of which caught his attention.

[Legendary] Psychic Stag Kitsune

☆☆☆☆☆ (5 star rating)

Special Ability: Supernatural Psychic Abilities

Cannot be purchased - earned as a reward for the first player who hunts the Elite Behemoth in the Arena Pit in solo mode.

It was the most adorable creature he had ever seen. OK, I’m not exactly the gushy type, but dang, that fur ball is cute looking! It was the fluffiest fur ball of a kit with the cutest pair of little stubs on its head and the roundest apple head with the largest protruding eyes, like a sugar glider. Being a kit, it still only had one tail. It will no doubt gain more tails as it develops and gets more powerful. He could feel his heart melting at the sight of it. Wow, these developers are good! They have used the baby face psychological bias to the maximum here to draw us players…and it’s working damnit! I just want to nurture this little guy…eh but who am I kidding? I can’t even take care of myself, so there is no way I can take care of something else even in a game, especially one based on such a brutal and unforgiving land. They’d be mauled, clawed, or stomped on in seconds. Probably all three. It will be a waste of money. Roh knew this was the lie he had to tell himself from fear of disappointment, since who wouldn’t want the best pet in the game? Not only did it have the best visuals, but also the best rating and ability to boot. But realistically, the chance of actually being able to defeat the Elite Behemoth in solo mode and especially to be the first player to do so in order to get the best pet in the game was so ridiculously low. At least they have balanced it so it’s not pay to win.

I guess I could get one of the pets that can be purchased, but they will just be cosmetic pets and anyway I already have a real animal that depends on me. Casper is always bugging me daily for leftovers and he’s not even mine! I swear his owners are never home. I never understand why they have him if they are never there. I’m just grateful they live a few doors down, so I don’t have to keep listening to his incessant meowing. Nah, whom am I kidding… He will be over any minute now, telling me all about his day. Don’t think he would be pleased if I replaced him with a digital pet. Moving on. Roh swiped over to the [Land Sales Screen]. So it looks like there are differently priced tiers of land for the different sizes and then the location you receive in each tier is randomized. Ah yes, this is what I want.

[Tier 1] Land Deed

1 Plot of land

Price: $1000

I will buy this one since it’s the only one within my budget. Roh frowned. Silly prices for virtual land if you ask me. He clicked on the buy button.

Congratulations on your purchase!

You are now a land owner entitled to your very own piece of land.

This deed entitles you to one plot of land in the Bagu region. It will be stored in your inventory.

Note: You will be able to access your land once you have completed the instanced onboarding in the game.

For only $250 extra you can pay for an NPC to guard your land?

Gah fine! I guess it’s only $250 to protect my $1000 investment.

Your starting location will be randomized. Would you like to purchase a starting location of your choice for $50?

“Hell no, making me pay real money just for a starting location and 50 quid at that. That’s daylight robbery!” shouted Roh aloud. These designers… first with their behavioral economic tactics and marketing with the pets and now their sale strategies of upselling and cross selling. I just want to play the game already. I don’t care where I start.

Roh gestured a tap on the cancel button, then exited the store section and tapped on the Start Game. A notice popped up on the loading screen.

You will enter the game shortly, for the first time. Note that you will spawn within an instance. If you are not familiar with MMO jargon, an instanced area is a copy of an area generated specifically for you. As such, you will not be able to join friends just yet, nor will they be able to join you until you leave the area. Therefore, everything within the area such as the environment, NPCs, creatures, items, quests, etc. will only be provided to you. The instance provides emergent gameplay created specifically to each player due to the infinite choices and possibilities in this world managed by our incredibly intelligent and evolving AI making use of the latest deep learning technology. You can, however, take things from this area and likewise, you can return to the area with others as long as they are in your group, initially with you as the party leader, before entering.

I never realized any of this. Wow, this sounds great! I’m even more excited about playing now.