“When you said we were going to play some games, I assumed you meant something like what you were doing earlier,” Jake said as he watched the muscular man ducking and weaving around the punches and kicks of his doll-like opponent.
“Really?” Andy laughed as he dodged another swing, before the doll shot forwards and planted a fist on his chest, sounding a buzzer and causing both the doll and the boxing ring they were standing in to disappear, a screen appearing in front of Andy as he walked over to Jake, “Damn, thought I would get further than that with the new rig. Anyway, sorry to disappoint, Jakey, but we have to get you used to FD before we throw you into all the RPG stuff. Walk before you run, y’know?”
“Hmm,” Jake nodded as Andy waved for Jake to walk onto the slightly raised square in the blank room they were standing in, stepping up onto it as the ropes of the boxing ring reappeared around him, an identical doll to the one Andy had been fighting appearing as well, “So all I have to do is avoid the attacks, right?”
“Yep,” Andy confirmed as he called up a chair, sitting on it to watch the match, “Don’t try to attack it, either, just touching it counts as being hit.”
“Right,” Jake nodded as the doll darted towards him, easily swaying to the side to avoid the slow punch, “You said before, but what kind of game if Grande New World?”
“Kind of game?” Andy hummed as he watched the man dance around the doll, almost making it look like it was flailing about rather than trying to hit him, “Well, it’s your pretty standard Sword and Sorcery type thing. Magic, enchanted armour, Kings and Queens, and probably dragons at some point.”
“I see,” Jake hummed as he hopped over a low kick, immediately twisting to the side to avoid a punch to his gut, “And you called it the first of its kind, correct?”
“What? No,” Andy chuckled, “Well, sort of? It’s supposed to be the first “proper” MMORPG developed exclusively for FD.”
“Em-em-oh,” Jake sounded out the letters as he continued to avoid the increasingly fast attacks, “What does that mean again?”
“Massively Multiplayer Online game,” Andy replied, tilting his head slightly as he looked at the timer on the side of the ring, “That means that we’ll be playing with a bunch of other people at the same time.”
“I see,” Jake replied, ducking under a sweeping kick, “And that means we’ll be able to play together?”
“Of course,” Andy grinned as he looked back at the man, shaking his head slightly as Jake continued to avoid the attacks, “I mean, I’m pretty sure everyone in City Twelve will be spawned in in the same place. At least, that’s how it was explained in the press-release.”
“Good to know,” Jake nodded, back stepping to avoid a punch, before stepping forwards into the doll’s space, avoiding a second one, “Anything else I should know?”
“Yeah,” Andy hummed, “What kind of Build did you want to go for?”
“Build?” Jake asked as the doll jumped back, before shooting forwards again almost instantly, “What does that mean?”
“Right, you’re a complete noob,” Andy chuckled, “I keep forgetting. It means what kind of character you want to play. One of the things we know about GNW is that it uses an ASA, or Automatic Stat Allocation system, meaning that your stats are set by how you play before levelling up. For example, get hit a lot, your stats relating to toughness and health will go up, or hide and dodge a bunch, and your stats related to those will increase.”
“Oh, okay,” Jake replied, not quite getting it, “What do you recommend?”
“Well,” Andy hummed, “I usually go for a Tank build, so if we’re going to play together, you’d probably be best off being a DPS. Oh, sorry, that means a build that mainly deals damage rather than taking hits or healing. And I would advise that you steer clear of Magic as much as possible, those types of systems tend to be overly complicated.”
Stolen story; please report.
“So, someone who fights at close range?” Jake asked as the doll suddenly lurched forwards, surprising him with a burst of speed, managing to barely scrape his cheek as it shot towards him, before freezing in the air and vanishing as the buzzer sounded, “I don’t know.”
“Not necessarily,” Andy shook his head as he explained, patting Jake on the shoulder as he stepped off the raised platform, “You could be a ranged DPS, something like a Ranger class, if GNW even has classes, but my guess is it’ll be more of a classless system that relies on Skills.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Jake grunted as the room around them swirled, returning to the glass dome inside the forest, “Classless system? Skills? Ranger? Like an NPS Ranger?”
“Sort of,” Andy chuckled, “But maybe going for a Ranger build would be best for you? How are you with a bow?”
“I tried out the archery club in University a few times,” Jake shrugged as they sat down on the beaten-up sofa, “So I know the basics at least.”
“Good enough. So, it’s settled then!” Andy grinned, “I’ll be the frontline Tank, and you can support me from behind with a hail of arrows!”
“Okay,” Jake shrugged, “How do I do that?”
“We’ll be covering that now,” Andy smiled as he pulled up a screen in front of him, activating a video application.
------
“This is all so complicated,” Jake groaned, his head spinning from all the information Andy had practically dumped on him over the last three hours, “Roles, dungeons, classes, builds…how is anyone supposed to remember all of this?”
“It’s a lot easier when you don’t have to cram it all in in a few hours the day before your first game,” Andy just laughed, patting Jake on the shoulder, “Anyway, it’ll be fine, you’ll have me to walk you through everything as well!”
“So, anything else pertinent I should know about the game itself?” Jake asked, half dreading the answer would result in another cascade of information.
“Well, it’s an RAS game,” Andy hummed, explaining further when he saw the look of tired confusion on Jake’s face, “RAS stands for Reality Analogous System. Basically, almost everything works the same as it would in real-life. Not exactly the same, mind you, but pretty similar. Like, if you cut off someone’s head, they’d die regardless of any level difference between the two of you.”
“I see,” Jake just groaned, rubbing his temples, “Anything else? Remember, I have literally no knowledge of any of this besides what you’ve just told me.”
“Not that I can think of,” Andy just shrugged, “I mean, I’m honestly going into this about as blind as you are, since Neurotech has been so secretive about GNW’s systems.”
“Hardly,” Jake sighed as he sat back on the beaten-up leather couch, “When does GNW start, anyway?”
“Oh, six am,” Andy hummed as he waved his way through some menus, getting a surprised look from Jake, “It’s a midnight release in City Four, where Neurotech’s main Headquarters’ are, we’re just lucky to be exactly six hours behind.”
“Really?” Jake asked, “Why midnight, though?”
“Oh, simple,” Andy laughed, “It’s because of the time dilation.”
------
Howard Steele sighed as he sat behind his desk, looking down at the sleek metal of the piece of furniture as it reflected the light of the evening sun streaming in from the large window behind him. If he were to turn around, he would be able to gaze upon the tight clusters of skyscrapers that reached to the Dome above them. The mirrored windows of each reflected the light of the sinking sun in a grand light show, one carefully tailored and constructed to shine the maximum amount of light and heat onto the solar and thermal generators that kept City Four running. But he didn’t. Not because he’d seen it hundreds of times before, but because he had work to do.
Howard always had work to do.
Waving his hand over the top of the desk, the surface began to glow with thin lines, a holo-screen appearing above the brushed metal as Howard started to type. It didn’t take long for his secretary to enter the room, silently bringing him a cup of real organic coffee and waiting to the side as he worked. After another twenty minutes Howard finally looked up, grabbing the cup, taking a sip, a slightly annoyed look on his face as he sighed.
“Yes?”
“I just wanted to remind you that the Board of Directors wanted to meet with you for dinner tonight,” the man said in an even tone, not flinching as Howard scowled at him, “They wish to celebrate the launch of Grande New World and-.”
“I know what those damn credit-stashes want to do,” Howard growled, cutting the secretary off, “Tell them I can’t make it.”
“For what reason, sir?”
“Something came up,” Howard shrugged as he waved his hand dismissively, “A minor problem with the System that required my attention but won’t delay the launch. That should keep them off my back long enough at least.”
“Very well,” the other man nodded, turning to walk to the office door before pausing, “If you don’t mind me asking, sir. What will you be doing during the launch itself?”
“Me?” Howard chuckled, “If I’m lucky? Sleeping.”