About two weeks after the acceptance mail, the man received his gear. The acceptance speech had directed him to a medical facility in London, that would check to see if there were any conditions that might be dangerous when mixed with environments like these, like a weak heart or something, as well as grant him access to his biometric data, in a smallish chip. This thing was basically his account information. Upon plugging it into any VR headgear, he could access the game. It was his very own fingerprint. Only worked when he used it, and he couldn't enter without it. It was a fairly interesting conception that had been used for a while, because these biometric scans were incredibly hard to fake and, upon losing it or breaking it, all Will'd have to do was direct himself to a Medical Facility and ask for a copy. It was a tedious process, but a simple one nonetheless.
The initial setting appeared to be fairly standard. Some pretty graphics, an account checking page followed by a character loading blinding white light, followed by an awakening near a fountain. His avatar stood on his feet and proceeded to move towards the fountain that surrounded him. He appeared to be covered in clothing and couldn't exactly see how he looked like.
He then felt an audible intake of breath fill his lungs with air as he plunged his head into the gelid water that streamed down the fountain's centrepiece. As soon as he pulled his head out, the water surface appeared to calm down, and reflect his image. Here, the camera plunged into the fountain again, only this time, no cold. He was now gazing into his reflection and discovered that he could change his height, gender and other traits: character creation menu had appeared. The man could change his height, race, hair, eyes, face and anything he could think of and more. With enough time, anyone would be able to change every single pore in his body and sculpt what they would deem to be the "perfect" body for his or her character.
There were 4 main races to start with, that represented the main four playable factions in the game: The Elves, The Orcs, The Humans and The Halflings.
Each race was then divided into subspecies. A new player had about two to choose from, but new ones could be unlocked upon progressing through the game.
Upon a good few minutes of pondering, Will decided to choose his character's race: He was to be a High Human. High Humans were typically of noble birth and, supposedly due to magic imbued in their muscle tissue, were taller and slimmer than your average Man, bearing some similarities to some of the Elven Races, only minus the pointy ears and bushy brows.
He found that he could even shift the fountain that he was currently holding, and that that would allow him to spawn into different areas. Upon fiddling with his character and reaching a likeable conclusion, the man decided to carry on with the game.
He'd become slightly taller than his real height, standing in about 6'2 to 6'3. Looking no more than twenty-five years young, the man had shortish brown hair with some blond tints, a five o'clock shadow of the same colour and a pair of piercing emerald-like eyes. Will would, after all, be embodying this "person" for the foreseeable future, so there was nothing wrong with him looking his best.
The city he'd chosen to begin his path in was named Argos. A metropolis fairly close to the sea, that was the capital of its country, Ulyssea. The man rather enjoyed the warm climate it provided and could not resist the mention of the Greek heroes of old, the Argonauts (and Jason), and Ulysses, the single character to have starred in and survived both Homer's works.
As soon as his decision had been taken, he was drawn back into the body he'd chosen and, as his cold feeling his soaked head provided returned, the man would hear a shout:
"Hey you! What the hell do you think you're doing! That's a fountain, where people get fresh water from! It's not for you to be washing your stinking face!"
Looking back to face the voice yelling at him, and find himself facing a fairly large man in his late forties, covered in armour and holding a spear and a shield, who simply sighed upon the sight of him and mumbled under his breath:
"Oh... It's one of you... had to be. Damn adventurers... I have to sign you in now... Great. What's your name, kid?"
A message swiftly popped up in front of his avatar:
What do you wish to name your character?
Smiling from ear to ear, the man stated - "Wrynn."
You have chosen to name your character "Wrynn". Is this correct?YesNo
After pressing "Yes", the man would be covered in a strange light and the guard facing him now spoke again.
"Wrynn, eh? Not a bad name for a guy plunging his head on a fountain. You look like you're new around here, so you should probably go and speak to Jayson at the Dragon's Dawn Inn. It's that building over there."
As soon as the middle aged guard spoke, a building in the fountain's vicinity started to glow in a strange light. It appeared to be the one the guard was pointing to. 'This really is interesting', Will thought, before his pensive mood was interrupted by a couple of windows appearing in front of him.
Welcome to Pangaea, and our Congratulations, your character is now Level 1! You are now able to access your status window and inventory. Simply state the name of the menu you wish to access and it will appear.
Your Very First Quest!Go and meet Jayson at the Inn to receive your beginner items.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Clicking these floating notifications seemed to make them dissipate. Intrigued by the first message, the man would state: "Status!"
Status WindowNameWrynnAlignmentNeutralRaceHigh HumanLevel1ClassBeginnerTitleNoneFame0Health Points200Mana Points200Strength20Endurance20Agility20Dexterity20Intelligence20Luck20Charisma5Cunning5SatietyFullWeightLight
Each of the statuses had a small question mark near them. By clicking it, Will would see what they relate to. Being used to games, he could've easily guessed, but it is usually better to be safe than sorry.
Satiety was dependent on food. All living things require sustenance, after all. As it decreased, so would the effects caused by one's stats. Replenishing it would remove this "de-buffed" state. Constant malnutrition could possibly relate to permanent loss of certain statuses, or even long-lasting negative conditions.
Weight related to your inventory as well as your equipped items. Carrying too much stuff at once will make a character visibly slower and cause its satiety levels to drop quicker.
Strength related to weapon-related attacks, be they ranged or melee. It also dictated how much weight you could have on you.
Endurance was Strength's defence counterpart. Though not necessarily related, a lot of strength would usually imply a lot of dexterity and vice versa. All character's health points depend on this stat, as well as their regeneration speed and satiety depletion speeds.
Agility dictated your character's top speeds, maximum accelerations and reflexes.
Dexterity related to the use of tools. The higher it was, the easier it would be for a character to learn and adapt to a tool, be it a weapon or a profession-related item. It also related to accuracy.
Intelligence related to a character's MP as well as magical damage and defence.
Points added to Luck would increase the odds of a critical attack or AI misses. It also had a social standing in which someone with high amounts of luck would gain increased odds of receiving quests and monsters dropping rare items.
Cunning mostly related to social interactions. It increased your odds of successfully haggling prices, and even lie-spotting in NPCs. As it related to a strong mind, incredibly high levels of cunning would even lessen attacks on the mind, like certain stuns, hesitations and other forms of paralysis.
Charisma was the final stat. It dictated how easy it would be for a character to increase their standing in society. A lot of charisma meant that your relationships with NPCs would increase faster than normal, and it apparently related to one's attractiveness, as well. This was, of course, a game and, as such, not wanting to receive complaints along the lines of "I think my character is beautiful but NPCs call me ugly all the time", they made it so that the character's actual face or initial appearance didn't impact this stat, but in increasing it, changes would occur. In Male, High-Charisma characters with a lot of strength, muscles would gain definition - should they not have it already - and high amounts of agility would lead to completely upright postures and maybe even a few extra inches in height. When in a group, huge amounts of Charisma would provide similar effects to Cunning to fellow party members. Finally, Charisma also increased the odds of successfully training a mount and/or pet.
Finally, there was Fame. The third social status. Fame was an alternative, of sorts to the NPC Relationship aspect of the game. Characters with large amounts of Fame would be looked up to no matter where they went and, as such, didn't really have as big a need to improve one's standing with a person or group, because things like discounts and quests would be offered anyway.
Although a bit surprised by how much the game revolved around interaction with NPCs, the explanations provided were incredibly detailed which, all in all, made the 5 to 10 minutes Will'd spent in-game reading them worth it. As if this feeling wasn't enough, yet another window popped up.
A Well Read Player!
For learning and understanding the basics of our Stats, your character has been rewarded:
+5 Intelligence, +1 Cunning
"It would appear that your diligence can lead to stat increases, both In and Out of Character" Wrynn mumbled, happy with the ordeal.
In high spirits from a good start, the man would make his way into the Inn, as he'd been instructed to do.
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Do apologise for the slow pacing. Rest assured, it'll pick up very soon.
Still in very early stages, a complete revamp may occur sometime in the future.