Scattered Islands Online
Prologue
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-May 10th 2106
“… The much anticipated release of VRMMORPG game Scattered Islands Online is only 7 days away, people are gearing up to camp outside of stores selling their first batch of consoles.”
Increasing the volume on his TV, Duke was busy unpacking his belongings while listening to current news. Just 4 hours ago Duke had arrived at his new home in Palo Alto. Duke was a 6 feet 1 inch tall, light skinned, black haired 24 years old adult with green eyes. After graduating from University of Pennsylvania, Duke was offered a job at an innovative Swedish Firm branch Headquarters in Silicon Valley. However, after most leading IT companies swarmed into Silicon Valley in the early 21st century, getting an apartment there for fresh graduates was next to impossible.
“…Scattered Islands Online is reported to provide 95% reality with a time distortion of 8:1 hours (8 in game hours: 1 real life hours)...”
Excited to fend for himself for the first time, Duke was looking forward to his new life. Having been born and raised in Pescadero, California, he never had the chance to experience the real world since his parents paid for his college tuition and living expenses at UPENN.
Duke was offered a condo fully paid for by his company in Palo Alto for one year. The downside was that it was a 2 bedroom 2 full bath condo and he had to find a different place of residence within a year. Duke was informed a month earlier that he would have to share the condo with a roommate who will be a fellow coworker as well.
Being the first one to move in, Duke had the choice of bedroom. Choosing the room with the window facing East Duke decided to get settled in. While wondering who his new roommate might be he decided to clean up the condo after unpacking his belongings.
“Scattered Islands Online happens to be one of few games that does not compromise player health by providing a maximum of 192 hours (8 days) in game experience that is 24 hours (1 day) in real life….”
“According to Brandon Keys (CEO of SIO) being logged in over 24 hours means an automatic log off from the server. In addition, players are unable to use the capsule for 8 hours real time.”
“This 8 hour ban was put in place so that players do not get addicted to the game and compromise their wellbeing.”
“There have been many questions regarding this ban. One of the frequently asked questions being, Will this result in Quests being aborted or marked as failure if they are time sensitive? Furthermore, Will that impact the game play or the story line?”
Duke eagerly looked over to the TV while organizing the kitchen so that he can hear what the reporters had to say next.
“Well according to Brandon Keys, only the Major Quests, Raid Quests, Boss Quests, Special Events and certain time sensitive Quests will continue following the In-game time. While the others will freeze for the duration of the 8 hour waiting period.”
“This means players can resume where they left off after the 8 hours with almost no impact to their game play. Although this may seem like a same relief to the otherwise major inconvenience in regards to the Quests and Events unaffected. SIO has remedied this by stating players can in fact broaden their game time by taking frequent breaks.”
Moving on to the refrigerator, Duke decided to put anyway some of the food and beverages he brought with him.
“To clarify, every time players take a 30 minute break after 4 hours of playing (Max 2 breaks in a given day), 10 hours in game time is added to their 192 hour counter for a maximum of 212 hours. This is equivalent to 26.5 hours in real time.
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“Although it doesn’t seem like significant, you are indeed getting 20 hours in game. That’s almost a whole day inside the game.”
“Brandon Keys also said their Quests and Events unaffected by the 8 hour ban will have down time in between objectives that account for the some of the 8 hours so that most players will not be affected by the ban so long as they are being time efficient.”
“Oddly enough SIO is being really specific about how long users can play because of their commitment to user health.”
Finally done settling in, Duke decided to relax on the couch for a bit while wondering if he should order in food or go out to eat while exploring the new city he will be living in from now on.
While Duke was relaxing on the couch, he heard the door knob turning. Getting up to check who was at the door he saw an olive skinned, green eyed young adult entering the condo.
“Hi, umm, who are you? My name is Duke St.Cloud. Are you my roommate?” asked Duke.
“Hey, I am Charles Ivan. I will be living here from now on.” Said Charles while moving his luggage inside the condo.
After helping Charles bring his stuff into the condo from his car.
“Sorry Charles but I went ahead and picked the room with the window facing east since no one was here.”
“Ahaha, no worries all I need is a room with a comfy bed and I will be good.”
While helping Charles organize his stuff, the two roommates found out a few interesting things about each other. Such as, Charles Ivan has a Master’s Degree in Business Finance from UC of Berkeley. In addition, he loves jogging, playing racquetball, the cello and piano. Whereas, Duke is a fan of jogging, martial arts, reading books and listening to music.
On top of their mutual interest for an active lifestyle they love playing virtual video games.
“There are 5 confirmed races: Human, Elf, Barbarian, Undead, Dwarf and Halfling, that all players have to choose from in the beginning. Whether or not if more races are playable later on is unconfirmed as of now.”
“Oh, is this news regarding SIO?” said Charles.
“Yeah, why do you play VRMMORPGs?” questioned Duke secretly hoping his new roommate was a gamer.
“Of course, I have been a gamer for as long as I can remember, ahaha.”
“Have you bought the pod then?” asked Duke relieved.
“Yes I have. It will be here within 2 days when the first shipment arrives!” said Charles smugly.
“Really? Same here. I have been dying to play this game since it was first announced a year ago. I saved up and bought the first gen pod when it was released as well.” said the overexcited Duke.
“… The reason why this game only has 5 races unlike most VRMMORG games these days with their countless race system is because this game heavily focuses on abilites rather than race.”
“Player freedom in classes is highly valued, meaning regardless of race and racial traits, a dwarf can overpower elves in magic just as easily as an undead being a better craftsman than a dwarf.”
“While SIO does not have diversity in races, the diversity in classes is immeasurable and wholly unrestricted.”
“Wow, isn’t that incredible Duke? We can play however we want without any significant impacts as long as we work hard to strengthen our characters however we please.”
“Yeah that sure is nice, but rather than the game I am more worried about grabbing some food soon. I am famished.”
“Same here, wanna go out and grab something to eat while exploring this city?” asked Charles.
“Yeah I am down for that. We will be living here from now on, so might as well get accustomed to it.” Said Duke eagerly.