[Tutorial: Follow Tank's instructions. Importance: N/A. Difficulty: Easyest. Progress: 5/5, Reward: 500 Exp. Part One: Fencing. Part Two: Archery. Part Three: Crafting (Skipped, Premium only). Part Four: Health. Part Five: Taking Quests and Exploration.]
[Congratulations, you finished the Tutorial! +500 Exp.]
[Congratulations! You reached level 4.]
[Government Issued Quest: Reach Level 10 within 3 days. Importance: Utmost. Difficulty: Average. Progress: 4/10, Exp to next level: 113/800. (45/72 hours left).]
"Come back if you ever feel lost, Noob. You're always welcome." That big brute Tank offers.
It's a shame that if the mission succeeds, there won't be a return, and if it fails... Let's not jinx it.
"Here's a little something for the road."
[For completing the Tutorial with flying colors, Tank offers you a Rookie's Armor. It's a light but durable leather set with 200 STP and 2 Res. Will you accept? Yes/No.]
STP? The stat card says 200 HP, which seems a lot.
Tanking two damage sounds great too, so who wouldn't accept it?
Then as he hands it over, the stats refresh and now it says STP in the inventory too.
This confuses the hell out of me, and a popup needs to intervene.
[An update rolled out one hour ago, you can check the changelogs in the FAQ or visit our official website. Inanimate objects will use Structure Points or STP instead of HP. Don't worry, the term changes won't affect the values.]
Yeah. That makes more sense. So when did they update? The character did these errands without logging off.
The MMO in the arcade had these daily downtimes when they introduced new stuff, lasting an hour.
This title keeps running twenty-four-seven though.
Deep Dive is a mystery that's hard to comprehend, and players complain about lazy devs.
So how are they pulling this off? Fixing and breaking stuff taught me a few things about tech.
Even if it wasn't about server structures and software engineering this is intriguing.
[Updates needing a server restart are always announced a week in advance. Most patches and bug fixes get introduced on the go and a message pops up once finished. As this update contains visual changes, there was no need for this. The rollout is still in progress.]
This must be a lot of work, not something lazy devs could pull off.
While the quest is urgent, the fascination with the little details gets the better of me again.
It's too easy to get distracted and freeze up during a conversation.
There was some progress though, plenty of hard work today, including the tutorial.
Taking breaks is important too. If for nothing else, to avoid the ringing ears.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Oh, and the food; the tutorial warned about eating in the real world.
Tank is watching, raising his eyebrows.
"Thanks, it's an awesome gift." How long was it this time?
He must think I'm a weirdo.
Yes, a break is in order; earlier the system kept me in place because of an activity countdown.
To the trainer, it seemed like the character fell asleep instead of disappearing.
Let's do this right, and check for the status effects before going.
There should be an option in the menu that makes them always visible to serve as a reminder.
If they only show up when someone thinks about them, what's the point anyway?
"I'll consider your suggestions. You helped a lot."
It's better to say a proper goodbye to Tank, he was a real asset.
Too bad, he's not for hire, his mace would kill a whole group of monsters with a single swing. Are there NPC mercenaries?
Working together with players sounds much worse.
Waving and moving out of sight, plans are brewing for the next session before hitting log-off.
If the Wrodditors had the spawn points nailed down, they should know the jobs with the best rewards.
Be a coward, Arnim, the most important is to stay alive.
[Your total gameplay today was 8 hours in three sessions, 4 hours left until you fulfill your quota. Would you like to continue? Yes/No.]
Eight hours already? How much of that is since coming home, and overflowing from yesterday?
When everything is so busy, it doesn't feel like a lot.
Until the mission clears, the controller won't have to worry about the twelve hours.
It will take a lot more to have a fighting chance.
Two days should be enough to reach the tenth level without major setbacks.
The finished jobs and the Exp rewards with the leveling notice are good signs.
Yet real-world problems get in the way the moment the controller comes off. It feels like starving.
It's difficult to keep track of the clock and food while feeling no hunger with the headset on.
Everything in the virtual world belongs to the character instead of me.
For some reason, I can't think about it as myself, but as a protagonist following instructions.
He will make the difference between prison and freedom though.
Sure, if this real body isn't fuelled with the fed's meals, it won't matter.
Their instant soup is eye-catching, so let's hope the solar panel can handle the kettle and the PC together.
It's Wroddit time again.
While their previous recommendations didn't work, their tips helped.
They linked useful tools delving into mechanics and might have them for missions too.
Even if the tasks are random, their rewards, risks, and prices should follow a pattern.
There is so much to learn. When the Guild gave the three errands, running them in a set order sped things up.
If they have an app to help plan these chained quests, the risk-free solution might work too.
If not, the spawn points are next, so find the monster's weak spots and Exp rewards.
While luck is a fickle mistress, the right strategy should make things easier.
What this character lacks in Premium, let's make up in brains.
After landing that hit on him, the trainer called me a sneaky boy, - all while fighting with the wrong hand. What could I do with the right one?
The soup is ready before that snail of a PC boots up.
It needs to cool, so the energy bar becomes the first victim.
The containers also have proper, cooked meals that need microwaving.
It's rice and some sauce, they even put meat in it.
It can't be real right?
It wouldn't cost one and a half credits if it were.
A pack of smoke goes for four, and it's gone in a day, - except, I had none since returning from the yard.
This has to be the Deep Dive's doing, lasting this long without a cig would drive me crazy otherwise.
With the two nicotine gums, the twelve hours in the guard house were brutal. Well, as long as there are no cravings, why bother?
The rice gets into the microwave, and the PC finally loads too.
Let's see what Wroddit has to offer while eating my fill.
Whether synthetic or not, this doesn't taste like the rations, even the instant soup is premium.
This is a problem: hating on the feds becomes harder with every bite.