Chapter 1 - Release Day

The Forged Realms release day was finally here.

“Dwarf fire bearer,” Ryan thought fondly, as he daydreamed about the character he was going to create and become in The Forged Realms. “That character build will be perfect for me. A noble Dwarf of Winter Reach! Oh, Winter Reach! Winter Reach in full immersion! Dygon Denlor is the perfect name for him.” Ryan thought about the new life of adventure he was about to experience with his friends, escaping from the anticlimactic boredom he found himself in.

Ryan almost couldn't believe it had finally come after he and his friends had been waiting so eagerly for over a year now since the first announcement of the game, and six months since they had preordered the Collector’s Edition of The Forged Realms.

“AI, navigate to VR Games.” Ryan said in a rushed tone, “Also, what’s the ETA? They said the release was going to be at 6 pm. I should be there already.” Ryan glanced at the time on the dash, feeling nervous about how late he was as he expected the lines of those who preordered the collector’s edition to be massive.

“Navigating to VR Games now, sir.” AI Said.

“Why did they have to call me in today of all days,” Ryan said, “why did there have to be a client issue today, on my planned day off and on release day? Yea, so I had the day off but still had to be on call in case anything happened. I just thought nothing would happen like the usual Fridays. Stupid on call rotation! And for a ridiculous client emergency network maintenance window. To think I worked so hard to achieve this job situation. It seriously wasn’t even a network emergency. Just because the client’s mail server stopped working on a Friday doesn’t mean it has anything to do with me! It wasn’t even a network related issue, idiots! I could have had my planned day off with no client on call issues as well and been there on time.” Ryan sped down the interstate in his new white self-driving electric 2047 AI-8 SUV, which included the Artificial Intelligence package fully upgraded. He glanced over at the clock as he was feeling anxious and frustrated with his job.

“Relax Ryan, it’s going to be okay.” He said, trying to convince himself.

“I have navigated to VR Games, sir,” AI said in a flat tone through the sound system, as a light blue navigation holographic map popped up in the center of the front dashboard. “Your Estimated Time of Arrival at VR Games is approximately 11 minutes, at 6:03pm based on current weather and traffic conditions.”

“AI, that is not fast enough! We are going to miss the start time and getting in line on time! I have to get The Forged Realms and start this month with my friends, my family! I can’t miss out this time!” Ryan said, wondering if the others made it okay and got a good spot in line since they actually got the day off like they had planned. He thought he should probably call his friends to check up on things.

“We are currently on the fastest route, sir.” AI said, “And already currently progressing at the ‘+10 miles per hour max speed limit state.’ Any faster, sir, and the interstate traffic drones will mark and flag us. Not to mention the interstate traffic cameras as well, sir.”

“Just do all you can to get us there as fast as we can.” Ryan said, “today is finally the day we’ve been waiting for. I must get there now to guarantee I get a copy of the game today since they don’t have enough for everyone!”

Ryan sat pondering the new game and his life. I will not make the same mistake I did last time. Completely missing out on all the time, fun, and relationship with my friends, playing together in the last MMORPG game release without me. That was a dumb mistake. Why didn’t I just not work so hard and go on release day with them? Why was I so consumed with work that I missed out with my friends? All for what, money? What good is money without friends and family to enjoy life with? Not this time! Now here we are again on release day and I’m late because of my stupid job! That old school MMO release wasn’t anything compared to this one either. I need to get there like now.

Why had I been so consumed and focused on becoming so successful in my IT career? Ryan pondered to himself, All that for this, and to have a crazy boss, and stupid on call schedule. All I did was work. Being a workaholic is no life for me! What's even the point, to make money yet have no life, no friends, no fun? Why did I let myself miss out on the last game with my best friends? All that work building my IT career to find out I don’t even care, sure it pays good money sure, so what. I’m going to share in the fun with my friends this time, my family! I’m sharing in the adventure and in the memories this time. I guess I thought that doing really well for myself would finally make things happier, make things better. Well, I did it. I have money, so what?! What’s the point of having anything without a family to share it with? That world is going to be so much better, especially with my friends. They were there for me when no one else was. When I had no one running into them at college, I just fit right in with them. Finally, I had a group of friends, a place I loved and belonged, what fun we had together. They accepted me, and we did everything together when we weren’t in class. Ryan thought to himself, pondering his current life feeling bored and lonely as he finally had something else to look forward to that wasn’t work. His friends filled some of the void he felt in his heart from never being a part of a family or having genuine friends who unconditionally loved him.

Ryan had achieved a lot for someone who never really had a support system until now with his friends who truly loved and encouraged him. Without being with them, he felt empty, bored, unfulfilled, and not happy with his life, feeling alone. He had done it; he had become a successful career person, whatever that was supposed to mean. At least he had a good-paying job now, no thanks to his parents he never met, who were nowhere to be found since the very day he was born. The foster care system growing up didn’t do it all for him, either. He had to do it on his own around social workers, trying to pretend they actually cared about him. He knew the truth. He made it in his career by himself, alone, yet it didn’t solve his problem. Ryan was completely alone, and had felt alone his whole life, until he met his friends, who were the first ones who truly loved him. He just wanted to be with his friends, his family.

“I have close friends now and what family?” Ryan thought to himself, feeling so frustrated yet comforted to have the close relationships he now had, which he had never had before. They were his family, his only family. Realizing that being with them and playing with them is what made him happy. Why was he getting so emotional over potentially missing out on a game? To Ryan, it wasn’t just a game, it was meaning a way to be with his family. It was a way of adventure, an exciting life, a way to build those relationships he cherished. It was finally some form of meaning, family, and relationship to look forward to for the first time in his life. Was it possible to just restart, recreate a life of meaning and fellowship, of love where not much seemed to exist? But now a glimmer of hope with his friends, his family, looking to provide something he felt missing.

“My friends are my family, the only family I have. The only ones who are actually there for me, who care for me, for the first time in my life. I am not missing this with them this time! Not because of stupid work or career this time, nope! They're all I have!” Ryan started thinking of the last year as apart from him being busy with his career it had been a year full of anticipation for the game with his friends, character planning, game discussions, how the game and the full immersion will work, and so on. Now looking back, it seemed and felt more like it had been years gone by rather than only twelve months because of how much they had been looking forward to this new adventure together.

“AI,” Ryan said, “Turn on the VR News podcast. I want to hear what they are saying about The Forged Realms.”

“Turning the VR News podcast on now, sir,” AI replied in a smooth tone. “Sir, I just received the notification from your account that The Forged Realms company has delivered your Portal Gate gaming pod. However, to activate and use it sir, you will now need to pick up your game copy.”

“Awesome! And yea, I know that AI, we’re headed to VR Games right now. You should know, you’re the one driving.” Ryan said. “Was it too hard for them to program you with a complete set of human logic this time?”

“I’m sorry, sir! I didn’t understand your request this time. Can you please repeat that again?”

“Oh, go run yourself with the latest firmware update already!” Ryan said in a frustrated tone as he shook his head and let out a sigh.

“I currently have the latest version of code, sir, of v2.3…”

“AI, shut up!” Ryan said, cutting AI off in the middle of its sentence. As the podcast started playing through the sound system, the newscaster was talking about the new game release.

“Lines are out the doors at all the local gaming store locations, and shops.” The newscaster said, “As Forged Realms, the brand new VRMMO is making world history through the launch of the new fully immersive, full-world virtual reality MMO! This game is true virtual reality immersion, like has never been experienced before. We are talking about a full immersion experience of full consciousness and all the senses, touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. The CEO Tom Banner of the game has said that players will not even remember who they are out of the game world. They will fully believe they are their in game character as they truly become them. It’s truly amazing the feats they have accomplished of what full immersion is going to be like going forward. In The Forged Realms, you will feel everything you touch, fully experiencing the world around you, the weather, everything, just like you are there in person. You will taste everything you eat and drink. Characters will grow in level and experience within the world game system while gathering loot, items, valuables, experience the fight and magic systems. Players will experience the relationship with other characters in the game like has only been dreamed of until now. Players will also experience a world completely outside of time in our world, as time passes at a much more accelerated rate in the game world than it does in our world. The new game has made new groundbreaking accomplishments and new technology advancement capabilities to make this possible and within the VR gaming sector. Our online feeds are absolutely blowing up due to all the excitement for today’s game launch and release. In reading just a few of them, Tim online says; ‘We finally get to be the characters we have only imagined and dreamed of in our favorite fantasy sagas!’ And Karen commented, ‘Cannot wait for my new homeland of Winter Reach, going to be an epic world to explore.’ The company has announced unfortunately that if customers did not get the chance to pre-order the game and pod before today, that it looks like they will not be available to receive a copy until second shipments arrive at vendors and stores which could be more than a month's delay. Some stores have not even received sufficient supply of the preordered Collectors Editions for release today to match the number of customers who have already preordered the game months ago. Unfortunately, this means that not everyone who has preordered the game and collectors editions will receive their copies as expected today. This is going to make some customers upset unfortunately, and the company has apologized for the inconvenience of their over estimation of the number of games along with portal gate pods they could produce and deliver by today’s release date. When the company was asked about the second shipment delays, they confirmed it could be more than a month’s time, but they were not sure when that date will be. Stores will serve their pre-ordered customer lines today on a first come first serve basis for today’s release. The company has been busy also delivering the pods today, or Portal Gates as they call them to customers’ home addresses who had preordered the game months ago.”

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“When the company CEO Tom Banner was asked about the game in a recent interview about The Forged Realms, his reply was; ‘to us this is not only a game, it is significantly more than that, it is truly a new level of reality, a new life for people to experience, a new world, new realms on a level that has never been experienced before. As others come into our world, I think they are going to come to realize the full scope of exactly what we mean by this and the truly great world they are about to enter. We have developed The Forged Realms for full immersion like people have only dreamed of until now. It’s a time for forgetting what lies behind and pressing forward into new realms and a magnificent world we have created for our players’ enjoyment. Entering our world is not something that should be taken lightly. It will bring challenges in ways people just are not used to dealing with in this world. However, we believe this will be one of the most rewarding irreplaceable experiences for our players.’”

“AI, turn off the podcast!” Ryan said, his eyes tearing up as he felt his heart sink, almost surprising himself as emotions surfaced of what this really meant to him to be there and be apart with his friends. “I may actually miss getting my Collector’s Edition, my first edition. I may miss out with my friends, my family! The story of my life, always me! Why me all the time?”

“This is the worst possible news anyone could get today.” Ryan said to himself. “I preordered the very day it was available, like 6 months ago! I mean, I’m probably one of the first preordered customers for the game they had come in on announcement day. We knew if we didn’t that this game would be impossible to get, and now this. Why are they not prioritizing those who purchased first? That beautiful looking the collector’s first edition of the game, with LitRPG fantasy novel included, all the loot and merch with it, and showing up after all this wait and time planning to just to find out that we are not all getting our copies that we payed, waited, and planned a year for?” Ryan felt worried for himself while he glanced over at the time again. “That is so not okay!”

“Will you give me a name, sir?” AI asked as they changed lanes again to avoid the slower traffic in the right lane. “My name property is not yet configured, sir.” Suddenly snapping Ryan out of his self-reflection.

“Ah yes,” Ryan said. “I have already given home your name. Please sync with home now so that it will link you with the database.” Ryan looked at the navigation map holographic to see how much further they had to go until their exit. His heart was beating with an exciting rush in anticipation to get there already, if he could only be there now before the line grew even larger.

“That is splendid news, sir.” AI said in its flat, emotionless tone. “I have just begun the sync process with home. I should complete the database sync via the current satellite connection within the next 29 minutes and 13 seconds, with the current latency.”

“What is our current latency?” Ryan asked in a curious tone.

“I routed us through the SpaceCorps Juniper satellites at the moment, sir,” AI said, responding, “And after running a ping five times on our connection, here is the current latency output. They have taken over the old classic 4.2.2.2 server address.” A new blue hologram graphic on the dashboard popped up, showing the following latency ping data;

Ryan’s AI8-SUV:~ AI$ ping 8.8.8.8 -t 5

Satellite PING 4.2.2.2 (4.2.2.2): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=0 ttl=56 time=20.276 ms

64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=56 time=18.876 ms

64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=56 time=17.302 ms

64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=56 time=20.113 ms

64 bytes from 4.2.2.2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=56 time=18.378 ms

--- 4.2.2.2 satellite ping statistics ---

5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0.0% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 17.302/18.989/20.276/1.109 ms

Ryan’s AI8-SUV:~ AI$

“Our average latency, sir, is currently 18.378 milliseconds, with zero percent packet loss, sir,” AI said in reply.

“Well, considering today, that is not too bad,” Ryan said, as he glanced over to the clock on the dashboard to view the time as he heard a sound notification go off through the sound system.

“You have a call coming in now from Ella, sir. Should I connect you to the call?” AI said.

“Great! Yes, connect the call!” Ryan said as he was just thinking of calling his friends to check on how things were going at VR Games just when the call came in.

“Hey Ella,” Ryan said anxiously, “did you make it there okay? How’s the line?”

“Not excited to get here at all, are ya? Haha, where are you? You’re running late and the lines are growing large!” Ella said.

“I know, I know, I’m coming as fast as I can,” Ryan said. “Work kept me after the call in, as you know, stupid call it!”

“I’m sorry, Ryan!” Ella said in a calming voice. “We know how much this means to you to join us this time. Take a breath, it’s all going to be okay.” Which didn’t make Ryan feel any better, as he doubted whether he would make it in time.

“It’s amazing here in the store. Just wait until you see this. The Forged Realms! Winter Reach! They completely decked everything out, and it is everything we hoped it would be. It’s insane!”

“Oh man, I can’t wait to see it!” Ryan said, trying to imagine what it could be like with all the game decorations around the store fully decked out, and Winter Reach, the great Dwarven subterranean kingdom. The thought just reminded him of why he was so excited about The Forged Realms. “Did they get enough collector editions for all of us? Do you think I’ll get my copy too or that they will let me come up in line with you guys?” Ryan asked.

“I don’t know yet to be honest.” Ella said. “Dale and Will just headed over to check and get some feel for it. We’re trying our best to make sure you are good to go. Leah and I are standing here now, holding the spot in line. There are like 50 or more people in line already for the collector’s edition alone and more coming in every minute. Not trying to cause you any further anxiety or stress or anything, just get here as soon as you can.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Ryan said as anxiety rose and he felt his heart pounding.

“Do you think from what you see it’s going to be okay for me to just join you all in line since you have been saving my spot?” Ryan asked.

“We wondered the same thing.” Ella said, “I don’t know. People seem pretty crazy and excited about the line here with the news of the limited supply. We are like eleventh position in line from the front right now. There are a ton of people behind us, so I’m not sure. Just come up towards the front of the line with us when you get here and we will figure it out. I had heard people mention the ‘First come, first serve’ thing. We did purposely talk some small talk about the fact we were saving our friend’s position in line with the surrounding people, hoping that will help. I see the employees look to be preparing things and getting ready behind the sales counter and stacking up some nicely wrapped new collector’s editions now! It’s so exciting there, like sitting right there! Wow, those are seriously epic! The artwork is amazing! There is quite a buzz here, I have to say. The employees are all over the place grabbing different things and talking on their watch transmitters to coworkers. Just get here as soon as you can. I think things are going to get started really soon.”

“I will be there in a few minutes.” Ryan said, “This is going to be the best, most epic game night and weekend of our lives! I just want to be with you guys, ya know?” Ryan daydreamed about the game world, but also about being and playing with his friends. Thinking about the great Dwarven city of Winter Reach, as he had many times now. The excitement and anticipation bubbled up in his heart and emotions of both positive and negative, not knowing how things were about to go.

“I can’t wait to see it. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Ryan said.

“Okay, Dave and Will are coming back now, so we will see you when you get here. And don’t worry, okay!?” Ella said, “bye.”

“See you in a sec, bye,” Ryan said, “AI Disconnect.”

“Call disconnected, sir,” AI said. “We will arrive at VR Games in two minutes, sir.”

“Finally!” Ryan said as he prepared his app wallet on his watch and phone to ensure he had everything he needed to rush into the store as soon as they arrive. Ryan checked on his phone and watch to make sure he had the proof of his preorder purchase for The Collectors Edition.

As Ryan finished gathering the things, he looked up and saw it, VR Games. AI had pulled into the parking lot. They had arrived. He noticed the decked out exterior of the store with graphics, sign posters, and holographic displays of the new game that looked amazing, showing artwork from the game and world. The 3D holographic played outside the store and was a fresh sight to behold of the VR image of Winter Reach itself, and all the snow-capped Icewind Mountains surrounding as the snow steadily fell.

AI pulled into a parking spot near the back, as other vehicles already filled most of the spaces. Ryan couldn't get out of the car fast enough. “Shut off, AI,” Ryan said, getting out of the car in a hurried run to get inside as he shouted back at his car. “AI lock up as well!”

“Done, Sir,” AI said, as the automatic doors came to a close and locked on their own. “Security system armed, sir.” Ryan heard from the external car speakers as he rushed to get inside VR Games with determination to claim his spot in line.