“Yo yo yo yo! What’s hannin yall, it’s ya boi, Woxjee, and today? Today is a very special day. That’s right, you guessed it, I’m coming out. I’m kidding, I’m kidding, I’m polytheistic. Anyways, today is a very special day. Why? Because I just got my very first Ticket To Hel. For all of you who follow my stream regularly you’d know that I am an avid lover of Black Sheep console games and have reviewed all six of their franchise’s games on my channel. For those of you who have been living under a rock(or Serbia) Black Sheep released a trailer for their very own VROMRPG. For those of you who are peasants, that stands for Virtual Reality Online Multiplayer Role Playing Game. For those of you who understand what that is, you may be noticing something weird there.” I sneak a glance down at my watch. 10:48. Twelve more minutes until playtime.
“Notice how I said OM, and not MMO. That’s because, for the majority of the game, you will not be interacting with player characters in groups larger than six. I know, I know, it’s weird. A VR game without massive multiplayer? Unheard of! Nearly heretical. But, Black Sheep developers did say in a Live Stream that there are areas in the game that do have absolutely massive multiplayer scenarios. For example, after the personality test floor, players are thrown into a sort of private server war, where they fight as many people as possible to get acquitted with their race and class. Players are given infinite health and “Soul Gauge” to experiment and play around with. It only lasts for like, 30 minutes or so, but still pretty cool.” My eyes flicker to the chat screen. 987,000 viewers. A sneer begins to form on my face but I force it down. No need to look haughty for the new guys. I scroll through the chat room slowly, looking to see if any good questions would pop up. I didn’t waste my time with the idiots who ask moronic or repetive questions, instead pasting a link to Black Sheep’s homepage where all the basic questions about this game would be answered.
*Tremble, Oh Ye Mighty, for Davvuskin Has Gifted Me 10.00. He asks “What are the races and classes discovered for this game. Black Sheep’s website has nearly zero info on this game. Is it a multiplayer focused game? Or are they trying to make it a campaign game with multiplayer aspects?* I pause in my scrolling to read the message. A bit stingy only gifting me ten dollars, but I smile nevertheless.
“Great Question Davvuskin! So far, only 6 out of the playable 8 races have been discovered. Three factions, The Gunnir, The Wran, and The Pryde of Man have been discovered. Apparently there’s one more faction before the game fully starts, but even with the 50,000 tickets the developers sent out within the first week no one has been able to unlock the last faction. All streaming footage for the “Prologue” section of the game has been banned by threat of lawsuit by Black Sheep so it's pretty silent as to the info we have. As for the second part of your question, it’s supposed to be a mix of both. The developers frequently said they were trying to make this a replayable game, where after your first character dies or beats the game you would be able to make a new one in sort of a New Game+ mode without having to rely on other people. The whole game is apparently bearable with the AI’s you can recruit throughout your journey, but they strongly recommended player interaction.” I lean back and grab my water bottle from my shelf, taking another moment to scroll through the chat room. While the facade I played for the viewers showed a calm and collected face, inwardly I was bubbling from excitement. So much hype! I wasnt even considered a middle class streamer yet here I am, nearly a million views and counting just for getting lucky and getting my hands on a second wave Ticket To Hel.
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I swivel in my chair slowly, taking in the rotten, beaten down apartment I’d lived in for three years. Rotten yellow walls spanned four corners of a small Chicago bedroom. Flakes of corroded paint floated down from the ceiling merrily, coating the ground in invisible white flakes even as I watched. The nauseous smell of gas and hot water heaters drifted from the floorboards, curling my nose and the wood it seeped through. The old oak floor, one which had probably seen use in WWII, no longer had the bright sheen of gloss that made it vibrant, instead cracks and splinters could be seen all across the ground. In no way, shape, or form could a building like this ever pass health inspector standards. But that’s why I lived here. Cheap rent and a roof over my head.
*Tremble, Oh Ye Mighty, for 3TrollYou3 has gifted me 25.00. He asks “What’s the main goal of this game? Just to beat the campaign then? Any rewards or prizes for being the first?”*
I turn around and bring the microphone to my face.
“I’m glad you asked TrollYou! So far no reward has been specified, but the developers did say due to the unrelenting and unforgiving nature of this game a suitable reward will be granted to the very first player/party who completes the game. As for the main goal? There are thirteen floors in the game that must be completed, none in any particular order. Apparently the AI keeps track of which floor you enter and adjusts the rest of the floors to mirror your progress. Each choice you make in the floors directly effects your life in the other floors, and so on. We don’t have much to work with information wise, as even the best streamers are still in the first act of their respective floors.”
*Tremble, Oh Ye Mighty, for xxSoldier27xx has gifted me 1.00. He asks “Aren’t you going to start playing? Other streamers have loaded into the game”*
With a curse I snag my V-Link, connecting it to my PC and placing my headset over my skull. I take a glance at the clock. 11:02. Two minutes late!
“Thanks for the notification Soldier 27, I’ll be starting momentarily. The personality testing and race selection takes about an hour in total so please, go do whatever you like in that time. Remember to drop a subscription to your favorite streamer and come back in an hours time. Ciao!” I give a brief wave to the camera before shutting off the stream, closing any tabs I have open and unplugging all my external devices. My hands shook as I did so.
“It’s finally fucking time… I can’t fucking wait!” Getting up from my chair I nearly sprint over to my bed before I calm myself and brush a few potato chip crumbs off my bed. I lie down on my pillow, making sure to keep extra care not to entangle the V-Link wire in my headset. Too many times I’d roll in my VR induced coma only to find a cord flaming hot and wrapped around my neck. After a brief hesitation I grab my waiter jug and set it by my neck. No need to take chances. A deep breath escapes me and I calm my nerves again.
Time to get this show on the road.
“Open the Gates of Hel!”