The login screen for Universe: Onset was a simple somewhat see through blue screen with a nebula in the background. Before the release of the game, I had read in a magazine about how the game is revolutionizing the way people play virtual reality games. The controllers are not used in the conventional way of selecting things. Rather they are used to be the player's interface system when piloting or doing work in the game. Turns out the headsets used in modern virtual reality are capable of monitoring brain waves, and thus let people enter text and select things on screens like the login.
With this in mind, I simply thought about selecting the tiny 'Register' button on the bottom of the login screen and surely enough the game selected it and brought me to the registration screen. A few things appeared in my vision. Starting with the username selection. Being the non-creative person I am, I decided to go with something that isn't the most creative. I chose the name 'Rekkered' by playing with the words in my name and adding a few. I simply entered in a standard password that I use, my email address and finished registering. Moving onto the next screen I have the option to create my avatar. Without much creativity I decided to stick with how I look in real life. Suffice to say – it was a tad difficult to capture how I look, given the clunky system for shaping one's features. It almost reminded me of clay sculpting, something I'm not entirely accustomed to. After what seemed like an hour of just trying to get my nose how I wanted, I was pleased with my look. I selected a hair style similar to my own when it is actually trimmed down a bit. My shagginess almost disappeared, except for the messy curls still prevalent in my hair. Not knowing my own eye color is a bummer, so I went with steel-gray eyes, although they are probably a bit large to be considered mine. The face was almost perfect, I did give myself a better jawline and a tiny bit less chub. My body was likewise proportioned to be a slightly skinnier version of my real world counterpart. I was ready to log into Universe: Onset and begin my adventure.
After selecting the done button, I zoomed through the nebula in a blinding white and blue menagorie of streaking lines. It was similar to a certain T.V. show that I used to watch with my dad when I was a kid. I couldn't help but to think to myself "Warp speed!" as I presumably loaded in. The servers must be crowded right now.
Making it into the game proper, I looked around my surroundings. I stood in a large open area with grass beneath my feet. Looking up revealed a large domed cieling made of glass revealing a star filled sky, the dome connected to large metal walls that connected to the edge of the field. Around me there is a plethora of players milling about, gawking at their surroundings similarly. People kept filling in the large open field until it was nearly completely full. I'd be lying if I said that the whole experience wasn't claustrophobic, as well as breathtaking. The graphics in this game are unexpectedly realistic. After the field was full of players, a transparent screen popped infront of all the players simultaneously.
Welcome!
Universe: Onset welcomes you "Rekkared" to this open sandbox
universe simulator. To open your menu, simply think about opening a menu and it should display itself.
From here on, you are on your own.
Good luck, and enjoy your adventure.
Well, that is certainly unexpected and is quite a shock. A true sandbox game where the system doesn't aid the players. I immediately closed the screen and brought up the menu.
Name: Rekkared Race: Human Occupation: None Health: 100/100 Status: None Sol: 0
"Interesting" I thought to myself. Sol must be the currency here, looks like I should start exploring. I definitely want to make some money in this game. After all, I am a greedy human. With some resolve I set out to earn some money, although how I would do that, I'm unsure. Before long, the people dispersed which allowed me to begin my exploration. I started towards a not so crowded part of the field, one goal in mind. Get away form everybody. This area is simply too crowded, any sort of money to be made woould be exhausted by everyone here. On the way to that corner of the field I spotted an odd looking flower growing on the ground. Being the hoarder I am, I decided to pick it. Carrying the bright red and yellow flower with me I finished the journey to the edge of the field. Around the field's edges there are exits which lead into the unknown. Judging by the stars above me in the dome, this must be some sort of station.
I stood in front of a metal sliding-door with a group of twenty or so players. Nobody dared to open the door. This was probably due to the fact that not much was known about the game. The only players who might know anything are the beta testers. Not much was known about this game, other than a promise of a universe simulator that was actually massively multiplayer. The players standing around are getting ancy, so I cautiously made my way to the outskirts of the mass. Without a clue if there was PVP allowed in this area, I didn't want to risk anything. A taller avatar made their way to the door and tried opening it by grabbing on the center seam and pulling it to the side. Nothing happened, which made me stifle a chuckle. If they had taken a moment to look around, there was a panel that had a single word on it "[Open]". With my flower in hand I walked over to it and poked at the screen.
A pneumatic hissing was audible as this large airlock looking door slid open. Everyone seemingly held their breath, this was perceivable due to the sudden silence of the local voice chat. After the door opened leading into the station proper, people walked in, except for a few who stayed outside to talk for a bit.
"Good job, flower boy." the tall avatar said in my direction with a snide voice. I didn't think much of it, until everyone else left standing around started laughing. They walekd by, muttering "Flower boy" under their breath. I immediately flushed, hoping that it didn't show on my avatar. After all, who knows what these brain wave reading headsets are capable of.
When everyone walked through the door, I waited a few seconds to contemplate putting the flower down. I had no reason to be carrying it, but of course my hoarding mentality ultimately decided against it. Just before I started walking through the door a new system message popped into my view.
NEW TITLE: Flower Boy
Do you accept this title?
WARNING: other players will be able to see this title without knowing your name and if accepted, the title can not be removed.
(Yes) (No)
The answer is obvious. I'd choose no. Who in their right mind would choose "Yes"?
NEW TITLE ACCEPTED
You will now be known as "Flower Boy" by strangers, or as "Rekkared the Flower Boy" by those who know you through other means. Congratulations, Flower Boy!
Oh you have got to be kidding me. Did this game really just mistake a thought I had as me agreeing to this ridiculous title? Oh well, I'll contact a moderator on the games forums later. For now, I need to make some Sol so that I can hopefully afford a ship of my own.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Walking through the door, the brightness of the field faded away into a metalic gray hall with various doors off to the sides. It reminded me a bit of a shopping mall, if the mall was blandly colored and had lights and pipes visible on the ceiling without any attempt of hiding them. I guess it isn't as bad as it would seem. After all, this is a beginning area. I'm certain that there will be better stations in the future, maybe even some of them would be player built. After all, that was one of the promises of this game. A large portion of what we as players will eventually discover is the work of other players.
I walked down the hall until I found a room that didn't have any players in it. Inside the room I found a few plastic bins and cylinders with various things inside of them. Judging by the contents, this area isn't dissimilar to those so called 'newbie grounds' in other popular MMO's. I found a few items in my room that would be helpful to me. For starters there was an old looking energy pistol with a handful of energy charges. As well as a couple hundred Sol. Hey, at least it is a start. Getting this much Sol made it clear that this game would have some crazy numbers in it for currency, to find a couple hundred of any currency in a game from the start generally meant that the currency was inflated to some crazy high amount. I also found some beginner gear that fit better than the odd looking undergarments everybody was wearing. This clothing was comfortable, but it wasn't very futuristic looking. A pair of black pants, gray sneakers and a gray tee shirt. There was also a knife and a simple entrenching tool. My hands were getting full when I found a backpack in another crate. The pack itself was the same dark gray as the shirt, but looked to be a bit more durable. I placed my entrenching tool in the pack and kept the knife and pistol on my person.
With everything I deemed to be useful in my pack, I got ready to leave the room. safely tucking my flower away in the pack. At some point of being in the room the door shut without me noticing. I opened the door again and found myself in another area entirely. I knew it was a newbie grounds. I furtively poked my head out and glanced around. It would appear I was in the station still, but an entirely different part of it. The game devs must have spent a lot of time in malls because this place resembled the large open area of a food cart. Various shops lined the walls with people - presumably NPCs behind the counters. Players were already walking around and browsing the wares they had to offer. I briefly considered doing the same, but I decided against doing so. It was clear that someone wouldn't buy a ship here, or find a way to make money. Looking around the 'food court' I noticed a few things.
First, there is a large number of exits, so this must be some sort of hub.
Second, the exits each have a different color paint outlining them and the subsequent corridors they lead to.
Third, there are large signs hanging from the ceiling with descriptions as to where the corridors lead, similar to the organization system in a grocery store.
A few of the signs had some uninteresting information on them like 'observation deck' or 'mess hall'. It didn't take long for me to seek out something interesting. Reading this one aloud "Job manager", I immediately made my way towards that hallway. Surprisingly enough, not many players were heading there. I expect this to change shortly though as the player's Sol will begin to deplete soon enough. The handful of players that were in this area congregated around specific job rooms, such as bounty hunter and vanguard patrol. Those jobs disinterested me as I didn't much care for doing any sort of PVP action myself. This was assuming that players being able to raid other players and their goods was actually a possibility. With this game being a sandbox, I wouldn't doubt that such a thing was possible. Instead of staying around these players I kept looking around. There was a few boring things even for me. Jobs such as taxi don't particularly yield much enthusiasm from me. There is a job that did catch my attention. Asteroid harvester. I decided to check this out and entered the room.
A hearty looking person sat behind a desk. it would seem that I entered a specific instance room, which would make sense as the influx of players would be a lot to have only one person in the room at a time. The person behind the desk looked shockingly like a regualr human being, had they not been in here before hand I most likely would have confused them as being a player. With a somewhat imposing figure he sat, clearly he was in charge. I'm not entirely sure why but I felt a bit of nervousness at the situation. It reminded me of a job interview, although it was much more intimidating than the mock interview I had to partake in during my senior year of school.
"Please, sit... Flower Boy." the man spoke in a low voice. I hadn't noticed until I got closer but this person was obviously heavier set, the suit he was wearing did a decent job at hiding that. The only give away was his cherub like face. At his request I took a seat across from him. A dark mahogany desk separated us. The stack of paper on top of the desk created another barrier between us. Almost instinctively I began talking to him. "Hello sir, my name is Der.... er... Rekkared." The pressure got to me and I almost introduced myself as Derek. This game is too lifelike that it can be a bit difficult to remember that these people are just NPCs. It didn't help that this person immediately called me Flower Boy. I find it to be slightly embarassing. The conversation continued.
"So, I'm assuming that since you came into my office that you're interested in becoming an adteroid harvester?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Excellent. It isn't an easy occupation by any means, would you like for me to explain what the work entails?"
I nodded.
"An asteroid harvester specializes in maneuvering to asteroids that could potentially contain some valuable minerals or materials and harvesting them through various means. Starting out, we would assign you to a ship that would transport you and a group of other harvesters to an asteroid field. From there you would then perform a space walk or EVA to harvest the resources through the use of drills or blasting. That being said, this type of job is reserved for the grunts of the occupation to do because of how deadly it can be. While mining, there is a chance that something could go wrong. Our mining vessels aren't exactly the mose elegant of crafts, but they get the job done... unless someone decides to raid us. It would be up to the crew for manning the various defences on the vessel to ensure that they get out alive. Any questions?"
I paused and thought for a moment. It was a lot of information to take in.
"Yes, how much Sol would I make, and how do I get a higher rank in the job?"
The man laughed, his lungs rattled unhealthily. "I knew I liked you, kid. Here is the deal, depending on the material you mine individually you would get paid in accordance to the standards set by the station's ruling government. You'll be able to 'rank up' after completing a certain number of space walked and gaining enough experience with your harvesting."
I confirmed something I wasn't so certain about. In the menu I looked at earlier there didn't appear to be levels, but what this person just said confirmed that the levels in this game are related to one's job. Starting out, a level one harvester would probably not be able to harvest as much material when compared to a higher level harvester.
"I have one more question." I stated.
"Hmm?" he replied, leaning further back into his executive styled chair.
"When do I start?"
A new menu appeared in front of me
NEW JOB AVAILABLE
Asteroid Harvester
Do you accept?
(Yes) (No)
After a bit of concern from the Flower Boy incident, I adamantly thought the word "Yes" over and over in my head. Knowing full well that there were other options I hadn't explored didn't bug me too much, since there wasn't a warning that jobs were permanent.
"Hey Flower Boy, how and why did you get that name?" the man said while leaning closer.
"Uh... this?" I reached into my pack and took out the flower. The man's eyes widened,
"I see. Vegetation of any sort is rare to find here on the station. I have a collection of plants in my room. I could take that flower of yours away for around 500 Sol. What do you say, kid?"
I wanted to work towards getting my own space ship one day, so I might as well accept this offer. After all, I have nothing to lose other than an interesting looking flower.
"I'll give you the flower if you tell me your name, and pay me the 500 Sol, do we still have a deal?"
"I guess so. My name is D43G152. If you couldn't tell by now, I'm an android. We don't do much other than menial jobs like office work." and with that, I handed D43G152 the flower and received the 500 Sol.
I asked D43G152 where I could go to start my work and he gave me directions to the ship yard where I could embark on a mining vessel, to sell the materials all I'd have to do is bring my assigned container to any station's mineral trader and they would calculate everything for me. If I am being completely honest, even whough this is just a video game, seeing an android that looks exactly like a human and behaves like one is more than slightly unnerving.
Unfortunately, fatigue has gotten to me, and I had to sign off for the night. Opening the menu and reading over the new information I saw a few things had changed.
Name: Rekkared Race: Human Occupation: Asteroid Harvester Health: 100/100 Status: None Sol: 700 Title: Flower Boy
Those would be that the Sol, and Occupation updated, and a new panel was filled in with my title in it. I seriously need to contact a moderator about that glitch in the system. I'll do it when I wake up. I looked around for the logout selection and found it in the corner of my vision, after selecting this, my screen went blank and I removed my headset. Before heading to bed I brushed my teeth and checked my phone to see that our group message had exploded with messages. In short, I now owe Jack ten dollars because Kade was the first one to die. Apparently dying means that you have an 8 hour respawn time where you can't be in the game. This is probably to keep the players safe, as this has been an issue in other VRMMO's where players try to substitute real life with a video game. They also listed their usernames in the chat so we could all add one another to a friends list.