[Action] Game on!

[innocent_royal]

Who: Anastasia and OTA
What: Playing Vidya games.
Where: Holodeck'd Game Time
Warnings: n00bs. Lots of them.

[Now what could a little lady be doing instead of ... probably something mildly important?

Why, check out the new Holodeck'd Game Time, of course! Anastasia had always been curious about video games but was, for well over a year, unsuccessful at finding one that caught her interest.]

Scene A:

[And that's where Holodeck'd Game Time comes in. As soon as she was able, she made a bee line right down to it and did what was required to start her own character in it. She looked through a catalogue of classes, taking care to read through and try to understand the RPG lingo as she mumbled it to herself.]

There are so many to choose from. There's so much to consider...

[Maybe a nice veteran can explain these RPG stuff to her?]

Scene B:

[Now her class was chosen and character created, she finds herself in a forested campzone with a bunch of other people moving hither and yon, and Anastasia is just looking around awestruck. Is this what a video game looks like? She realised she was holding a staff that did not look the slightest bit impressive, and next, she noticed her clothes. She was confused and a little embarrassed. Was she wearing a old patchwork dress? Atleast everything else about her was all right. Anastasia was still her normal self, same short height, same long, blonde hair, same blue eyes. Still a lovely little lady, despite the ugly newbie gear.

Though now that she is actually in the game, she's not sure what to do next. She sees a window before her eyes with text explaining some story and saying she should talk to someone. But who? Anastasia is just as lost now as she was trying to decide on a class.

But then, a new window appears to her.]

"You have been invited to join...'s party? Accept, Decline?" I... What? I don't understand any of this.

[And another party invite window shows up. Someone help the n00b.]

Comments

B

[leafheld]

[Suguha had been playing for a while now, and every so often she passed by the starting area to see if there was anyone who needed help.

Seeing the poor girl bombarded with requests, the young elf wandered over.]

Too many windows huh? They're inviting you to a party.

[The level disparity is pretty high. Sugu already has a custom appearance and gear, resembling her old Leafa personality.]

[innocent_royal]

[This player is well dressed. Makes Anastasia wish she has better clothes, but right now, these pop-ups are stressing her out.]

So, um, what do I do? I'm not dressed for any parties.

[A brief pause.]

I'm sorry, I've never played video games before.

[leafheld]

It looks like they're level 1 to 3 parties right now. [Checking the stats on the party in the preview menu she said,]

They can help you with the starting quests. But if you want, I can help out with a level sync. It'll make me as strong as you are, ie level 1, and I can help you out. I'm Leafa.

[innocent_royal]

[Anastasia sighed at the offer. It was a relief that "Party" didn't actually mean a formal occasion like she was accustomed to. Plus, this person appears to be well acquainted with the game.

Habitually, she curtsies in greeting.]

I could use the help, thank you. I guess my name on here is Anya.

[leafheld]

Nice to meet you Anya.

[Sending her a request, Leafa activated the level sync and her level visibly dropped from 34 to 3.]

All right, let's get your first quest.

[innocent_royal]

[As soon as she accepted Leafa's invite, all the random invites stopped as well. Afterwards, she looked through her menu for her quests.]

Okay, my first quest is... Talk to the camp leader. I'm assuming it's that man over there, surrounded by people running to and fro.

[She gestures to a large man standing still. She glanced up at Leafa for confirmation of her assumption.]

[leafheld]

Okay, let's go over there and get your quest. I've already completed it but you'll be able to pick it up from him.

[It was a simple fetch quest, go here, kill a few wolves and come back with the item drops.]

[innocent_royal]

[Anya approached the NPC and listened to the dialogue. Indeed, it was a hunt and gather quest, and her kind little heart sank just a bit.]

I have to...kill...animals? Well... Okay...

[She followed the quest tracker to the spot where wolves were common. They were passive-aggressive to spare newbies like her, but she went ahead and begrudgingly started combat with it.

If you can all repeatedly wacking a wolf with a simple staff "combat."

After a good few wacks, the wolf fell over and loot sprung from it, one of which is a quest item.]

So, just about three more of this item?

[leafheld]

That's right, as you level up you'll gain more skills for combat. Not all quests are like this though, there's fetch quests, travel and geo-marking quests, crafting, all sorts of things.

This just gets you through the initial leveling process.

[Suguha attacks another passive-aggressive wolf and it pops with gold and a quest item.]

Here, you take the gold, it's worth more to a starter player.

[innocent_royal]

I see. At least there is variety. All though... Being a cleric would probably be pointless if I didn't fight.

[When she was told she can have the gold, she hesitated. She approached, but gave Leafa a long glance to see if it really was okay. Then, she finally did pick it up before the game took it back.]

Just a couple more now... Say, Leafa? How strong can we get in this game?

[leafheld]

I think the current level cap is 50 or 60. To be honest, I'm used to playing a game without a level cap, and it ran off of player skill.

[Leafa folded her arms for a moment before adding,] Clerics are more or less backline healers, but I think there's some specialized attack magics you can learn of the wind and water variety.

[innocent_royal]

[That went right over her head. It was clear from her confused expression that the concept of levels was new to her.]

I see. Attack magic would be helpful, especially if I end up alone somewhere. If I could use my own--

[Whoops, looks like there's at least one aggressive wolf in the pack, and it wandered too close to Anya. It started attacking her, but she gave it a few good wacks with her staff until it dropped and gave her a quest item.]

Bad doggy...

[leafheld]

[It's like she hadn't played a immersive game before. Well, Sugu will teach her everything.]

Yeah, lemme look at your skill tree for a moment.

[Tabbing Inspect > Skills she opened up the menu and nodded.] See here? You have three basic skill trees, the High Healer, the War Cleric and the Shield Healer. High is your basic high magic with low attack, the War Cleric wears strong armor and can stand in the front with more offensive spells and the Shield Healer is a balance of the two at range. Follow so far?

B, of course

[notquitedracula]

[It's been a little while, and Leafa has gone her own way after helping 'Anya' with the newbie quests. Anya has presumably made it to level 3 or so - maybe even five! She's out of the newbie zone, at least, and away from the crowds that usually hang around such areas at the start of a new game. There are still players around, of course - just about nobody's cleared character level 20 yet, one assumes. In the near distance, she spots a familiar head of white hair - only now, it's attached to someone who looks closer to her age, and lacks the distinctive coat. He's wearing a black, sleeveless turtleneck, and the same kind of baggy white pants he wears for capoeira practice. And floating above his head is a familiar name - Soma. He hasn't spotted Anya yet though - he appears to be engaged in a wrestling match with a small bear.]

[innocent_royal]

[And it's thanks to Leafa's guidance that Anya learned some tricks about her class, namely targeting and using her class's beneficial skills.

She had her personal reasons for choosing a Cleric class that didn't originally include helping others, but she did feel a strong need to show compassion now that she understands her class a little better. Or maybe she's just a warmhearted girl like that. And here was someone who looked to be having trouble.

The white hair and name caught her eye. She didn't recognize him, but she couldn't ignore him. So she targeted him and activated her only beneficial skill.]

First Aid!

[notquitedracula]

[The healing definitely does not go to waste - he was down to 5 HP when she hit him. The bear, on the other hand, has no assistance - so when he manages to get in a good shot to its jaw, it keels over and poofs into the stereotypical cloud of loot. Most of which appears to be XP and a chunk of meat.]

Man, I was hoping it'd drop a pelt...

[That voice, modulated to fit a twelve year old, can belong to no one other than Soma. Finally he looks over to see his savior - and double takes.]

Anya? Is that... really you?

[innocent_royal]

[She nervously clutched her newbie staff when he spoke to her. How did her know her name?]

I am, yes, but... Have we met?

[Nope, still doesn't recognize him.]

[notquitedracula]

[Well, to be fair, the last time she saw him he was taller. And used swords. And had on the coat.]

It's me. Soma. Mr. White, the dragon vs. knight thing, you remember?

[Tiny details about conversations they've had before, but extremely specific ones. Ones other people wouldn't know.]

I was actually going to come tell you about this game tomorrow. I remember you asked about video games before, and... well, this one's pretty good, so far.

[innocent_royal]

Soma?

[Well this is a surprise, she wasn't expecting anyone familiar at all.]

I've wanted to try this ever since Mister Haller first announced its development.

But... How are you...like that?

[notquitedracula]

Character design. You can look just about however you want, really - and it even changes your voice to match. About half the women you see in games like this are actually played by men. I really don't know why.

[No, he doesn't. He really, really doesn't. And it would probably break his brain if anyone explains it to him. Good thing Anya probably doesn't know either, huh?]

I've heard people say that collision detection can get a bit weird if you alter your height too much, though. You'd hit my actual head about a foot above where you see it right now, for example, if you used something that isn't part of the game.

[innocent_royal]

Boys? Appearing here as girls? But why would...

[Yeah, she doesn't know either. All she knows is she is what she is who adopted her usual real world appearance. And this odd phenomenon makes her slightly uneasy.]

But I am a girl, though. Does that mean people will think I'm a boy?

[notquitedracula]

I'm not really sure, but it's safe to assume someone will. At least this game isn't bad about a lot of random people inviting me to parties...

[Not. even. one. invite.]

Ah well. I guess it's better that way - I get better experience solo. It does mean I get into trouble more often though... like with that bear. It was only two levels higher than me, it shouldn't have been that much stronger. I guess this game's coding has levels a bit tighter than usual.

[innocent_royal]

Well, if I have to prove I'm a girl, I'll just have to exit the game to show them.

[And see how she is literally no different in either.]

And you never got those party invite windows? Almost every time someone runs by, I get a party or friend request. It's...a bit annoying...

[notquitedracula]

Probably better if you don't do that. Some of the people who do that are kinda creepy. You hear about kids getting kidnapped. I doubt anyone here would try it, and you could barbecue most of them if you really tried, but still, better safe than sorry. Less messy, anyway.

[He briefly considers her words, and sighs.] Looks like my luck with people carries over, even if my appearance doesn't.

[innocent_royal]

Yes, I suppose...

[She could vaporise a creeper, and half the city, but she'd rather avoid it.]

So, I'm lucky? How am I lucky?