PROLOGUE 02 – DIE SPIELWELT(ゲームの世界)
That was an excerpt from the game manual of the most popular and first-of-its-kind video game that thousands of gamers around the world have been waiting for.
This is the world of ‘11 GATES’ A Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game or VRMMORPG. As the name suggests this is a game that lets you dive into the world to play the game without the use of controllers or keyboards that most MMO gamers have become accustomed to. Instead, a device attached to the players head, directly interacting with the player’s mind known as the ‘DREAM DRIVE DEVICE’ lets the player fully dives into the game world and experiencing fully the environment of the game, as if your five senses + one has experienced it.
“Welcome to CHRONOS ALPHA.” A girl in a lovely maid uniform with blue and white frills caringly greets Raul. Raul Panaginip is one of the billion players of this VRMMRPG, he has been playing the game and has been through the full 2 years of the beta test of the game.
The game was first launched on the 13th of December 2012 with a lot of promise, from there, a massive drive to detect and remove glitches, viruses and protect them from possible hackers had finally ended.
Raul Panaginip is one of the lucky players who had received a free device from the corporation that brought light to the game 11 Gates Online, ‘eMnemosyne World Corporation’.
While everyone would have thank their lucky stars to get one of these devices, Raul got selected through his skills. The selection process was for players who had excelled in the games before they became part of the ‘11 Gates’, a MMO game entitled ‘Gears of Arcadius Online’. He, his younger sister Maya and their childhood friend Tina, all excelled in the game when it was still a game on the Personal Computer or PC time.
Like Gears of Arcadius Online, 10 more of these large and accomplished online games from their generation became the model worlds from which the players will be able to access simultaneously without having to worry about changing consoles, CDs, controllers, and/or data.
At first ‘eMnemosyne World Corporation’ received lots of bad critisms for mashing up these games instead of simple creating a new world for new gamers to enjoy. But, the head programmer of the corporation -Kawaguchi Nobuhiko, eased the gaming society as he quotes:
“It is easy to create a new world with completely new concepts. In contrast, it is difficult to recreate the environments that we have come to love about the games we have played counless hours with and make them available to others. That is why we have incorporated them in ’11 Gates’.”
True, even Raul was convinced with his words, if you think about it, even Raul could create a world from scratch easily, but quite difficult to make a good game better.
Right, this was the motif the mega-corporation had in mind: Making a good game better. For Raul who had fallen in love with Gears of Arcadius Online which he had played since its beta test 8 years ago as an MMORPG for PC, he wanted to play the game in a better sense.
“I wish Maya was not such a complete klutz and forget her device at Tina’s.” Raul had wanted to go on an adventure together with his sister Maya and childhood friend Tina but…
Maya had left her device at Tina’s and had to go to her house and dive there instead. As for Tina… well Raul did not want to admit it but they were in a complicated relationship: More than a couple but less than lovers. He could not understand what he was for Tina.
The three of them were supposed to create new characters and start a new adventure back to level 0. But Tina, would not go to Raul’s place and Maya was such a klutz and left her device at Tina’s.
So he had decided to create his character alone and dive from his room.
Welcome to 11 Gates
Select Nationality. . .
World of Arcadius
Continent of Arhcaven
Continent of Aselot <=
City of Asvarr
City of Bellgrade <=
City of Gardius
City of Goswalz
⇒click for next
Continent of Fergonia
Continent of Ardviere
Continent of Armelon
Select ORIGIN. . .
Human <=
Elven
Please enter the name and surname of your character . . .
Name: Raul
Surname: Dreamwalker
Status:
Name: Raul Dreamwalker
World: Arcadia
Citizenship: Aselotian
Starting Point: City of Belgrade
Is the information correct?
Yes <=
No
After entering and confirming the needed data for creating a new account, Raul then clicked on the yes button as he was satisfied with his name and affiliation in the world. As soon as screen changed, he then gave some thoughts on how he would look in game.
One of the features Raul… no many of the gamers liked about the recreated game in Arcadius… no, in ’11 Gates’ is its massively-infinite possibilities of combination in creating their characters, and these characters can be changed when you play the game using items… like for example KataAtama a shampoo that will make your hair longer in a week (game time); or the Dye products that would change the color of your hair; or perhaps drinking a certain branded milk to make you taller or alter one’s breast size… although all of these products can only be purchased at ‘CHRONOS Alpha’, it would still give you a chance to recreate your profile inside the game.
That was a feature that would almost make the game real… this was so that the world they created will not undermine the word REALITY in the V.R.M.M.O.R.P.G.
These are my Physical Features:
Head
Hair
Style: Short Kinky
Color: Black
Eye
Style: Normal
Color: Sky Blue
Nose: Normal
Body build: Normal Medium Build
Body Size: Normal Medium
Is this OK?
Yes
No
After confirming his physical features and it was to his liking, he then viewed his STATS as they are randomly selected for him. The 11 Gates feature calls this the FATE System.
The Fate System, according to eMnemosyne World Corp., is a system that give a realistic approach to playing the game. This system is will choose the players’ character’s STATS, SKILLS, and starting Equipment algorithmaitically.
STATS
LV: 1
Mana: 100
HP: 200
CP: 40
Phys STR: 6(+2)
Phys DEF: 5(+2)
Mag POW: 11
Mag RES: 4
EQUIPMENT
HEAD:- - - - - -
UPPER BODY: Light Cloth [VIT+1; AGI-1]
LOWER BODY: Black Pants [VIT+1; AGI-1]
ARMS: - - - - - -
ACCESSORY 1: - - - - - -
ACCESSORY 2: - - - - - -
ACCESSORY 3: - - - - - -
ACCESSORY 4: - - - - - -
L. HAND: Short Dagger [STR+2]
R. HAND: - - - - - -
SKILLS
Accuracy++ Marksman++
“Except for the SKILL Marksman++, which was considered slightly high by certain stadards, everything was normal…” Raul then sighed as the FATE system handed him a rather normal fate in playing the game. If the FATE System gives one a higher STAT or gives off a random S-Class item, that player would be given the task of becoming a hero on the 11 GATEs Virtual Movie. This Virtual Movie is shown off to all on the company’s official website.
“Is this OK?” The interface asks… although you can keep saying NO to try another shot at the algorims, the likelihood for the system to change its decision is slim… but not impossible.
Yes <=
No
But, for now, Raul had decided to try out an underdog approach in playing the game, so hit the ‘Yes’ action button on the screen and dive completely into the game environment of 11 Gates.
After feeling the game for a couple of minutes, deciding on his overall feature, and saw fit that his STATs is to his liking, He then logged out so that he can check on how his sister is doing… and visiting Tina on the process… two birds in one stone, as he thought “am I a genius, or what?”
He then opened a cellular-phone-like device which is considered the in-game’s interface to the system and located the log-out button.
Log out…
⇒no
⇒yes
Logging out… … …
Successfully logged out
12 December 2015
10:45:12 Standard Philippine Time
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