Seconds after selecting Login, Henry found himself floating in a void. Well, floating would be the wrong word. So would standing, he was just hanging out in a void.
"Hello, sir, and welcome to Heaven's Gates," came a disembodied voice from somewhere within the void.
Honestly, Henry felt like the voice came from everywhere in the void. It assaulted every inch of what passed for his body in the game. It was his avatar in FIVR: Full Immersion Virtual Reality. In hindsight, other companies and games were half-assing the Full Immersion part of that. Goggles do not full immersion make.
Up till now, FIVR games just meant you could move your character with your body and see, hear, and sometimes even feel what your character felt. The last part required haptic feedback suits designed for it. Of course, when you got hit with a sword, this was just some light pressure or something. Heaven's Gates was supposed to be the next level- sending and receiving signals wirelessly to connect directly to your brain through special pods.
Well, the pods were repurposed. Originally the pods were designed for deep space missions. Buena Vista the parent company of Heaven's Gates bought the pod company and repurposed them for long immersion gaming. The FIVR pod was plugged into a wall socket, but also came with a backup generator. They also connect to the sewer to pipe out the door waste. If a player wanted to play long term, they had to purchase nutrient packs that plug into the pods to nourish the body in-game, so it didn't atrophy.
The voice phased in front of him. It was an older Englishman in a very bespoke suit. He gave the impression dignified man in a suit can look floating in the vast nothingness we presently were in.
"I wonder what's his name?" Henry thought.
"My name is not necessary. You won't see me again after you create your character," the old man responded.
"Did you just read my mind," Henry asked starting to freak out.
"I can hear surface-level thoughts thanks to your connection to the system, so I felt it appropriate to respond. It is the ideal method of communicating when you need a Developer or Dev," he informed Henry.
"And you are?" Henry asked, only freaking out slightly less than before.
"Your Guide, sir," he responded, clarifying absolutely nothing at all.
"Great! How about you guide me somewhere other than this abyss!" exclaimed Henry
"Right away, sir," he replied in a far calmer manner than I'd addressed him in.
Even as he spoke the void found shape and color at last. After a few moments of swirling and stretching, the visual nonsense settled into what Henry had to admit was a very cozy office. Henry was almost immediately put at ease as he took in the entire experience of the room.
"Now, sir, we shall create your character and begin your adventures in Heaven's Gates?"
Heaven's Gate was designed and created solely by one Dr. Thomas McElvaney. Dr. McElvaney claimed he'd created a digital world in which players could live with the help of specially designed FIVR pods.
Heaven's Gates created breakthrough organic A.I. systems, sensory immersion, and world generation which ran on quantum computers. Dr. McElvaney also used his breakthroughs in A.I. to develop the most efficient, secure, and widely used cryptocurrency the world had ever seen The Standard Dollar.
You see, the currency was mined by, and in some ways from, the A.I. itself. This particular A.I. was generating strings of data that served as units of the currency, but each unit was imprinted with copies of a certain piece of dynamic code inherited from the parent A.I.
This code couldn't be faked or duplicated because it could only be created by A.I.
The creation of new units of cryptocurrency was intrinsically a part of the game.
Owning one gold equally ten thousand Standard Dollars. One silver was equivalent to 100 Standard Dollars. Copper equaled one Standard Dollar. Finally, one Standard Dollar equaled about 10,000 American dollars.
The Standard Dollar was secure, absolutely uncrackable, and could be made traceable for legitimate business transactions.
After Dr. McElvaney announced he was using the blockchain of the currency inside the game to generate the game's currency the global market nearly crashed.
"First things first, sir," the old gentleman cut in interrupting my daydream.
"You must decide on a race for your character. As you can see from the list before you, all 'classic' races are represented, as well as a few less traditional ones," explained the man.
Sure enough, Humans, Elves of all kinds, Dwarves, Giants, Gnomes, and Orcs were all there, as well as a few I didn't always see as often, like Beast kin.
Further down was all manner of half-breed creatures mixing and matching the various races in as many ways as made sense.
Henry usually played as a human knight. This time he wanted to see what the other races had to offer.
"Hey Alfred, can you show me the beastmen and their racial bonuses? Can I call you Alfred?" Henry asked.
"Alfred is a perfectly acceptable name, sir. There are five types of beastmen, you can also play as a half-beastmen," he explained.
Henry looked at the display and saw an image of him as a Lion-man, Tiger-man, Cat-man, Wolf-man, Bear-man, and various types of half-beastmen.
"Sir, Lion, Tiger, and Bear races all start with an additional +10 to constitution and +10 strength. Cat and Wolf kin start with an additional +10 to constitution and +10 agility. Half races have a +5 to the constitution, strength or agility, but lose 1 skill slot in character creation.
"I'll think I'll go with half human and half bear kin," Henry told the A.I.
Humans were boring but got a bonus for resourcefulness. Since human was the weakest starting race, humans got a racial bonus to drop goods, at least for the first 10 levels. Then the racial skill 'acquisition' disappeared. They also started with 5 skills, unlike every other race that could only choose 3. But as a half-human, he would gain a fourth skill.
"Excellent choice, sir," Alfred said dispassionately. "Next let's move on to reviewing your classes,"
Henry looked long and hard at his new avatar. The avatar looked human but had bear kin features. For one he was 6 feet 7 inches tall, albeit he was tall for a human, but short for a bear kin. Most bear kin stood between 7 to 8 feet tall.
He also had long brown hair that matched his brown eyes. He was strong, muscular, and very hairy. Brown hair covered his arms, chest, and legs.
According to Alfred, Bear kin were large, humanoid bears, with opposable thumbs, bear faces with sharp teeth, and large claws for fingers. Their fur was as tough as steel, and like Dwarves used axes to chop their opponents. Bear kin typically kept to themselves as a race and halflings were exiled for their weak bloodlines.
"If you chose you may modify up to 15% of your character," Alfred informed Henry.
Henry decided not to take any chances and proceeded to set his character as if he were doing it permanently. He wanted to keep his face but gave himself a nice circle beard and changed his eyes to a deep green.
He looked at the final product. The light tan skin, brown hair, green eyes, and a strong physique. Ladies, eat your hearts out.
"All right Alfred, I'm done," Henry said.
"Yes sir, that is fine. Now let us select your class from one of the classes available.
Please keep in mind that these are only your base class, but multiple specializations unlock as you progress through your skill as you play.
Whereas your class is a general guideline for growth and abilities, active and passive skills are concentrations in specific fighting styles, crafts, schools of magic, et cetera." the old man informed me.
With that, the four traditional classes appeared on a list before me:
Warrior: Shield Warrior, Knight, Berserker: (+3 STR/+2VIT/+1 CON) Weapon and Defensive skills do not count towards maximum skill levels
Mage: Elementalist, Summoner, Necromancer:(+3 INT/+2 WILL/+1 AGI) Increased mana growth and regeneration and increased learning speed for spells
Healer: Cleric, Druid, Oracle: (+3 WILL/+2 INT/+1 VIT) Access to special spells and specializations via their selected patron deity
Rogue: Assassin, Thief: (+3 AGI/+2 INT/+1 CON) Learn and improve skills at an increased rate.
"Alfred, what exactly do the stats mean in this game?" I asked.
Sometimes, I wished there was some sort of standard regarding game stats.
"Allow me to show you, sir," he replied as a screen appeared in my vision displaying Stats and definitions.
Strength- Affects max. lift weight, carry weight, and damage STR-based weapons.
Agility-Affects movement, speed, dodge, parry, and damage for AGI-based weapons.
Vitality- Affects Hit Points and resistance to certain types of damage
Intellect-Affects Mana Points, Spell Damage, Maximum Total Skill Levels, and Maximum Total Spell Levels
Willpower-Affects Mana Point regeneration, resistance to certain magics, and increases the effectiveness of Priest spells
Constitution-Affects Stamina Points and regeneration of Stamina and Health.
Health Points are determined by multiplying your constitution times vitality.
Likewise, your Mana Points are a result of multiplying your intelligence and willpower.
"Thanks, Alfred, but I rather play as a crafter than fighter or mage class," I told him, and four new classes appeared on a list in front of me:
Crafter: Blacksmith, Carpenter, Tanner: (+3 STR/+2VIT/+1 CON) Increased strength and weapons proficiency.
Alchemist: (+3 INT/+2 WILL/+1 AGI) Increased mana growth and regeneration and increased learning speed for spells
Merchant: (+3 WILL/+2 INT/+1 VIT) Access to special spells and specializations
Artificer: (+3 INT/+2 STR/+1 VIT) Learn and improve skills at an increased rate.
"Thanks, Alfred! I wish I could select all four. It looks like crafter classes follow along the same lines as the fighter mage class. Alfred, are there any special or hidden classes in the game?"
"Yes, but I'm at liberty to say," he said.
All right, I'll choose Carpenter as my class!
"Very well, sir. In addition to the listed attribute growth," he went on to explain, "as a half-bear kin your first three traits are pre-determined.
As a Bear kin, Henry had a racial predisposition to Load Bearing, his carry capacity and the weight he could push, drag, or lift was doubled his constitution. His second predetermined skill was nature affinity. He would feel at home in or near the forest and could sense his surroundings. It also came with a 10% reduction in magic cost when casting earth spells. Finally, as half-bear kin, he could wield oversized weapons.
"Our next step is selecting your skills," he continued. "As I mentioned earlier, these are permanent changes to your character. You will receive additional skills of your choosing during this section."
As the new menu appeared, Henry's eyes were assaulted with an impressive list of skills and their descriptions.
Alfred, can you filter these for me based on my class? Looking at all of them at once was just too much.
"Yes, sir," he said reordering the list. Now the list was much shorter.
Masonry—Increases your ability to determine the quality, condition, and value of stone. At higher levels can detect weld stone. (Plus +4 STR/ +2 CON per level)
Woodcraft— Increases your ability to determine the quality, condition, and value of wood. At higher levels can detect weld wood. (Plus +4 STR/ +2 CON per level)
Blueprint Design—Increase the likelihood of building uncommon, epic, and legendary buildings. At higher levels, your buildings have modifiers. (Plus + 4 WILL/ +2 INT per level).
Earth Magic—Increases your ability to manipulate your environment. At higher levels, nature speaks to you. (Plus + 4 INT/ +2 WILL per level).
Most of what remained was a bit specific, but I ended up choosing Earth Magic, the rest I figured could be learned in the game.
"Next, let us find you a good starting location," he said as he pulled up a map of the world. Well, I want somewhere with a lot of potential trainers for crafting but also a lot of players.
"Based on what you've said, I would recommend the border city of White Pines. It sits inside the human empire but near the border with Bear kin lands."
"Sounds good, Alfred. You're the guide," Henry said.
"Very good, sir. Now, the last thing to decide is your name. How shall you be called in Heaven's Gates?" Alfred asked, his question forcing me to pause for a bit.
In the past, I used David Bledsoe. David was my middle name and Bledsoe was based on my mother's maiden name. Not the best name, but it had served me well for years.
This game was my new start. Henry wanted something he'd be able to live with and go by. He looked back over his character sheet and made his decision:
Name: Thaddeus
Race: Human/Bear kin
Class: Carpenter Nature Affinity (Racial)
Level: 1 (0/100)
HP: 252/252
MP: 168/168
STR: 23
AGI: 10
VIT: 12
INT: 14
WILL: 12
CON: 21
Charm: 8
Free Attribute Points: 0
Free Skill Points: 0