Sultera Online #1

File: 001.jpg (144KB, 733x510px) Image search: [Google]

144KB, 733x510px

I really hope this isn’t too much exposition. Welcome to Sultera Online's first thread and my first quest! This will be moderately slow since I do both write and draw this so please be patient with me. Enjoy!

--

You ease into your chair and slide the VR display over your eyes, popping the wired earbuds that doubled as earplugs into your ears. This was the moment you had been waiting for. You finally had the chance to play the MMO of the century. Well, the closed beta at least. It was a wonder you even managed to get your hands on it to begin with. People were clambering to get their hands on a copy after some footage was leaked on the internet. The level of attention to the mechanics of the game on a technical level is what impressed gamers across the world. In fact, it was so impressive that people who never even touched an MMO in their life were willing to pick it up to give it a try.

The AI alone was said to be extremely intelligent and the days of preconceived schedules for NPCs were over. The NPCs were equipped with simple yet robust script packages that simulated the human ability to learn and react to sensory stimulation. It’s the type of stuff that’s used on androids nowadays but lightweight and with the inclusion of a moral compass and set of values. Of course the developers had to create an algorithm that determined a moral compass and set of values specific to an NPC that was determined with a random number generator and the area the NPC resides. It was rather ingenious. They even tagged specific areas with stuff like level of poverty and cultural influences to affect the NPCs behavior.

You stare into the display as it hums to life and logos flashed across the screen. All that was left to do was to insert the sensory chip into your forehead… It was the core selling point of the game after all. It was revolutionary! The chip tricked your brain into thinking your digital avatar’s body was your real body. Every object in the game was tagged with specific sensory responses that are fed directly to your brain if you decide to touch, smell or taste an object in the game. This was what made the game so desirably to so many people.

You press the cool metal chip into your brain implant and sigh as you felt yourself dip into a drowsy state. The games title lit up on the screen, “Sultera Online”, before fading into whiteness. You feel your senses leaving you and you’re left floating in a sea of white. As the drowsiness slowly takes hold you think about the character you had generated on the separate app that was included with the game kit. You were going to be a serious bad ass, nothing like your current self. Finally, you fall asleep.