Beta Life, page 3
part #1 of Digital Sorcery Series
Basic Character Information was written over a silhouette of what looked like the upper half of a person, and this was highlighted for me. I thought about opening it, and my HUD changed again. This would take some getting used to.
This page contained a lot of the information that I filled out in avatar creation. At the top was a box with the following information:
Name: Ryland
Race: Human
Level: 1 (0/100 XP to next level)
Class: Sorcerer; Bloodline Origin: Phoenix
Paragon Rank: Neutral
Factions Affiliated With: None
Clan: None
Basic Statistics:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 15
Hit Points: 21/21
Mana Points: 28/28
Beneath this were boxes labeled skills, abilities, and reputation which all looked pretty much empty at this point.
Skills:
You have no proficiencies or points in a skill yet.
Abilities:
You have no passive or active abilities yet.
Reputation:
You have not earned any reputation with a faction yet.
As you can see, this page contains all the basic information about your character including your level and how many experience points you have until the next level. It also shows your skills, abilities, and any reputation, good or bad, that you have gained with various factions of Alderoth. Please think that you would like to go back to the main menu, and you be returned to the main menu.
I did as I was told and the main menu reappeared. this was really too weird, though I could totally see myself getting used to the convenience.
Please open up Character Equipment. This is where you will find all the weapons and armor you have.
I looked at the name and icon that looked like chest armor, and it opened. The first thing I noticed was the 3D image of myself on the right side of my vision. Currently, it was only wearing boxers, just like I was in the game. Around this were different slots next to various areas of the body with the labels: armor, weapons, accessories, and clothing. In the top right there were two radio buttons that had written next to them: show clothes and show armor. Currently, it looked like show armor was highlighted.
On the left-hand side of my vision was a grid with identical squares. Above this, the word equipment was written, and running down the left-hand side were different symbols, which I guessed were categories.
This is your character equipment page where you can see what you look like with various items equipped. Let's try equipping some basic armor now.
A hood, robes, pants, and boots appeared in my inventory.
You can find out more information about equipment by thinking that you want more information on it. This will pop-up a description of the item with its statistics.
I thought about the hood, and it popped up larger above the inventory grid with the following information:
Basic Cloth Hood
"It might stop a rogue breeze from ruffling your hair...maybe"
Defense: 1
Durability 20/20
Weight: 0.2 lbs.
To equip these items, please think that you would like to equip them, and they will equip to your character. They will also appear on you, so do not be alarmed.
I did, and sure enough, the items moved from the left side and reappeared in three of the boxes surrounding my character. In addition to this, the hood, pants, and robes manifested on my body. Whoa, this was like magic. I could get used to getting dressed like this.
Next, let's equip a weapon. You'll use the same process to equip this as you did for your armor.
A dagger appeared in my inventory. I thought about equipping it, and the dagger appeared in a box on the left side and materialized in my hand.
You can put your weapon away or pull it out by just thinking about it depending on what you want to do. Please put your weapon away right now.
The dagger vanished from my hand but was still located in the weapon equipped box.
Now let's try on some clothes. Clothes are entirely aesthetic and comfort items. You may find yourself not wanting to wear your armor all the time. This is what clothes are for. They may also be necessary for getting into certain locations. Please try on the clothing items that are now in your equipment inventory.
A linen shirt, trousers, and boots appeared on the left side of my vision. I equipped all three but nothing happened. I was still wearing the robes. I was thinking that I might have done something wrong but then...
You may have noticed that you are still wearing your robes at the moment. This is because you are currently choosing to display armor. You can switch this to your clothes by looking at the top right and thinking that you would like to show clothes instead. You will still have all the defensive stats from the armor you have equipped and can toggle back to your armor any time you wish.
I thought that I would like to display my clothes, and instantaneously the robes disappeared and were replaced by the linen shirt, trousers, and boots. I had to admit this was a lot more comfortable for me. It wouldn't have been fun trudging around in those robes and that ridiculous hood all the time.
Please go back to the Main Menu and open up your Inventory.
I did as I was instructed and opened up the inventory which was represented by a little potion bottle icon. My HUD looked almost the same as the right-half of my character equipment page had looked. Inventory was written at the top, and underneath this was the word "gold" with a coin icon and the number 0 next to it. There was also weight written with an anvil next to it and 7/120 lbs written next to it. Underneath these was a giant grid across the whole page made up of little squares with different category icons going across the top of the grid.
Your inventory is where all of the items you have gathered that aren't equipment are stored. These are each categorized by the categories at the top. You can also think of something specific when you have your inventory opened, and it will pop open. This is also where you will find the amount of money you have on you and the total weight of your items and carrying capacity. Please note that when you die, a percentage of the gold you have on you will drop, and there is a small chance that some items or equipment will drop. The weight limit you have is based on your strength statistic. If you go above your carrying capacity you will become over-encumbered, and it will be hard for you to move. If you go even higher above the carrying capacity, you won't be able to move at all until you drop some weight or raise your strength stat.
Banks are a great, safe place to store gold and items that you aren't using or don't want to take the chance of losing by carrying them on you. They do charge a fee for their services, but it is well worth it.
Please return to the menu and open up the spells page.
The spells page was represented by a book with a swirling flame on the cover. This page was fairly basic and looked like just a list of spells with their descriptions and statistics.
Ignite
"By touching an inanimate object, you have a chance to set it on fire. This chance is improved as the spell's level raises."
Type: Fire
Range: Touch
Level 1
MP Cost: 1
Fireball
"You can throw fireballs at your enemies, friends, or anything really. Be careful though; they are hot. The damage, size, and range will increase as the spell levels"
Type: Fire
Range: 30 feet
Damage: 1 - 6 hit points and 10% chance to inflict burn
Level 1
MP Cost: 5
The spells page lists all of your current spells and is organized on the side by the school of magic a spell falls under. These contain all the various statistics you will need to understand your spells better. You level up your spells by using them. The more you use them, the more you will level them up. To cast your spells, you will think about casting that specific spell and perform the action associated with it. Let's try it out with Fireball!
The spell menu disappeared, and a boar materialized about twenty feet in front of me. Above its head, Boar and Level one were written, as well as a red health bar.
Try casting Fireball on this boar by thinking about the ball of fire materializing in your hand, and then aim your hand and think about it shooting in the direction you are aiming it.
I did this, and a fist-sized ball of flame appeared in my hand. Wicked! This was what I was looking forward to the most in this game--the magic, and so far, I was not disappointed. I aimed the palm of my hand at the boar and mentally shot the fireball from my hand. It shot out and struck the boar in the face. The boar's health meter fell to about halfway. I laughed out loud. This was amazing. I felt like a superhero.
Now that you have learned how to attack, let's see how you do defending. Currently, you have no defensive items, so your best bet is to try and dodge his attack. Look out! Here comes our boar!
The boar charged me, and I noticed his name had gone from yellow to red after I struck it with my fireball. I tried to leap to the left, but the boar seemed to see this coming and caught me right in the stomach with its tusk. It only went in a couple of inches, but it hurt, not like a real goring would have, but there was still pain. My hit points dropped by ten points to eleven, and a small circle with red blood drops appeared next to my health meter.
Ouch, it looks like you've gained the status effect: bleeding. This will gradually lower your health unless you do something about it. Status effects can be good or bad and require different things to treat. You can get more information about a status effect by thinking about the icon you see next to your health bar. Here, take this bandage and apply it to the affected area.
White strips of bandages appeared in my hand, and I wrapped them around my stomach and tied them neatly covering the wound up. The icon next to my health bar disappeared, and I actually felt a little better too.
Now let's finish off this boar. Use your dagger and attack it.
Thinking about it, the dagger appeared in my hand, and I lunged forward plunging it straight into the head of the boar. Its health bar dropped to zero, and the boar vanished leaving behind what looked like a raw steak. I was also notified that I gained some experience by +5 XP popping up briefly where the boar had been.
Looks like you've gained some experience, and the boar dropped some loot. Why don't you pick it up?
Raw Boar Meat
"This meat can be used in cooking and feeding other creatures such as mounts, pets, or familiars."
Looks like you were injured in that fight. Let's bring your HP back up. Here take this potion.
A small red vial appeared in my hand. I unstoppered it and drank it, and as I did, my health began to raise all the way back up to 21/21. That's a lot easier than going to the doctor I thought tossing the vial aside where it promptly vanished.
If you'll return to your main menu and open the Quest Log we can continue your tutorial now that you've gotten a taste of magic and combat.
I returned to the menu and opened up the Quest Log which was represented with a scroll. This page was pretty simple with just the name of quests, the type of quest, a description of the quest, the location, the status, and the reward. Right now, there was only one quest listed.
Name: Tutorial
Type: Mandatory
Description: Learn the basics of Everlast Online.
Location: Meadow of Beginnings
Status: In Progress
Reward: 95 XP and 30 GP.
This page will list all the quests you have accepted and completed. Completed quests will be sorted to the bottom and marked as such. There are 7 different types of quests: Mandatory, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Event. Mandatory quests are extremely rare and will only be given on occasions, such as teaching a player how to play the game. Common through Legendary are ranked based on how rare the quest is. The rewards will obviously grow with how rare a quest is. Event quests are quests that affect the larger player base and may have hundreds of players and factions participating.
Please return to your menu and open up the map.
The map, symbolized by a compass, showed very little currently, just the small meadow where I was standing.
Your map will only show areas you have either previously explored or which you have gotten from another map. It will default to the general area you are in, but you can zoom in and out by just thinking about it. This will allow you to go as far out as a world map of Alderoth or as far in as a singular room in a building. You can also place a smaller world map in the corner of your HUD if you so choose.
The last major area we will go over is your mailbox. Your mailbox functions pretty much like email between you and other players or NPCs. You will find more advanced features for filtering and organizing your email within the settings of your mailbox, but we'll let you play with this and set this up to your specifications on your own.
I opened the Mailbox from the menu. It's icon looked like an unopened letter. It did, in fact, look just like the inbox I was used to reading emails from. The only thing currently in there was a letter welcoming me to Everlast Online. I promptly deleted this. My OCD couldn't stand a cluttered inbox.
This concludes the basic tutorial. If you ever have any questions, you will find a help section located within your menu which you can use to reach out for help. Welcome once again to Everlast Online. We hope you have a pleasant afterlife.
Congratulations you have completed the quest: Learn the Basics of Everlast Online! You have earned 95 XP and 30 GP!
No sooner than that had appeared with a chime, another notification appeared accompanied by the sound of an orchestra.
Congratulations you have reached Level 2!
HP: 21 → 28
MP: 28 → 38
You have 2 unallocated stat points.
You have 2 unallocated skill points.
You have gained the passive ability immunity of the Phoenix I.
Immunity of the Phoenix I
"Phoenixes are highly resilient creatures, whose immunity to disease and poison is well-known and your bloodline which is just starting to awaken grants you some of their resistances."
10% resistance to disease
10% resistance to poison
Sweet that was easy. Something tells me that it won't be that easy going forward though.
I guess I should allocate my skill and stat points before moving on. I opened up my basic character information page and saw that Immunity of the Phoenix I was added beneath the abilities section.
Under the skills section, it showed various skills listed grayed out with a + next to them. I have no idea what to put my points in or which skills would be most useful to me. Most of the skills were fairly self-descriptive, but a few like Spellcraft weren't. I thought for a minute, and a pop-up showed up.
Spellcraft: Used to Identify an unknown spell or magical effect that has been cast. Taking a skill point in this skill grants you the spell Identify, which unlike normal spells, does not level up. Your chance of success is based on your Spellcraft skill. This skill is also used in the creation of magical objects, the creation of magical scrolls, and in learning spells from spell books.
That sounds incredibly useful, especially for a magic-user like myself. I placed one skill point in Spellcraft and immediately, a notification popped up.
Congratulations you have learned the spell Identify!
Identify
"By using your knowledge of Spellcraft, you attempt to identify a spell that has been cast. Success is based on the level of the spell attempting to be identified and the level of Spellcraft of the person casting Identify"
Type: Divination
Range: 45 feet
Level: -
MP Cost: 25
I briefly considered putting the other skill point into Spellcraft as well but then thought better of it. I was only at level two and surely I wouldn't be needing to identify spells that were high-level. I decided I would place my final skill point into persuasion which was useful for trying to influence others, and with Charisma being my highest stat, this seemed like a good fit for me.
Next, I looked at my stat points and went through the pros and cons of giving a stat point to each category. Strength was my lowest one, so did I want to try to bring it up or did I want to throw them at Charisma, my best, and make it even better?
While increasing Strength would help me carry more inventory, I ultimately decided against it since I basically had no inventory at the moment anyway. Constitution would increase my HP, but I decided that my current twenty-eight hit points at level two was good enough for now. Charisma was what I used for my spell damage as well as when interacting with others. This seemed like a good place to start so I put one point into Charisma. I placed my other stat point in Intelligence because I had a hunch that it would come in handy.
