At the dawn of the twenty-first century virtual reality was only a fledgling technology, despite the imaginings of the writers and scientists of the era it took almost a century before humans could enter fully immersive worlds.
Fully immersive at this point meaning an avatar could walk, speak and interact with other players and world items as well as navigate terrain. Regrettably the senses of taste and smell were not included though that was probably for the best considering the filthy and unpredictable nature of dungeon delving. Touch however was more complicated, a player could 'touch' in-game objects but the sensation of feeling was significantly dulled and pain was removed completely for safety's sake but a player could feel a slight pressure in response to physical stimuli. Lying down for example they would feel a slight weight on their backs or whichever side they lay on but whether laying on rough granite or feathered pillows the sensation would be the same. Traversing a cavern filled with magma or conquering a snowy peak would expose the avatar to heat and cold respectively but apart from possible environmental debuffs for extreme temperatures the actual sensation was rather mild. If someone was unfortunate enough to fall into a pool of lava the most they would feel is warmth before respawning. Don't ask how many players died trying that, it even got its own achievement - 'Last Jacuzzi'.
Even in my time a person uploading their mind to the internet and existing as a digital consciousness remained pure science fiction, despite what some deluded forum posters might insist.
I was never one to rush into buying the newest toys or gadgets. When Dive Systems(tm) cornered the market in gaming technology I was one of those who waited until they became a little cheaper before I spoiled myself with the upgrade. Now years later I can hardly imagine how people played games with something as clunky as a motion tracker and haptic interface.
When the DMMORPG Yggdrasil was announced the response was massive. Critics called it a bold statement but warned against believing promises of this scale, claiming that over two hundred playable races and classes was impossible to deliver. Fans, remembering their love for the studio's past works said that it would be the game of the year if not the decade and moved to pre-order by the thousands. Then after some time had passed and the beta testers had been released from their Non Disclosure Agreements it was discovered the promise of over two hundred classes was in fact a falsehood, the truth was there were over seven hundred races and racial variants and the combined choice of classes, skills and crafts was over TWO THOUSAND.
The internet exploded.
On the day that Yggdrasil's servers opened it broke records for the most traffic of any launch day in videogame history. As well as the longest login queue. Hundreds of thousands of players braved day-long waits to purchase, install and enter the world of Yggdrasil.
I was not one of them.
Several months after the release I had read reviews, watched gameplay videos, witnessed the hype and success and decided that I could spare the money to keep myself entertained for a few weeks. Twenty four hours later I realized I had spent half my weekend in a virtual world. Time passed, weeks and months later I had found a passion for gaming I hadn't known in years. I devoured the lore, purchased guidebooks, artbooks and merchandise without regret for every scrap I possessed and consumed brought me closer to that world.
Yggdrasil was the most popular DMMORPG ever created, not just because of its obvious features like graphics and gameplay which now twelve years later were still considered top rate, but also because of the vastness of the world which borrowed primarily from Norse mythology as the name suggested. Lastly because of the sheer number of variables that comprised character creation. Third-party graphics mods were also available, increasing the players' potential for individual customization even further.
Until Yggdrasil most RPGs would give the player an option of several generic races - men, elves, dwarves, orcs, etc. and one of less than a dozen character classes - warrior, healer, thief, wizard or archer. Yggdrasil had significantly more of both. In standard MMORPGs the player would choose a class and during the game pick from a selection of optional skills or 'professions' such as blacksmithing or alchemy. Yggdrasil did things a little differently, each class could be raised to a maximum level of fifteen before needing to choose another, or you could level up once then choose another class until you reached the game's level cap of one hundred. Not all classes maxed out at fifteen however, certain trades and skills were limited to ten and elite classes, the more specialized forms of lower and combined classes - for example a warrior with sufficient levels in stealth could become an assassin or ninja, or a mage who had mastered the corresponding skill tree could unlock the appropriate archmage class. These elite classes were limited to ten or five levels. The superfluous classes, those that were unnecessary for gameplay but added an extra dimension to roleplaying such as cooking, trader and musician generally only went up to five.
Would you like to be a skilled warrior who wears heavy plate and carries a sword and shield? There are hundreds of games like that. Do you want to be a warrior monk who casts illusions, uses poisoned throwing darts and plays the lute in a tavern for coppers on saturday nights? Do you want to be an elephant centaur rogue with heterochromia who steals chickens and raids gardens so she has the ingredients required to keep her restaurant open? Do you want to be a blue skinned, pale haired demon that ran away to become a priest, got married to an ent and now teaches archery to low level players so he can afford to take classes on leatherworking? Then Yggdrasil is everything you need.
Yggdrasil was everything you wanted it to be, but it was still just a game. And as I logged in for the last time I had no idea just how important a decision, how many lives would be changed and where life would take me had I not picked that box up off the shelf in the game store all those years ago.
When I opened my eyes I found myself standing in a simple room, the walls and floor were the dark grey of polished slate with a hand-woven rug in the centre of the floor next to a double sized bed frame topped with a straw mattress and thick blankets of coarse wool. At least I assumed it was wool, it suited the theme but there was no way to test it. Shame, it looked rather inviting. Seated on the bed was my closest companion exactly where I left her, she had barely reacted to my appearance save turning her head and would've sat there motionless without complaint if I didn't do anything. "Hey Cutie, miss me?" If I could I would have smiled. After telling her to follow me I turned and left the room, knowing without looking that she would be three steps behind me the entire way. Hearing her soft footfalls as I descended the stairs to the inn's common area was familiar, comforting in a way.
As I walked down the hall I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a brass shield hanging from the wall and polished to a high shine. A lightly tanned, dark haired man of above average height with a slender, Tarzan-like physique hidden underneath high-level armour - as always I tried to model my avatar's facial appearance based on my own without too many embellishments, though I was actually brunette. The armour was one of the best possible sets available for a Hunter class player - toughened leather dyed a green so dark it was nearly black, dragon scales torn from the hide of a Great Wyrm and dark iron in patterns designed to give off an intimidating tribal appearance. Over that hung a cloak made of fancloth, an exotic material that bent light around it making the wearer almost disappear into the background, though being a game I would have to be stationary, in sneak mode and activate the ability. On my head I wore a helm crafted with the skull and hide of a Chagrin, a great wolf from the mountains of Niflheim.
Armour and weapons in Yggdrasil strived to balance art and practicality in appearance. Some moreso than others.
The inn I had logged out at yesterday was run by a female orc and as always she stood behind the counter in the bar wearing the same dress and stained apron. I moved through the nearly empty room, past the crackling fire staving off the virtual cold, the only other patrons being the town's NPC inhabitants and stood before the owner. She looked up from cleaning a perfectly clean mug with a soiled rag as I approached, beginning with one of the rote conversations I had heard a thousand times before.
"Welcome to my tavern, Adventurer. What do you need?" As the trade menu opened in front of me I scrolled through quickly, knowing the range well. After spoiling myself with some roasted meats and fresh fruits I looked to the drinks, choosing some huntmaster's brew and strawberry vodka. The higher level items weren't cheap but considering the date I saw no reason to be stingy.
On our way out I threw a gold coin to the bard playing a wordless tune on a flute carved from a horn bound in strips of ash, he played well but I thought it far too cheerful a song for today.
A short ride via griffin and close to half an hour on foot later we had reached our destination. As I moved my head left and right I gazed over the mountain we had scaled - Glittertind, second highest of the mountain range of Jotunheim. The breathtaking snowy vista on its own showed how much time and care had been put into making this virtual world but it was merely a distraction from the sight above where a stunning recreation of the aurora borealis lit up the night sky. If this place felt half as cold as it looked it would've been unbearable for the both of us.
I say 'us', but in truth I was the only person here tonight. My companion being not another player but an NPC, one I had spent literal months grinding quests and gathering resources so I could have the capital to afford the creation costs. As far as I knew I was still one of the few solo players to have a personal NPC, the costs being high enough to prohibit others. Ordinarily player crafted NPCs were only possessed by guilds and kept as guardians for their halls, castles and keeps. The larger the guild the more NPCs they could create and house, it was considered both a reward for and a mark of success.
She was beautiful, though I wish I could take credit for that I had never been the artistic type - I had paid other players for advice on NPC building and crafted her appearance, behaviour and skills with their assistance. Her biography I had written on my own. A pair of violet eyes gazed out of a round face, painstakingly crafted to fit my own definition of cute, a button nose unlike the normal flattened one that was a racial trait of the demihuman species and the long grey ears atop her head were almost painfully adorable.
A Lapine, or bunnygirl to use the common term was her species, and after the years we had spent together in game I couldn't find it in myself to leave her alone at the end. It was ridiculous I know, but outside of work this character was the closest thing I had to a friend. Judith Wildehopps, the first and only NPC I had made, admittedly with some help. The name had taken some time to decide on, after googling mythology concerning rabbits I now knew more than I thought there was to know about their place in human customs and history, but unsatisfied I then turned to fictional characters before finding her namesake. It had required heading to some old places on the internet and I learned things I could have spent my life in blessed ignorance of.
Did you know there was a cult in Russia that worshiped a cartoon mouse? People are weird.
Each race in Yggdrasil had benefits and drawbacks, with humans being the unique perkless and (arguably) faultless Jack of All Trades, and each playable race had non-player characters as everything from peasants to kings. But I admit the strengths and weaknesses of the race weren't really why I chose a Lapine as my companion. The truth is I did it because they were cute.
I was bored and lonely, sue me.
"Quite the view." I commented, referring to lightshow in the night sky. She didn't respond of course, speech was programmed into game content NPCs only. Other, earlier video games had allowed players to customize characters with personal sound bytes with predictably obscene results. As Yggdrasil was only an M15 game such practices were not allowed to maintain a somewhat family friendly rating.
A part of me could imagine how she would respond though, asking why I never took her anywhere new. In this world there were few places that we- that I hadn't been, living the nomadic lifestyle for as long as I had. Others thought I was an oddity - having remained unaffiliated with any guild for as long as I had, longer than any player in DMMORPG history allegedly. This may have been the reason I was rewarded with the option to create an NPC, a privilege that was normally reserved for guilds. But that was how I chose to play and it had served me well enough thus far, it certainly didn't prevent me from having a substantial number of names in my Friends list. I liked to think it was because I was good enough at what I did to stand out - I was classed as one of the top Rangers in Yggdrasil for a reason, but more likely it was just my easygoing nature.
After some months together I found I had been speaking with my traveling companion regulary, just the odd question or remark, never a full blown conversation. If anyone asked I told them it was just a little immersion as a role player, it's not as though I was the only one who spoke to NPCs. There had been cases of internet addiction - people who were so invested in their online personas that they neglected the real world to a dangerous degree, Yggdrasil definitely had its share of those. In the early days of the internet such people were seen as emotionally stunted fools and not true addicts, honestly I'm not sure what my opinion was, I just tried not to think about it.
It was a beautiful night. A wondrous view, calm atmosphere, pleasant company - though a bit quiet. Though there were probably better places to be this was a fine spot to spend our last day, all good things must come to an end as the saying goes and Yggdrasil was no exception. Twelve years, most of those spent at the top of the gaming world, was a fine run for any property and it's not as though the studio had gone bankrupt, they had just decided it was time to move on.
Sadly not all players agreed, myself among them.
There were murmurs of diehard fans starting their own servers, whether those rumours bore any fruit I hadn't tried to find out. This world had treated me well, leaving now hurt enough without dragging it out and hoping that some selfless nerd would use their own time and money for our benefit.
"Sit." The commands for NPCs were kept simple, their AI unable to process complicated orders, yet somehow never confused ordinary speech that used the same words as commands, that kind of programming was far beyond me but I certainly enjoyed the benefits of it. At this moment I had placed Judy before a short, flat stone undoubtedly created for just this reason and sat down next to her, giving myself a moment to enjoy the serenity. Part of the reason I had chosen this place was the solitude.
Opening up my inventory I fished out the food and drink I had acquired earlier, handing half to my companion and ordering her to eat I watched her go through the standard animation for a few moments before tucking in to my own fare. Whoever invented virtual tasting would become an overnight millionaire, until then I had to make do with miming eating until the [well fed] status window popped up. Judy had finished her fruits already so handing over the small bottle of spirits I sat back with my own wooden mug before raising it in a toast.
"To Yggdrasil." I spoke loud and firmly as though addressing a crowded room, knowing full well there was no one around to hear me. I drained the draught and wished I could lick my lips, a drink that expensive deserved to be savoured, Judy of course had already finished hers.
Originally I had put a couple levels into bard for my own amusement, to flesh out the experience of the world as a proper 'role playing' character instead of just another warrior bent on carving his way through the land. At higher levels though a raid party could be made or broken by the quality of their buffs and so I found myself in more demand than I expected. Brushing my fingers along the strings of my worn dulcimer the skill menu opened up and I picked a song to fit my mood. Right now I decided on 'The Wind That Shakes The Willow'.
Not all songs in a bard's repertoire were enchantments, most like this one were just music for the sake of music. A song of loss, of mourning what was and may never be again. Folk music actually had quite a resurgence in popularity thanks in no small part to Yggdrasil, beyond a game this was a cultural icon. Personally I became so enamoured that I actually bought a dulcimer and fumbled along until I could play passably well. It took a few years but eventually I became confident enough that I started a YouView channel, I still had a couple thousand subscribers - not too shabby.
Eventually the last notes of my playing were carried off on the wind and I returned the instrument to my inventory before taking the last of the alcohol. A long draught gave me a moment to think on what should come next. I ignored the popup box that told me I had become inebriated.
"Hey, remember that time on the raft across Ormt when I tried to stand on the bow but fell off and had to swim the rest of the way?" No response of course, by this point I was whistling in the dark.
{Server shutdown in 5 minutes}
The announcement distracted me, had the night really passed so quickly?
If I had a real body I'd be yawning, one of the oddest things about Dive(tm) systems is that your real body retains most sensations while in a near catatonic state. Of course there are safety features involved that disconnect the user in emergencies, that little bug was discovered in beta testing when a player suffered a cardiac arrest. When he was taken to hospital it was discovered he had an irregular heartbeat, since it was a pre-existing condition his insurance refused to pay. Thankfully the gaming company showing far better PR than the insurers covered his entire bill and guaranteed not only the safety of players but free advertising for months as the public media shared the story. Feeling tired yet displaying none of the symptoms took some getting used to. Some players refused to login while sick or injured because the mental distraction was enough to throw them off their game. Of course there were those who pushed past that, and others who simply avoided raiding and instead grinded their professions while their bodies rested.
{Server shutdown in 2 minutes}
Like it or not I did have work tomorrow, but on the plus side I didn't have to wake up until six-thirty leaving me with more than enough sleep for the day. Tomorrow was Wednesday, I'd have to shave in the morning but that just means less time watching my shows.
{Server shutdown in 1 minutes}
Heh, massively immersive virtual world, still can't handle grammar. Well thanks I guess, so long and thanks for all the fish. With less than a minute left I reached out, rubbing one hand over the top of my companion's head, imagining the feel of her soft hair, wishing not for the first time I had some sensation of touch but unfortunately we don't live in the future.
{Server shutdown in 5}
We had a good run, didn't we.
{Server shutdown in 4}
It was fun while it lasted.
{Server shutdown in 3}
Gods, look at me getting all melancholy.
{Server shutdown in 2}
If there's ever a Yggdrasil 2 I promise I'll bring you back.
{Server shutdown in 1}
"Goodbye, Judy."
{Server shutting down}
"I'll miss you."
.
..
...
"Don't go."
Lethargically I opened my eyes, expecting to see the off-white ceiling of my apartment. Instead, I found myself looking at a starlit sky hiding behind a canopy of trees. Funny, my dreams usually aren't this clear. I knew I was dreaming because there was an adorable purple-eyed bunnygirl in front of me, she turned up in my dreams more than was probably healthy.
She just looked at me, staring with a level of hope and wonder that I had never seen before. "Elyas?" Her voice trembled, almost like she was afraid I might disappear if she spoke too loud. I yawned, shifting myself so I could lay flat and pulling her against my chest. "Tired now, talk later." The words came out as half speaking, half grunt. She was tense at first before relaxing, allowing herself to mould against my torso for which I was grateful, it's a little too cold to sleep out here without a blanket.
Even after so long my subconscious is still fixated on Yggdrasil. What I wouldn't give for just one more day.
