Introduction: Gamefaqs and the YSB
The message boards of Gamefaqs were once plain, like those of any website; but with the advent of virtual reality in the Internet, everything changed.
The Boards, as they were called, became alternate planes in the Gamefaqs database. Within each Board were many fields, each representing a topic. When you posted a message, you said something. To move between fields and planes, hyperlinks were utilized: portals built into the Internet to allow ease of access among sites. Every browser could create hyperlinks - if the user knew the address.
When an account was created, a certain identity was assigned to the user by the System based on the username. Each user was given their own wardrobe, arsenal of weapons, and an ID card that they could use to store hyperlinks to planes, check the status of other users, and search for fields within a plane. The ID card was a rectangular screen that was sensitive to touch.
Karma was the ranking of the Boards. It regulated your position in the eyes of the Administrators, it regulated your restrictions, and it regulated your priveledges. When you were modded, Karma could be removed, or your message deleted, or removed from the database. If a field were removed, all of its occupants would be sent to the Vale, in the center of the plane. It was a forest with a clearing at its core: the gateway to all of the fields.
To be banned was to be removed from the Boards forever.
***
'Twas a normal day on the YSB.
"Liek, Ameph, OMG, will you bear my children?" asked Masta Moogle, a thin man garbed in a deep black cloak that fell about him like water. In his right hand he held a flaccid rubber chicken.
A tall women, whose skin was as pale as the moon, and her face as fair as the setting sun, but her complexion cold as the wind, responded by pulling out a knife from her own cloak, which was white as the early snow. "BAKA!" she cried angrily as she stabbed Masta repeatedly. "BAKA BAKA BAKA!"
"Hey," interuppted Shivan, a strong man whose eyes were as red flares, and whose cloak was like blood, "Why aren't you stabbing me, Ameph? I've been a good boy."
"Shiv!" shrieked another woman. Her cloak was like a wave of water as it flowed around her, clinging to her figure. It was blue, streaked with gold and emerald. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, and her face glowed with jealousy and disgust. In her right hand she held a rolling pin, and she was steadily tapping it against her left palm, as a threat. "You're cheating on me~!"
"No -" protested Shivan, but he was cut off by another man.
"SIGGED!"
"Huh?" asked Shivan, turning to face the person, who yelled his reply.
"SIGGED!"
"STOP SIGGING ME IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE," Shivan menaced, throwing back his cloak and revealing the white mail coat beneath. From a sheath at his side, Shivan pulled forth a steel dagger, and held it forward in his left hand.
"SIGG...ed?" tried the man. He was cut down in the next instant.
A new voice was heard.
"Mwahahahahahaha! Lucifer Duck now has another account, and I've given him the link here, and -"
The man stood behind Void, another man, who wore a dark blue cloak lined with gold. His hair was brown and tassled, and his hands looked strong, but ill fitted for work. Void turned to face the pest, and drew from his cloak a silver shotgun, aiming the barrel directly at the man's head. "Ah-hem," he said as he did so, and pulled the trigger. A local flash, and metallic ringing, and the other man fell dead before him, a smoldering hole between his eyes.
"You have been shot," Void told the corpse.
Yep. 'Twas a normal day.
The message boards of Gamefaqs were once plain, like those of any website; but with the advent of virtual reality in the Internet, everything changed.
The Boards, as they were called, became alternate planes in the Gamefaqs database. Within each Board were many fields, each representing a topic. When you posted a message, you said something. To move between fields and planes, hyperlinks were utilized: portals built into the Internet to allow ease of access among sites. Every browser could create hyperlinks - if the user knew the address.
When an account was created, a certain identity was assigned to the user by the System based on the username. Each user was given their own wardrobe, arsenal of weapons, and an ID card that they could use to store hyperlinks to planes, check the status of other users, and search for fields within a plane. The ID card was a rectangular screen that was sensitive to touch.
Karma was the ranking of the Boards. It regulated your position in the eyes of the Administrators, it regulated your restrictions, and it regulated your priveledges. When you were modded, Karma could be removed, or your message deleted, or removed from the database. If a field were removed, all of its occupants would be sent to the Vale, in the center of the plane. It was a forest with a clearing at its core: the gateway to all of the fields.
To be banned was to be removed from the Boards forever.
***
'Twas a normal day on the YSB.
"Liek, Ameph, OMG, will you bear my children?" asked Masta Moogle, a thin man garbed in a deep black cloak that fell about him like water. In his right hand he held a flaccid rubber chicken.
A tall women, whose skin was as pale as the moon, and her face as fair as the setting sun, but her complexion cold as the wind, responded by pulling out a knife from her own cloak, which was white as the early snow. "BAKA!" she cried angrily as she stabbed Masta repeatedly. "BAKA BAKA BAKA!"
"Hey," interuppted Shivan, a strong man whose eyes were as red flares, and whose cloak was like blood, "Why aren't you stabbing me, Ameph? I've been a good boy."
"Shiv!" shrieked another woman. Her cloak was like a wave of water as it flowed around her, clinging to her figure. It was blue, streaked with gold and emerald. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, and her face glowed with jealousy and disgust. In her right hand she held a rolling pin, and she was steadily tapping it against her left palm, as a threat. "You're cheating on me~!"
"No -" protested Shivan, but he was cut off by another man.
"SIGGED!"
"Huh?" asked Shivan, turning to face the person, who yelled his reply.
"SIGGED!"
"STOP SIGGING ME IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE," Shivan menaced, throwing back his cloak and revealing the white mail coat beneath. From a sheath at his side, Shivan pulled forth a steel dagger, and held it forward in his left hand.
"SIGG...ed?" tried the man. He was cut down in the next instant.
A new voice was heard.
"Mwahahahahahaha! Lucifer Duck now has another account, and I've given him the link here, and -"
The man stood behind Void, another man, who wore a dark blue cloak lined with gold. His hair was brown and tassled, and his hands looked strong, but ill fitted for work. Void turned to face the pest, and drew from his cloak a silver shotgun, aiming the barrel directly at the man's head. "Ah-hem," he said as he did so, and pulled the trigger. A local flash, and metallic ringing, and the other man fell dead before him, a smoldering hole between his eyes.
"You have been shot," Void told the corpse.
Yep. 'Twas a normal day.