Adrian looks to Alsander and meets his eyes before giving the player a curt nod.

"No trouble at all. If anything it's probably a good idea to do the tutorial. It's pretty clear that the game has some serious bugs that need sorting. We wouldn't be fulfilling our role as playtesters if we didn't run the whole game through its paces."

He looked around the group, seeing if they agreed with him.

"Besides. Nothing could be as bad as Gloomhammer's tutorial.¹"


¹Random worldbuilding tidbit: Gloomhammer was an early attempt at 'gritty realism' in immersive VR that took things too far. Tutorial involved a unskippable high pain threshold torture sequence.

  "Khupha¡"

  Mirima drops a palm and sweeps it outward, releasing the magic circle to hide itself behind the world again, where such things belong.  Her dress flutters through itself a bit when she turns back to the others and gives Alsander a sharp nod.  "Then a tutorial you shall have.  Always a way in."  It sounds as though she's reciting something.  She looks up.

  "Komon, proceed with tutorial scenario, semantic register option personnel—"  Plum lips peel back into open-mouthed laughter, but the noise that comes out is mixed screeching and burbling pure tones.  It's brief, mercifully. "—Atma-Rath the Incisor, Denes protocol sixth rank, initialize special three, Saraya Brightheart."  She laughs to vent anticipation and looks around at some distance.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 22:03, Fri 11 June 2021.

Vin shakes his head. "Pretty sure 'nothing can be as bad as Gloomhammer's tutorial' is legally enforced now. And I'm pretty sure Komon's input is going to be sanitized? This is beta, not alpha, after all," he added, looking down a little dubiously at Mirima. It was awfully specific, though, and you didn't really hack stuff by voice. It sounded like a backdoor for permissions elevation; he supposed that kind of thing probably would get left around until dev tools got deactivated. How the heck did she have that? "But you seem to know what you're doing. Heh, they got a good deal, getting you in to try breaking things before release."

A flicker of light is the only warning before a spider of darkness appears. It is blacker than black, the black of a moonless night underground. It has too many legs, long and angular and needle-thin, with more appearing and disappearing from moment to moment. Looking at it hurts one's head, an icepick headache in the temporal region, and when it speaks, the sound is even worse, a screeching static buzz of tangled half-sounds and almost-language. [Language unknown: On unlo ver mimaei di po? Oul ul ck an intillich?]

It skitters forward without moving its legs and leaps at Saraya Brightheart, fangs the size of soda cans extending to be the size of two-liter bottles before snapping down at the woman.

Attack of 13 and damage of 4 HD.

"¡Pon mucha crema en tus tacos!" Alley laughed, thumbing her nose at Mirima as she did her vocaudial hack. All shocks aside she was fairly sure Saraya had this, but why should she get all the fun?

Folding her wings in close to her back - it felt natural and intuitive now, great interface - she dove fast and fiercely towards the horrible spider thing. Reaching out, she felt the air thicken in the shadow of her wings, flowing through her fingertips like silk. She pinched it, plucking razor-sharp blades of that shadow out of the air and flicking them down into the spider-thing's rear quarters.

Sapphire wings opened and beat down once powerfully as she shot back up into the skies. Flight was the best, wasn't it? She could tell already that she was going to spend some time just exploring the skies in this game once it released properly.

10:22, Today: Alessandra Ramirez rolled 3 using 1d10.  Knives of Night.

"Babbling spider for the tutorial. Not going after the arachnophobe dollars, I guess," Vin says, rushing forward and taking a swing with his claws experimentally at the creature. The result was… unimpressive, to say the least. Proprioception might be all on board, but that was still a long way from being fighting-fit. It was harder than he'd expected, balancing on three limbs while attacking with the fourth. "Okay, glad we went for the tutorial…"

There had been a gentle prompt that he'd ignored- tapping into his daily Luck ability for a middling result. That might do for a tutorial spider next time.

So this was happening.

Lexi instinctively stepped back – there was a giant spider lunging for her, of course she did! - until it suddenly and starkly hit home that this wasn’t real. That was to say that it was real but a reality where the old rules didn’t apply; a reality where even threats like this existed to be overcome. That and also the monster was probably (?) some kind of tutorial obstacle if it was summonable in the starting zone like this, so clearly it couldn’t be all that bad…

She steadied herself. Saraya steadied herself.  A lighter fighter might have stepped aside, but as the strike came in she stood her ground, planted her feet and refused to move. She raised her arm to meet the fangs and that molten golden power burst forth at a thought, a shining shield about her arm where an eyeblink before there had been nothing. Even with all that weight and force behind it the spider found no purchase on her – immovable object meeting eminently resistible force – and the blow merely skimmed the surface of her shield, turned aside.

Her own counterpunch followed through, but a greathammer wasn’t exactly an ideal weapon for striking at such close distance. It might be nigh impossible to miss so large a target at that range, but without enough room to really bring the weapon to bear it was only ever going to be a glancing blow.

“Could always have one of those optional filters in the finished game,” she called back over her shoulder, voice strained but bright. “Make them look like giant cats or something.”

---

OOC:
Just illustrating the spider's failed attack and making a regular attack of my own.
Alexandra Barker rolled 22 using 1d20+2.  Standard Attack Roll.
Alexandra Barker rolled 3 using 1d10+1.  Damage Roll.

  Mirima made no move to intervene.  At first, it was clearly a matter of shock.  She stared at the emergence of an actual foe in response to that gibberish with more suprise than anyone else.  After all, she knew best that she'd been just making it up.  But something appeared to answer, anyway, and it takes until after the thing has leapt into battle with the more martial set that she recovers her wits.

  And then she laughs.  She laughs like Triumph and Satisfaction alike.  And for the second or two before she stops laughing, the voice is absolutely not the one from ordinary comms.

  Andarrea makes no move to intervene.  She does reach out and tug at a faint impression of strings that appears for the purpose, causing the creature to stumble when three of its legs suddenly translate sideways.  It's enough that a forelimb coming for the dragon falls short, but she leaves it alone after confirming that much.  She seems much more interested in just watching how the fight plays out.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:29, Wed 23 June 2021.

Adrian looks at the spider of darkness appear, seemingly from nowhere, and frowns to himself at the game breaking immersion so quickly. He'd have expected the spider to have burst from hidden burrow or at least materialized from gathering shadows. This thing had just sort of glitched itself into reality. He was also sort of disappointed that he couldn't understand the thing, unsure if he simply lacked the skill or if its speech algorithm was broken. Still as the others took to slaughtering the thing he considered his own options. His kit was built more towards making lasting changes within the world rather than fighting. So he silently observed while drawing the earth up into a spear that he clutched in one hand, prepared to fight should the need arise.

"You got this?" Alvin asked the others. He still had the menu open and started poking at the interface to close it, unsure if that also required a verbal command or not.

He took a few steps back from the creature and the combat anyway to get himself out of harm's way while he fumbled to get the menus closed. "I don't immediately see a filtering option," he added. "Though I sort of wish I did."

He scanned over the abilities he had somehow gained again as he groped around for a 'close' or 'cancel' or just a red x to get the menu out of his vision. I can probably kill this thing if I have to, he thought as he read through the short descriptions again.

The spider is pierced with darkness and struck by a hammer, and as the second blow crushes its carapace, it crumples, its limbs flailing, as it utters another staticky cry.[Language unknown: Esbema, M dinho ut ee ortare'sanandiou.]

It falls still, its flesh rapidly distorting and melting away.

"This was a nonstandard encounter. Filing bug report...filed. Tutorial combat section completed. There is a river in each domain of the Avalon network, allowing for travel between domains. In some domains, the river may be able to access only specific domains, or it may be unavailable until some task is completed. Please advance to the river when you are ready to continue. Thank you for your patience." Komon's voice sounds quietly concerned as she says that the encounter was nonstandard, as though she is worried about your safety despite how swiftly the spider-like being was dispatched.

  After a few seconds with nothing else happening, Mirima cackles aloud. She may have decided to stay in character, though the laughter sounds sincere enough.

  "It did a thing! Shit, I wonder if every bad joke will do something real." She glances back at the rest of the group and corrects herself a moment later. "Well, not real exactly, but you know what I'm saying. It produced a distinct change in the environment. And one that still responded to me! I'll have to try that when there's not an ordinary instance to overflow."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:57, Tue 29 June 2021.

Adrian looked at the twitching corpse of the spiderling and then watched with detached curiosity as it broke apart, sinking back into the ground.

"Did you all get any notifications for the kill? Loot drops?"

He wasn't exactly sure what to expect if he was to be honest. While the nondisclosure agreement had been very exacting the actual details of the game were less forthcoming. Still with Komon's instructions he looked to the mount that had been summoned and climbed atop it.

"I guess our next destination is the river."

Vin shrugged, and shrank down to a human form, giving his arms a stretch after. "Well, it was a non-standard fight. They might also want to cut down on immersion breaks. Lots of reasons to not throw a fanfare- leveling and loot might be more quest or achievement based." He looked over at Mirima, shaking his head. "Seriously, busting up the tutorial? I'm impressed."

He started towards the river, looking with interest. "Different domains sounds cool. Lots of smaller worlds, rather than one big open world? It's been a bit since I've seen anybody really go for that." It used to be a loading trick. It seemed like any time game technology leapt forward, there was some catch-up period where smaller maps came into style before reaching the 'open world' part of the cycle again. He couldn't imagine trying to run anything as big as, say, a VR city with this level of detail.

Finally closing the menus, Alvin - Vaxilion - rejoined the conversation. "The domains could be pretty big too if they procedurally generate them or use similar automated generation for each of them," Vaxilion said. Though system capability and capacity of computing systems could be a factor, he thought, as Vin did. He frowned at the spot where the creature had disappeared. "Still, the possibility of glitching creatures with voice commands is a disturbing one. I wouldn't expect dev-level command processing to be verbal."

He also started heading for the river, curious as to how they'd use it to get from place to place. Hopefully there'd be a boat, but he'd be somehow unsurprised if they had to cut down trees to make their own, or just swim. He hoped they wouldn't have to swim - adventuring clothing in games was usually elaborate enough to be heavy, particularly if there was any armor or other metal incorporated. "Any bets on a boat?" he asked as they moved. "Gondola, catamaran, sailboat, canoe?"

Moving over the next hill, a slow river rolls along just on the other side, with a raft moored at it. The air flickers with something akin to a heat haze just downstream.

  "I'll bet twenty on a raft," remarks their gray friend once the raft comes into view. Immediately, she lets our a triumphant laugh and extends a hand toward Vax. "Pay up, casual! Hey, you guys think we have to be on the raft to go through the zone transition, or just cross that space?"

  "Actually, you know what?" She starts down the hill towards the waiting raft. "Let's not crash the tutorial zone in the first hour. C'mon."

Adrian nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah probably best to give the devs a break after that whole spider situation."

He then moved onto the raft, looking for a prompt or some indication of what to do next.

As the group moves onto the raft, it proves quite easy to unmoor and guide downstream through the wavering air. As you pass through that spot, the world fades to black, and the Avalon Online logo blazes silver against the backdrop.

"Welcome to Avalon." Komon's voice has a certain degree of pride.

An instant later, the world fades in again, showing a bend of river against a forested hill. A cave opening at the bottom of the hill opens into what looks like a cave that has been slightly expanded by manual labor. A path winds up from the shore along the hill to a campsite, already set up with a campfire burning outside of a few tents. There's a good stock of wood laid in, and some empty crates and chests, but no other supplies.

"Welcome to your campsite. This domain will serve as your home base as you explore the Avalon network, providing a safe place to rest and recording your achievements. Keep an eye out for changes in this domain as you accomplish various tasks in the other domains of Avalon. Now, would you like to rest and explore your campsite, or may I recommend other domains for you to visit?"

Vin looks around, smiling broadly. It was a good deal less menacing in human form. "It looks lovely. I love the relaxing base camp idea." And it sounded like changes here would show up as quest rewards? It beat a generic achievement system.  "Personally, I'm inclined to get into the meat of things. If this is the base camp, it'll be nice to unwind here after playing a bit. Unless anybody objects?" He took a look around, checking. "At the very least, I'd love to hear what some of the recommended starting worlds are."

Adrian listened to Komon speak and moved about the campsite.

"A personal domain huh? How interesting. I guess the territory control features are more integrated into the game. Or perhaps this is more like personal housing?"

He wasn't sure but he knew that it would be revealed to him eventually. Instead he considered what Komon had just said about exploring the area or recommending other domains. Speaking aloud so that the rest of the group could hear his thoughts he replied.

"I'm with Calvin. I'd like to hear about the other domains that we can visit."

He then looked to the others in the group.

"Once I rank up I can drop a whole wizard's tower here. Comes with servants and everything."

  Andarrea stays on the raft, seated with her feet in the water. The water behind it churns, where it piles up and has to flow around the stationary section below. "Let's hear it, Komon. I didn't connect to nap in the woods."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:53, Thu 22 July 2021.

"Certainly. The following domains are available to access immediately: Halson's Quay, House, Stormwall, Entomos, Arianus, Cloudhall, Arcadia, the Great Forest, Kitchen, Dark River, and Ouriopolis. Additional information on each has been entered into your logs, if you would like to consult it further."

The log information has the following to say:

Halson's Quay is a swamp village, not known for being welcoming to outsiders. Though it seems an insular place of little note, it has a dark secret, and much can be learned here...for a price.

House is a vast mansion in a world where the notion of an outside holds no weight and the corridors go on forever. Staircases lead to nowhere, doors open onto walls, and pillars hold up a ceiling so distant it's out of sight. Though largely uninhabited, those few who call this place home live by scavenging food from the kitchens and dining rooms.

Stormwall is a city under siege by a goblinoid force which demands greater rights and a cessation of raids into the wilds where they make their homes. These demands have been met with scorn by the ruling elite of Stormwall and the kingdom of Arcadia as a whole, and as such the goblins have marched to war.

Entomos is a research domain, built to study insects. It allows player characters to interact with these creatures at their own scale, effectively reducing their size to the point that insects are equals in size rather than inferiors.

Arianus is a world of islands, but they aren't in the water. Rather, built on levitating stone, they float in an endless expanse of sky. Water is precious, with the only real source being a flow of it from the sky at the center of the domain. Battles over water and other resources are common, and take place from the backs of dragons or on airships.

Cloudhall is a city built on clouds, designed as a reference to the video games of its creators' youth which featured clouds as bouncy surfaces that could be walked upon. It is inhabited by many air elementals and related creatures.

Arcadia is the capital city of the kingdom of the same name, which is the primary kingdom of the fantasy setting portions of the network. It is a cosmopolitan city, and creatures of all sorts make their homes there.

The Great Forest is a world of vast trees, trees so vast that whole cities can be built on the moss sheets that drape between enormous branches. Lakes pool where rainfall collects, and the sun shines always down upon it. To the locals the idea of a ground is all but unheard of, as reaching it would require a long trip down the trees - and the lower one goes, the more dangerous the world becomes.

Kitchen is a cartoon world focusing on the anthropomorphized inhabitants of a twentieth century kitchen, in which everything is animated. Each night, a war plays out between the inhabitants of the kitchen and the refrigerator, where the wealthy elite live.

Dark River is a world of no light, where none can see at all. Navigation is entirely by touch and sound. There is a river of flowing air that can carry people along, and the world's physics work differently than is usual. As one might expect, there are things lurking in the dark, and it is not always easy to tell whether the person one is talking to is a friend or just a stolen voice.

Ouropolis is a city of the future, built on a huge space station orbiting a blasted planet. It has highly advanced technology and resources, but is largely crippled by the intense feuding among the upper classes. Lower class citizens live out normal lives, surrounded by the neon and noise of a spacefaring culture. Note: Most technology from Ouropolis and other science fiction domains does not function outside of its home domain.