Year 3067 of the graven Conspectus.
Outside my local Jamstop, today was the day. October 16 the grand release of the first truly virtual reality game pod. Laurel was the first to incorporate taste, smell, touch, hearing and visual aspects into vr. There had been vr games that would try to do these things but Laurel was different, instead of simulated these senses. They would inject them directly into your brain. Using the vr machines you could launch into the world of Laurel. It would look like you were sleeping in a healthline pod. The pods were different than healthline pods since they were made of metal and didn't have all the medical symbols.
The line was long since this was the first time the technology was being used for gaming purposes. They had used it for medicine until now, treating things like adhd, muscular dystrophy. Impressive stuff if you ask me. They're still trying to develop it for other industries but gaming got their faster because of the creator, Doctor Misao. After developing the tech he quit being a doctor and joined FugalFang inc. Developing Laurel. It was announced a few months ago as a the next great fully immersive vr MMORPG. The internet went wild, hasn't be this feral since Augelle won Goty. Since then there's been nonstop posting about it.
"When's it coming out?!" @perminantkitty
"I'm so hyped! My dad's gonna get it for me!" @painlordjason
"So thankful to be alive for this! A new age of gaming!^^" @greatwhale934
Those were the common sentiments of netizens.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited too.
And I'd have to been lying if I said I wasn't lucky enough to get one. Unlike other highschoolers I did have to ask my parents!
My mom was dead and my dad lived with his other family. He still gave me an apartment near my school and monthly spending money. So with that money I've been saving, I decided to use it to get the Vr pod dub the Laurel pod/Laupod. Sadly It's quite expensive plus the monthly Subscription to the game, which stopped lots of my class comrades from purchasing one. The pod wasn't meant to only play Laurel, you could apparently use it as a normal computer once hooked in but to play the game you had to pay a subscription. I assume they would allow others to make games for the Laupod with so caveats of course.
In the initial announcement they mentioned an integrated ai that would play as god in Laurel to manage everything, whether it was new quest or bug patching. While I'm quite skeptical of since the every time someone has tried that it end with a quite controversial personality turn to the ai, I'm still hopeful. They were using the new neurobrain to power this Ai. A virtual brain for Ai tho this one would use several vbrains for different tasks.
"Hey man, get a move on!" The man behind me said.
"Oh sorry" I said
'It was my turn to register to order of the Laupod. Finally!'
"Welcome to Jamstop, can I have the form you filled out?" The worker dressing the Jamstop uniform asked, he looked quite tired but his excitement allowed Gilmore to push forward in such a busy day.
I immediately handed the form over and waited in anticipation.
"Everything is in order, you'll receive the Laupod in two days, here an information guide. Have fun Zabe!" The worker said with a large toothy smile.
You might be asking why he know my name. This is Caden, my school friend, he had gotten a job here precisely to get more info on the game. Quite the dedicated fan, I have to say.
"Hopefully you can make enough money to get one too! We can team up if you do!" I said to him while leaving with a small smile.
"For sure! See ya!" Caden replied.
I could dwell on him longer but I was more excited to get home and read this guide!
This hadn't been posted anywhere else, so this was the privilege of going in person to get the Laupod! A lot of people were getting online but I wanted the authentic experience of waiting in line, reading posts about it and getting it in person. Sadly I couldn't bring it home with me, they were way too big.
Arriving at my top floor apartment I dashed from the front door to my bed and laid down to read the guide "Begin with Laupod", it had a picture of the oval Laupod with a big fireball reflecting on the the glass. While very cool, I couldn't care less I wanted the information inside!
Page 1 Laupod Razer and Sun edition.
The Laupod has been devised into two editions. While functional the same, a different copy of the god ai of Laurel has been put inside.
The Razer has been allowed to personalize itself to its own wishes. Whether it be voice, gender, looks and personality. All of this can change as you interact with it, you can suggest things you want and if the ai wants to, it'll change. But drastic things aren't allowed as its main purpose is a helper.
Fun fact: When asked what it'd like its edition of Laupod to be named, it picked Razer!
The Sun has been allowed to play Laurel during its development. It was given a static personality and look. Its knowledge is deeper then Razer and it knows how to play the game on a pro level unlike razor who has only been taught the basics. This ai can give consistently good advise on how to play the game. Unlike razor who makes estimates and good guesses.
The two have been made on different principles.
Razor is a companion that will grow and improve with you. A beginner just like you.
Sun is an infomatianal helper with experience.
A copy of them will be released in the world of Laurel at launch. As players! Along with you! Good luck finding them!
'I had read the page so fast I almost missed the last part! The Ai were going to have to be in the game? Like if they were also playing the game? How odd… but refreshing!'
Page 2 What kind of powers?
Like all mmorpg. Job classes, races and levels are part of the mix!
Job classes are separated into three
• Basic: Little to no Requirements. Lvl15max.
• High: Often Require other Classes and/or Levels. Lvl10max.
• Rare: Often Require multiple High Classes and/or Levels. Lvl5max.
In the beginning only one race will be available. Humans, but fear not, others will become available. To become other races you'll have two ways, transforming and reincarnation. Races like zombie and skeletons will take you base race like humans and transform them into its new shell! The other is a secret that you'll have to figure out!
'I mean, it's good too know but I would've liked a little more…' The right side of the page had an illustration of skin and muscle sliding off a Snow White skeleton with red eyes.
page 3 Starting area.
Usually you'd get a starting area like a tutorial. But we are giving you a starting town. this large town won't have occupants, no vendors no guards and no kings. It'll be your only "safe" space for the start of the game. Itll be connected directly to the world of laurel so you could totally leave to got explore the world if you want to but I must warn you, its quite dangerous and one small step and your character will be dead.
The town is surrounded by bogs in the north-west and a great forest the south-east. Id be careful of the bogs and keep to the forest where low-level life is plenty!
The guide showed an image to the top left side showing a overview of the town. It didn't have any walls around it but had a large watch tower in the center square to watch over for any attackers.
'While beautiful, it doesn't give me a good idea of how the town is laid out...'
A diagram was at the bottom right of the page showing the town and its surroundings. the town seemed to be in the middle of terrain transitions.
The diagram didn't show much past the town just some rough scribbles to differentiate between terrains. The mayor's house as stated on the diagram was to the north of the watchtower, with a blacksmiths to the southwest. No other buildings were named but you could assume they were living quarters for the players.
Page 4 Player Death.
In Laurel, death is semi-permanent. Once you die, the character is inaccessible unless someone in the game forks over enough cash to revive you at a grace site or if someone has a revival item. Keep in mind that most race changes require the player's death. The revival while cost more if the body is nonexistent or not with the player reviving you!
The revival process will take three days, where if done with the original body. Will need to be protected, the body can be move from the area but if interrupted will stop the revival process. If done without the original body, the entire process will be done at the grace site.
If your are associated to a god, as an apostle or pope ext. The god you worship might revive you on their own, no cost or other players needed.
The page had an image of what was supposed to be a grace site. It was at the top of a mountain. It looked quite serene, a road alter with rusted weapons scattered about and a turquoise energy bring in the surrounding. There was a pile of gold coins on the altar. On the bottom right, a drawing of a coin with a face's side profile of a maiden of sorts with some unclear writing on the edge.
'Now this is detailed! There had been no mention of how death would be treated in Laurel, this was the first time and oh boy did they deliver!' 'Id like to bring attention to the race change needing the player's death... It was concerning, did it mean you'd lose all your progress?' Zabe thought.
Page 5 Game start and miscellaneous.
When the Laupod is delivered to your, laurel will be available but servers wont be online until the 20th of October. In the mean time you'll be able to create your character and interact with Razer or Sun. We have implemented a heavy amount of character customization so have fun!
Many novels on Virtual reality have a altered time set, some have one day equaling 3 days in game but in Laurel its one to one. We haven't found the technology to turn days into weeks, so don't worry about missing a day of gaming!
Quest, can be given by the god ai depending on how you interact with the world. You found a tomb? the god ai will see this and give you a quest to explore it! A resident asks you for help? The god ai while give you a quest for it!
The rewards will be given by residents or be what you found in said tomb. You get exp depending on what you did. Exploring a tomb? One level in tomb raiding, that is if you have the tomb raiding class, if not a smaller amount of exp will be given to classes with possible association to the quest. Defeating monsters and ingame achievements are others sources of exp.
Laupod.
The Laupod is fitted with a seat for you to rest in and a neck brace like device connected to the rest of the Laupod with a electrical metal tube, once on your neck it'll connect to your brain. Injecting you into the world of Laurel.
The Laupod measures your vitals and ensures your safety. If it detects illnesses like malnutrition or seizures, it will expel you. If severe enough such as death, medical staff will be alerted. In future editions, the Laupod will feed its user nutrients, so that they don't need to quit playing to go eat. Waste management is also being considered.
Q&A
"How many characters will we be aloud to have?"
- Two. Additional character slots can be awarded for certain achievements.
"Can I make my character the opposite gender?"
- Of course, any gender and eventually any race!
"What classes can you start with?"
- None, you'll have to have/do certain action, quest or achievements.
The back page had bunch of art and a picture of the team that developed Laurel.
'Two lives aye? If their both killed I assume you'll have to delete one... I dont like it when they do this kind of stuff, at least let me buy another character slot if I want to...' 'They want to add some sort of feeding tube like the regular healthlines? They totally want us to stay in their forever!'