I looked excitedly at the full dive headset on the desk in front of me. It was nearly time for the launch of Ashes of Ashland. A new vrmmo for me to work my trade. You see, I wasn't interested in going on adventures or doing quests, I haven't been interested in that in years, no I'm a merchants.
My guild and I have been doing this for years, in several different games. Most people don't want to travel across large distances just to find the right buyers and price for their loot or produce. So they come to Mr.Golds Merchant Syndicate, and we do it for them. Allowing them to get right back into dungeon delving or whatever else, while we worry about finding the right person or organization to sell to.
Mr.Gold is a silly username but to be fair to myself, I was twelve when I first made it. Now I've grown used to it and have tons of people who know me by it. I'm not world famous or anything, but all the medium to huge guilds leadership know of me, and use my services. It could be worse, at least I didn't just use my first name, Jake, as my username. Something my friend Mark did.
Looking down at my phone I see the guild alliance group chat going crazy. You see Mr.Golds Merchant Syndicate(MMS), has 2 main friend/ally guilds. They are Marks Mercenary Group(MMG), and Shadows of Ashland(SoA). SoA always changes the last word of their guild depending on the game they're currently playing, so now it's Shadows of Ashland.
Mark and I have known each other since we were in kindergarten and both got into vrmmos together at the age of twelve. We had made our first guild, Trophy Hunters, at thirteen, and Shadow the leader of SoA was one of the only people to join. A year later we all realized the guild was going nowhere and that we each had different interests in mmos and playstyles. So we formed three different guilds and have had a guild alliance since.
Their guilds act as protection for us merchants when we have a large amount of items we are moving long distances. The mercenaries act as our guards while the shadows are usually scouts. It's been a good setup that's worked for eleven years now. And has earned us a steady income in the real world. Games have been allowing gold to real money transfers since before I was born and our setup allows my merchants to find the right buyers for a good income, without risk of player killers.
Looking at the alliance group chat and then my guilds group chat I sigh as I notice how quiet it is in the guild group chat. Sadly the years have not been kind to the MMS, we are down to only five members from our peak of a hundred and fifteen. Most either deciding to stay in old games or simply quitting due to real life. MMG on the other had has over six hundred members while SoA has over a hundred, their guilds are still doing great. Shaking my head I send a message to the guild chat going over the plan one more time before putting on the headset.
After a few minutes I feel myself drift off and enter full dive sleep. Opening my eyes I select Ashes of Ashland and see the timers nearly ticked down.
"WELCOME TO ASHES OF ASHLAND!" A small fairy with molen lava like wings shouts.
"Ahhh set volume to 50%." I shout back.
"Oh my apologies! I got a little carried away, hehe. My name is Carrie, the almighty and great character selection overseer!" The excited little fairy tells me.
"Really devs, Carrie? You couldn't come up with some fantasy name for the npcs?" I look up at nothing as.
"Now listen here, you might be a undying player but remember the people of this world have lived their own lives and permanently die. This isn't like other games you've played, that are old and outdated. So stop thinking of them as npcs. Anywho here's a list of playable races." Carrie explained.
A screen with way to many races appeared in front of me.
"Are any of the races well suited for being a merchant?" I ask.
Instantly the screen change, leaving me with only five options. Reading through each I finally make my choice. While I did my research before hand I still wanted to see each option.
[Race Chosen: Kobold]
[Info: Kobold are small (4 feet tall) lizard men, originating from the Fire Peak Mountains in the south of the Ashland continent. Most kobold prefer the solitude of the mines. However those who do venture beyond are often shrewd merchants. Their greed and selfish nature push them to get the most out of every deal. Kobold mainly worship three gods: Kaznar, God of Dragons, Drokhar, God of Metals, and Yanlar Goddess of Wealth.]
[Racial Buffs/debuffs:
Buffs:
Metal Lover: +10% ore yield
Gotta Go Faster: +10% speed
My Precious: +10% gold (npc transactions only)
Fire Fire Fire: +50% heat resistance
Dragon Lover: +2 reputation with all dragon/lizard races
Huff and Puff: +10% stamina
Debuffs:
I don't feel so good: -10% health
Cold Blooded: -50% cold resistance
Selfish: -2 starting reputation
Mana? What Mana?: -10% mana]
The worst thing for me is the negative starting reputation. That would definitely lose me some gold early on. This race would be terrible for most players since the vast majority are combat players. For miners and merchants it's pretty good though. A lot of my early game sales will be to npcs and as I don't have a mount at the start, the 10% extra speed and stamina will be very helpful.
"An unusual choice. How exciting!" Carrie says. "Now your name please."
"Mr.Gold" I respond.
Chuckling Carrie tells me, "Very good Mr.Gold. Now please choose your class from this list."
Another overly long list appeared. I of course selected merchant and another popup appeared.
[Merchant: A class who's sole focus is the buying and selling of items/goods. They play an important role in any empires economy.]
[Starting Actives:
Inspect: Inspect an item for its description, stats and value. 10% margin of error for value. Costs: 5 mana
Speed boost: Buff yourself giving +10% speed. Costs: 40 mana. Time: 2 hours.
Copper Distraction: Throw out 10 copper coins to distract your enemy. Costs: 5 mana
Item Tag: Tag and item to show its stats and value. Costs: 5 mana. Time: 1 hours.]
"Very good Mr.Gold. Feel free to customize your character appearance now." Carrie said as my character appeared in front of me.
The kobold are naturally short red lizard people. Seeing different customizations options next to the character I first start with skin color. Of course sticking to theme I make all my secondary features gold, things like my ear horns, claws, eyes and the spikes on my tail. Red and gold always go well together. Next I make him as tall as kobold can go, I'm now a whole five feet tall. Now I go into the details like having some of my tail spike tips broken or fractured. By the end I'm satisfied with my character, except the height.
"I'm finished." I tell Carrie.
"Very good. Then the last thing you need to do in character customization is select your starting town Mr.Gold. Now before you go please note that there is no tutorial zone in Ashland. If you need help please refer to the ingame guide. If you encounter any bugs, glitches or cheaters contact the Ashland Continent Overseer, his name is Arc. Good luck and have fun!"
As soon as she finished I felt myself getting pulled into my characters body. Being nearly a foot shorter would definitely take some getting used to. Looking at the digital map in front of me I chose a town in the south of Ashland not far from the Fire Peak Mountains, the town of Yarland. Since my phone is connected with my headset I sent a message to both my guild and to Mark and Kevin, Shadows actual name, of the town location. My guild and SoA would be there while Marks would take over a town closer to the nearest city, to help control our trade routes.
"I'm done Carrie, thanks for your help." I tell the fairy.
"Bye!" She once again is shouting as my vision fades to black.