《World of Warcraft - VR》 Prologue Finally after 25 years of being dead World of Warcraft is finally coming back for all the gamers in the form of Virtual Reality. Blizzard is forgoing all known lore and starting a new reboot of World of Warcraft! The story will be based on players known as ¡°Champions¡±. These ¡°Champions¡± will forge a new path for World of Warcraft to take! ¡°Some old lore are still the same but anything in the future is up for grabs!¡± says Head Developer Jose Forensic. Dr. Forensic is the leading programer of the world for Artificial Intelligence. The AI¡¯s control how the ¡°World¡± will react to players. How one reacts to NPCs or even monsters will greatly change the future! If you want to be bloodthirsty be bloodthirsty! If you want to go diplomatic be diplomatic! Heck you can just fish all day!¡± Old and new players were fascinated of the Openness of the game; a true Open World game. Of course at the beginning races were locked for either Horde or Alliance. The Horde consisted of Orcs, Taurens, Trolls, Undead, Blood Elves, and Goblins. The Alliance had Humans, Night Elves, Dwarves, Worgens, Draeneiand Gnomes. Some Classes were shared as others were Faction locked. This was to appease the ¡°Vanilla¡± players. Shared Classes consisted of Warrior, Priest, Mage, Hunter, Warlock, Druid, and Rogue. For Faction locked classes the Horde obtained the Shaman and the Alliance had the Paladin. Some players who were use to having a Blood Elf Paladin definitely raged throughout the forums. But luckily a Guild bent on unlocking the faction classes finally achieved it within the first month of game release. They found out by befriending a neutral race they could then learn faction locked classes. Thus the game became much more complicated. Instead of two factions a new neutral faction came to existence completely changing the world. This gave the rise for players looking to unlock the ¡°Hero¡± classes such as Death Knight, Monk and Demon Hunters. Players theorised Death Knight and Monk class had to be found by exploring the oceans to unlock Northrend and Pandaria. World of Warcraft slowly developed. With the help of the AI¡¯s new content was being released everyday. Player¡¯s adventures were individually different and they had meaning. ¡°Go kill boars¡± said a NPC. Why? Well if we don¡¯t stock up on leather then the war front will lose valuable resources or the beginner area¡¯s will become over run by boars! Gone are the days of tab targeting and pressing a skill. Now player avatars can react to brain signals. Each skill consisted of a specific movement or a specific spell chant. If one messed up on the movement then the skill would not execute as well as spells. The developers and AI¡¯s brought back skill proficiencies and did away with levels! With the development of skill proficiencies classes became even more specific. One could see a priest class with a spear! The holy trinity? Thats old school trail of thought! If you can avoid damage you don''t need healers! Because of this new mechanic tanks became even more scarce. In order to become a really good tank one had to move specifically, dodge upcoming attacks, ignore the slight pain of getting hit, and be aware of group placement. Not only that they had to be mindful of their own cooldowns. On a player¡¯s visual HUD one could only see Health and Mana Pool. At first it was difficult but there were also visual and feeling cues. A skill like ¡°Shield Wall¡± a player¡¯s shield would feel the shield to become a bit heavier when the cooldown was over or the player could set it for vibrate/color cue. The shield would glow a specific color that only the player could see. The skill ¡°Sprint¡± had the same mechanics and a player could feel a slight electric shock in the calf muscles. It took a bit of time for players to master. For healers and casters one could actually store a skill with a the inscription profession. This made it easier to cast spells but the mana could not be stored. An exceptional mage could cast in mid combat while dodging. This separated the casual players from the hardcore players. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. A new mechanic called sync ratio was found out by players. Those who could move their avatars freely had sync ratios between 90 - 100 pct while average players only had 70 pct. In order for the game to compensate those with lower syncs could use the player assist program to use skills. The player would have to think of the skill in order to execute it. Cases such as players that had no leg functions could then use charge skills. On their HUD they could see that specific skill and cooldown times. Some players did not like this function they complained it to be unfair. Dr. Forensics only said that the world is unfair and those who work hard will benefit while those who don¡¯t will not receive any. These sync ratios would slowly increase given the time the players invested in the game only some were able to sync faster than others. Mythic Raiders only opened recruitment for those who had 80+ sync ratio. A player could test their sync ratio through theproving grounds. They would be provided by a set of gauntlet challenges and the AI would determine their values. This could then be set in their achievement lists to link to other players. Now the difficulty of the game increase with the level system gone. The only options left for players was to observe and use trial and error. A player can tell if an enemy is difficult just by their movements and equipment. An example would be the murlocs. They moved linearly and only had one weapon. Depending on the area the murlocs had different patterns and skills. They could also use group mechanics like calling for reinforcements when their HP is low. A lot of players died during the early stages but slowly learned and developed counter measures. The forums were especially helpful giving tips to newbies like attacking weak spots causing critical damage and adding in a cripple effect. Attacking the hamstring would cause NPC¡¯s to have limited movement. Also hacking away certain limbs would have the same effect. At times some classes became godly. The hunter who was effective in real life can accurately hit targets in the head causing instant death! This depended on the strength of the bow, ammo, and accuracy of the player. Using a strong bow would make the projectile move faster. Having an iron arrow would penetrate through leather but against steel it would only give a slight resistance. Using the player assist would only attack a certain area like body, head, and limbs. With higher proficiency the assist would become more narrow. For caster it depended on how much mana was invested in the spell with a mix of proficiency. If a caster had a proficiency of Arcane Missle 2 they can dumb 20pct of mana to increase two missiles with a stronger impact. Or could use less mana creating more missiles but could not exceed the 20 pct mana output per one spell cast. When the spell is cast there would be a small cooldown time. One year has passed and still players had not unlocked the Hero classes. Most players were more dedicated on beating known raids such as AQ, Blackwing Lair, Molten Core, and Naxxramas. Hardcore ¡°Vanilla¡± players were hell bent on taking over faction territories thus pvp became ingrained into the game. There were some pvp skirmishes here and there but the bread and butter pvp were based out of world battlefields. These battlefields consisted of armies on both sides struggling to take over territories. No longer were there multiple servers but a gigantic single quantum server! Of course there were smaller queued battles like WSG, AV, and AB but these were just to polish skills for the real world fights. Single battle arenas became popular just to receive the title of Warlord or Grand Marshal. World of Warcraft - VR is not the same as its predecessor. It is a completely different MONSTER! Chapter 1 - Darrell Winthrop Chapter 1 Darrell Winthrop Darrell Winthrop laid in his comfy bed staring at the white ceiling. The fan ceiling spinning in medium speed counter clockwise. The motion caused his eyelids to feel heavy. Soo boring! When is my VR headset coming? It should be soon. The servers have been up for three months now. I¡¯m pretty far behind. I should have known the backorder would take this long. WoW use to be a juggernaut back in the day. I should have followed my little brother and pre-ordered it a year in advance. Asshole can¡¯t stop bragging. Just wait till I¡¯m able to log on I¡¯ll crush his little head. *Knock* *Knock* Five feet three inches wearing white standard scrubs, the female asian nurse walked in with a bright smile on her face. ¡°Hello Darrell. How are you feeling today?¡± she said. ¡°Time for my sponge bath already?¡± Darrell joked. Her facial features slowly changed into grumpy mode. ¡°Well I was going to bring in a certain package but know I think it might have been lost in the mail,¡± she bantered. Darrell¡¯s ears perked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Oh my lovley! Most generous nurse! I apologize for my rude behavior!¡± Darrell turned into his salesman voice while rubbing his hands together. The nurse shrugged and waved off his flattery. Her name was Isabella. She has been Darrell¡¯s registered nurse for two years since he was admitted to the retirement home. A male attendant came in with a package in his hands. Darrell¡¯s eyes locked on it like a Christmas present. The attendant placed the package on Darrell¡¯s desk. Darrell took his walker and slowly but surely placed his hand on the box. His hand was shaking. Excitement? No, it had been almost three weeks since he had alcohol. He was still feeling the withdrawal symptoms. Damn hands! ¡°Boy! Do grandpa here a favor and set this up for me!¡± he yelled. The only person Darrell was nice to was Isabella. Everyone was garbage in his eyes except for his family members. Darrell had been single since 50 when he married his now deceased wife. The ¡°accident¡± had cause his downward spiral into alcoholism. ¡°Have you read the manual?¡± Isabella asked. ¡°Yes! Yes!¡± Darrell replied eagerly. ¡°I finished the pre screening tests a month ago and aced the basic interphase test. I also read all the tips and tricks since then. World of Warcraft here I come!¡± ¡°Since it is your first time logging in I¡¯ll ask the attendant to set the game time for only two hours. Then I¡¯ll come back to check up on you,¡± Isabella said. ¡°Yes! Mother!¡± replied Darrell. ¡°In the meantime take these pills so you can play your little game. You are what now? 63? And you¡¯re still playing games! Act your age and read a book!¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Are you serious!? Most of the players on WoW are my age. Even older! Back in my generation we would play this game for hours and hours. I remember skipping class just to pvp, missing parties to do raids, oh the good ol¡¯days!¡± ¡°Okay. Okay. Be nice!¡± scolded Isabella as she turned around and left the room. The male attendant was assembling the VR headset clicking knick knacks here and there. It was the newest version of the Oracle headset. Darrell made sure to get the latest and lightest one. He had plenty of money left in the bank and was freely splurging. It looked like a motorcycle helmet but much thinner and sleaker. ¡°Man this is the newest Oracle headset!¡± said the attendant. ¡°Too bad it¡¯s wasted on this old man¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯m not deaf yet boy! Maybe if you get a job better than minimum wage you might be able to buy something nice! Haha!¡± rebuked Darrell. ¡°The others told me you had a viper of a tongue they weren''t kidding.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t even started cursing yet! Let me guess. You are still living with your parents. You look like the smart type and probably have a degree. Hmmm. Liberal Arts!? In this economy you are not able to get jack shit so you switch over to the nursing industry since everyone ends up getting old and dying so business is always doing well. Don¡¯t be too down. You¡¯re what 20? 30? Still plenty of time to fuck up your life!¡± The attendant slumped moving slowly with his head down. Something Darrell said must have struck his cords. ¡°Aw don¡¯t be like that. You¡¯re no fun! Life has hit me with a truck full of grievances and I¡¯m still shaking my fist at death! When you get this old and all worn out you¡¯d be fucking mental if you¡¯re not angry with the world. Kid, I¡¯ve seen the end of the ¡°bottle¡±. When those you care for line up and tell you how shitty you have been that fucking hurts! Let¡¯s change the subject this is a happy day for me and your gloomy ass is wrecking it.¡± ¡°So you play WoW?¡± asked Darrell in a sweet voice. ¡°Yea¡¡± replied the attendant. ¡°Nice! What''s your ingame name? What race? Faction? Class? What¡¯s your sync ratio? Do you like to pvp or are you a karebear?¡± Darrell bombarded him with question after question. ¡°Uh I¡¯m a Horde, troll, and my class is rogue. Been playing since a month ago. I like to quest and stuff but mostly like to party with friends. Pvp? Well it''s kinda ingrained in the game now. Everyone is in a pvp server and any enemy faction is dangerous. A grump old man like you will have a difficult time joining a party. If your gonna solo play you¡¯re asking to get PKed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spunk I¡¯m looking for! You need more bite tho. What¡¯s your name? Sugartits?¡± ¡°Geeze old man. I know I¡¯m a bit husky. At least I still have more years than you!¡± ¡°Hahah! Never know. Ya could get hit by a bus as you walk outside.¡± ¡°Whatever, my name is Vulazin. You can¡¯t really make names anymore the AI gives you set randomized names with small background info. You¡¯ll get it when you log in. The tutorial is insanely good. Blizzard has kept it hidden in the net too. Breaking character could also put you in at least a six month ban! They don¡¯t mess around.¡± ¡°Interesting. I heard Blizzard¡¯s doing a lot of censoring while ingame. Things like saying computer and cell phone is completely blocked. You just say gibberish. Is that true?¡± ¡°Yup. Anything that does not yet exist ingame is not allowed. I heard someone with engineering is trying to create a computer or a mech. It is still in the development and blueprint phase. So those words have not been spread yet. It really depends on player creativity! Sooner or later it''s going to look like Earth with freaking magic!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait! Hurry up kid! Oh yea, whats our name? Don¡¯t want to be called Sugartits all day do ya?¡± ¡°Names Joe and if I find out your ingame name I¡¯m going to PK the shit out of you.¡± Joe helped put the headset on Darrell. ¡°Hey set this bad boy for two hours and thirty minutes. I swear to you I will let you hide in my room to milk hours. Don¡¯t tell Isabella!¡± ¡°Sure thing old man,¡± replied Joe. The visor darkened as Joe booted it up. Darrells consciousness left heading toward World of Warcraft! Chapter 2 - Cinematics? Chapter 2 Cinematics? The World of Warcraft cinematics played. It was a birds eye view of a battlefield. The dust rose from the sky blocking the area of heavy melee. Human foot soldiers, cavalry and archers attacked the incoming army of the Horde. The Horde¡¯s warcry was deafening. Darrell could feel his blood pumping with excitement. Orc axe and human shield clashed with a bang. These movements were fluid their actions irregular unpredictable. The orc was ruthless smashing the shield like a madman but the human did not give ground. His teeth gritted smashing the center mass of the orc forcing it to take two steps back. Both of them completely ignoring the rest of the battlefield locked in a one on one battle to the death. The human moved first. His stance low. The orc who was already a foot taller had difficulty aiming for a death blow. The human danced around him. It was beautiful foot work, practiced and methodical. He slashed continuously aiming for the unprotected legs. Unfortunately all his work was to no avail. The cuts were shallow, the orc¡¯s muscle and tendons superior to humans. The human yelled for reinforcements. Suddenly two pikes pierced the dazed orc. One landed on the orc¡¯s inner armpit, the other in the side of his liver. The humans slightly changed formation. Shield wielder in the front the pikemen slightly behind on both sides. It was an intimidating formation. If the orc charged through he would be met with shield and pike. Three versus one? Unfair? Nothing''s fair in war! Lucky three feet away from the downed orc a small pale green goblin dressed in robes and held a staff started to chant. It was so short only coming as high as an orc¡¯s waist. Each word each syllable had a ¡°pit pat¡± rhythm like raindrops increasing in oscillation. Stormclouds grew around the goblin in a ten yard radius. It started to rain. It was not like a thunderstorm that hindered eyesight but more like a light morning spring rain. Looking closer at the raindrops it contained a hint of green unnatural color. This was magic! This was Healing Rain! Those who were in the radius of the Healing Rain began to recover. Their wounds closing at a ridiculous rate. The goblin changed into another spell placing his hand on the ground. This time the chant was as solid as a mountain. Clumps of mud and earth started to move around the downed orc all in different size, a soccer ball, a football and one as large as a shield. The spell caused the earth to defy gravity as it orbited around the orc; Earth Shield!If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°The Horde does not know defeat! KILL!¡± rallied the goblin. The orc charged forward reinvigorated. Its muscles bulged outward growing in size. A red baneful aura shrouded around him, Berserker! Showing no fear the orc charged through ignoring pain and ignoring the slippery mud. The earth shield stopped the two pikemen attacks. The orc changed into a two handed grip. From low left moving to high right a diagonal cut that blew the human defender¡¯s shield away. The attack dislocated the human¡¯s shoulder screaming in pain. The orc went for a tackle. It charged like a mad bull, pinning the human to the ground smashing him into a pulp. The orc did not fight like the grace and flexibility of a human. This was a street fight! A brawl! Superior muscles and superior strength the orc showcased his racial traits. The two pikemen stood in shock, intimidated. The last thing they heard was the whistle of the wind followed by two heads rolling. Rage! Fury! Victory! Heat from the orc¡¯s belly rose upward toward his vocal cords. The pressure built and he screamed. ¡°FOR THE HORDE!¡± The actions of that single goblin turned the tide. The Horde broke through the Alliance central defenses splitting their army into two. That was intense! Darrell glanced at the pale goblin once again following his movements. The goblin acted irregularly not charging in the heat of battle but swiftly moving to strategic areas healing allies. Then Darrel finally noticed the three sets the goblin was wearing. It was the Tier 1 set for shamans, the Earthfury! He didn¡¯t notice it at first since it was just the bracers, gloves and belt. This isn''t just some crappy cinematics! This is actual gameplay! No wonder! I can¡¯t even tell real players or NPCs! Was the orc a player too? Not only did the healing rain aid allies but also hinder enemy movement. This is a game changer. So much has changed¡. Damn it! Put me in the game already! Chapter 3 Tutorial Part 1 Chapter 3 Tutorial Part 1 When the preview was over Darrell was ported into a new room. It looked like a dressing room. Off into the corner was three mirrors and in the opposite side was a wardrobe. This must be the character creation room. Darrell moved over to the mirrors. Two options floated into his view. The iconic Horde coat of arms and the Alliance. Of course he had a plan in mind but still wanted to play around with the features. He thought Alliance first. In his mind playing a human would be boring. In a fantasy world you must have aesthetics! He first checked out the Night Elf option. A small description was prompt. It was the racial traits and the locations of the beginner zones. On the Alliance side the Night Elves were considered the ¡°tallest¡±. Different features could be changed like height, facial structure, sex, and skin tint. All one had to do was think of it and the AI would change to the specifics. He thought of the Lord of the Rings character Legolas. His body suddenly changed but the tint could not go any lighter. I bet the Blood Elves could make a better imitation. Before he started his own character he read all the racial features. Know thy enemy! Dwarf - Exploration, Frost Resistance, Might of the Mountain, Stoneform, Find Treasure, Crack Shot, Mace / Gun Specialization Gnome - Arcane Resistance, Engineering Specialist, Escape Artist, Expansive Mind, Nimble Fingers, Dagger Specialization Human - Every Man for Himself, Diplomacy, The Human Spirit, Perception, Sword / Mace Specialization Draenei - Gift of the Naaru, Heroic Presence, Gem Cutting, Shadow Resistance, Shield Specialization Worgen - Darkflight, Viciousness, Abbration, Flayer, Two Forms, Running Wild, Bare Hand Specialization Night Elf - Shadowmeld, Elusiveness, Quickness, Wisp Spirit, Touch of Elune, Nature Resistance, Bow Specialization These are too vague of descriptions but I get the gist of it. It looks the same as before. Most of these traits might even change the gameplay. I know my brother would love to roll Human for the mace stun lock ability. That use to be huge back in the day! Darrell then switch to the Horde and read the descriptions. Undead - Will of the Forsaken, Cannibalize, Touch of the Grave, Shadow Resistance, Unending Breath, Sword / Mace Specialization Blood Elf - Arcane Torrent, Arcane Affinity, Arcane Resistance, Arcane Acuity, Mana Tap, Magic Resistance, Sword / Shield Specialization Goblin - Rocket Jump, Rocket Barrage, Time is Money, Best Deals Anywhere, Pack Hobgoblin, Better Living Through Chemistry, Dagger Specialization Orc - Blood Fury, Hardiness, Command, Got Work? , Axe / Mace Specialization Tauren - War Stomp, Endurance, Brawn, Cultivation, Nature Resistance, Mace / Shield Specialization Troll - Berserking, Regeneration, Beast Slaying, Da Voodoo Shuffle, Dead Eye, Two Hand Specialization Looks like they merged the outdated traits with the new ones. I wonder how it will play out in the VR realm. Alrighty let¡¯s hop to it! ¡°Faction Horde! Race Orc!¡± yelled Darrell. Darrell¡¯s avatar changed that of the iconic Orc, large shoulders, oversized arms, a slight hunch, and smaller legs that did not look like it would fit. The orc facial features were not considered ¡°handsome¡± more in the side of ¡°ruthless¡±. Darrell slowly change the avatar to his liking. He added more muscle mass on his back and decreased his pectorals and arms. He reduced his hunch and stood straight up. Hopefully changing my back will help my gameplay. I don¡¯t want to move sluggish like real life. I want to have a solid central balance. Darrell looked more humanoid in figure without the hunch, smaller in the orcish average size and a little shorter. There are some smaller races out there and I don''t want to have too big of a figure to hinder my movements. He remembered the intro battle. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Then he changed the skin tint to that of pale green just like the goblin he had seen. His hair was black with grey highlights. I don¡¯t want to look too young. I want others to treat me like an adult. He then went to the wardrobe and changed his clothing. There he tested out cloth, leather, mail, and plate. He considered himself to look absolutely dashing. After testing each clothes it actually changed in weight! His eye¡¯s sparkled when he had a full set of plate. Death Knight here I come! My brother¡¯s are already waiting for me at Ratchet. He went to the name and it only had a ¡°randomize¡± icon. Darrell sift through the names until he found Kruichi. Kruichi yea that sounds Orcish. I like it! A final prompt cautioned Darrell that this will be the only time to change sexes and faction since a player could only have one single account and character. Darrell accepted and the ¡°Terms of Condition¡± prompted after. Again he accepted. He had already read the fine line while he waited for his headset. ¡°Phasing to Tutorial¡± His HUD slowly darkened after ten seconds and then he regained his visuals. He noticed at the top left corner was his HP and Mana bar. Kruichi HP: 1/1 MP: 1/1 On the right hand corner it had some objectives. Objective