BXBX NOVEL Chapter 148: Opinions, Starting Research Simulation
"Wow! That was intense!" Silas exclaimed as he plopped his butt on the ground.
He felt so drained that he could barely stand on his two feet. He didn\'t actually believe that he would be able to land the attack that killed the Shaman Tree Goblin.
He was happy that he has finally passed the damn tutorial!
He wants nothing more to do at the moment, than to log out, but he wants to check the rewards he got from clearing the tutorial area.
He started going through the notifications again one by one. He checked the first notification:
||You killed a level 5 Tree Goblin. You obtained 100 EXP, 5 copper coins.||
"Mm.. 100 EXP and 5 copper coins for killing the Shaman Tree Goblin? Considering the reward mechanic, it\'s not bad," Silas said to himself, thoughtfully as he read the notification.
"Time to check my status panel."
||Name: Godfiend||
||Level: 2 (120/250)||
||Race: Human||
||Job: None||
||Title: None||
———
||HP: 200/200||
||MP: 500||
||STR: 10||
||AGI: 7||
||STA: 10||
||INT: 5||
||Luck: —||
||Stat Point(s): 0||
———
||Attack: 8||
||Defense: 8||
———
||Skill(s): None||
||Skill Point(s): 10||
———
||Equipment(s): Tunic, Leather slippers.||
———
||Inventory: 28 copper coins, Starshard.||
Silas had mixed feelings when he saw his status panel. He doesn\'t know if he should be happy that he\'s now level 2? Or he should be worried about how low his stats are?
"It\'s not bad though. I have 10 free stat points I can use. Time to make use of them," He said and started allocating his stat points.
He added 3 to Strength, 2 to Agility, 2 to stamina and 3 to Intelligence.
"That should do it. I\'m pretty sure I used them properly," He said in satisfaction.
"Time to check the weapon I got," He said, and summoned Starshard from his inventory.
||Starshard (Uncommon)||
||Stamina +3, Attack Speed +5%||
||Effects: Reduces Stamina consumption by 10% for 10 seconds (Cooldown: 3 minutes)||
"Wow! Nice stats!"
Silas was impressed with Starshard\'s stat due to the additional stats points it brings, and its ability to reduce Stamina consumption by 10%.
Considering how hellish Terrasis Online gameplay mechanics is, every additional stat points is precious.
Without further thought, he equipped the weapon and he saw his Stamina stat increase by 3 points.
Silas was about to check his status panel when he saw a blinding white light, and he felt a change in his center of gravity change.
The next moment, Silas found himself standing in a place that looks llike a town square.
Silas curiously looked around and he finally got an idea of where he was.
"This should be the newb town. Nice," He said and nodded.
The newb town looks like a small village and from the human activities around, it has a fairly substantial population.
Silas was no longer in the mood to play as he had already made the decision to log out.
With a thought, he logged out of the game and he regained consciousness.
"Apollo, you have some explaining to do," Silas said, as he got out of the Pod.
{What do you want me to explain, sir?} A male voice was heard in Silas\' head.
The male voice sounded young, but it felt like it belongs to a middle-aged man.
"Apollo?" Silas asked in confirmation.
This is the first time he\'s actually hearing Apollo\'s voice, as he has always passed his order to him through Luna.
{Sir?}
"What\'s with the tutorial area and why is it so difficult? Also, why is there a level 5 monster in a tutorial area for level 0 players?" Silas asked some of the questions that has been bothering him.
{The tutorial area is an idea I came up with. The idea is that it would determine the player\'s starting point in the game.}
"Explain," Silas said confused.
{The rewards given after the player clears the tutorial area will determine if the player will have an advantage at the start of the game or not.
The tutorial area scenario is random and unique for each player, and the same is with the rewards that are given for clearing it. Think of it like something like a gacha. It\'s just that instead of using in-game currency or the real-world currency, the player has to work towards it.}
Silas nodded at Apollo\'s explanation. He felt that it\'s a good idea.
Humans has a natural desire to be unique and to be the best at the same time. This is also the same with players, they want to have the best equipments and have huge advantages over others.
With the understanding of what he has about the tutorial area, from he heard from Apollo, then it\'s a very good idea. But its difficultly....
On cue, Silas heard Apollo\'s voice in his head.
{About what you said about the tutorial area being difficult, is it really? The tutorial area isn\'t a death sentence. The tutorial area is designed in a way that the player can pass it almost easily.}
"Almost easily?! You call that almost easily?! There was a level 5 monster there!" Silas said in slight irritation.
{Yes. Almost easily. Actually, the highest level monster that will appear in the tutorial area is level 5. Also, the tutorial area is about balance. The reason why a level 5 monster appeared is because of your undefined luck stat.}
Silas sighed when he heard what Apollo said. He felt like he made a wrong decision not following game\'s creation process. If he followed it, he would had definitely not allow Apollo to make it so difficult.
"About my undefined luck stat, why is it like that?" Silas asked curiously.
{About that, the stat that players start with are randomized but capped at 10, with the luck stat being an exception.}
Silas seem to understand what Apollo was trying to say.
"What you mean to say is that you intended to give me preferential treatment and it sort of backfired?" Silas asked, to confirm his guess.
{Something like that.}
Silas couldn\'t help but facepalm when he heard Apollo\'s response.
"Apollo, some changes are needed to be done to the game. First, just the tutorial area makes it feel like it\'s going to be a hellish grinding type of game, as it\'s the impression it gives.
Secondly, the leveling speed is too slow. The exp gotten from defeating monsters are too small. I had to go through all that stress and I was only able to level up twice?! Too slow for me," Silas said, and paused before continuing:
"Also, the stat points gotten are too low. 3 stat points for every level up?! It will take ages for someone to get to level 10.
I\'m also curious about the reason why you didn\'t put the MP stat at the beginning of the game? Can it only be gotten after a player has an affinity with mana? If that\'s so, then it\'s going to make us lose players," Silas said.
{I think you\'re worrying about it too much. This is a VRMMORG. The first of its kind in the world, and possibly the only one that will ever exist. If the game is good, then it will have players.
Also, the reason why the exp, reward stat points are low is because I\'m using the scarcity method. The less available they are, opposed to their high demands, the higher their value.}
Silas understood what Apollo said, but he still felt that there\'s a lot of things that can be improved.
\'I still think there are a lot of flaws but I can\'t find all of them by myself. Before we release the game, we will do multiple rounds of beta testing,\' Silas thought to himself.
{Master, like Apollo said, you\'re worrying too much about the game. In the future, Terrasis Online will be the first and only Vrmmorg in he world. There would be no other vrmmorg in the world, except it\'s made by us or you allow others to use the Pod as they please, something I would advise against.} Luna said, adding her own opinion on the topic.
She understood that Silas wants the game to be perfect but what is perfection?
Perfection is the absence of any blemish, flaw, defects or shortcomings. A state of complete and absolute excellence, but is it really what perfection is?
Luna has access to a very dark sea called the Internet and she has seen a lot of things, gathered a lot of knowledge. She felt that the definition of perfection is something that\'s a matter of perspective.
Different people call different things perfect. Even the flaw of a person or object can be called perfection. This is the same with illusions.
"When the real is treated as an illusion, the illusion is even more real than the truth. When what doesn\'t exist is treated as something that exists, that fabricated truth is even more real than the truth that exists!"
This is something she read in a book and she totally agree with it.
Regarding the game, Silas decided to put it aside the moment, as he has more important things to do.
"Luna, let\'s get started on the research."