Going through the lists I saw everything I could think of, humans, elves, golems, constructs, Elementals, Centaurs, Minotaurs, halflings. Clicking on one to get a description I press on the humans.
“Hey Marcel, what are priority stats?” I ask. Marcel clasped her hands together and smiled, “Priority stats are considered the most important stats to the races, Trolls get a +10 bonus to vitality per level, elves get a +1 bonus to intelligence, wisdom, dexterity and agility until they reach level 10 and pick a class. Humans get +1 to all stats.” Confused at the random distribution I grimaced “Wouldn't that mean that certain races have a large advantage over others in terms of stats? How do they balance this shit?” At this Marcel simply nodded. Seeing how I seemed to be waiting for more of an explanation she smirked “I'm so glad you asked, each race is given a rating based upon difficulty. As humans are the most numerous, there is no danger while growing up, no rite of passage or any obstacle to them getting stronger they gained a low tier designation. The choice in races are tied to each drifter as well as their chosen god. Since you seem to be a top tier drifter you are able to pick from any race. Be warned however, the higher the tier the more difficult it is when starting out.
Disadvantages range from being unable to enter into sunlight without instantly dieing, with those such as vampire ancients, to being unable to gain experience when not alone; However, since you asked, there is no balancing. For every risk there is a reward, the creator felt it fit to grant greater rewards the greater the merit. Similarly, if you choose a more difficult race, such as the titan your eyes keep lingering on there are a myriad of benefits and consequences, like if you fail your rite of passage after reaching level 10 you will lose all experience and return to level 1.” Nodding my head in thanks I looks back over the races.
After another hour or so of going through the races I notices a trend, low and mid tier races have flat scaling where you get X amount per level. High tiered races tend to have scaling bonus's that increase over time. The dragons for example start out with the same stats, get 12 free stats per level and an extra 1% increase in each stat per level for each stat over 100 and while that may sound ridiculously underpowered for a dragon at the lower levels that 1% is eventually going to become a huge bonus, if all 8 stats get pushed to 100 thats 8% per level. Unfortunately dragons are a race locked to the dragon god Marduk, according to the error message I keep getting. Not only that but
Judging by the RP pass rate, nobody in the beta test was able to complete it and get past level 10. 'Wonder what it could be, its probably a decent surprise considering the fail rate.' The character deletion and race lock sound kinda harsh though. Passing through quite a few more I keep coming back to this one.
“Ouch, who the fuck could complete this shit? I practically shit a brick when I stub a toe, can't imagine that at 150%” I said to myself. “Not many have even moved past level one due to the Vulnerable Youth detriment” Marcel replied immediately “they tend to get bit by a wolf or get stabbed through the neck or chest by a horned rabbit. After the first death drifters tend to remake into a different race.” seeing the challenge accepted look in my eyes she smirks “Also, the +0 in stat points per level is constant for all the sub-races, increases in stats are tied to special actions, depending on the sub-race. Ah, and before you even try to ask, there is no pain tolerance skill. Everything here depends upon you yourself.” Seeing that smile reaching her eyes I want to pick the titan. Even knowing that most likely it would end in failure I still wanted to knock that smirk off her face, considering the disadvantages of the titan it should come with quite a few advantages. A full minute passes by as I weigh the pros and cons, glancing at the 0/0 I knows I can be the very first to even attempt the trial. At the very least I'll make it to that and yell "FIRST!!!!" into the forums. Finally decided I click on the titan
Looking over the choices these four seemed the coolest, for some reason being a titanic assassin just seems oddly fascinating to me, unfortunately it's grayed out so it looks likes the Old Man doesn't approve of this lot. The fireborne is also grayed out, 'guess he's never heard that the best defense is a good offense.' Seeing the last two I cross off waterborne, seems like a support and while supports are the unsung heroes of every game, I still want to be a frontliner 'or at least I did want to be, not sure what it's gonna be like with those dumbass pain settings' I thought to myself. Clicking on Earthborne and finalizing it another window pops up, looking at the glass container he sees a nearly 3.5 meter tall looming figure. Grimacing at the possible complications of having a literal hulk walking around in what is most likely to be a ton of human sized cities he looks towards Marcel with a winning smile. “So Marcel, being the beautiful and diligent worker that you are is there a way I can make my character more... umm, my size?” A small laugh like wind chimes echos in the room as she looks at the small screen, “The easiest way, and the only one available to you right now, is to pick the compact body perk.” Scrolling down I looked for the perk.
Looking at the glass I watched as the hulking monstrosity that looked like a 10 foot body builder slowly morphing into an amazingly well defined tall young man, barely distinguishable from human, if a bit on the tall side, maybe around 6'6 to 6'8. Finalizing yet another choice I was happy to see.
Gawking at the possible gains. This is basically infinite growth as long as I could reach level 11. Not exactly sure what ‘perfectly blocked’ means but considering my only way for growth was something that appeared to be skill-based it couldn’t be that difficult or else he’d be stuck at lvl 1 stats forever. Deciding it was tomorrows problem I looked to Marcel who was already heading back to the center room, business as usual it seems. ‘Wouldn’t hurt them to be a little more warm and inviting would it?’ Mike thought sourly. Glancing over at the dark haired beauty I couldn’t help but take a second longer to gaze at her, Marcel was average in all her looks, practically nondescript, Alexa though, she was adorable. Not in the attractive way, more like a doll than anything else, looking to be maybe 5 foot even, dark auburn hair, sea green and blue eyes in a blue and gold-trimmed dress that matched the room, oddly enough not clashing with her hair or eyes in the slightest. Following her into the left room I felt a change as I walked through the door. I felt colder, she seemed to shrink before me as I followed along. Inside the room stood a simple mirror. Walking up to it I saw….. myself? I was taller, defined. Seeing the pink in Alexa’s cheeks he looked down, barring the boxers he was effectively naked, shrugging I said “hey, if you wanted to strip me you could have at least asked” eyes growing wide and face practically glowing “I din’t.. Bu I… and …. SURAK!!!!!” she screamed in anger after her barely decipherable squeaks came out. “Hahaha, no worries little one, I was just teasing you. So what are we here for?” Puffing out her cheeks at me she pointed at the mirror and mumbles “customization” and then stomped out of the room. 'Guess I'm not getting any more explanation' I thought with a sigh, my fault I guess.
Moving over towards the mirror I waved my hand, poked the mirror, tried voice commands, a menu wasn't coming up. 'Mental commands maybe' I thought. A window full of sliders popped up, height, weight, muscle tone, and a label merely labeled [length] followed by [girth]. 'A mans gotta do, what a mans gotta do' I thought to myself with a grin. A Quarter of an hour later I walked out of the room sporting said grin, height adjusted to the minimum at 6'3 waist slimmed slightly, more muscle tone, the only thing left unaltered was my face, it'd be too weird to look into the mirror and not see myself. Walking with an extra 5 inches of height is decidedly easier than the foot of height from earlier.
Sitting down in the chair, I looked over to Old man Surak sporting a gentle smile not unlike my grandfather he said “Welcome back my child, I see you've found the persona you wish to take on as you drift through the world below. I'll be sending you to the center of the continent. Due to your choices your body must be [born] in a mountainous region that can only be found where I'm sending you. All Earthborne will be gathered at this town. Learn from them, learn their ways, learn how to survive and grow. You've been given a great gift, a great chance, in the hands of another it could become naught but a burden, use it well and it will become your strength, just as the allies you find and gather will become your strength. Good luck.”
“Oh yeah by the w-” I tried to ask a few more questions but was mercilessly cut off as Alexa slapped a disc onto the table. My vision changed and all I could see was darkness.
Jumping out of the pod I texts Eve, warning her about the pain spike due to the chip.
Tossing my phone in the drawer I plop down on the gaming couch, too lazy to go upstairs, grabbing some sleep. 'What am I gonna do with 2 days of nothing to do' I lamented. 'I'll have to see if I can get some info on the game from some contacts in the gaming company' management didn't like him much anymore but ground-level he still made a few friends. Yawning I laid back, making plans to fill the hours till launch, ignoring the vibrations coming from my coffee tables drawer.