MMORPG: How a Computer Game Becomes Deadly Serious (30 page)

Andy checked in more than half an hour later. He reported another success. The two men he had been following lived together in the same house, a fairly new standard single family home in a town called Gouda, some fifteen miles away from The Hague. The pictures he had taken of the Hammer of Grimstone with his mobile phone were of unusual good quality. He promised to send them by email the moment they finished the call.

Unfortunately, he was stranded in that strange town, because no more trains were running until the next morning. Robert suggested he called a taxi.

“That Fitzgerald is bloody well going to pay for that!” Andy said grumpily. “Do you have any idea what taxis cost in this country?”

Robert and Rebecca took the night train back to Leiden. When they finally got home, they were totally exhausted from this day full of tension and unexpected happenings. Before going to sleep, they checked on their neighbor. His room was dark, and the camera showed nothing. If he was in, he was asleep.

“They’re probably going to storm the new expansion early tomorrow morning,” Rebecca guessed. “Let’s be prepared.”

She opened the two boxes and withdrew the software CD from each of them. Robert took one and started the installing process on his own laptop, while she did the same on hers. Satisfied that it would run until the end without their support, they quickly undressed and made ready for bed.

~~~

Chapter XXVI

“
My
God, it’s incredibly busy!” Robert exclaimed. They were sitting side by side at the desk, with their laptops in front of them. They had just completed the installation and registration procedure and were ready to enter Azeroth after the effects of Cataclysm.

It was early in the morning, not even six o’clock. Their alarm had gone off only ten minutes earlier, but they weren’t sleepy at all. Robert was thrilled by the prospect of finding the virtual world as he knew it completely changed overnight. At least, to have all the new additions, changes and possibilities actually working and accessible. Much of the new content had been added by way of massive patches shortly before the release. Many of the changed territories could already be visited in the days before Cataclysm launched, but only in the old fashioned way. Now, it all lay wide open to be explored, including numerous new and exciting zones that had been added to the existing world. Even new races had been added.

He was looking forward to all the new challenges. Even more exciting was the other task ahead, to try to merge with the Hammer of Grimstone in their rush to level eighty-five.

He looked over at Rebecca. Like him, she hadn’t showered and dressed. She was wearing one of his shirts, buttoned only halfway up. Her bare legs were stretched underneath the table. She looked absolutely fabulous. She caught his stare and smiled at him.

“Concentrate on WoW, mister,” she instructed, not unkindly.

He felt his cheeks flame. “Sure,” he mumbled.

“This won’t do,” she said, standing. She bent over and suddenly was closer to him than she had ever been before. Her lips lightly brushed his in a fleeting touch that burned nevertheless like a glowing smith’s tool. Robert was stunned. She ran her hands through his hair. Her eyes shone with a new tenderness.

“Later,” she said softly. “We have work to do.”

Before he could muster his wits, the screen of the extra laptop suddenly lit up. They both turned their heads. On the screen, Khalid walked in and out of view. A second later, they heard his door open and his footsteps going in the direction of the bathroom.

Robert silently cursed the man. This was the second time he interrupted such a moment between Rebecca and himself. Couldn’t he wait another five minutes? Only one?

He took a breath. “I’m ready.”

He had been online at this time of day before. Usually, the number of players around in the early morning was negligible. Today, however, many people were preparing to set out for new territories.

Gunslinger and Killermage were hovering over the imposing gates of Ogrimmar, looking down on the city in wonder. Like them, many people were trying out the new feature of flying in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. Before, the two old continents could only be explored from the ground. That had changed with the new expansion.

They joined several others in exploring the Valley of Strength from the air, swooping around the buildings like madmen. Robert tried to define the difference he was experiencing. The city had been changed, there was no doubt about it. The zeppelins now departed from inside the city for example, instead of from the two towers that used to be some distance outside the walls. He could see other obvious changes as well, even though he would have recognized the place as Ogrimmar any time. If he had to define the change, the greatest improvement was the way it all felt. It seemed as if the light was brighter and details appeared more distinct. The texture of the world had become fresher and more pronounced, as if a tropical rain had removed all the dust leaving a reborn world. Which it was, of course.

“It’s wonderful, don’t you think?” Rebecca said. “I can’t wait to explore it all. It must be something, to see all those places that have changed completely. Especially from the air!”

He started to type a message to her, but suddenly realized the futility. They weren’t even three feet apart. “Are we going now?”

She shook her head. “We want to keep close tabs on the Grimstones. We don’t know where they’re going. Once we lose them, it may be impossible to trace them again.”

She opened the map of Azeroth that looked more or less the same as before. As she zoomed in on first Kalimdor, then Eastern Kingdoms, the changes were immediately apparent. “Those are the two areas we must be watching,” she said, pointing them out. “Vashj’ir in Eastern Kingdoms and Mount Hyjal in Kalimdor. Those are the two so-called starting zones for the road from level eighty to eighty-five. Assuming that they want to level their existing characters to eighty-five, instead of starting a new character with one of the new races.”

“Shouldn’t we split up? That way there’s always one of us to follow them if they take any of the two zones to kick off.”

She looked at him for a long moment, considering. “That’s a good idea. You go to Vashj’ir. I’ll just stay here for now and see what happens. Meanwhile, I’ll check on the profession trainers. See you later!” With these words, she steered Killermage away.

Robert watched the Undead mage disappeared behind a tall building. He smiled at Rebecca, and she winked back.

It wasn’t easy to find the way to Vashj’ir. Rebecca told him there might be a quest he had to complete first. He couldn’t find the quest giver, though, so he started to pay attention to the chat channels. With some relief he discovered he wasn’t the only one fumbling around. The upside was that there were as many people advertising how and where they had found it as there were people asking what to do.

Following the most frequently posted directions, he found the
Warchief’s Command Board in Ogrimmar and subsequently
flew to a new harbor east of the city. There he joined a multitude of other players on the docks in watching a spectacle of Horde soldiers of some unit called Hellscream’s Vanguard prepping themselves for going to war with the Alliance. After some time a mercenary ship arrived. He boarded, along with some fifteen other players and the soldiers.

The boat departed and he amused himself by watching the continuing scripted entertainment. The fierce battle talk of the commander of the Horde forces was interrupted by one of the crew members going insane and jumping overboard, causing much distress and grief of some of his fellow shipmates. It was all obviously designed to provide some background to the events he was about to join. In short, a new island had appeared just off the coast near Stormwind and the Horde was going to grab it. A foothold within striking distance of the Alliance capital would surely tip the scales in favor of the Horde.

It would never come to that. In mid-sea they encountered the floating wreckage of another ship and before anyone could investigate, huge tentacles rose out of suddenly churning water and grabbed for the unfortunate passengers on the deck of the ship. Gunslinger was taken as well, and Robert immediately lost control over his digital alter ego. The poor hunter was tossed high up in the air, followed by a plunge into the water. Like watching a movie, he witnessed how his unconscious hero slowly sunk to the bottom of the sea. All around him floated bodies of other castaways, players and NPC’s alike, going the same way.

It became even worse when some scaled monster appeared out of nowhere and attacked him. Gunslinger still didn’t respond to any of his commands, so there was nothing Robert could do to wake him up and save him. Then, suddenly, the attacker slashing at Gunslinger exploded in a bubble of gore and tiny pieces. A friendly non-player character approached the hunter and enveloped him in a protective bubble of air. Having ensured his immediate survival, the unexpected rescuer tucked the huge Tauren under one arm and started to swim away.

As there didn’t seem to be anything he could do anyway, he glanced at the spare monitor. Khalid was at his computer as well now, dressed more or less like himself. Looking back at his own screen, he read
Drimm has come online
. Robert clicked on the social tab. The window now showed three members of the Hammer of Grimstone online, including Drimm. The others were Pharad and Gilead. They were all in Ogrimmar. Killermage had returned there as well.

“Three of them, all at your end in Ogrimmar,” he said.

She nodded. “They’ll be busy for awhile. They have to reset their Talents as we did, and I bet they’ll do some sightseeing as well.”

She hesitated. “But maybe not. I think they’re going as a team. Drimm is a hunter, Pharad is a warrior, and Gilead is a priest.”

“A DPS, a tank and a healer,” Robert filled in. “They should be able to tackle almost everything.”

“Indeed. Especially since they’re heavily geared already. But not everything, and we’re going to be around when they look for help. Now let’s make sure of where they’re going. There’s no telling yet, so be prepared.”

“Are you coming as well?”

“In a minute. I’ll keep watch here a little longer. You never know!”

Robert turned back to his screen and noticed that control of Gunslinger had been restored to him. He found himself in the hold of a sunken ship. The intruding water was being held at bay by an air bubble. Apparently, his savior had managed to deposit him in a safe spot. Next to him was a quest giver. One click later it was explained to him that even this sanctuary was under attack by some species called Naga. He was sent out into the water to collect some fish and a specific shell. With nothing better to do, he obeyed these orders and swam out. There were so many other players about hunting for the same specimens, that it took quite some time before he was able to complete the mission. He had to return to the air bubble twice because his breath ran out. When he finally managed to collect all of the required items, a spell was cast upon him that granted underwater breathing, solving one major issue in surviving in this submerged realm.

“They’re coming your way,” Rebecca said suddenly.

He switched his gaze to her computer screen and saw how she was trailing the three members of the Hammer of Grimstone to the docks. He nodded. “I’ll wait for them,” he said.

“Great. I’ll stay a bit and see if any others pop up.”

Robert picked up the next quests and swam out of the wreckage. Now he didn’t have to worry about his breath anymore, he simply took up position some distance from the sunken hull. He had a good view of the players entering and leaving the vessel. The next task he had been given was to save some other people, like he himself had been saved. Some were floating nearby. He managed to complete this quest while the Grimstones were watching the spectacle on the docks, a continent away.

“The ship is on its way.” Rebecca announced.

A little later Robert saw another bunch of players materialize. Drimm, Pharad, and Gilead were among them. He selected Drimm with his cursor and tapped Rebecca on the shoulder. She leaned over to look. Again, her proximity sent a warm glow through his body, starting in his stomach and ending in his throat.

She nodded in confirmation. “Stick close to them,” she instructed.

“You bet!”

When they too completed their quest to gain the underwater breathing effect, the three Grimstones didn’t waste any time looking around and went about their next task immediately. This shouldn’t have surprised Robert, because they obviously hadn’t taken the time for a sightseeing tour of Ogrimmar either. Still, he wondered about it. There was so much to see and so much to marvel at!

Under the pretext of a major natural disaster, almost every single zone had been overhauled. The story was that an ancient evil had awakened, causing massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions all over the world. The world as it was known was torn asunder. Entire towns disappeared under the sea, while new lands emerged from the sea bottom at other places. Gadgetzan, once a dusty town in the middle of a blistering sand desert, had now become a sea port, while the Barrens had been divided into two different zones by massive shifts of the tormented earth. Also, some areas that had been closed off before now had become accessible. The zone called Vashj’ir, where he was now, was one of those places. It was an alien place. All the while that he had been keeping watch for the Grimstones, he had been gawking around in wonder as well. It was like a gigantic aquarium, with all kinds of sea life moving about. Some was dangerously aggressive, some not. From where he was hovering, he could see other players engaging crabs and naga, sometimes in heavy battles, and moving on to other places after some time. Obviously, one was sent elsewhere after completing several quests at this spot.