Sunday 24 January 2016

Quest 6 was running a bit late T_T

So yeah sadly Quest 6 came a little later than I had hoped. Sadly reading and coursework come first...
Anyways now my workshop piece has been posted on moodle I was free to work on Quest 6...
Quest 6 introduces a new character Puppeteer... I wanted to take a quick break from Assassin, Brawler and Scholar to introduce Puppeteer before she joins the fray... She is a bit more complex than Brawler even if they appear to have experienced similar events (which might not be as similar as they seem)...
Anyways I wish I had done some sort of intro bit like this for Assassin... I did it with Brawler and Scholar because I have big things planned for them... but now I kinda wanted Assassin to be the main antagonist and it just seems a shame I missed a chance with her...
Anyways got lots more characters to introduce but next week should see us return to the story with Assassin, Brawler, Scholar and very possibly Puppeteer...
Ok I'll stop going on... Please read Quest 6 below or feel free to head over to the "Project: Quest Tracker (Name Subject To Change)" section to read the entire story so far...
I hope you enjoy... Please leave comments or criticisms as any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.


Quest 6 – Puppeteer takes the stage
She flung herself forward in a panic. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Breathing heavily she slowly reached out to her bedside table and flicked on the lamp. A dull glow illuminated the room. Her tightened chest began to ease. She slid her hand under her pillow and let out a sigh of relief as she pulled out her phone. Trembling she dragged her knees to her chest.
It was just a dream. She kept telling herself. Uncertainty remained caught in her throat. Memories circled within her head, like sharks waiting for a moment of weakness. Her isolation bobbed gently beneath the surface.
It’s not your fault. She told herself unsure if she could ever believe it.
You were driven to it. The attempt to rationalise was poor even by her standards.
It’s the game. It has to be. It was somewhat more believable.
She just couldn’t handle reliving the same event every time she tried to sleep.
The phone slipped from her hand. Tears worked their way down her cheeks.
She was a smart child and that was the reason her parents had separated. Her Mother was adamant on her reaching for the top and her Father wanted her to enjoy her childhood. If they had just gotten along she wouldn’t have been driven to the escape of games. If she hadn’t thrown herself so willingly into the arms of every new game. If only she hadn’t been so obsessed with Real World Gaming. If only she hadn’t joined THAT beta test. If only she hadn’t tried testing that skill. If… If… If…
So many if’s.
Of course someone of her intelligence wouldn’t have believed the implications of using a skill that claimed to control inanimate objects. Her intelligence? What a joke. She felt like the dumbest person alive. There wasn’t a need to test the skill on her best friend. If anything it was her fault. The doll may have killed her friend but she was the one who made it happen. She was, if nothing else, a murderer.
She sobbed quietly into her hands. There was no one else in the world who understood her now. Her family was broken. The only friendship she had ever known was gone.
An idea hit her. Her quivering hand reached for the phone. She sniffled slightly. Unlocking the screen she was confronted with that which had made her life worse.
-STATUS-
CLASS: Puppeteer
LEVEL: 1
TYPE: Mixed
SKILLS:
-Puppet Mastery Level 1: Give life to an inanimate form to do your bidding.
Finger hovering over the skill she sniffled once more. Seconds slowly passed. She breathed deeply then pressed.
Sure enough her teddy bear slowly turned to face her.
“Mr Cuddles, you won’t ever leave me will you?” she whispered.

The teddy bear jerked its head from side to side. An attempt to shake its head. Puppeteer finally smiled. 

Saturday 16 January 2016

Workshop stuff going but Quest 5 made it in time...

So yeah I kinda had my plans messed up ever so slightly by accepting to have my next 3000 words of my coursework piece workshopped in the next load of workshops (26/01) the trouble being I had lots of notes on how I wanted to continue on from the first 3000 words... I just hadn't actually started it yet... So I got almost halfway through that (currently 1,300 words give or take) and decided to make the time for the next "Quest" in Project: Quest Tracker (Name Subject To Change).
Please forgive me for any faltering of quality I had less time than I normally would have liked to put into planning, writing and editing this.
As a reminder the entire project in order can be found Here!
Anyways I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to comment or criticise ^_^


Quest 5: What can a Scholar do?
His hand grazed along the floor. Pain shot up his arm from his wrist. He yelped in pain. Embarrassment flooded his face as he looked over his shoulder. He didn’t feel very much like a Scholar now.
“What was-“ Brawler started to ask.
“Your health bar,” he said cutting her off through gritted teeth.
“You’re quick little gingerbread man,” Assassin said.
Brawler quickly snatched her phone from its pouch on her belt to check. Assassin wasted no time and grabbed at Brawlers arm.”
“Don’t let her touch you,” he shouted to Brawler.
It was too late Assassin already had a firm grip on Brawlers arm.
“Let go!” Brawler growled as she flung a fist at Assassins face.
Assassin nimbly dodged the fist. Brawler squirmed and struck out again and again. She hadn’t anticipated Assassin being able to move with such dexterity.
“Do something!” she yelled at Scholar.
Scholar finally began climbing to his feet.
“You’re joking right? Two against one?” Assassin said.
She began scrolling through her phone while avoiding Brawlers flailing fists.
“Let’s take a rain check on this shall we?” Assassin asked as she tapped her screen activating her Crippling Touch.
“You aren’t going anywhere!” Brawler yelled.
“Oh but you don’t have a say in the matter.”
Brawlers’ movements suddenly became sluggish and she started struggling to move at all. Assassin backed up slowly waving before turning around and walking away casually.
“Do something!” Brawler shouted at Scholar.
“Do what?” he asked.
“Anything! Just something!”
“I can’t.”
“What? You have at least a skill don’t you?”
He shook his head. She sighed and crumbled to her knees.
“Assassin is out of combat range,” both of their phones said in unison.
“We’re safe?” Scholar asked.
“I dunno,” Brawler said shaking her head.
Scholar held his breath as he scrolled through his phone until he found it.
-NEARBY-
Sorry There Are No Opponents In The Current Vicinity!
Finally he released his breath and let out a sigh of relief. Replacing the phone in his pocket he sat on the curb and began cradling his wrist.
“You’re hurt?” Brawler asked.
“What?”
She nodded towards his wrist.
“Oh it’ll be fine I think,” he said.
Brawler began stretching her arms and legs.
“I dunno what happened but I can finally move properly again,” she said.
“Movement restriction?” Scholar suggested.
“Huh?”
“Umm… In most games there are skills that restrict or limit movement to give you a theoretical advantage. In most cases they take the form of Stun, Paralysis, Slow or Knockdown. I’m not sure which would be applicable for us.”
She stared at him slightly shocked at the amount of information he had just rattled off.
“Is that your skill?” she asked.
He looked at her blankly then shook his head.
“I don’t have any skills.”
As if to prove his point he pulled out his phone and brought up the appropriate menu.
-STATUS-
CLASS: Scholar
LEVEL: 1
TYPE: Support
SKILLS: None
“That’s bizarre,” she said.

Saturday 9 January 2016

Dun Dun Duuuuuuuun.... Quest 4 is here!

So ye after reviewing my previous additions for Project: Quest Tracker (Name Subject To Change) I've decided I will try to carry it on as best as I can for now. Hopefully I can get some feedback on it ^_^"
Well anyways here is Quest 4 - Forming a party. Hope you enjoy it and if you haven't seen the rest yet well you should read all that first you can find it all in order Here!


Quest 4 – Forming a party
She had only lost sight of him for a second as he turned the corner so of course she was surprised to find a fist flying towards her face as she turned the corner. Thankfully she could react quickly enough to barely avoid what could have been a painful impact.
“Well looks like this isn’t a simple case of, what did you call it? Noob hunting?” came the voice from her phone.
She wanted so badly to tell the Fairy to shut up but she could already see the next fist flying towards her. Her nimbleness kept her from being touched but this was obviously no beginner. Finally the assault stopped and she had a chance to take in the player standing before her. It was a girl who appeared older than her with long black hair a well-defined body and small fists which were deceptively powerful.
“So you must be Brawler?” she said looking down at her phone.
“And I’m guessing you’re Assassin which makes him Scholar,” Brawler replied pointing to an unconscious mass on the floor.
“Ah so that’s where he went.”
“I’m sorry I tend to think irrationally when I stumble across unfair fights.”
“Oh its fine we were just playing tag,” Assassin replied with a smile.
“You’re awfully happy for someone about to get their block knocked off.”
“Oh words can’t even begin to describe how happy I am to find a more suitable player.”
She kept Brawler talking as she scrolled through her phone with one hand. She knew the screen like the back of her hand.
-STATUS-
CLASS: Assassin
LEVEL: 3
TYPE: Melee
SKILLS:
-Poisonous Touch
-Crippling Touch
-Nimble (Passive)
Without looking she tapped Poisonous Touch twice she anticipated the pop-up. Only one Touch effect can be active at a time activating this will disable any other Touch effect.
“This game isn’t what you think can’t we just talk this over?” Brawler pleaded.
Assassin couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face.
“Ok let’s call a truce,” she said holding her free hand out towards Brawler.
Brawler cautiously stepped forward to shake the outstretched hand. As their hands were about to meet she lunged forward grabbing Brawlers hand as tightly as she could.
“I’m sorry I just wanted my little gingerbread man back,” she said nodding her head in the direction of the mass on the floor.

The mass stirred and sat bolt upright.
“That hurt!” he yelled.
“Oh you’re awake, you have one new notice please check the screen for more details,” a happy voice chimed from his phone.
He looked at the screen completely confused for a moment.
Brawler would like to create a party with you
ACCEPT
DECLINE
As soon as the meaning of the message registered he tapped ACCEPT. Just like that a new menu option appeared labelled as PARTY. Tapping on the icon his own and Brawlers health bars were visible but something wasn’t right. Looking closely he realised Brawlers health bar was slowly dropping.

Sunday 3 January 2016

A small delay in adding Quest 3

Sadly this is later than it should be due to a family think lasting longer than it should have. It is now 3.37 am Monday morning and this should have been posted Sunday evening/night. 
Quest 3 - Assassin Appears! Takes us back to the unlucky Scholar and adds yet another character.
Quest 4 should be added next weekend (depends how I feel about the idea/progress of the project by next weekend). 
As usual the whole of Project: Quest Tracker (Name Subject To Change) can be found Here!
Feel free to leave me any feedback etc. I hope you enjoy ^_^


Quest 3 – Assassin Appears!
He kicked at the ground still cursing at his luck. Looking down at the plastic carrier bag he was confident his mood would improve when he got home and finally broke out his new game. He had made it just in time before the store closed to pick up the latest instalment of one of his favourite franchises. It wasn’t the limited edition he had sought after but it was better than the new random real world games. Streetlamps flickered into life. He breathed in the cold night air and let out a sigh. Ok maybe he wouldn’t get over it that easily but he wasn’t about to let his last minute trip to the game store be for nothing.
Eventually he was broken out of his thought filled daydream by a loud ping from his phone.  As he pulled the phone from his pocket a familiar fairy face appeared on his lock screen.
“Possible opponent nearby, would you like to check?” she said cheerfully.
He swiped his finger across the screen of his phone and sure enough the app filled the screen.
-NEARBY-
Assassin Level 3
“I thought I said to close the app,” he muttered to himself.
“You did but in the case of an imminent battle I must reactivate the app so you aren’t at a disadvantage,” the fairy replied.
“But I don’t-“
“Battle initiating in three, two, one, start!”
“Wait I’m not playing this dumb game,” he argued.
“Tell that to Assassin,” the fairy said with a giggle.
“Where is-“
Before he could finish the sentence a sharp pain flooded his abdomen. He clutched his stomach in agony.
“Guess who?” said an unfamiliar voice.
“You must be Assassin?” he asked.
“Correct!”
A sudden pain in the side of the head sent him sideways. He found himself gazing up at a female in her teens with shoulder length blonde hair dressed fully in black. She flicked her hair then kicked him in the stomach again.
“I was saying I don’t want to play this stupid-“
Another kick cut him off.
“You don’t get a say in the matter, so just shut up and die quickly so I can have my xp,” she said in a hushed tone.
Thoughts raced through his head. Only one thought kept resurfacing. One question that was burning to be asked. Did she intend to literally kill him? His mind screamed it couldn’t be true but her face told him otherwise.
Without further hesitation he threw the bag with his new game in at her face. In her moment of flinching he scrambled to his feet and ran. She immediately began following.
“Run, run as fast as you can but I’ll still catch you my little gingerbread man,” she yelled after him.
His chest burned, his legs wanted to give way but he kept running. He turned down an alleyway, leapt over a fence and made so many turns that he was getting lost himself. Too afraid to turn around he kept running.
“Brawler has joined the battle,” said the fairy as the phone made another ping.  

THUD! Then everything went dark.

Saturday 2 January 2016

Project: Quest Tracker (Name Subject To Change) second section added.

So today I added "Quest 2: To Brawler or not to Brawler..." which introduces a new character and hopefully puts across where I plan to take the story. Can you say "Let the games begin"?
Find Quest 2 below and for the entire story so far check Here!


Quest 2 – To Brawler or not to Brawler…
The smirk slowly faded from her face. Wisps of light resembling smoke slowly drifted away from his body. He didn’t move, he didn’t talk. Fear slowly began to grip her. He was taking this too far. It wasn’t funny anymore. As she stepped towards him his body began to emanate light. Slowly but surely he began to disappear. Every inch of him began to break down into pixelated cubes and collapse in upon itself.
“Congratulations Brawler you win,” said a cheerful voice.
She looked around for a second before realising the voice was coming from her phone. Pulling the phone from her pocket she glared at the happy looking fairy on the screen.
“Where is he?” she asked.
“There are no opponents nearby,” the fairy replied.
“That’s not what I meant. Where is he?”
“Your opponent was defeated and has been removed from the competition.”
“I know that but where did he go?” she asked trembling.
“Your last opponent has been removed, would you like to spend you points now?”
Terror clung to her as she frantically began searching through the menus.
-STATUS-
CLASS: Brawler
LEVEL: 2
TYPE: Melee
SKILLS:
-Combo Maker
Would you like to spend your points?” said the cheerful voice.
She swiped the screen.
-NEARBY-
Sorry There Are No Opponents In The Current Vicinity!
“Looks like we need to find some more opponents to beat up,” the voice commented.
She swiped again and again but there was no indication of him there. Minimizing the app she went through her phone book. His name wasn’t there. It should have been there but it wasn’t. Not that it mattered she typed in the number manually.
“The number you have dialled has not been recognised,” the automatic voice began.
She shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. Filled with mixture of determination and desperation she began searching every social media she knew he had used. Nothing. Finally she returned to the app.
“How can I assist you?” the fairy asked.
The blonde haired bright eyed fairy floated eagerly awaiting her question. She hesitated. Unrelenting dread was almost strangling her. Breathing deeply she finally asked:
“What happens when a player’s health drops to 0?”
“They are removed from the competition,” the fairy replied.
“Where do they go?”
“I’m sorry I cannot answer that question.”
“Do they die?”
The fairy giggled.
“Of course they die if their health bar hits zero. So try not to lose ok?”
She fell to her knees. Her arm went limp. The phone clattered to the floor. It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know what would happen. Tears began to stream down her cheeks.
A wild beeping noise from the phone broke her trance.
“There is a possible opponent nearby. Would you like to initiate a battle?” said the cheery voice.
Looking up at the night sky she realised she wasn’t alone in this mess. Others could make the same mistake as her. What could she do now?

Friday 1 January 2016

Project: Quest Tracker (Name Subject To Change) has begun ~~(o.o)~~

So today I began Project: Quest Tracker (Name Subject To Change). Todays addition consists of the "Invitation" which I guess would be akin to a prologue(?) and Quest 1 which introduces one of the main characters to the game.
Feel free to excuse or criticize any errors. Any and all comments are appreciate.
The additions can be found below but the entirety of Project: Quest Tracker (Name Subject To Change) can be found Here!
And so comes the most nerve wracking part for me... I hope you enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think.


Invitation
Dear Hero,
Congratulations you have been selected as a participant for the Heroes Kingdom Closed Beta.
Heroes Kingdom is the next step in Real World Gaming, completely bringing the game to your life in an immersive world changing PvP experience. Finally you can meet and battle not only in real time but in real life.
As part of the Closed Beta you will be randomly assigned one of our many classes. For the duration of the Beta your screen name will be set to that of your class by default.
Win battles, spend points, level up, become a hero, conquer any opposition and start building your kingdom today.
Simply download the app and your fairy guide will talk you through everything else.
We look forward to seeing you soon!

Quest 1: Enter the Scholar
“Blegh!” he said throwing himself on the bed.
This was one of the worst starts he had ever experienced in a game. Not only was the class randomly assigned but it was unchangeable too. He stared at the screen of his phone in disgust.
CLASS: Scholar
LEVEL: 1
TYPE: Support
SKILLS: None
Worst class confirmed. How exactly was he supposed to participate in a PvP focused game as a lone support with no skills? Supports where supposed to have skills that were designed to help team mates.
“How exactly am I supposed to play like this?” he said.
A fairy flew onto the screen blocking out the status screen.
“Greetings, I am your very own Hero Support Fairy, if you would like any help feel free to ask,” she said.
The system seemed to respond with voice recognition but that didn’t mean it would be able to help him. He looked at her tiny face and long purple hair. She had translucent wings and wore a dress that almost seemed to be made of feathers. There was so much detail, she seemed life like. He hadn’t been aware such graphics were possible on his phone.
“How can I help you?” she asked with a smile.
“I have no skills. Is this a bug?” he asked.
“Would you like to go through the tutorial?”
“No, I need to know how to get skills,” he said.
“Would you like to go through the tutorial?” she asked again.
Just as he thought the system couldn’t help him. What was the point? With no skills and no team he wasn’t exactly going to be playing the game for long.
“Close app,” he replied.
“Are you sure? If you close now you will not be able to resume the tutorial later,” the voice warned him.
“I don’t care!”
“Closing app, if you require further assistance please feel free to ask.”
With that a quiet pinging noise alerted him to the closing of the app. He threw the phone across the bed and sighed loudly. So much for a fun new game to take his mind off of things.