No longer was the bear of a man glued to his character creation screen. His avatar was not the original concept he had in mind, but it was along the same lines that he endured the disappointment. Eyes began to collect light upon the area finishing its load time. A forest, typical as it were, remained the go to place for the beginnings of a multiplayer online game. It was not up to the musclebound Felis how the game was designed regardless. In truth this was a fresh experience. He was not bound to a controller, and within seconds he felt himself roll his shoulders back. That felt amazing for his back. Details surrounded the apparent cat person in swarms, from his body's reactions to the subtle movements of plant life. Alonso Thorlion, his identity for this world, gazed down at his massive body atypical of his chosen race. He had opted for the shirtless look, a pair of slacks fit loose over his lower body, belt aligned with various pouches for inventory. Someone would mistake him for a non-player character working than a choice of avatar. More players seemed to go for the sleek, anime design. It made his eyes roll every time, yet, he was in no position to tell others off for his or her opinion. He would by lying if he denied that the hulking cat man was for some of his own pleasures. By no means did he want to be mistaken for a big liar. Unless the situation called for it, of course. Standing around was not going to make the game part of this happen. He shook his body down, slouching over to head off. One large foot rest on the ground, the other rising to move the character forward, "It's not glitching, that's a good sign I suppose. Wonder if I'll find someone who knows the area well." Sarcasm formed into a disgusted grin. Of course he was going to find somebody at one point or another, that just made logical sense. He could not be the sole person who existed in this game. If anything Alonso would prove to be a change of pace compared to the assumed slew of young looking characters. He did not need to be a different age this time around, nor did he ever. Opting to wander the forest should at least bump him into something reasonable.
It was late in the real world, or really early, Roland couldn’t tell but he knew he felt lethargic. He was too tired to tackle anything dangerous or thought provoking, so he had decided to take his egg out for a stroll in the starter area letting its shell get direct sunlight in an attempt to speed up the hatching process. He still didn’t know anything about the item, he had checked the help documentation, and talked with other players but wasn’t able to turn up anything informative other than the fact that it was rare. So, he did what he thought might help, when he could. “I wonder if it will be some sort of pet creature.” Roland wondered out loud as he turned down one of the dirt trails that circled around the inner section of the forest. He had been seeing quite a few new faces lately, it seemed the popularity of the game was increasing which was odd considering the limited accessibility it had. Roland’s mind flash to the NPC he had interacted with on a quest back in town. He had accepted a quest and was accompanied by another player, and it wasn’t until half way through the adventure that he had found out that the player was in fact an npc. He had seen machines do incredibly well in a turning test before, of course, but never this good. Roland couldn’t help but wonder if the game makers were inflating their player base with npcs masquerading as real players, after all, why would you even question it? Lost in thought, Roland, soon found himself several feet near one of the various spawning areas. “Most of these.” Roland thought, “Use mostly the same pre-rendered body types, it’s only the faces that most people are bothering to sculpt.” Of course, he realized, he was somewhat culpable to this as well as he had done very minor adjustments to everything below his characters shoulders. Suddenly he came across a very odd exception to the rule as he saw a bulky avatar who’d been aged much higher than most, but perhaps the oddest part was the fact that the player had chosen it to be the Felis race. Sure there were NPCS of the same build and age, but they were rare inside this zone. “I guess it’s time for my own turning test…” Roland whispered under his breath as he approached the giant sized cat man. “Greetings!” Roland said as he approached, flashing the man an affable smile as he did so. Roland wouldn’t consider himself a high level player by any means, at least not yet. However the sword tied to his wait, and the quiver strapped to his back clearly marked him as a higher level player than most would be in this area, if for the simple fact that he –had- some gear unlike when you first start. “Welcome to TS online! Is this your first character?” He said, hoping to make it seem that he was here to help as he stood there, judging the man’s reaction hoping it would give him any indication of whether he was an AI or a real human player.
Just how expansive was this place? Sure, not having a map for a starting area was not a new idea, but games did tend to give the player some idea of where to go. Wandering around lost was more frustrating than immersive. Though, some people might just enjoy the idea of straying off into some random direction and seeing what existed. But not this early game, and not with little idea as to the power scaling. Masteries were still at the lowest possible ranking. Climbing up a tree, while a useful idea, might lead to his downfall if falling damage was a thing in this system. On top of that he was not privy to how said damage was calculated. Alonso's wandering thoughts wanted him to log out and bust open the code to see how this all operated. But then, he did just get here a short few minutes prior. Little point in just walking around and logging out once things did not go his way. Due to the recent dating of the client, the man figured he would find another player in the near future anyways. Unless the designers had taken their time, which by the looks of the world they did to some degree, all of the available areas were close by. On that note, other players should also be in the vicinity. Most of those who logged in should be well aligned in power scaling in these early stages, logic stating he should come out fine if he needed to escape a player killer. The man never encountered one that proved to be an issue in other games. He also played smart, but that meant he was paying attention. Feline ears shot up alongside his brows, a voice calling out to him. Going into his assembly line of a thought process did prove to be more distracting. Rotating on his heel, Alonso shifted his body to face the source of the call. A human by the looks of it. Smaller too, as he figured would be the case. The Felis gave a nod, his deep voice rumbling in his response, "Good day to you, then." Intimidating, and perhaps unnerving. He could have changed his voice to something less imposing, but the man did want to at least try and adjust his own behavior. Just not right now considering he was in the process of working on that. Alonso gave himself a moment to eye the human's equipment. Nothing that denoted those flashy, high end weapons and armor. That was a poor assumption in his current state. He might not have started with any form of inventory, but the man knew that sometimes design rest far below the mechanical properties of a game's equipment standards. Judgements would be made if this young man decided to pull out a weapon. "Hmm? Oh, this is my first character, yes. Just started a few minutes ago. Think I took closer to forty minutes in the creation screen," he said. His eyes narrowed realizing what came out of his mouth. By no mean did this stranger need to know Alonso's every step, and here the man was blabbing details out. "Beyond that I'm not sure why someone would want to make another character right away," the Felis continued. Once more his inner thought process began another cycle. Thought it were a stretch, if he tagged along by some means he might just gather more information from this young man. Discovering whether the greeting was a mere trap would be easier to judge by the conversation, "If I may, don't suppose you would mind telling me where any sort of hub is nearby this game has? For a starting area it doesn't give much to work with." Guidance was key. The information gathered could prove how much of a reliable source the young man was in general. The large man was not going to doubt his acquaintance's intelligence right off the bat. That would be rude. As would not introducing himself, "My name is Alonso, for the record. To be honest, I did not put much thought into it."
Roland nodded as the man spoke. “AI or human, I still can’t tell.” He thought to himself. Sure his reactions seemed to indicate the latter more than the former, additionally he seemed to hint at knowledge of outside the game, are at the very least knowledge of the game itself. “Then again, if the AI is advanced as I think, couldn’t it be possible that it’s self-aware?” The thought intrigued the coder within him, but he knew now was not the time to dwell on it. Instead he responded to Alonso’s question. “Yea the game really makes you work for everything, trust me when I say things just get harder from here.” Roland responded with a light smile, “If you bring up your command window you can pull up a map of the area, and if you press the triangle in the bottom left hand corner of the local map you can create a minimap you can look at while walking around. That said, it’s rarely helpful it doesn’t include a lot of the topography and the roads on it are often quite wrong. I think it’s supposed to simulate a real hand written map, inaccuracies and all. You might be better off without it all together” Roland concluded with a shrug as he began to walk forward. “I can take you there if you’d like, and answer your questions along the way. I myself haven’t been playing the game that long, to be honest I’m lucky to have the gear I have.” He wasn’t sure why he added the last tidbit in, but hoped it would help set the man at ease. “I wonder if he think I’m trying to lure him into a trap.” Roland thought while he walked. The sky was clear, and the air was crisp. Unnamed birds chirped nearby in harmony with the unseen bugs chirping all around. He hadn’t realized it when he had first spawned, but the starting area really was a paradise. “It’s nice isn’t?” Roland asked, “The VR I mean, I live in the city, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sky so blue before….” His thoughts turned to his real life counterpart. He was currently lying motionless on a dirty futon laying on the floor surrounded by the remnants of fast food containers, every time he left this place and entered into that one it became harder and harder to stay in it. “It might just be addictive….” He mumbled out loud to himself as he almost tripped on his feet.
On the plus side this acquaintance went on the a splurge of explaining how to navigate this realm. Alonso knew how to follow instructions to a precise measure, controlling his movements and bringing up the exact maps he was looking for. The mini map option was preferred at the moment. If anything he could always switch back and forth as needed to expand his view. As the man continued his map touring, a grunt escaped his throat, "I see what you mean. Though we can't be sure whether the realism was intentional or the programmers were lazy. Still, I can't complain about having something to go by." He flicked the mini map to hover around the back of his head, right in the corner so he could reach over and bring it back if need be. It all lined up. Right now this other player was his single chance at finding out more about the game, and all of its stupid moments. Each bit of conversation remained logical, in tact, and had enough evidence to support a claim. The man nodded as he began walking alongside the shorter man. Not having much need for standard equipment was one of the boons of Alonso's build, which might also prove to be a severe downfall. Experimentation would show the man how well he could come out on top. Thus far he found no information on what was considered the proper character builds for Terrasphere, and some folks were the sort to create somebody built just for crafting. Both of Alonso's brows raised once the conversation topic switched into a different course. His face contorted into a slight scowl, uncertain of the intent. The other guy was not wrong, however. Alonso knew what his companion was talking about. His own age here was the exact same back in the real world, and right now the man lived alone. Yes, the huge Felis had a working job in web services, connections, and the like, but his remaining family were busy with their own futures. The park was the single source of nature around. Even then, it was not the sort of environment meant for lasting beauty and rejuvenation. A sigh rushed from the man's lips, "I've lived in a city for my entire life, and quite honestly coming home and booting up my own computer tends to be more relaxing than dealing with outside. Grant you, I do work out a good portion of my days, but other than that I can't disagree with you." Something like this felt different, like it was meant to be another life he could create. Rid himself of the regrets he continued to angst about every time he looks at that now hidden image of his now defunct marriage. He needed to remove that memory from his mind, at least while in game. This stranger did not have the right to knowing the full extent of the man's past. His parental side triggered, halting his march and extending his arm in an adept swing, his movements that of a man who knew how to handle falling youngsters. "Uuum, watch yourself," Alonso said. Once he knew his little helper got his footing back together, the man looked the other direction, "Damn, why'd I do that? He isn't a helpless two year old." This guy was not his kid, and as far as he knew none of the players in this game were either. Yet, sometimes he could not help himself. What did not help was Alonso noticing an egg poking out of the other player's bag. Something like that would not just be a cooking item, and it seemed too big to be such a thing irregardless. "If it's not too intrusive, what's with that egg in your pack there? Some kind of pet," the brawny Felis said. If pets were a mechanic then he needed to be on the look out. Sometimes those provided both combat and out of combat benefits aside from looking pretty. The man was fond of that, so every item had some form of use instead of being bank mold, or worse, vendor trash. "Oh, before I forget, is there some form of quest mechanic I'm unaware of? Usually these games bombard you with quest lines from the get go," he added. Tag: @Roland Rutledge
Roland righted himself up quickly with the large Felis’ help, it had to of been the first time he tripped in the game, he didn’t even realize it was possible, but he guessed it made sense. Alonso’s comment snapped him out of his thoughts however as he looked down on his egg thinking, “Man I almost just cracked that, didn’t I?” He took a moment to shake such thoughts out of his head while turning back to the man, “I’m not entirely sure to be honest.” Carefully he slipped the egg out of his pouch holding it up to the man to see. “I found it in another forest zone.” Roland shook his head correcting himself, “That’s not completely accurate, I found a treasure chest in a different zone. I was wandering around, playing with the investigation mechanic while I happened upon some rays of light in the distance. When I went to investigate I found a treasure chest shinning from the bottom of a lake.” The Adventurer shrugged as he recalled the event, “I dove in, and solved a quick puzzle and snatched something out. That something turned out to be this egg.” With the story over, Roland returned his egg to his pouch, sighing listlessly as they began to reach the edge of the starting city. It was a smaller city, with a number of peddlers to buy or trade simpler goods dotting the exits, and a small town center with a collection of taverns. “As far as your other question goes. Quests are done a bit differently here; you have to hear about them via word of mouth either by a player or a NPC. Once you do so a small dialogue box will pop up, that reiterates what they said, giving you a location of where to start.” They entered into the ring of peddlers as Roland flicked through a few invisible interfaces, “And that’s pretty much it, I just sent you a friend request, if you ever need an extra hand in a quest or find something interesting let me know.” The man flashed Alonso a friendly smile, before flicking his hands across a few more menus and disappearing as he logged off.
Lilianna couldn't help sighing heavily as she moved and wandered aimlessly. Her fade dove pet flying around and wandering back to her shoulder while she went. It's bright red eyes and white body cuddling up to her neck whenever it landed. Though she appreciated it's efforts, it was clearly puzzled with how to answer her request. The reason was because she asked it 'please find someone on my team', and the dove, oblivious on how to answer her question had given up long ago and instead explored it's surroundings contently searching for things that might be useful. Like the blind leading the blind, neither of them had any idea how to help the other better understand. In the end, Lilia continued asking around as she usually did. Stopping them with a wave and trying to engage them in conversation. "Have you seen my wife? She looks like--" She started to explain, using her wife's real life appearance to properly describe her. unaware that her wife made an avatar that was completely different, Lucia still couldn't quite follow how people's characters were different from their realty. As far as she was concerned, this game was like a sport being played in a fantasy world, and she had to find out the teams and scoring method before her team lost from her naivety and ignorance. She felt that every second she wasted she was causing these imaginary people problems. This search inevitably brought her to Alonso just as Roland left, concern flickering on her face, but everything from her posture and tone were both refreshing and lively as she tried to reach out to him. "Excuse me there friend-- I'm looking for my wife, you wouldn't happened to have seen her have you? She's really short, and very cute-- If you haven't seen her then can you tell me what team I'm on? I can't seem to find anyone willing to show me the roster for this game." Lucia added clearly confused about how games worked in general. If Alonso investigated just a little, he'd find she was treating this game like a virtual football but with swords-- truly she had no idea what she was doing, but the little pet on her shoulder, and the small wolf she was holding under her hand made it clear she was doing 'something'.
Pet mechanics remained a mystery, and while a disappointment, the mystery was expected. Nobody in the game should be a master at the ins and outs of each feature yet. Irregardless, the man did not require a pet at this point in time. His character status was too low rank to consider such a thing to be of vital use. Without so much as a warning the duo happened across the nearest hub, just as the pet question was answered. But that was not all, since Alonso began hearing the answer to his quest inquiry, and it all made sense. Terrasphere was a world exploration game, much more than other MMOs bothered to manage. Quite a pleasing revelation in fact. Alonso shifted his frame to face Roland, "Very well, that is quite helpful at the mome-" He took a quick step back, interrupted by the sudden flash of the man logging out. Did he log out or was it a glitch? The Felis sighed, his eyes meeting the gaze of a friend request screen. His brow quirked as his mind processed the few options he had. Declining would mean the man would not have to witness the not so obvious farewell. On the other hand, the guy did help Alonso with a few basics. The man opted for the latter, since he was promised help with other potential questions, accepting the friend request and noting Roland logged out for sure. Typical. "If that guy isn't gonna help me some more I might a well just explore by myself," he said, a massive hand massaging the back of his neck. Part of him wanted to log out himself and grab a bite to eat in the real world. The town was marked on his mini map, and Alonso was certain he could find his way back here with ease. Yet, he was interrupted by a twist in events once more. His eyes rolled towards the voice of a confused woman, gazing down upon her with a low toned, questioning hum emitted from his throat. Considering that was his natural vocal tone he might as well have taken Geomancy instead to shatter mountains with his usual bass line. Wife? He blinked, trying to understand the intent of such a question, but this woman seemed confused. The Felis was aware of how losing family members in a crowd was always a pain. Before he could answer, yet again, it became apparent this stranger was much more lost and confuse than he anticipated. Last he checked there were no teams in the game, aside from potential guilds he was unaware of. All of the odd questions caused both of his brows to raise as he processed the situation. Right, so this woman lost her wife, and was unaware of what to do or where to go. But players should have been able to do a search of the player base and find certain friends with ease. Then it clicked. Facing the woman, Alonso sighed and held up both hands, "Okay, Miss, first you need to calm down. You're panicking like you've never played a MMO before." He paused, taking another deep breath to control his logic, "Actually, IS this your first MMO if I might ask? Quite frankly players don't ask about teams and rosters unless the game is meant for PvP." Alonso retracted his large palms, resting them on his hips. This sort of reaction from her did seem to entail a lack of gaming knowledge and etiquette. Granted, there were some people who refused to manners on the internet anyways. He needed to try something different. Not so much out of the box, something more akin to tact. "There is a manual for some basic information on your interface.... you... DO know what your interface is, right" the musclebound cat man said. This was going to be a rough day. @Lilianna Talbot
Lilianna couldn't help a bit of dry laughter at the man's comments and questions. She wasn't particularly panicked, though she was indeed a little worried about Olive. Though the question about MMOs was lost on her-- it was an anagram, but for what? 'Mixed Martial Arts Online' needed an 'A'. It was clear from her expression she had to 'think' of an answer, which Alonso would no doubt pick out as a bad sign. "That's... The name for this game right?" She finally asked with warm laughter, not really bothered or swayed, but at the same time faintly concerned for those she thought she was letting down. Her answer was half right, the game she was playing was an MMO, but MMO was not the name for the game. When another anagram was brought up though, she had to think harder on PVP's meaning, her brow furrowed, it was such a strange arrangement, what could have PVP? Person versus person? But if that was it, then what was the alternative? Weren't you supposed to compete or play against someone in every game? This was all moving too fast for her. "No no, if it's a game it should have a roster of people playing it right? How else would everyone keep track of each other's stats and scores?" She asked, again sports references. As if there were some mode to score in an MMO and 'win'. She seemed to have grave misconceptions about exactly how an MMO worked. While she was trying to reason it out, the pair of animals kept glancing from Alonso to Lilianna again, the wolf with it's tongue out, the bird on her shoulder snuggling into her neck. The pair simply watched like bystanders without a clear stake in what was happening. Though neither of them could really contribute anything as NPCs either, Lilianna was clearly running blind almost literally. That said, she did still have quite a lot for someone who had no idea what was going on.
Patience was learned, one that was a necessity to life, good for dealing with both tantrum ridden children and players new to the gaming scene. This one was different however. So different that the corner of his mouth twitched. "Wait, no, that's not," Alonso said, a light growl coming from his throat, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Never had there been an occurrence over the decades where a new player was new in more ways than one. Ignorance and naivete drew a fine line between themselves. Although in a way she was not wrong to the worst of extremes. Multiplayer games did have a way to view other players, albeit, how private actual character statistics were varied from each one. Alonso's hand moved down his face, the stress this situation was about to cause swelling up within his middle aged body, "Okay, first off, MMO stands for Massively-Multiplayer Online. It's a general term used as a genre of sorts for certain video games. Does that sound... reasonable to comprehend?" Maybe not the best choice of words. The man just implied this woman was on the dumb end of the spectrum, and for all he knew she was going to take offense to that. "I suppose I'll give it to you there's some form of roster. You know what, let me ask you a few questions first," Alonso said. Right about now sanity checker was telling him to make up an excuse and log out. She was a nuisance, but in truth was not so terrible at the moment. "First off, have you ever played a video game before," the man continued. Once more, with feeling, patience. Alonso brought his hands together, raising them up and breathing in, then a drawn out breath aiming his folded hands at Lilianna, "As for your wife, is she also a player in this game? Could you not log out and contact her so you can figure out what it is you're doing?" Part of that felt a bit forced, yet the woman's initial goal was still well defined and vital. If anything it was best to have this newbie find a person she was familiar with since that was an option. Tag: @Lilianna Talbot
Lilianna could only sigh heavily, she was being treated like an idiot again-- not that she could really fault them, she truly didn't understand this stuff, despite her exploring and efforts made, she had to be taught how to google search things and buy things from online when she first started getting to know her partner. She hardly knew anything about the internet, let alone video games, she just wasn't that type of person. When the talk about MMOs started, she nodded back, a hand on her chin as she considered the word, it made sense-- it was a type of game with a lot of players then right? It was like the difference between a 'ball sports' and 'extreme sports' right? It was just a different type of 'game' she considered. She could follow this far at least. Though when asked if she ever played a video game, she couldn't help but sheepishly scratch at the back of her head. Her gaze drifting a little from feeling bad for people who spoke to her without knowing. She didn't find it that strange, plenty of people she knew didn't play video games-- but they were also like her, raised on sports and outdoors. They certainly knew the internet much better then she did, but they all paled in comparison to her wife and her friends. "Is it that obvious? My wife Olive really likes games, so I thought I'd try to play one with her since she tries to spend time with me outside. I didn't realize it would be like this though." She explained, a bit of bitterness in her words, making it clear that at least she knew that she was in far over her head. When he mentioned logging out and contacting her and figuring things out though, Lucia couldn't help her brow furrowing a little-- she wasn't that dumb, naturally she tried that. "I did... she keeps telling me to try different things, like meeting her in a certain place at a certain time or trying to message her-- she added me as a friend I think a while ago; it said something like that--" She started, her voice slowly drifting though as she grew more and more lost in the complexities of navigating the game interface without any kind of previous knowledge or experience to help guide her. "Finding those places with the map wouldn't be hard on it's own but the places she keeps picking are really strange and obscure, like deep in the woods or high up on a hill-- as for messaging her back..." Lilianna trailed off with a sigh knowing that that was probably more difficult then slaying her way through strange creatures to find the meeting places. Olive seemed to move around like a storm making her rather difficult to track in this world where people were as strong as they wanted to be.
She was being treated like a bothersome in law, and he knew it. Any grudges he had against that Roland fellow for logging out like that needed to stop clouding the man's head. The Felis continued to listen to the woman's responses, however, discovering the reality of why this person was in her current predicament. Commendable reasoning to play a game despite the admitted lack of knowledge. The man sighed, calming himself down to focus on his answers. Getting this woman all set up in the easiest way he could meant he could carry on with his day as a new player himself. On the matter of his little experience with this game, he spoke up, "Look, I just started this game some minutes prior, so I'm still trying to see the ins and outs of how the system works. Of course, I've been playing online games for years so I've been able to grasp things relatively fine so far. Irregardless, and I mean no offense, but your wife sounds like she needs to slow down and actually explain how this place works to you." Alonso was not the kind of man to use horrible words, aside from a few examples, but this woman's wife was not on his good list. "Since we're here, I might as well give you an actual explanation. Make sure you follow along to my instructions all right? It seems like you sort of understand messaging and the social aspect a little bit, but a refresher never hurts," he continued. Alonso gave the woman a nod, indicating he would start whenever she was ready. His massive hand rose up to his interface, ready to begin teaching, "Well then start by opening up your command window, which I'm sure you've grown accustomed to using by now. Go up to the social menu and find your Friends List." He gave her a moment to get it all processed. The cat man's own screen, invisible to everyone else, had just Roland's name on the Friends List. Pausing, Alonso took a moment to figure out each option. All of them would be of use at one point, but right now he could not experiment, "If you got your wife's name on your Friends List, click on it and find the option to invite her to form a party. Got it?" Once more the man waited, hoping this stranger was getting the grasp of using the social mediums the game provided. Alonso waited, just to give more time to the newbie, "If she accepts, you should see another section in a chat box somewhere in your interface. Might need to enlarge the box since menu options are condensed for sake of organization. Otherwise, just use the private message feature and tell her to come to where you're at and you're not budging otherwise. Assuming you understand the map, you should be able to find the name of this city on there." Both of his shoulders rolled back, a few pops taking out the kinks. The man sighed, debating whether to continue speaking, but ended up getting his words out and over with, "You need to be more assertive about this if she isn't going to help teach you to play after kindly made the offer to play together. I'm not saying your wife is a terrible person, don't let her drag you on without knowing about how to play even." Tag: @Lilianna Talbot
Lilianna blinked briefly at Alanso's retort, but after a while only laughed heartily, Lucia certainly agreed with that, needing Olive to explain things to her would have definitely helped. She understood her wife well though, she didn't have a lot of patience and was definitely more of a 'learn from exposure' type. Lilianna was a strong competitor in real life, but she grew up with instruction rather then experimentation which made things a little bit new for her in that respect. "Haha, she's much more of a hands on type I think-- get in and figure it out you know?" Lilianna spoke, as if covering for her wives' negatve traits, but as far as she thought and knew, it was true. Even the hearty laughter she let out seemed to speak of the faith she had in Olive even if their methods were a touch different. Though when it came to the explanation of how to invite people to parties and communicate, Lucia visibly struggled. As if unsure of how to bring up the menu, she started making strange hand gestures in the air. She'd gotten it to work a few times on a fluke, and explored, but the array of options and screens glowing at her were too dazzling so she opted to put it off for later rather then exploring. In the end she finally figured out something 'close to' the right one bringing it up with a labored sigh-- as if mountain climbing and hiking paled in comparison to the exertion this game required. Bringing up the menu she followed along, making an effort to invite, but getting an error, no doubt because Olive was already in a party blowing something up somewhere to vent her rage. "Hm..." She thought, puzzled before trying the other method, she was slow moving, trying to send a message gesturing with her hands clearly unused to every single portion of this process. It was only when she finished a small and very brief message of 'hi' that she nodded firmly and confidently believing she'd done her best. Though hearing Alonso's words, Lilianna absorbed them with a nod, but crossed her arms in thought as she began an extremely earnest and serious answer. "I don't mind it, whether I have help or not, I came here to experience 'the world' the way she does and try to enjoy it with her. Unfortunately, I'm not even at a level where I can stand beside her let alone travel together with her. To me, this is just a game, but for her, these things were always more meaningful for some reason-- there was something in here that she couldn't find outside; I think, finding what it is is important. Even if I'm not good at it now, that never stopped me before-- plus, there are some parts I'm better at then most!" She spoke flashing a brilliant grin. To Lilianna this was a game, win or lose, fun was in playing, but for Olive, it was different, there was something more valuable here that Lilianna didn't understand, that was why she could be so flippant about being taught the basics; there might not be time after all.
Part of him was glad he did not become a teacher. Not only would the man become too stern for his own good, Alonso would gain a reputation of being that guy with emotionless lectures. Those instructors were the worst he will admit. Good thing he never again needed to apply for a semester at college. As he eyed the young woman trying to gain a grasp of the concepts he told her, with varying degrees of success judging by her demeanor, the Felis witnessed guilt flowing through his veins. Feeling lost and confused was never a good sign of the impending future, and he was well aware of those wretched feelings crawling out of their graves. "I'll give it to you that at least you're making an attempt to understand," he said. Experiencing the world was something to be one right now, not standing helping a clueless woman. Bearish eyes stared own at this lady, whose willingness to cooperate tossed some relief onto the situation, the owner of such tired eyes digging into his mental processes. Two sides to the story, neither of which he could eliminate. Alonso sighed, "I won't.. hmm. Without... going into much detail, sometimes people such as me or your wife find a place like this a solace from the outside. I'm in no right to say she was in a bad spot since I know absolutely nothing about her." Nothing else besides his remaining family was out there for him, and the big cat man knew that. Feeling he was able to reach a compromise, the man continued, "Just, well, don't rush into things if you feel uncomfortable. Apologies if this comes out wrong but I'm horrible at comparisons in relation to a virtual piece of entertainment. You don't just play baseball right away. Learning the basics first takes time, even if it's just catching and throwing a ball. Does that make sense?" A moment went by, the Felis adjusting his stance to gain a proper footing. Swaying in one spot as he did would do nothing in releasing his tense appearance. Granted, Alonso was not one to ignore the bad sides of a situation, "In the end that's what you should do, is take your time. Every so often an online game such as this will add new content and some players will rush to complete it. However, they go through it so fast they start bitching there's nothing else to do, despite the fact the rush is on them." Part of him grew optimistic, the explanation of people rushing to the finish line one of the easier experiences to comprehend. Reality came back to the man. So far little was one to help this situation, and this woman was still away from her wife. Mental cursing went through his brain. "Regardless, what are you gonna do now? If you're about to stand in this town and wait for your wife you're better off at least sitting somewhere," Alonso said. The musclebound Felis crossed his arms, resting over his more than impressive chest. Others in the area gave the man a few stares. If there was one thing Alonso was grateful for, it was the young woman knowing nothing about the societal and cultural tendencies with player made characters. By the standards of the masses his avatar model was unconventional Tag: @Lilianna Talbot
Hearing his encouragement and approval of her efforts, Lilianna flashed a bright grin, it was only natural she tried hard. After all, everyone didn't just start with athletics, they would start with running or walking, there were a variety of steps, but all things started with immersion; getting yourself exposed to the right environment. Lilianna merely felt that the rest would come eventually. Her only draw back was the lack of technical knowledge, and a lacking foundation for these sorts of things. Everyone else seemed to have them in spades, everything came relatively easy to them. Though she could make up for it with effort, that wouldn't get her far enough to reach her wife's standards. Though Alonso's response might be typical for a serious gamer, Lilianna only seemed perplexed rather then sympathetic. In the end, she only laughed finding such a thought bizarre. "What's so bad about the real world?" Lilianna couldn't help asking. After all, in this game world it was nice to pretend, but wasn't outside where life was really happening more exciting? Where real adventure awaited and real discoveries could be made? Lilianna didn't understand the appeal or the draw that the fictional world had for people... not that she would look down or shame people for it, instead, it would be better to call her naive for thinking that anyone can change their stars or guide their fates if they just tried hard enough. After all, even if it wasn't that way for everyone, didn't her partner have her in reality? Wasn't that a god sign that things could always change? Though hearing him encourage her not to be frantic or rush, Lilianna only nodded along understanding that much for certain. "I don't understand much of the technical bits... It's all still weird, but it's not like I can't understand everything. I did find a lot of strange friends, and at least the physics are the same?" Lilianna questioned, whether or not her body strength was the same was another story, but her techniques, skills and dexterity from the real world came in handy here. Among the many players who came into the game, Lilianna was one of the few who understood combat, weaponry and survival before even slottng a single mastery point. That said though she lifted a hand to the small puppy still watching them from the opening of her jacket as she continued. When asked what she'd do now though, Lilianna craned her neck in thought, all the while her hand kept playing with the fuzzy ears of the creature as she thought things through. In the end though her answer was simple. "Probably go back out and kill some more things? Since the beginning these two have eaten a lot-- only ever eating." She said with a puzzled sigh, she did enjoy having companionship, the pair of animals did well to satisfy that, but at the same time, she couldn't understand why they always seemed to be hungry. She wouldn't argue or fight it, but they never seemed full.
