I still remember the day that I finally got my hands on a Genesis; it was Christmas Day and I was hunkered down in my apartment with my fiancé. A fierce snow storm relentlessly tormented the outside world but didn't affect me or Sarah, my fiancé, inside. We just exchanged gifts and had plans to go to her parents' house afterwards, the storm, however, had different plans for us. The roads were in horrible condition and our car was packed in heavily with snow. We were stuck at home.
Sarah had given me the Genesis as a present and I was dumbfounded. She must have been saving up for months just to get me this present. I wasn't that surprised that she got it, after all, I was dropping heavy hints that I wanted it.
The Genesis was announced five months earlier and as time progressed the excitement for it grew even more intense. What made it appealing wasn't that it was virtual reality, it was that when you put the helmet on your head you were literally inside of the game. The moment you powered the system on your consciousness was converted into code and transported into the game. Needless to say, I was psyched.
Today, Christmas Day, was the first day they were opening up the servers for everybody to play. Of course there were beta testers and admins but beyond that nobody had any idea of what was in store for them.
I glanced at the clock, "11:30 am." Sarah gave me a nod of approval allowing me to disconnect from her for a little while and start my journey in the Genesis. I placed the helmet on my head, plugged it into the wall to avoid it dying while I was in it, and pressed the power button on the side.
Lights flashed and colors whizzed past my face. Two white hands formed and I tried to move them. There was no delay, it was just like in real life. I gasped. A keyboard appeared in front of my face and text appeared overhead that read, "Pick a Username." I typed the name "Beilo" and hit "enter". More words formed above me, "Character Creation Phase." A small diagram of a person materialized in front of me with many different options to change the physical features of your avatar.
After about a half an hour later I finally designed my character perfectly. I tried to make "Beilo" look a little like me. Of course, I did adjust a few things. I made my jaw a little more chiseled, I made myself a little more buff, I added an extra two inches to my height, and I made my dick a wee-bit longer; not too long but still impressive. Besides those minor changes my character looked exactly like me.
"Finish Character Creation? YES-NO," it read overhead. I selected the "yes" option as another wondrous display of lights flashed before my eyes. My character materialized atop a grassy hill with blue skies and various items scattered about.
"Pick a class," the words read above me. On the ground surrounding me were various weapons that each were tagged with words. There was a bow, "Archer," a sword, "Swordsman," a staff, "Mage," a battle-axe, "Heavy," and a dagger, "Stealth." Of course after you picked a class you could still use the other weapons but staying with the weapon class that you picked allows for easier leveling up in the future.
The Archer class had its pros and its cons. Using a bow you could easily do damage to a target from some distance away. But what it gained in range it lacked in damage. using a bow you would do considerably less damage than Swordsman or Heavy.
The Swordsman class was the go-to class for many people in the Genesis. Using a sword was not only fast-paced but it also dealt quite a bit of damage. Since using swords is so fast-paced it required amazing response time. Swords also don't allow for a lot of range so the user also risks getting struck in the close proximity of the fight.
The Heavy class was the class you would pick if you wanted to the most amount of damage possible. Using heavy weapons, like battle-axes and great-swords, gave the user a little more range and allowed them to deal a lot of damage. The heavy class does, however, swing significantly slower than the swordsman.
The Stealth class relied heavily on silence. The whole point is to not be seen or heard. Smaller weapons work well with the stealth class but most don't do a lot of damage. Of course, what makes this class so appealing is that weapons have a massive damage bonus when they're used while sneaking. A good weapon could probably take out a level eighty player in one hit. The Stealth class also reduces how heavy the armor is that you're using allowing for faster movement. Light armors work best with this class.
Finally, The Mage class. This class allows for a lot of freedoms within game. Magic ranges around all forms of combat and also add a deeper level to the game. You can heal, hurt, detain, and so much more to any character (outside of safe zones of course). You can also create your own spells, that's one of the things that makes this class so cool. There are a few downsides, though. Since mage robes boost magic abilities they become the main article of clothing to that class. Mage robes, however, have an armor rating of zero, this makes it considerably more difficult to defend yourself. There are spells that can be used to defend yourself, though. Another major turnoff to The Mage class is that it requires a lot of memorization. In order to use a spell you must say the words in the correct order and with the correct infliction. They reminded me of console commands in other single-player video games.
With all of this information in mind, after reviewing the various options, and after balancing the pros and cons of each class, I made my decision. I picked up the staff and an alert flashed on my screen.
"Confirm Class Selection? YES-- NO," I clicked the "yes" option as the floor began to mold away. Bright blue pixels flurried around my eyes as my body materialized in a town. "New Town" read on top of my view. Before my eyes I saw a green power bar, health, a blue power bar, magic, and a yellow power bar, stamina. The faster I ran, the faster my yellow power bar depleted. As I slowed down the bar began to replenish itself. I switched to third person to see what I looked like. I was wearing a brown robe with a hood and draped below my knees. I walked out of New Town and journeyed to the entrance of the forest trail.
Hundreds of players flocked to the gate out of the town and made their way through the forest. I opened my inventory and saw what spells I had. A side menu labeled, "Spells," was available for me to click on. I had three available spells to use. Heal self, "Heilsa." Fire punches, "Eldur." Armor defense, "Brynja."
"Heilsa," I spoke to myself as my body emitted a green light from its skin, "Hmm, isn't that 'Health' in Icelandic?" My health didn't increase at all, since it was at its max, but my magic bar did deplete. Off to my right I noticed a large hog hurtling towards me. I quickly jumped to my right as it went battling past me.
"Agility Level: 1," flashed on my screen before quickly dissolving.
