Optimus Paradisi: Surge de Camertem (IC)

[ShowdownVD]

Optimus Paradisi: Surge de Camertem IC
OOC

“Welcome, all the gamers heretoday!” The excited Gamestop clerk was smiling wide as she ushered everyone who stayed the night into the store. “If you all will make a quick line and have your Pre-Order receipts ready, we can quickly get everyone their copy of Optimus Paradisi and have everyone home ASAP!” The young cashier moved behind the counter and started ringing up everyone’s orders. She desperately wanted to get done, since her boss was letting her try out the game after she finished getting the people who had lined up.

The game trailer for Optimus Paradisi played overhead on one of the monitors and the music for what sounded like a mix of Skyrim and Halo themes came through. The first clip showed a vast land, full of forests, caves, volcanoes, deserts, plains, snowy areas, lakes, ponds, and more showed up as words slowly faded in and out of view.
“Imagine a world, where myth….”
A unicorn came into view.
“Legend…”
A sword sitting with its blade in a stone came into view.
“Heroes…”
A man with a large sword on his back stands, overlooking a valley.
“And even villains…”
A dark wizard throws lightning at a man with a sword and shield.
“Are all in existence. Now, Imagine that you, the player…”
The camera continues zooming over the terrain.
“Can become apart of this…”
A PC runs down a road and stops before a large army. A man sits on a roof, squatting and overlooking a city at night. A woman carrying a large sword slashes down, beheading a dragon. A woman elf reads off words, casting a spell of healing for a group of players.
“Can you win the $500,000 prize?”
Several players surround a wyvern.
“Reach level 50 within two weeks and be able to compete for the largest gaming prize. No taxes, no extra requirements.”
The screen goes black.
“Just you…”
Black.
“The game…”
Black.
“Against everyone else...”
Black.
“Optimus Paradisi.”
Black for the trailer end.
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This is where you come in. You have been waiting all night—Camping out, staying up, it doesn’t matter, you still did it—to grab one of the first copies of Optimus Paradisi, the biggest MMORPG VR game ever. Your main goal is to go for this ultimate prize—the $500,000 cash, but you don’t know that you’re about to be apart of a bigger experiment.
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Hiro Matsumora booted up the servers to Optimus Paradisi and switched on all the game monitors. As people created their names, he rejected or accepted them, based on what they said, which usually kept out curse words or sexual references, as most game creators do. The names rejected were logged in the super computer and Hiro went through and labelled what was wrong with each one. The computer automatically started running scans and Hiro got up to "Let the Game run itself," as he always enjoyed putting it. The team that designed the game had ran tests with the servers on a secure and private IP the week before launch. So far, they had found no bugs and had been able to work out several glitches, including skin pixels becoming multi-colored and eyes randomly changing shape. Some of the glitches they left in, such as being able to make tattoos move on the bodies of Shadow-Hunters and being able to do a lot of backflips without moving when not in combat. Hiro thought it would be fun to let the gamers discover these glitches, as they only affected the gamer's impression on others, rather than gameplay itself, though, the tattoo moving MIGHT be a way to disguise yourself from enemies, but, what-the-hey. Let em figure it out. Hiro moved to his GM chair and laid down, putting the VR helmet on and booting up the game. He enjoyed making characters, and already had six lined up, but decided that he liked his human the best, as it let him connect to the gamers on more of an even and sympathetic playing field. The game booted up and Hiro's real body went into subconcious sleep, letting the mind connect to the game. The team had the government build nurishing systems for the gamers in the helmet, and Hiro saw his HUD light up with the message saying that the Neuro-Revitalizer was connected.
"Good." Hiro spoke through the game. "Now, let's play."

[Bird]

Kasumi Mayflower bounced on the balls of her feet, struggling to see over the heads of the people in line before her. She had gotten to GameStop early the night before, and still ended up being the twenty-second person in line. She gawked at the screen behind the counter as the game's preview played, and tapped the guy in front of her, politely asking that he move his big fat head so she could see.
Kasumi leaned out of line to count the people left in front of her. Just nine left. She stifled a yawn, telling herself that she wasn't tired. The next person happily left with their copy of Optimus Paradisi, and everyone in line shuffled forward.
Seven, six, five people left.
She dug through her pockets and found her receipt, straightening out the crinkles.
Three, two....
The guy with the big head stepped up to the counter and passed the clerk his receipt. She quickly rung him up, and then wished him 'happy gaming'. He stepped away from the counter, and Katzumi instantly took his place, handing over her receipt. She grinned, ear to ear, as soon as her hands touched the box.
"Thank you, happy gaming."
"Thank you!" Kasumi chirped, hugging the game to her chest and rushing out of the store. She was on her bike and home in less then ten minutes.

[sasquatch666]

Isaac after finally getting off work rushed to the GameStop, but ended up being towards the end of the line to his disappointment. He waited patiently until he was finally at the counter handing the cashier his receipt with a big stupid grin on his face she handed him his copy. He thanks her and speeds home so he can log-in.

[ShowdownVD]

[Box Opening]
You get home with your large box. You cut the tape circle that holds it closed and carefully open the lid, revealing the game helmet, the hookups to the TV so that your status while in-game can be monitored by the outside world (and they can even watch what you see), the extra controller so outside viewers can control the camera, and a mic, so that they can talk to you while you're in the game. There is a little pamphlet that contains a QR code. On the helmet is a infrared panel that, when a button is pressed next to it, lights up with scanning lasers. The pamphlet reads:
"Special offer from GameStop for Pre-Ordering!
Scan the QR code and recieve triple XP for your first 10 levels!"

[sasquatch666]

Isaac hooks up the helmet, and proceeds by scan the code on the pamphlet so that he can get the bonus XP. He then sits down in his recliner and puts the helmet on to log-in.

[Bird]

"Sweet." Kasumi murmured. She hooked up a couple cables to the small TV in her room so her little brother could watch her play if he should happen to wander into her room. She turned on her helmet, and after scanning the QR code on her pamphlet, she flopped down onto her bed. Kasumi slipped on the helmet and it made a little ding! to let her know it was ready. Grinning, she logged into Optimus Paradisi.

[Lenaya]

As the murmers grew inside of the small gaming store, Aryanna couldn't help but feel thankful that it was the weekend and that she had no class the following monday, given that it was already past midnight and she was still waiting on her copy of Optimus Paradisi. It seemed interesting enough, or at least the trailer was, and the very same one she watched on youtube the other day was now displayed on one of the small monitors in the store. The music was flowing, the graphics were decent giving the game's advanced and playing style, and the brown haired girl couldn't hide her glee as she was the next one to claim her copy.

Darkness descended quickly as she returned to her apartment on the university's grounds, doing her best to step quietly as she ascended the stairs leading to her floor. With the slight tinkering from her keys as she fumbled with the door's lock, it finally gave way, revealing the living room she shared with her suite-mate, Brenna, who was once again not home. If anything, Arya felt like she lived alone considering that Brenna practically lived at her boyfriend's house, though she couldn't complain. Her suite-mate was loaded with cash, thanks to her rich parents, and Arya wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth if her roomie still paid the rent.

Besides, it meant more solitude for her, and more time to game. She quickly dropped her car keys off on the kitchen counter, kicking her shoes off in her room as she shut the door with her foot and flopped onto her mattress, holding the box to her chest. Her heart was pounding and she felt giddy, like a kid during Christmas and it didn't take her long to open the box and view the contents inside.

"Weird..." she muttered as she fumbled with the cords, noting by the setup instructions that there was no main console, nor did it need to be hooked up to the laptop. In fact, the helmet/visor mechanism was the console. This almost seemed too good to be true, and after setting up the cords to her HDMI TV (which doubled as an extended monitor for her laptop), she settled herself onto the bed and made herself comfortable. She was laying so that her head was at the foot of her bed and propped up with a few pillows so that the cords wouldn't have to stretch so far, and she figured it wouldn't make any difference since she could view the game's visuals through the helmet. The pamphlet she'd forgotten about nudged her in the side as she shifted, and after grabbing it she haphazardly scanned the code before tossing the paper aside. She settled the helmet onto her head before powering it up, and she could hear her TV flicker on as visuals and music played through the helmet, her hands toying with the controller she held as the opening screen played.

"Oh God, this is amazing!" she squealed, her eyes alight with glee as she pressed the buttons necessary to enter the character creation screen. Arya couldn't wait to see what this game had to offer!

[ShowdownVD]

You feel your body slip away, your mind becoming one with the console. As if sensing that you would be about to panic here, as most of the test subjects had, the voice if Hiro Matsumora, with his soothing tone, plays from every direction at once.
"Do not fear. You are perfectly fine. The game is now loading."
As if on cue, the game's log-in screen pops up, requesting a permanent account be made for this helmet. The fields ask you to make a username and password, and so your account cannot be easily hacked, it asks for six different security questions to be self-input along with their answer in a separate box. The instruction bubble at the top tells you to speak what you want. (Though, remember, it will only effect the game. Your mind's voice will be played through your monitor for those that hooked up, but you cannot control your body until log out.)
After the log-in screen, the game pulls up a character creation screen, letting you fully customise your character, unless you participated in the Beta testing phase on the internet two weeks ago (thats all a choice up to you whether or not you did), then, when you have logged in with the same username and password and have answered one of the security questions (chosen at random), it skips the character creation screen and logs you into the game itself.
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As characters came into the game, no matter whether or not they had participated in Beta or not, they came across a woman dressed in all white and holding a large, open book in her right hand. As the players approach, the woman talks to everyone and anyone, making her an NPC and easy for everyone to get their starting instructions. (she is the only NPC to act like this, so that everyone can get done with training quickly. she shall respond to key words, so just pretend you're holding a conversation. these NPC charts are basically just guides to make sure that you don't go off in a random direction)

"Hi!" She smiles, "Welcome to Celestium, the world Optimus Paradisi takes place in. My name is Mulier Dei, and I will be your guide to playing Optimus Paradisi. Now, what can I help you with?"

"If you enter this white building behind me, you will find several chests, each one labeled per class. Just choose which class you want and open the chest to get started." (You may change your class now, before you go any further if you'd like)

"Hiro, the game's creator, decided it would simply sound cooler to just have everything labelled in Latin. Optimus Paradisi means Best Paradise. Celestium means Heavenly." (just a fun fact)

(optional)
"I have a bit of a problem, and if you don't mind me asking, could I get some help? I'll reward you for your efforts."

(optional quest)
Doing a Favor*(the difficulty is labelled by the color of the name. stars will also be provided as to length)
I dropped my bookmark around here somewhere. It helps me keep track of the people coming in here as it doubles as a looking crystal. Could you find it for me?
(random place each person)
Reward:
20xp (with triple xp is 60. this is for normal) and a power crystal for later use (purpose will be revealed later)

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Michael smiled as he hooked up his PVR to his helmet and his laptop. He put his webcam on the spot where he'd be making his broacast as he layed, and spoke into it after hitting Start Webcast.
"Hey, everyone, Showdown here of stupidstuffs, and this is my live stream of the brand new game Optimus Paradisi! I'm about to hook up, and this will be a major broadcast. I can talk to you through the game, and you can monitor my body status! The manual said that the helmet will keep my real-life body nourished, so I am going to go for about a week if possible. I hope to see some of you in the game! Hit me up! My gamertag will still be the same as every other game I play! Look for me!"
Michael smiled and lay down on the bed, placing the helmet on and turning the system on. He quickly logged into his profile after laughing about the feeling of body loss for about 10 minutes. Starting up, he quickly began his journey through Optimus Paradisi.
"Let's do this, my fans!"

[Closet Nerd]

Jason rushed home in his car with the new box in his lap while Mary was driving. He lives in a smallish town so he managed to get second in line after a one-night campout. The drawback though is his home and the 'local' Gamestop are a half hour drive apart. He had been jumping and jittering with excitement, and plenty of coffee, for an hour before the doors opened. He filmed the line behind him in the last few minutes. "I suppose they are excited as I am about this thing." he spoke into his phone, then sending the twenty second video to his youtube followers as a nice little teaser.

But now he is at home, unpacking his prize. The unboxing wasn't filmed, but a picture of the helmet next to his face, with the dumbest, widest grin he could manage, was sent out to the internet as well. Twitter would just love it, he thought.

It took a little while for him to set up the helm to the TV and TV to laptop where he would be recording his entire experience. His wife Mary sat on the chair across from him and relaxed as she was going to watch the first few minutes of the game with their son in her lap. He would probably stay longer. Jason lay himself in a comfortable position on the couch and scanned the preorder code. He rejoiced in the news of an XP boost. Lord knows he'd need it. He fumbled with the helmet a bit as it slid on his head with some difficulty then flipped it on, taking a nap.

Hiro's voice echoed around in Jason's skull for a little bit after slipping in. The log in menu flashed on with the amazing graphics of the world panning around in the background. It looked better than a bluray Blockbuster! He signed up before asking Mary to start recording, not wanting an overzealous hacker busting in during a break.

"Weellllllllllllllllllllcome everybody! This is HyperCalm busting in on the all-time most asked for game," he made a drumroll noise, "Optimus Paradisi!! You've all been waiting for it and God knows you have, so here it is! And I gotta say, thank you to all of the donators out there. Because of this game and you guys wanting to see my vids, I can now buy my life's dream.... A Maserati made of GOLD!" He 'turned' his head a bit at that and found out that the background turned with it. "Ooooh..." He flipped his vision some more. And some more. And some more...

"Sorry, that's a little too fun to me. I probably won't get to playing the game if I don't stop here. Anyway!" he made his transition as he willed the character creation menu into existence. "Let's make our dude."

Jason flipped around a bit on some of the settings, or more like for an hour. He talked a bit to his fans since he had time and the best fans were the only ones watching this early anyway. He did say how he had been planning for a while to make the good old tiny Viking that all fantasy games love.

"Ooph, ain't he a bute?" he said after making his Dwarf, HyperC-LP, "You don't mess with this mohawk and live to talk about it! What ya gonna do, Tusk-faces?" he kidded. He flipped the character around for a little bit as he searched for a flaw, fixed a few, and went on with the gameplay.

"Hi! Welcome to Celestium..."

[sasquatch666]

Isaac being a beta tester skips the character creator and starts by going up to the woman in white and answering her plead for help and starts looking around for her bookmark/looking crystal.