at the mirror watching her. It was really awkward
staring at my niece for so long. She scanned up and down the clothes.
The top was fairly loose and flowing. The pants were almost cutoffs.
I could see leather pads over her knees, shoulders, and elbows.
Nothing here restricted her range of motion.
“ Okay,
that’s enough,” I said as she started another round of
awkward warm ups while staring at herself.
“ Oh
shit. Sorry.” Beth laughed. “Habit. Stretching helps me
move easier once in the game.”
“ Alright.
I get that.” Like a baseball player doing practice swings to
loosen their shoulders.
“ So
Second Player will pick up nearly everything in-game. I tend to play
in a partial immersion mode so most of the extra stuff like Guild
chat and whispers are minimal.” She explained as one arm waved
around. Beth was flicking through screens and pressing options that
said off and on, though I didn't have enough time to read them all.
“ There
are guilds?” I asked. “And you can chat with them from
anywhere?”
“ Sure,”
She said.
“ That
seems to counter this realism claim.”
“ You
can play with everything off if you want, and guess at your stats and
health. There are all sorts of features. Pain levels, skill assists,
even uhhh…” My niece's voice drifted off.
“ What’s
uhh…” I joked.
“ Let’s
just say some of the features are very real, and more than slightly
adult.”
“ Say
no more. Uncle Grant can do without you explaining how real
interpersonal actions can get.” Never did I want to deal with
that sort of issue. I remember when my sister had called me up and
nearly broke down trying to handle it. Skinned knees and school
projects were child’s play compared to the sex talk.
“ Some
guys are, uhh…”
“ Beth.”
I really didn't want to hear her go on about this particular subject.
“ Sorry.”
She apologized.
“ Even
if I wanted to do that sort of thing,” and I hadn’t tried
more than once since my fiancée “I wouldn’t look
for it in a game. So that aspect doesn’t interest me.”
“ Alright.
I only mention it because some players dress really provocatively.”
“ Why,
Beth, I’m proud that you know such a complex word,” I
said.
She
laughed. I smiled. We were back on comfortable ground. It made sense
why she tried to warn me, though. If everything was as high in
realism like her character in the mirror then that aspect would
certainly have a lot of attention. Not only among teenage males. I
tried to keep my sigh quiet.
“ I’ll
head in. I think I left myself on autopilot in the city.”
“ Auto
what it?”
Beth
had wandered over to the Continue Online game. She picked up the book
sized representation from its shelf and tossed it at a wall which
activated the software. What had once been a smooth piece of digital
plaster was now a doorway. That was actually a lot more interesting
looking than how I loaded my simple dance program.
“ Autopilot.
It’s a log off feature. It allows your character to keep
interacting with Arcadia while you’re out.”
“ Why
would that matter?” I asked.
“ You
get little bonuses, reputation, plus for people who have school, like
me, or work, like you, we can’t be online all day every day.
Though some people are crazy about it. You get more points personally
than autopilot will give you.” She said all that as if talking
to herself while in a virtual world. Sometimes the ARC device made
things seem really odd.
“ That’s
new,” I said.
“ Yep!”
She put up one hand on the doorway and pressed heavily into the wall.
“Display in-game.” The side of the wall lit up and showed
a small character sitting on a park bench. It wore the same clothes
Beth had on now. Beth on the bench held a series of strings being
woven together.
“ Huh?”
“ The
computer AI will try to get your avatar to a neutral point once
you’re logged into the Atrium. That way there’s not any
confusion.” My niece
staring at my niece for so long. She scanned up and down the clothes.
The top was fairly loose and flowing. The pants were almost cutoffs.
I could see leather pads over her knees, shoulders, and elbows.
Nothing here restricted her range of motion.
“ Okay,
that’s enough,” I said as she started another round of
awkward warm ups while staring at herself.
“ Oh
shit. Sorry.” Beth laughed. “Habit. Stretching helps me
move easier once in the game.”
“ Alright.
I get that.” Like a baseball player doing practice swings to
loosen their shoulders.
“ So
Second Player will pick up nearly everything in-game. I tend to play
in a partial immersion mode so most of the extra stuff like Guild
chat and whispers are minimal.” She explained as one arm waved
around. Beth was flicking through screens and pressing options that
said off and on, though I didn't have enough time to read them all.
“ There
are guilds?” I asked. “And you can chat with them from
anywhere?”
“ Sure,”
She said.
“ That
seems to counter this realism claim.”
“ You
can play with everything off if you want, and guess at your stats and
health. There are all sorts of features. Pain levels, skill assists,
even uhhh…” My niece's voice drifted off.
“ What’s
uhh…” I joked.
“ Let’s
just say some of the features are very real, and more than slightly
adult.”
“ Say
no more. Uncle Grant can do without you explaining how real
interpersonal actions can get.” Never did I want to deal with
that sort of issue. I remember when my sister had called me up and
nearly broke down trying to handle it. Skinned knees and school
projects were child’s play compared to the sex talk.
“ Some
guys are, uhh…”
“ Beth.”
I really didn't want to hear her go on about this particular subject.
“ Sorry.”
She apologized.
“ Even
if I wanted to do that sort of thing,” and I hadn’t tried
more than once since my fiancée “I wouldn’t look
for it in a game. So that aspect doesn’t interest me.”
“ Alright.
I only mention it because some players dress really provocatively.”
“ Why,
Beth, I’m proud that you know such a complex word,” I
said.
She
laughed. I smiled. We were back on comfortable ground. It made sense
why she tried to warn me, though. If everything was as high in
realism like her character in the mirror then that aspect would
certainly have a lot of attention. Not only among teenage males. I
tried to keep my sigh quiet.
“ I’ll
head in. I think I left myself on autopilot in the city.”
“ Auto
what it?”
Beth
had wandered over to the Continue Online game. She picked up the book
sized representation from its shelf and tossed it at a wall which
activated the software. What had once been a smooth piece of digital
plaster was now a doorway. That was actually a lot more interesting
looking than how I loaded my simple dance program.
“ Autopilot.
It’s a log off feature. It allows your character to keep
interacting with Arcadia while you’re out.”
“ Why
would that matter?” I asked.
“ You
get little bonuses, reputation, plus for people who have school, like
me, or work, like you, we can’t be online all day every day.
Though some people are crazy about it. You get more points personally
than autopilot will give you.” She said all that as if talking
to herself while in a virtual world. Sometimes the ARC device made
things seem really odd.
“ That’s
new,” I said.
“ Yep!”
She put up one hand on the doorway and pressed heavily into the wall.
“Display in-game.” The side of the wall lit up and showed
a small character sitting on a park bench. It wore the same clothes
Beth had on now. Beth on the bench held a series of strings being
woven together.
“ Huh?”
“ The
computer AI will try to get your avatar to a neutral point once
you’re logged into the Atrium. That way there’s not any
confusion.” My niece
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