K-EM Enterprises: A Virtual Reality Adventure [NC]

[Esoteric Myobi]

[.Introduction.]

It is the year 2222. Technology has advanced to the point where convenience is absolute. Corporations have forever been striving for an electronic device that is full of functional features and is still small and sleek. They succeeded with the breakthrough of 3D tablets, along with the creation of 'Accessorize' -- miniature computers with limited functionalities, as compared to their tablet counterparts, and styled to pass for an accessory. Computers of old, such as laptops and desktops, have long become obsolete. Yet there was still one area that had not been broken through.

Virtual Reality.

Until K-EM Enterprises that is.

The biggest conglomerate dealing in the creation of electronics, K-EM Enterprises was the first to create both 3D tablets and Accessorize. Now, they unveil their latest development -- a virtual reality console.

After years of testing in the labs, K-EM had finally perfected virtual reality. And now they're ready to sell it to the masses.

As the public anticipates the date of its opening sale, K-EM Enterprises announces that ten lucky winners will be able to visit their headquarters and experience the virtual world. These winners will walk away as the first owners of the world's latest technology.

No one could have predicted the chaos about the follow...

*    *    *

Welcome to K-EM Enterprises, an adventure game taking place within the realm of virtual reality! This is a game where players will be transported to a world of wonders, a place where virtually anything is possible.

[.What.To.Expect.]

Our ten lucky winners will be gathering at the headquarters of K-EM Enterprises for a three-day weekend tour of the system, at the end of the tour they will leave as the first ten people in the world to have experienced K-EM's virtual world and be the proud owners of their own free consoles.

Time moves faster in the virtual world than it does in reality, approximately three times faster. This gives the guests an estimate of one weeks time within the virtual world to fully enjoy themselves -- only one week instead of nine days since some time is deducted for the preparation of entering and leaving the virtual world.

While players are able to fully feel and experience everything that occurs in the virtual world, this does not change the fact that bodily functions must still be met. However, for the sake of a full tour, without the interruption of needing food for replenishment and other such matters, the ten winners will be placed in a short cryogenic sleep.

While K-EM's tech team overlooks the steps of cryogenic sleep, the virtual world is overlooked by a Central AI. The Central AI has been pre-programmed to run the world and maintain the system. It makes and controls various other AIs (NPCs) throughout the virtual world. They are so well-made that it is hard to differentiate them from another player.

All seems to be well and going according to schedule, but what happens when a hacker working for a rival company manages to infiltrate K-EM Enterprises under the guise of one of the winners...?

A suddenly malfunctioning system is the answer, and our ten winners no longer seem so lucky.

Will they be able to survive the twisted games of the AI and leave the headquarters of K-EM Enterprises unscathed?

Basically, this will be a game of adventure where players are pitted against various obstacles set up by the GMs.

Players can expect for there to be several different and completely random 'worlds' to traverse through. As they travel, players will bump into the different AIs that make up the Central AI. Some of these AIs may help the players (for a price), while others want nothing more than to hinder or outright harm them.

Players will not necessarily all be together in a group at all times. There may be times when some are alone, and the group is scattered. While actual death is not possible within the virtual world, players are transported to a penalty area when they 'die'. Once they have received their penalty, they are free to roam the world once again. However, since players are able to feel and experience everything, death surely will not be pleasant.

[.Available.Roles.]

AIs: There will be seven main AIs that will be played by the GMs [myself and Kunoichi] as well as any other NPC characters. AIs have their own unique agendas, as well as personalities. Whether or not an AI will prove to be an ally or an enemy to the Users, only time will tell.

Users: These are the ten not-so-lucky winners that are now trapped within the Virtual World. How will they fare against the AIs?

Hacker: Out of the ten Users, one is a hacker from a rival company. This will be a secret role and Users will eventually find out who the hacker among them is. If you are interested in this role, please send a PM to the GM expressing your interest and we will discuss the role. Essentially, the Hacker will be like the AIs' spy. Having failed in hacking the system, his/her mind is broken by the central AI. However...will the hacker manage to free him/herself from the AI's control? Will s/he continue helping the AIs or will s/he side with the Users?

[.Character.Profile.Sheet.]

Code Select Expand

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Sexuality:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Avatar Appearance:[/b] (It can be the same as your character's original appearance with enhancements, such as smoother skin, bigger breasts, cat ears and a tail etc. Or it can be something completely different. Please keep it mostly humanoid however.)
[b]Physical Enhancements:[/b] (Can only have one. Examples: Better hearing, greater strength, etc.)
[b]Positive Traits:[/b] (List three)
[b]Negative Traits:[/b] (List three)
[b]Skills:[/b] (Optional, list three at most)
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Biography:[/b]
[b]Ons/Offs:[/b]

Once characters are approved, a cast list will be posted here. We are looking for players who are:

• Willing and able to post at least once a week.
• Posts should be at least 4 sentences minimum, however, longer posts are always welcome.
• There is to be no text-speak, grammar and writing should be understandable though not necessarily perfect. If I'm struggling to read and understand your post because of spelling and grammar errors, this is bad.
• Creative writers! This is a virtual world where the boundaries of creativity are only limited to your imagination. Think up creative ways to escape, to bribe, to end the game in one piece. However, this is a game of survival and thus players will undoubtedly need to work together.

[.Cast.Thus.Far.]

Sean O'Flaherty played by TheHangedMan
Roger Park played by Iksander
Micheal Dodger played by BigBuckBob
Mimi Johnson played by Shihong
Nora Flynn played by lore
Joseph Arlington played by nishi
Mag Bezentien played by ReanimateMagnus
Daniel "Twirdy" Quirk played by DudelRok
Seth Adler played by Wolf Heart
Heo Sae-Jin played by Lithium
Laura Bronze played by Linna

[TheHangedOne]

Looks like fun, Myobi.  :-) I'm interested in being one of the (un)lucky winners. I'll make up a character sheet some time between now and Monday.

[BigBuckBob]

Expressing interest.

[Esoteric Myobi]

Hurray, interest. =) Glad to know that there is some. ^^

Looking forward to seeing your character sheet THM, you know you're always welcome!

[Iksander]

This definitely seems like something up my alley, I'll try to get a sheet to you soon, Myobi.

[Esoteric Myobi]

Looking forward to it, as always, Iksander. =)

[TheHangedOne]

Alright. I'm going to chip away at this in bits and pieces over the day.

Name: Sean O'Flaherty

Age: 23
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Straight as an arrow

Physical Enhancements: Fast Reflexes
Positive Traits:
Adaptive
Quick-thinker
Strong Will
                                     Negative Traits:
                                     Loner
                                     Stubborn
                                     Distrustful
                                     Skills:
                                     Gaming!
                                     Personality: Eccentric and neurotic to the point where many may question his sanity. He apparently has two radically different sides to himself. One is kind, caring, light-hearted, childish, and whimsical; the other side deathly serious, dry, aggressive, and humorless.
                                     Biography: Sean's been gaming since he was a little kid; handheld games, console games, computer games, hell, even tabletop games.  He even hopes to one day be a game dev (but that'll never happen; he's too lazy). Unfortunately, when your only real interaction with other people comes in the form of roleplaying games, you tend to end up a little...crazy. Such is the case with Sean.

What he knows of other people, life, the universe, and everything else is basically relegated to what he's learned from playing video games.  And yet, he's just fine the way he is, failing to understand why people make a big deal about having a social life or boring things like that.
                                     Ons/Offs:
                                     ON: Nothing in particular
                                     OFF: Vore, gore, mutilation, scat/watersports.

[Kunoichi]

Well, looks like we've got a decent amount of interest thus far. ^^

[TheHangedOne]

Hullo again, Kunoichi!  :-)

[Kunoichi]

Hello. ^^

[TheHangedOne]

Done! For now. I may end up tweaking and refining him after a time.

[Esoteric Myobi]

Hurray, our first profile. =) I see that you chose an interested avatar for your loner :P

[Iksander]

Name: Roger Park
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Bisexual

Appearance:

Avatar Appearance:

Physical Enhancements: Increased healing rate
Positive Traits: Creative, uncorruptable, logical
Negative Traits: Lazy, irreverant, over-confident
Skills: Problem-solving, graphic design, business savvy

Personality: Roger generally approaches life with a sense of humor and a relaxed sensibility.  He rarely takes anything seriously, but since nothing stresses him, he's capable of approaching any situation with the same amount of energy.  Of course, that amount of energy is usually just enough to get him to solve the problem.  He's generally easy to get along with, though.

Biography: Roger was a trend-setter in terms of multimedia integration, devising new market strategies to help use the advancing technology of the day to help not only market goods but to aid in implementation.  All his life, he was a fan of the electronic world, finding little pleasure in day to day existence in the real world.  But he found a talent for understanding the unification of the two, even when he was in high school.  In college, after several failed majors, Roger found himself in marketing and discovered ways of making money from his passion.  Five years later and he was wealthy enough to retire early, though he instead opened a small marketing firm of his own, occassionally taking interesting cases while mostly involving himself in his leisure.

Ons/Offs: Same as mine

[TheHangedOne]

Hurray, our first profile. =) I see that you chose an interested avatar for your loner :P

Yup. Going for a cartoonishly psychopathic look.

[BigBuckBob]

Name: Micheal Dodger
Age: 27
Gender: M
Sexuality: Straight
Appearance:

Avatar Appearance: Michael designed himself an avatar based on himself, but a bit idealized. Making it look approximately as he would, if he bothered to hit the gym and eat proper.
Physical Enhancements: Wearing contacts for most of his life, after being mocked for his glasses in younger years, he took the game advantage of improved vision.
Positive Traits:
Kind heart, noble, protective
Negative Traits:
Lazy, introverted, overly trusting
Skills:
Competitive swimmer
Personality:
Kind and happy, he has a good sense of humor once he gets to know someone, or when stuck in a group. However he starts any social situation by hiding in the back and just listening, getting a sens of the group.
Biography:
A bit of an achiever in high school, high grades, star swimmer, solid group of friends. But not an overachiever, he didn't put in extra effort, just enough effort. After going off to college that lack of drive led him to drop swimming and dropped his grades due to his lack of attendance.  He kept going, pushing to complete his bachelors, and then stopped.
Ons/Offs:
scat, pee, m/m

[Crovonovin]

Name: Mimi Johnson
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Homosexual
Base Avatar - Female Avatar - Male Avatar
Physical Enhancements: Enhanced Speed

Positive Traits:

• Unflappable
• Tactful
• Supportive

Negative Traits:

• Prone to burying personal problems.
• Holds grudges.
• Wounded easily by excessive criticism.

Skills:

• Dancing
• Organizing
• Killstealing

Personality:
At a glance, Mimi the picture perfect housewife.  Most personal slights slide off her like water from a duck's back, she's infectiously friendly to everyone she meets, exudes warmth and kindness, and always makes sure dinner is on the table at the appointed hour.  Most people are perfectly content to know only this side of her, taking and taking and taking and giving only complaints or worries in return.  Why bother with a psychiatrist when Mimi is always there to lend an ear?  Can't pick up the kids from school like you promised?  Surely Mimi doesn't have anything better to do!  Get home from work earlier than usual after a hard day without warning?  Mimi will be happy to drop whatever useless thing she's doing and soothe you, and not even bat an eye when you gripe about dinner not being out of the oven yet.

If the only person you ever asked about Mimi was her husband, the most you'd receive is a description better suited to an automaton or a caricature than a human being.

You'd never know, for example, that she once dreamed of being a professional dancer, let alone that she had the talent needed to succeed at it.  The very idea that she once wanted to buy a motorcycle and go cruising across the states--how absurd!  You might wonder why she coerced her husband into getting a high-end computer for "playing Farmville", as he puts it, and never know her love of shooters and roleplaying games.  And of course, you'd never dream of suspecting that her monthly 'Girls' Night Out' was something far more risque than a sewing circle.

Biography:

Born the only daughter of a Chinese executive and his wallflower wife, Mimi found out at a very young age that she was considered nothing more than a tool.  They had expectations, and she had little choice but to meet them.  Her dreams, her flights of fantasy, and her burgeoning curiosities in High School meant absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.  She had been thrown into a cage by her ancestry and was shunted off on rails towards a chosen future as the wife of a rival company's CEO's son to cement an impending merger.  She hadn't been able to coax that essential spark of righteous indignation needed to make her own way, and the fire of independence churning in her gut was quelled until only smoldering coals remained.  So she was married, her goals of attending a prestigious university stripped away for night classes at a local school, and eventually pumped out two little boys for her husband to fawn over.

It was around the time her youngest turned two that she started getting into gaming.  Having heard horror stories of women her age leaving their kids to die in their obsession, she took great care to avoid negligence and balance her schedule carefully.  Being able to relax after a busy afternoon by ventilating whiny sixteen year olds and screaming insults into a mic proved immensely therapeutic, and was probably healthier than the alternative of mixing rat poison into her husband's dinner.  Her reflexes actually proved quite keen, earning her the top spot on several leaderboards and the attention of certain canny individuals with a new system to test...

[Esoteric Myobi]

Liking the characters so far. Seems everyone's pretty computer/technologically saavy. ;D

Just a few questions for Shihong though.

• Unfortunately, the physical enhancements available are just the basics of improved hearing, strength, agility, concentration, eyesight, etc. However, later on in the game, AIs will be able to give and/or take abilities from players. So Mimi may very well gain the ability of a shapeshifter later in game, or lose whatever physical enhancement she chose to start out with. (Same goes for everyone else.)
• I noticed that you've listed three avatars. I'm assuming that you'll be using the Base Avatar as your main? Though yes, characters can have more than one avatar if they'd like -- and may switch back and forth at their leisure.

Otherwise, yay for interested players! Hoping to get a full cast of ten (ideally five male and female characters total) before I start the game. :-)

[Crovonovin]

That's actually the only reason I chose shapeshifting to begin with, Myobi, as I originally thought we were restricted to only one.  I'll edit that right away.

Glad to be considered for this one!

[lore]

Name: Nora Flynn
Age: 25
Gender: female
Sexuality: heterosexual
Appearance: Nora is 5'4'' with broad hips, and pale skin spattered in brown freckles. A lifetime of hard training and strict diets have left her with a lean body with wiry muscle and a modestly sized chest. She's raven haired with severe cheekbones, dark eyes and a serious brow.
Avatar Appearance: Nora's avatar is consistent with her actual appearance, she just stylizes herself after her heroine, Amelia Earhart, as seen above: trenchcoats, leather cloves, caps goggles, etc. As an inadvertent side effect of her intentions, her skin took on a smoother appearance, consistent with the old soft focus photos of her heroine. She also did away with all body hair below her neckline, because after years of camping, it seemed something of a luxury not to have to worry about yeti legs.
Physical Enhancements: Enhanced neural capacity (can think and learn faster, remember more)
Positive Traits: Intelligent, disciplined, moral.
Negative Traits: Frank, ignorant of most technologies, slow to trust.
Skills: Survival, firearms, hand to hand combat
Personality: Nora is deeply sarcastic, with an ironic sense of humor. Indulging in wit so dry it went above the heads of most was her only means of maintaining her sanity for many years. She has a sharp, honed memory, but wouldn't be able to navigate an Accessorize to save her life, having been denied access to anything more complex then a digital watch. Though no necessarily friendly, she aspires to be  good person - or a better one at the very least.
Biography: Nora is the daughter of an infamous anti-tech lobbyist and pundit. At best an extremest and at worst a insane militant instigator, Boston Flynn produces some of the most viewed opinion vids on the the planet. Known for his combustive rage and frank expletive riddled delivery, Boston's red, anger contorted face is known worldwide, but the most frightening about the man is the amount of support -financial and otherwise- his 'Back to our Roots' campaign managed to amass. 

Boston used a portion of his ample donations to construct himself an underground bunker at an undisclosed location somewhere in America's midwest. There he housed his wife and children. The latter were raised under strict circumstances: 6am rise, 7am run, 8am protein and carb rich organic breakfast, 9am-2pm traditional education - essentially she and her siblings in a windowless room with her mother in front of a chalkboard. The children were homeschooled on near every subject imaginable, though exclusively from books. 4pm-5pm leisure time, 6pm protein rich organic supper, 7pm-9pm combat and firearm exercises, 10pm retire to bed. Weekends were spent being dragged out into the dessert for "camping" which was truly tantamount to survival training.

There came a point in Nora's life where she began to question her father's doomsday predictions - about when she neared the age of six. There was no reason for her doubt. She and her siblings had been sheltered from outside influences, but she simply couldn't escape the impression he hadn't the slightest what he was talking about. It was a lonely way to be - the only non believer in a world full of devotees. One year bled into the next as she endured the ridiculous regiment of being reared to survive the impending apocalypse. When she reached adulthood, she remained on the family compound, having known little else. he works for her father, mainly balancing books and handling finances.

Everyone, most certainly her father, was shocked to hear she had managed to enter let alone win K-EM console contest. She remains tight lipped about her motives.

Ons/Offs: See mine. Nora's more likely to be on the switch side.

[lore]

I love how Micheal and Roger turned themselves into beefcakes  :P

[Esoteric Myobi]

Looks like Nora will make for an interesting character...especially due to her background. ;D Welcome to the game, lore.

[lore]

Danke. I like to think of her father as the worst parts of Bill O'Reilly and Glen Back combined and congealed over the centuries, going off about how decadent and laziness-inducing technologies of the world are crippling Americans and lining the pockets of unethical virtual crack peddling tyrants.

I figure some might be a little suspicious of her when a hacker is discovered in game  ;D

[Esoteric Myobi]

-nodnods-

Well, in this case, I don't know if I'd call K-EM Enterprises an unethical virtual crack peddling tyrant...then again... ;D

Oh and speaking of the hacker, if anyone is interested in taking up the role, please send me a PM saying so. Once we've assembled a full cast, I'll be picking out our hacker. If no one's expressed interest, then it'll be done randomly with a dice roll. And if more than one person has stated they'd like the role, well, that's a dice roll too. xD

[Crovonovin]

I imagine only someone totally paranoid would be the sort to suspect Nora of being the hacker.  From the sound of it her upbringing has been teetering on the edge of the Neo-Luddite ravine, so it'd be a stretch of the imagination to think she'd have those sorts of talents.

...Unless that's what she wants us to think!

[lore]

...Unless that's what she wants us to think!

[TheHangedOne]

Brilliant!

[nishi]

Interested to play a guy with a female avatar.

Is something like this (a bit cliche) welcome in this game?

[Esoteric Myobi]

Nope, I don't see any problem with that. =)

I suppose the only question when we start the game, is whether everyone would like to keep their players 'anonymous' until they meet in the virtual world? As in, would you prefer that everyone has already met in the 'real' world (all gathered in one meeting room at headquarters and given a rundown of the process) or would players prefer that perhaps they arrive at different times at headquarters and are received in private rooms? That way, when players arrive in the virtual world they'll be 'seen' by each other for the first time in their preferred avatar?

[Crovonovin]

I think the latter might be preferable.  That way you don't have the obvious derogatory comments towards those who decide to do away with the chunk for some muscle in the game world, and leave open the possibility for hilarious revelations later on down the line.

[Kunoichi]

Hilarious or traumatic, depending on who's doing the revealing and in what context, you mean. :P

[TheHangedOne]

I'm torn. On the one hand, the "Nobody knows whose behind the mask" idea is appealing to me...on the other hand, it's more realistic for them to all be at least vaguely familiar with each other; if not meeting in a board room, for instance, then what about when they're being put into the cryogenic sleep? At the very least, they might catch a glimpse into other tubes as they're being into theirs. I sincerely doubt each tube would be kept in its own room; that's a logistical nightmare of a sort.

[nishi]

if they were pricewinners, I would say they probably knew eachother beforehand.

This sounds like something big, you know like charly and the chocolatefactory, lots of press/media coverage etc for the winners ;)

although the not knowing identities before entering may leave the story open for nice twists.. BUT .. doesnt the story end when they get out? They would only see eachother at the end when they survived everything/found a way out?

[Esoteric Myobi]

Hrm, hard decision. I can see how each option would appeal. I suppose we shall decide once we're ready to begin.

In the meantime...we'd still need a few more players to obtain a full cast. :-)

[lore]

I am flexible. Either way.

I think not knowing might add a little more interest to the game, however, especially with characters like Mimi.

The anonimity of the winners could have been part of the gimmick of the contest, especially if K-EM had been advertizing the console as a means of reinventing oneself - 'Be all you can't be!'. Maybe there were a hundred (or however many) potential candidates, but only six were chosen from the pool to be lead into cryosleep. This would give the users the same experience as most everyone else who will eventually use the console. ...heh and one that is none too different from the one we are engaging with with eachother as writers on this board. 

In terms of the cryo room logistics, and them not seeing eachother if they are in the same room, that's nothing a few blindfolds and some partition curtains couldn't rectify.  ;D

[Esoteric Myobi]

Oh yes, definitely. I'm sure one appeal of VR would be the reinventing of self, as well as the ability to find 'paradise'. One thing that would be a selling point is how players can mold the 'world' to their liking -- something that will be elaborated on further in game. And yes, was thinking the same for the cryo room if we decide to go the 'anonymous' route. (We're cheap and can't afford individual rooms, but it's okay! We'll use nice curtains, really! ;D)

[nishi]

Hi guys! I was still interested in joining. Let me know if this character may be overpowered ;)
* I actually edited this post a few times *

Name: Joseph Arlington
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Heterosexual (may turn bi during the game ;) )

Appearance: Height: 1.86 m (6'1") | Hair colour: Brown | Eye colour: Blue |	Avatar Appearance: Height: 1.63 m (5'4") | Hair colour: Brown | Eye colour: Blue |

Physical Enhancements: Higher adrenaline/epinephrine production during a"fight or flight response" (typically in a dangerous situation), resulting in increased strength and speed as well as a faster reactiontime. These improvements are more than it would be compared to normale volumes of adrenaline, but without the negative side effect/dangers of an adrenaline overdose.

Positive Traits:

• Insightful
• Fast learning
• Great muscle memory.

Negative Traits:

• Bad with numbers
• Indecisive
• Submissive (as opposed to assertive, not SEXUALLY submissive)

Skills:

• Wall/mountain-climbing
• Excellent marksman
• Some martial arts

Personality:
Outgoing guy, talkative, charming personality with a nice sense of humor.

He is your average yuppie (short for "young urban professional"). You know the type: Has all the latest gadgets, more money to spend than whats average for their age, loves to party, socializing, networking etcetera. He is the type of guy that seems to live 24/7, has 700 friends on his MyTwitface Page which he keeps updating all day long, posting whatever random thought that runs through his mind. He loves wall- and mountain climbing, which he does once every two weeks with his friends. He can also be found one time a month at the local shooting range, where he practices shooting all kinds of targets with all kinds of weapons, just for fun. He manages his time perfectly, so that he still finds time for playing videogames. Like MMORPGs, where he is an excellent raid-leader on his (only) female characters. He is also a top-ranking online Super Streetfighter Neo XI player, known for his adaptive mindgames and flawless execution of special moves and combos.

His weakness is that tries a bit too hard to be friendly, often letting his opinion slide in favor of others. Because of this, he is not a great leader in real life , although online in videogames he has proven that he possesses the knowledge, insight and tact to lead people in any type of situation, whether in war or at the office. This causes him despite being a very social person, to prefer to be alone when doing things like exploring or sports.

He has a love for anything retro, like the antique laptop that he carries around as a fashion statement instead of it being actually useful, and the avatar, which he based on some old retro videogame.

Biography:
He grew up with rather strict parents, always pushing him to do well in school and get a good well-earning job. At a young age he started to play videogames, as a way to escape the pressure of his daily life. He had done some Wing-Chun kung-fu during highschool, but that was only because he wanted to get closer to a girl he had a crush on. But when she made it clear that she had no romantic interest in him after two and a half years, he quit those lessons.

Besides of that he never did much sports until during college he discovered wall-climbing. He truly loved the first time he took an introductory lesson with a number of fellow students, after which a few of them continued as a biweekly group. Something that they are still doing to this day, often going away for a weekend to literally hang out on some mountain.

Although he as a decent job at a large sales firm, he still craves the escapism that videogames brought him and even though he has a rich social life he still plays whenever he can. He had a girlfriend for six years but they broke up recently. He was actually planning on taking a sabbatical, to travel the world a bit, until he entered the contest of K-EM Enterprises.

Ons/Offs:
Joseph as a man has mainly vanilla interests. He prefers the girl on top of him, letting her take control, letting her please him, letting her do all the work. He loves cunnilingus as well as receiving oral sex from his bedpartner. As a female avatar he would probably try to stick to only be lesbian but probably fail at that.

Storywise, I don't have much offs except scat, though I doubt Joseph would be a willing participant at first when it comes to having sex with a man. You can use my personal On/off page as a reference, though I see this character more as a free spirited one instead of a doctile submissive slave.

[lore]

and the avatar, which  he based on some old retro videogame.

Ha perfect avatar choice. When I saw the images (both his avatar and his actual appearance) I thought 'This guy probably plays tomb raider the same way hipsters play NES games today' before I even read a word of your app. :)

[nishi]

lol thanks.

Actually, I am one of those hipsters you were talking about, although Nintendo is either too old or too new for me, since I prefer 16/32bit games or stuff older than NES :)

[nishi]

@lore before today I only skimmed through your character profile, but after actually reading it now, I realise that I have described almost the same psysical enhancement as yours!

Though not 100% the same, I do think they are similar, wont you agree? Should I change it?

[lore]

Only if you want to be a unique and beautiful snowflake :P

Otherwise is kinda funny if the two, who are do direly different. made the same choice.

[nishi]

just for diversity's sake ;)

I think i'll go increased muscle strength (can lift more and move faster) since it seems we dont have a muscle in our party yet ;). Ill update once I made up my mind

@Myobi: what is the limit of the chosen abilities? can my character have hulk-like strength (lifting a car with one finger) or does it have to be somewhat realistic? or for example if someone has enhanced vision would he be able to see a needle on the ground 3 miles ahead ?

[Esoteric Myobi]

Welcome to the game, anisha. =)

Hmm, that's a good question. I'd say that when used 'casually' it'd be a little more realistic. For strength, you wouldn't have trouble lifting things that you may struggle with in person (can't think of any examples right now, just woke up @_@). Though with more time, effort, and concentration used, I suppose it'd be possible to lift a car (not with one finger) or some other giant object for a short amount of time. This would leave you drained for a while afterwards though.

A simpler way of putting it I suppose, would be that in VR you become an improved version of yourself. The physical enhancement would basically be what your character could have done in reality if they were at their best. So in 'reality' when we can't reach our maximum potential, you reach 100% in VR. Yet when you try to go beyond 100%, it'll strain you.

Did that make sense?

-is totally rambling-

[nishi]

-- Oops.. accidently edited the wrong post, I am so sorry.. the post is gone now. It containt a few questions--

I asked about what having an avatar actually means. Would an avatar looking like hulk hogan or any body builder also have his strength? Would a paraplegic be able to walk without having to apply for "ability to walk" as his physical enhancement?

I also asked about how realistic those enhancements should be. For example someone had faster healing listed as enhancement, is that realistic? (not doubting or intending to flame anyone, just wanted to see what I could choose as enhancement)

[Esoteric Myobi]

Yes, I try to propose ideas and nudge players along a direction, though I won't tell you "You MUST/HAVE TO do this." I may be GMing this game, but this game will be molded by all of us together. ;D So really, I play off of suggestions and ideas from my players quite a lot. It tends to help me figure things out more, such as your questions.

To answer your questions:

Yes, avatars really are nothing more than just a visual thing. It just makes the players look different, so their skills and abilities don't change (besides the one physical enhancement that they choose of course). So technically, yes, if someone decided to make their avatar a fitter version of themselves, and in 'reality' they are incredibly out of shape then it would probably be something like this:

Player A only uses 50% of his strength IRL and can lift 25 lbs without a sweat. In VR, Player A would be capable of using 100% of his strength, and he has no problem lifting 50 lbs without a sweat. When trying for something heavier, it'll be more difficult and strain Player A.

That's just a general idea really. So in a way, they wouldn't be 'superhuman' they would just be functioning at 100%. So they MAY be able to lift a car, and they MAY be able to see an object 200 meters away, but even if they CAN do these things it'll be hard to do so and cannot be done often as it'll take a heavy toll on the player.

As for whether or not a paraplegic would be able to walk, I would say yes. The way that the console for VR is set up is going to be like electrical signals sent to/from the brain. So even if a person is crippled, this would not hinder them in the VR world.

Oh and, maximized muscle potential sounds fine. It would certainly make your stronger and faster, but not as fast as someone who chose to be light and speedy as their physical enhancement. Also, I accepted the increased healing rate as a physical enhancement since I believe it is one. While it wouldn't do much for offense, it would be a defensive enhancement. However, fatal wounds, if received, would of course still be fatal. (Though players cannot actually 'die' in the VR world, they will receive a penalty if they ever reach that point.) Hope this answered your questions.

[nishi]

Thanks for explaining, Myobi. As you can see I was editing my character sheet but accidently pressed edit on the wrong post, thus deleting the questions you answered.. sorry ;)

Anyway

Since my character is already in decent shape before entering the VR world, I chose "Higher adrenaline/epinephrine production in time of crisis" Basically this would mean a bit stronger/faster than he would have been with maximized muscle potential, but imho it would still be human/realistic, and imho sounds a bit more interesting than "he is stronger/has more muscles"

(and there had been cases of people lifting a car during extreme stress situations, because most likely the adrenaline powered their body to be able to do that)

[TheHangedOne]

You know, I've heard about that phenomena of freakish, adrenaline fueled strength, but the thing that never gets mentioned in most articles (but does in scientific journals) is that even with the adrenaline helping you, doing something like that does serious damage to the muscles, some times permanently.  Just an FYI, everything has a price, you know?  :-)

[nishi]

yes, I realise that. There was a story in newspaper here about a woman who lifted a car or something, rescuing some people who were underneath it from drowning.

Then an article about her one or two years later: It turned out that after her heroic actions, she suffered from amongst others backpains etc.. resulting her to not being able to work again. iirc she had insomnia from the pain it caused her, and she even had trouble walking or was it lifting things. It really messed with her.

That was why I mentioned "without the negative side effect/dangers of an adrenaline overdose.", but I did not had something like that in mind actually (I could use it as an emergency during the storyline if needed at a price), more like maybe 10-50% stronger/faster etc than my character would have without the enhancement . Since adrenaline (according to the short research I have done) will boost your strengh/speed/reflexes in a real life as well, though normally you wont notice it much mentally since you just take it for granted or are used to it.

[Esoteric Myobi]

Joseph's new Physical Enhancement seems fine to me. I just wanted to make sure, the part where there aren't any negative side effects, I'm assuming you mean from the simpler things? Such as, he may be stronger and faster in a fight, then after it's over he won't necessarily feel exhausted. However, if he were still to do something big, I'm assuming that while  he wouldn't be injured badly (depending on how big the feat is, I suppose) he would be considerably tired and unable to repeat the act for a while.

If I got that all right, then I don't see anything else that I'd make suggestions on.  ;D

[nishi]

With negative side I meant the general side effects as read here http://www.buzzle.com/articles/epinephrine-side-effects.html, but basically I put it there to prevent him from getting a heart attack or brain damage.

And yes after something big like flipping a car it would take some time to recover (although I do NOT intend it to be something joseph would do regulary unless the plot REALLY calls for it), but not like the woman I mentioned from that article who was damaged for life. I dont like playing a god, if I did I would have put something like skin made of liquid metal that can shoot lasers or something crazy like that.

[BigBuckBob]

skin made of liquid metal that can shoot lasers or something crazy like that.

I want to change my enhancement.

[ReanimateMagnus]

Name: Mag Bezentien
Age:23
Gender:Male
Sexuality:Straight
Appearance:
Avatar Appearance: Same
Physical Enhancements: Greater Speed
Positive Traits: Honest, Athletic, Logical
Negative Traits: Arrogant, Relentless, Cold-Hearted
Skills: Tennis, (of course :P) Mathematics
Personality: See Traits
Biography: Came from a long line of tennis players, been gaming on the side for fun and relaxation. Recently widower.
Ons/Offs: See sig.

[nishi]

Welcome :D

[ReanimateMagnus]

Thanks nishi, you're going to have to be my guide :P

[Esoteric Myobi]

Welcome to the game, ReanimateMagnus. =) Looks like you'll be our second speedy person, but I'm sure Shihong doesn't mind. ^^

[ReanimateMagnus]

Thanks, I always enjoyed being the speedy character type. I like your avy by the way Myobi.

[DudelRok]

Name: Daniel "Twirdy" Quirk
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Mostly Straight

Appearance:
Avatar Appearance: Avatar is near identical except it is more cartoonish and stylistic, almost as if drawn by hand rather than be a render of a photograph. He wears a coat more fitting the Victorian Era (which is 2 sizes too large for him) coupled with a Japanese Hakama. Expression of emotions, especially on his face, are also more exaggerated than a typical human could show.

Physical Enhancements: Improved Balance and "Grace"
Positive Traits: Trusting, Honest, Loyal
Negative Traits: Easily Misguided, Emotionally Immature, Passive
Skills: Cooking, Customer Service (Pleasing others), Puzzles (Recognizing shapes and patterns)

Personality: Loves life, the people he knows, enjoys positive energy/people/places/things. Likes to be happy and stay happy, especially since he's not so good at expressing his other emotions without looking/being a bit immature about it. When angry he shouts and hits things. When sad he easily cries. When in love he expresses with daisies and chocolates.

He does his best to stay in like with everyone he possibly can, even letting go some things he might find ethically or morally corrupt just to keep a friend. Though that honesty and loyalty can clash and cause him great internal discomfort as he fights between which is best.

Likes to make friends, hates to lose them. Likes to fall in love, hates to be heartbroken. Likes the taste of chocolate ice cream, hates when it's all gone.

Biography: Twirdy, as he calls himself and uses as an online handle, had a good life with a good 2 parent (mother and father) household with a younger sister (by only three years), two cats and a dog. He eventually graduated high school with average no-nothing grades and got a job working basic customer service. He likes his job (which mostly consists of going in the back and getting things for customers when they ask for them, as well as working any "lay-a-way" plans) and is still generally pretty happy.

However, there is that small space in his chest he can't seem to fill. He's tried dating, 6 girls in total his whole life (7 if you count the time in preschool he and his sister thought they were a couple), but none of them ever seemed to work out. They all needed him to do more than he could. Financial support he couldn't offer, emotional strength he didn't really have, the power and urge to fight another man should the need arise.

Eventually that want he had, which he didn't know he had, was taken online. He found what he wanted in that of his first Mistress. An older women who had all the things the women his own age wanted of him, which he either couldn't provide or simply didn't want to. The relationship with his Mistress worked out fantastic, that is until Twirdy got the wrong idea and fell in love. That was apparently a very big no-no and Twirdy's first really fulfilling relationship ended because he didn't know the rules.

Now Twirdy has won this fantastic opportunity, having been exceptionally excited about the obvious possibilities of VR and his own little needs, he is REALLY looking forward to this weekend and seeing what kind of world(s) he will have the chance to explore, shape, and generally enjoy.

Ons/Offs:

Ons: Dominant women (and men to a much lesser extent), being teased, being kissed, being touched and touching, giving cunnilingus, giving finger jobs (hand jobs to a lesser extent), giving and receiving anal (mostly pegging on the reviving end), being rewarded for good behavior and otherwise being a good boy.

Offs Extreme BDSM (some is okay), anger, aggressive/assertive men, generally mean/rude people (if they are rude/mean to him or someone he likes, anyway), being made fun of and otherwise not nice people

(Anything Else: View My O/O's or Ask.)

[Wolf Heart]

Seth's Avatar

Name:
Seth Adler

Age:
18

Gender:
Male

Sexuality:
Heterosexual

Physical Enhancements:
Increased manual dexterity (He's flexible and has high awareness of and control over his body)

Positive Traits:
Loyal, Strong willed, Attentive

Negative Traits:
Defiant, Arrogant, Blunt

Skills:
Swordsmanship, Parquor, street fighting

Ons/Offs:
See my signature, if you will.

Personality:

Seth's personality is pretty easy to figure out. He's a thug, an angry teenager with little outlet for his excesive energy beyond vandalism and fighting, and other illegal activities. Still, he can and has surprised people... All be it in mostly with his skill with a broom handle or bat.

Biography:

Seth was raised in the city as an only child, his mother and father both office workers trying to move up in life. As a result, they worked most of the day and hardly took any weekends or holidays... Of course, he'll say they were good to him, when they were there... Of course, they still heard when he started getting into trouble. They've tried everything with him, including sending him to strict courses in fighting and swordsmanship... but these hardly helped him become a model citizen. Still, he did mellow... if only enough to keep him from going to Juvenile Hall again.

The real Seth (Hidden due to size)

(A bit of a work in progress, but the basics are all there.)

[nishi]

nice new characters ;) I think we got an interesting group here ;)

If approved, we only need 1 more :D

[Esoteric Myobi]

Welcome to the game~!

Dudel, I'm seeing plenty of interesting fun in store for your character. ;D

Just one question for Wolf Heart, does the sword come with your avatar as well?

[Lithium]

Name: Heo Sae-Jin (typically just goes by Jin)

Age: 21

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Bisexual

Appearance: 5'5"

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Avatar Appearance: 5'10"

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Physical Enhancements: Enhanced stamina and stamina recovery.

Positive Traits: Spirited, fearless, takes initiative.

Negative Traits: Impatient, reckless, thinks rules are meant to be broken.

Skills: Drawing, working technological gadgets of almost any kind, gaming (PVP in MMORPGs, specifically).

Personality: Jin is like a lion in girl's clothing. She loves a challenge and rarely backs down from one, and she's the kind of person who is willing to try almost anything once. She's very fiery and energetic, bordering on hyperactivity at times. Some people might find her annoying or too much to handle, but for the others, she usually gets along with most of them quite well. Friendly, extroverted, compassionate and charismatic in her own sprightly fashion, she has no trouble socializing with people or making friends.

Biography: Jin's parents were both Korean, but she was raised in L.A. her entire life since they moved to the States before she was born. Her family was quite well-off, so she received the fancy private school education and strict upbringing that was quite typical for a Korean family to impose on their children. Unlike her three brothers who were all basically perfect angels in the eyes of their parents, Jin had always been the rebellious one. She would sneak out way past curfew, get only above average grades and get sent home from school at least once every couple of weeks.

During a particularly intense fight with her parents, she went to stay at a friend's house for a few days, which was where she discovered MMOs. She'd always been obsessed with getting her hands on all the latest technical gadgets in terms of portable computers or music players, but she'd never really tried gaming much. Playing on her friend's account, Jin discovered that she really enjoyed it and that she was also quite naturally talented.

After that, she purchased the game for herself and started playing on her own account, soon becoming one of the most feared and revered players. Things escalated quickly from that point on, and she soon found herself making quite a bit of money from the game. Selling items, characters, accounts, training and winning tournaments, she made enough money so as to no longer depend on her family financially. Deciding not to pursue any higher forms of education after finishing high school so that she could focus on her gaming instead, Jin basically got disowned by her parents after their attempts to dissuade her had failed.

She didn't let that stop her, though, far from it. By the time that she was 21 and a half, Jin was professionally active in seven different MMOs and making enough money to live like a rock star. Her fan page which she also blogged on regularly had over 1 million subscribers. Once she posted the news about how she'd won the K-EM contest, that number skyrocketed to almost 2.5 million. Virtual reality was the future of gaming, therefor it was a natural progression for her to attempt. Getting a head start would just put her that much further ahead of the curve, so Jin was eager to learn and discover all that she could.

Ons: Almost anything fun, dangerous or "forbidden". Sneaky sex in public places with the risk of being caught, toys, BDSM and being dominated are some of the particular things that she really gets off on.

Offs: Gore, vore, scat, the usual.

[DudelRok]

Welcome to the game~!

Dudel, I'm seeing plenty of interesting fun in store for your character. ;D

Here's hoping! ;D

Twirdy doesn't get a lot of love anymore. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. XD

[Esoteric Myobi]

Welcome, Lithium! Lovely character, and it seems we have a lovely full cast now as well!

I shall try to start our game sometime this weekend, currently finishing up my first summer session. Will get an OOC thread up later tonight though. (Currently on my phone and it hates me.)

In the meantime, if we manage to get any other interested players -- more is always welcome! So feel free to apply even though our initial cast of ten is now filled.

[nishi]

lots of gamers! :D

but ofcourse, VR would attract more gamers then non-gamers naturally ;) and ofcourse, nowadays everybody plays videogames in to some degree, some more then others ;)

:)

[Esoteric Myobi]

By the way, if anyone is interested in volunteering for the hacker position please PM me saying so. Otherwise, I will be assigning the position at random.

Also, if anyone would NOT like to be considered for the hacker position, please PM me about that as well.



Edit: And, our OOC Thread is now available. ;D

P.S. The hacker position has now been filled. Thanks to those who expressed their interest in the role though!

[Esoteric Myobi]

Due to a few players disappearing or dropping out for various reasons, we're currently looking for new cast members! If interested, please don't hesitate to post up a character sheet for approval. :-)

[GloomCookie]

Name: Laura Bronze
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Bisexual
Appearance:

Avatar Appearance:

Physical Enhancements: N/A
Positive Traits: Quirky, Cute, Outgoing
Negative Traits: Social Anxiety, Shy, Addictive Personality
Skills: Plays guitar, draws pretty pictures, can program some
Personality: Awkward and shy, Laura prefers to stay in her studio and do art rather than interact with the world.  She's shy, so she prefers just working one on one, usually with models, though she has modeled some herself.  She got addicted to MMOs and signed up for the K-EM Enterprises Beta figuring it'd be just another MMO, only she was quite surprised to learn what it was actually about.
Biography: Born the middle child of a family of 10, Laura's family wanted to remain free from the more 'corrupt' modern world, and so they were truely backwards.  When Laura was old enough, she moved out, and discovered a world she was ill prepared for.  She started modeling to raise money, and not all of it was art, but she eventually started making her own art and making a decent living at it.  Her and two friends started a small art studio that makes money from adverts, and Laura's job primarily involves adding music and painting concept art for the studio.
Ons/Offs: ON: Machines, Oral pleasure, Is a masochist.  OFF: Jerks, Whores, Toilet play

[Esoteric Myobi]

Welcome to the game, Linna! It looks like Laura will get along with our other character, Nora (though she hasn't been seen on E for about two weeks now). Feel free to join us in the OOC and pop in for chatting with the other players. Please read/skim (at least the GM posts) through our IC thread and post whenever you're ready. =)

Ideally, I'm hoping for players to post at least once a week. Posts don't need to be very long either, so don't feel pressured into putting up long paragraphs (unless you want to!).