Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Prologue - Age of Anarchy Online

The year is 2076. Technology has advanced to the point where virtual reality has become fact, rather than science fiction. Gone are the days of clunky controllers or goggles, that only gave a crude facsimile of reality. Artifacts of yesteryear are the huge pods that forced users to lie immobile in order to work. Those primitive aids couldn’t compare to the abilities of the Chip.

The original implanted computers were designed for the military. Give a soldier the ability to process data faster, identify threats, run facial recognition, use a tactical network to triangulate the source of a sniper’s shot? The benefits were obvious. However, they were simply computers placed in a soldier’s skull, linked to their gear by short range radio communications. The real breakthrough didn’t come until 2025, when neuroscientists were first able to have an implant interface and be controlled directly with the human brain.

By 2035, all children were ‘Chipped’ at birth. The younger a user started with the chip, the more neural connections formed, and using the chip became as natural to them as breathing. The effects of this were profound, increasing learning speed and memory retention. Even older people showed benefits the longer they used the chip. As with any technology, familiarity increased proficiency, but the pliable minds of children took that to a whole new level.

In 2050, World of Destiny became the first VRMMORPG designed exclusively for use with the Chip. Two weeks later, another company based in China came out with the first pornographic Chip game, but people barely batted an eye, and wondered what took them so long. Anyways, WoD was a major hit, boasting a previously unheard of 88% realism rate.

One of the major finds during this time was that there was a major ‘bleedthrough’ effect when using VR with the Chip. While the phenomenon had been seen to some extent in the Pods of yesteryear, with the Chip, it became pronounced. Bleedthrough referred to when traits learned in the real world would manifest in the virtual environment, and vice versa. Of course, this included things like skills and knowledge, but the effect of some titles and achievements, especially those dealing with mental or social abilities, could be seen as well. People who had social achievements in games gained confidence in the real world, and people who had suffered hardships in real life found that their gaming suffered as well.

However, even with 88% realism, the makers of WoD tried to keep their game world as ‘safe’ as possible. Many actions that would be illegal in real life were punishable with a system ban in game. Though many decried this ‘easy mode’, none of the so-called ‘hardcore’ games were able to get any traction against World of Destiny.

In 2072, Icestorm, the makers of World of Destiny announced that they were developing a new VRMMORPG, which they were calling Age of Anarchy Online. Set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world, AAO proudly boasted a 110% ‘Better Than Life’ realism rate. Because of the high realism, and the long time demand for something more ‘hardcore’ from their audience, Icestorm announced that there would be no system rules in AAO. So long as you weren’t hacking the system or exploiting bugs, the company wouldn’t stop you, whatever you did. When asked about ‘virtual crimes’ in such a setting during an interview, Icestorm’s CEO simply smiled, and said, “Just because there aren’t system laws, doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences. If you’re in a city, and you break a law of the city, the guards will attempt to arrest you. If you kill the guards, the city will post a bounty on your character. If you are caught, then you will go on trial. If you are convicted, you’ll be sent to jail.”

“With AAO, we’re giving the players a chance to do literally anything they can imagine. But don’t be surprised if you take your imagination too far, and the NPCs, or other players, get imaginative on you. For this reason, AAO is going to be restricted to users who are over 18.”


Now, in 2076, AAO is finally ready for launch.


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