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// This story contains (some) strong language, and adult situations. If you are under 18, or are legally a minor in your place of residence, do not continue. This story also contains a transgender (TG) theme. If such offends you, or makes you uncomfortable, I highly recommend that you do not continue.
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Heraldic Echo Gaming and Anime: Emily's Quest
by Autumn Winters and Jaime Hasten
Introduction
Click. Board. Nothing new...
Click. Board. Nothing new...
Click. Board. Nothing new...
"Come on people! Post something already! Sheesh..."
Click. Porn site. Frantic flurry trying to close all the popup windows before they could spawn new ones.
Click. News site. "War on Terror." "Democrats accuse Republicans of..." "War in the Middle East." "Anthrax Scare."
"Damn it! Nothing ever happens."
Click. Fanart site. Nothing new...
Click. Porn site. 404...
Alex sighed. He had clicked through his "favorites" list two or three times already this hour - all with the same results. Nothing. It was shaping out to be another long day. He stared at the various video game consoles on the shelf beneath his TV
He was already tired of the latest installment of Final Fantasy. Same story as before. Boy meets girl. Boy saves world. Boy gets girl. Granted, this one had full voice acting, incredible cinematography, and a trio of cute girls, but something was lacking... He shrugged. Super Smash Brothers Melee? No, all his friends were still at work and Smash Brothers is one of those games you need a group to play if it is to be any fun. He momentarily picked up Dead or Alive 3 before shaking his head and putting it back. The game looked pretty but was too easy and didn't have enough costumes for the girls. He wouldn't have minded a hack for making the girls naked, but even that would likely only hold his attention for a little bit.
Click. Board. Nothing new... He tried once again through his favorites, skipping the porn site that flooded his screen with ads. Still nothing. Of course, that's what happens on a Thursday morning when most of the rest of the world is at work.
Click. Search engine...
Alex paused. Shrugging, and not really expecting anything worthwhile, he typed, "I'm bored. Find me something fun." Click.
Skimming through the list, "porn site, porn site, porn site, Disney, porn site, porn site... Wait. What's this?" one small listing caught his eye. "Heraldic Echo Gaming and Anime: Bored? Sitting around with nothing to do? HEGA offers a new and innovative gaming experience for the discerning individual."
"Well, it'll kill a few minutes," Alex thought and clicked on the link. Instantly, it spawned a new window, filling the computer screen and obscuring the menu and address bars. Splashed across the screen in large green letters on a black background was the name of the site: "Heraldic Echo," the subscript below reading "Gaming and Anime". Two 'heroes' stood to either side of the introductory text: a wild, buff, axe-wielding, loin-cloth-wearing giant of a man on the left - a buxom, flame-haired, longblade-wielding elfess in rather skimpy leather armour to the right. At the bottom of the screen, a silver dragon lay coiled about the text "close this window."
After a few seconds of staring at the barely clothed elfess, he clicked on the "Welcome" link, and was greeted with what the site called its "game-creation module." Soft music, vaguely reminiscent of Final Fantasy's main theme began playing, and Alex started filling out the on-screen form.
1) Select genre of game: []Role-playing []Strategy []Relationship Simulation []Sports []Shooter []Action/Adventure []Other_____
"Well, that's a no-brainer," he thought and promptly selected Role-playing and clicked Next.
2) Select sub-genre(s): []Romantic []Horror/Goth []Mystery []Fantasy []Science-Fiction []Cyber-punk []Epic
Click. Click. Click. Click. Romantic, Fantasy, Epic; Next. Alex looked around; he had the eerie feeling that someone was watching him. Of course, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Still, he felt compelled to justify himself, if only to himself, "Yes, 'romantic', all good games have at least a bit of romantic interest between the party members. You know, 'boy likes this girl and this girl, girl likes the boy back, other girl likes someone else' - makes the characters seem more real." Frowning and resolving to talk to himself less, Alex continued on the next screen.
3) Select story-line / plot / world elements to include in your game: []Quest to save the world []Kingdoms at War []Arch-nemesis []Elemental Magic []Light/Dark Magic []Summoning Magic []Love Story []Mature Content []Gratuitous Buxom Elf Women []Ninja/Samurai []Knights/Dragons []Damsel in Distress []Secrets and Special Areas []Airships []Pirates/Bandits []Kid Hero []Big Tough Guy []Ditzy Healer []Sarcastic Mage []Overly-cute/Fluffy/Furry Sidekick []Wise Old Man []Faeries
Alex chuckled; they had certainly hit all the cliches in gaming. Of course, he clicked them all on after toying with "Mature Content" for a bit. That usually meant cuss words or suggestive scenes, so in the end he left it on. (Not that he would have argued too much with "Naked, Gratuitous Buxom Elf Women" either...) Click. Next.
This appeared to be it for world generation, as the next screen was labeled "Character Creation." Unlike before, this screen had several options. Apparently, the system had enough information to generate all the options for character creation.
4) Gender: []Male []Female
Click. Female. Girl characters were always better than guy characters in the game. Much more pleasant to look at, the designers usually spent more work developing female characters than male characters.
5) Template: []Young, Innocent Hero to be []Older, Experienced Veteran
Click. Young. Younger characters didn't have as much of a backstory, they were easier to get attached to, as the character developed throughout the game. Older characters bring a variety of powers and skills to a party, but they're best relegated to secondary characters.
6) Basic Class/Skill Template(s): []Fighter []Martial-Artist []Healer []Magic (Elemental) []Magic (Summoning) []Magic (General) []Bard []Thief -- Select no more than two.
This one was tougher as he had no real preference. Alex had liked video game characters of all sorts - it wasn't so much their skill set that he liked as it was the character. Eventually he settled on "Magic (General)" and "Healer". He tended to use the versatile support characters - especially those with healing magics - all the time, so it made sense for the main character to have those skills. Of course, it might make the first bit of the game a bit tougher, unless a fighter-type joined the group right away.
7) Character Race: []Human []Elf []Dwarf []Gnome []Faerie []Other________
Click. Human. He liked elves and all, but always preferred a main character he could identify with more. Elves and Faeries made good secondary characters though, especially if they were cute.
8) Enter character name: __________
Without even thinking, Alex typed "Emily." Ever since he was little, he used the name "Emily" for the main female character's name. He never really knew why - he knew a girl in high school named Emily, but had had a crush on her younger sister.
Click, Done. The screen went black, and after a momentary pause, large, white, block letters scrolled across the screen, "Now Loading..."
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