Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Interlude: Trial Event Thread

[ Community Forums ]

^[ General Discussion ]

^^[ Hanoleav Kingdom ]

^^^[ Guardian Beast Event ]

[ Thread Creator: Frengzy ]

I saw the notice, but I still wasn't sure if they'd actually bring a mob into the city. Yet they're marching it down the main street right now. I had to find a high spot to get a good view, because the Residents are packing the streets so much. - 06/12/2041

[ Pe'Sarin ]

darn, i'm out on the roadwork quest today too. we don't have a ton to do, so i'll be keeping my eye on this thread! please keep us all updated! - 06/12/2041

[ Cramble ]

I'm so glad I got to a teleporter in time after I saw a post about this. Managed to secure myself a good spot, too. It's entering the area by the giant tree now. They have a whole thing set up with viewing booths, and a podium. It's a little hard to see through the guards, but I don't think I've seen an all-brown wolf like that before. - 06/12/2041

[ Le Hoot ]

It's really here! And it just turned into a tree! - 06/12/2041

[ Leitomer ]

Isn't that the royal family over there? The prince and princesses at least? I haven't gotten to see them in person before, but I saw a picture. They're really pretty. - 06/12/2041

[ Grace Jansen ]

And that's the Archbishop on the other side. I saw him at a sermon when I first became an Acolyte. They're really pulling out all the stops on this. - 06/12/2041

[ Thread Creator: Frengzy ]

Short of bringing out the Queen and Oracle, yeah. I wonder how much of this is scripted by the developers, and how much is dynamic AI? - 06/12/2041

[ Marlingo ]

It's announcing new content, isn't it? So it has to be scripted. At least mostly. But damn, I wish I had taken the day off this quest to actually see this in person. At least the quest reward is a comfort. - 06/12/2041

[ Baggcrusher ]

>It's announcing new content, isn't it?

That is the speculation at least
I guess we will see
Being tall has its advantages since I can actually see lol
Holy shit it is actually writing - 06/12/2041

[ Pe'Sarin ]

for real? what's it saying? - 06/12/2041

[ Cramble ]

I can take responsibility for reporting. - 06/12/2041

[ Thread Creator: Frengzy ]

>I can take responsibility for reporting.

Go for it. - 06/12/2041

[ Cramble ]

"Greetings, Komeron."

Okay I won't do it word for word. It's doing an introduction, and some pleasantries towards the elves.

Talking about the general terms of the alliance, the whole thing about wearing a flower, and the wolves won't attack you. Announces that it also extends to Wutsch now. That's the west zone right? Was that already known? - 06/12/2041

[ Gongle ]

>Announces that it also extends to Wutsch now.

dang, that's excellent. i hadn't heard of that before now - 06/12/2041

[ Marlingo ]

>Was that already known?

I think that's new info. Maybe the bandit raid we did was part of setting that up? It might open more quests. - 06/12/2041

[ Cramble ]

Also says the wolves will accept requests in exchange for compensation. No more info on that? Okay, moving on, I guess...

Yup, new content. Trial of the Guardian Beast. Says it's gonna write a whole EULA on it, but it's listing the important stuff up front.

You get two hours to beat three encounters, with checkpoints between each one, and apparently you get some prize from the elves if you succeed. And also loot and stuff I'm guessing. You have to sign up beforehand though, and get assigned a time. Only two slots a week, which doesn't sound like a lot. Maybe they'll change it later?

If you try to raid it normally, it says it will use "all possible force" to stop you.

Oh wow, it's actually bringing up those raiders I read about the other day. They're gonna get pardoned after the event is over.

Uh... and it just said it will be accepting feedback on how to balance the Trial... even asks for the raiders to take contact. I feel like that kinda breaks the RP a little.

Looks like that's it. It's started writing down the full terms now. Left up a message that says "Greetings from the Guardian Beast". - 06/12/2041

[ Baggcrusher ]

>Also says the wolves will accept requests in exchange for compensation.

Wait does that mean we can give them quests
Or hire them to help out
Stuff like that - 06/12/2041

[ Fish A La Fish ]

>They're gonna get pardoned after the event is over.

seriously
i am happy but
i just kinda wish they had done it before the event
sounds like something id like to see myself - 06/12/2041

[ Thread Creator: Frengzy ]

What a strange way to do an update announcement. I kinda dig it, though they probably won't do this for every announcement from now on. This one seems to have some big story stuff connected to it, since it's related to progression quests, and stuff like that. So it probably has to be something on that scale to make a whole RP event out of it. - 06/12/2041

[ Marlingo ]

I'll have to look at a recording later. So that speech was written by the devs? - 06/12/2041

[ Leitomer ]

>So that speech was written by the devs?

Considering they added the part about feedback, then probably. Guessing someone had fun getting into character, but then had to throw in that last bit too. - 06/12/2041

[ Kassan Nerum ]

Hey, the devs finally posted an update on this. Basically saying more or less the same as the Guardian Beast's speech, but the more interesting part is that this is the first attempt from the AI to create a raid on its own. - 06/12/2041

[ Cramble ]

"We hope this will help bring more diverse, and interesting content to Moorhold Online in the future, so please have patience with Aina since this is her first solo effort."

They're going to keep developing content themselves, but if this works out, then Aina can help flesh things out more in the future. - 06/12/2041

[ Barg Nowl ]

That does explain some of the weird parts, and balance issues we ran into, but that's pretty cool. I'll make a new thread discussing the Trial itself once the pardon has gone into effect. I wasn't sure what to do after we got kicked out. I thought it was safe so long as we didn't wear the flower. Guess I kinda forgot that even though it's a game world, it's still the Residents' world. We're technically outsiders here, and with AI on this level, we can't just ignore them as simple NPCs. - 06/12/2041

[ Pe'Sarin ]

i like the "notes from aina" section. haven't actually seen her since character creation, but i was watching some streams from the newbies that got in, and she sounds totally different from how i remember her. she used to be more robotic, right? - 06/12/2041

[ Kassan Nerum ]

>she used to be more robotic, right?

I remember her talking pretty flatly, even if the voice was pretty. I'll have to look up what she sounds like now.

According to the notes you still get a reputation penalty from killing wolves outside of the Trial, but it's been reduced, and all penalties from before this announcement will be nullified by the end of the event. I guess the rationale is that we're supposed to know now. Since they're allied with Hanoleav, and help people out, I suppose they don't want you to just kill them as much as you please. If you want wolf materials it sounds like you should go elsewhere unless you're fine with the penalty. - 06/12/2041

[ Le Hoot ]

Oh! Contact information! - 06/12/2041

[ Baggcrusher ]

Aw you need someone who can talk to the wolves to make requests
It makes sense but I am still a bit sad
Any Druids willing to take pity on me and ask the wolves to party with me - 06/12/2041

[ Marlingo ]

> Any Druids willing to take pity on me and ask the wolves to party with me

Wouldn't it be easier to play with your friends, or ask some people at the Adventurers' Guild to party with you? - 06/12/2041

[ Baggcrusher ]

I dont have friends and I dont like people - 06/12/2041

[ Marlingo ]

>I dont have friends and I dont like people

I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe you can hire someone at the Naturalist Society to ask for you. - 06/12/2041

[ Thread Creator: Frengzy ]

What the hell just happened? I was looking away. Why is everything panic? - 06/12/2041

[ Le Hoot ]

Someone attacked the Guardian Beast! - 06/12/2041

[ Pe'Sarin ]

what, really? is everything okay? - 06/12/2041

You are reading story Thrown Into A Wolf at novel35.com

[ Marlingo ]

Another scripted event? - 06/12/2041

[ Cramble ]

Three or four defensive spells went up all at once, so I don't think anything actually damaged the Guardian Beast, but I'm not close enough to see the HP bar. It looks like it's currently inside a Water Bubble. - 06/12/2041

[ Leitomer ]

>It looks like it's currently inside a Water Bubble.

Looked like some sort of giant fireball, so that's probably a good choice. Anyone see how many there were? I counted four.

Oh, and everyone is fleeing. The royals, the temple people, the crowd, everyone but the guards, really. - 06/12/2041

[ Grace Jansen ]

>Anyone see how many there were? I counted four.

I also saw four. One of them hit some sort of conjured wall, and exploded, while the final three hit the bubble.

The bubble's gone. The Guardian Beast's Tree Form looks fine, but with an HP based system it's hard to say for sure.

The guards chased everyone away before I could get a closer look, or even finish posting. - 06/12/2041

[ Thread Creator: Frengzy ]

Yeah, doesn't look like they'll be letting us get close again for a while. Are they even going to finish the event? - 06/12/2041

[ Cramble ]

That would be a shame if not, but I guess all we can do is wait and see. - 06/12/2041

[ Le Hoot ]

Got a friend to have a look with her binoculars. The Guardian Beast is back in wolf form, and just lying down next to the podium it stood at. Some elves are staying with it. Looks like they are waiting for something. - 06/12/2041

[ Baggcrusher ]

If it was not for the current circumstances I would get up on a rooftop to get a better look
but I think I would get instantly killed if I tried right now lol - 06/12/2041

[ Le Hoot ]

Some people are arriving. Or coming back. It looks like the First Princess, and some guards. My friend says it looks like she's started a conversation with the Guardian Beast. I would kill to know what they're saying.

Oh, the Archbishop is coming back too, alongside a Bishop. At least that's who my other friend says they are. Ugh, I really wish I could be a fly on the wall for whatever they're saying, but we've been pushed so far back that even her telescopic hearing can't reach far enough.

More people are coming, and the Guardian Beast is going back to writing. Seems like they're gonna finish anyway, and they're starting to let people get closer again. - 06/12/2041

[ Leitomer ]

The immediate danger is over, I guess. They're not letting us get quite as close as we were before, though. - 06/12/2041

[ Fish A La Fish ]

i have been pardoned
does that mean the event is over - 06/12/2041

[ Kassan Nerum ]

Yeah, they're done. Looked like they had another brief chat, and now they're escorting the Guardian Beast back out of the city. - 06/12/2041

[ Grace Jansen ]

I was able to catch some of it this time. Telescopic hearing is harder to control than I thought. But they basically just said that they couldn't hold any sort of celebration because of the attack, and how it delayed everything.

Interesting, but not very enlightening. - 06/12/2041

[ Cramble ]

And the Guardian Beast has exited the city gates. That's it, then. I wonder what actually happened? - 06/12/2041

[ Thread Creator: Frengzy ]

You're not the only one. A City Guard sergeant went into the Adventurers' Guild, and posted a note asking for anyone with information on the assailants to report to them. It doesn't look like a standard kind of quest, but it looks like you'll still get a reward if you know anything, or figure out anything that leads to progress. - 06/12/2041

[ Baggcrusher ]

They are putting up more notes in other places too
Seems like they are pretty serious about this
Anyone want to play detective - 06/12/2041

[ Leitomer ]

> Anyone want to play detective

I kinda do, but I have no idea where to start. The guards are probably already talking to witnesses and such, right? The civilians probably don't want to talk to players, or even adventurers in general. - 06/12/2041

[ Marlingo ]

>The civilians probably don't want to talk to players, or even adventurers in general.

Probably not, but we can make a thread to pool all the players' knowledge together. I'm sure some of you got a look at them, and if we review stream recordings from the event, maybe someone looked in the right direction at the right time. If we know what they look like, we can keep an eye out. Whether they were residents or players, they probably had their respawn points set elsewhere before doing something like this, so we can just ask people to be on the lookout in other places.

It would be cool if we could actually solve this. - 06/12/2041

* * *

[ Community Forums ]

^[ Dungeon and Raid Information ]

^^[ Trial Of The Guardian Beast ]

[ Thread Creator: Barg Nowl ]

Okay, now that our reputations have been literally restored, let's review the new information.

Having to book an appointment for a raid with limited slots is weird, but if I look at it from an in-world perspective, it sounds like the Guardian Beast is actually quite busy due to this alliance, and doesn't just sit around waiting for people to come fight it. So this is probably a way to try to balance using mobs in a different way from usual. Cool, if inconvenient for us. Part of the post from the developers mentioned that the terms might be changed in the future, so maybe it will open up more slots depending on how things play out.

2 hours to complete the trial, with three encounters. Sounds like basically the same setup we already faced, except it now has a time limit. I believe that's a first outside of dungeons. At least they've included checkpoints now, and we don't need to defeat a wave more than once, even if we wipe. Normally a raid wipe would send everyone back to the city, or wherever else they have their respawn point set, but they say they're going to do field respawns at the start of the trial. Basically using the dungeon system, but in the overworld. Maybe they'll implement that concept in more places in the future. It doesn't say what's going to happen when time runs out, but I can make some guesses based on the other comment about "all possible force".

They've made a pinned post containing the full terms document, so when someone has time it would be nice to know if there's anything crucial in the fine print.

A lot of this sounds very experimental to be sure, but I guess they need to try out new things at some point, and we were used as incidental QA testers this time. At least I got back more reputation than I lost. I am not sure exactly how much since I don't remember my before numbers that well, but assuming they did round numbers I think I got +50 with the City Guard, +30 with the Temple of the Moon, and +30 with the First Princess. I'm sure of the latter because I had 0 with her faction before. I guess that's our compensation. - 06/12/2041

[ Flurmp ]

I compared to a screenshot from my stream before, and you're right about all of those, but there were more smaller gains too. +10 with all Palace factions, excluding the First Prince, and Second Princess. If you quest a lot around Komeron you will pick up the occasional reputation point with the Queen, the Stewards, or the Palace Guard, but it's hard to get quests that give a chunk for any of them, so +10 for all those, and the Knights is actually not bad.

Also +20 with the Naturalist Society, which isn't as big of a deal, but still a nice bonus. And +10 each with the Merchant Association, the Trade Guild, and the Adventurers' Guild. And finally I also have +25 with the Komeron Apothecary, which I didn't even have on my list before.

I think that's it, but I might have missed more. - 06/12/2041

[ Grate Wondrer ]

Someone posted a screenshot of their Identify result on the Guardian Beast from today's event, and I thought it looked odd, so I checked the old one we used, and the stats have changed. It seems like they've buffed it, and by a fair amount too. +20 to nearly every stat, and that's before you factor in the boss buff.

Not seeing any obvious changes in the skill list, but I guess they thought we killed it too easily. - 06/12/2041

[ Fish A La Fish ]

do you think its serious about wanting feedback
are we meant to just go say hi
and give our opinion - 06/12/2041

[ Thread Creator: Barg Nowl ]

>do you think its serious about wanting feedback

You know, I'm tempted to try it. A boss asking what we think would be a more fun way to fight it is something I've never heard of before, so even if it's the AI behind it I kinda wanna see how it goes. We can pool together some notes, and then one or more of us go to deliver our report. I definitely want to be part of that. - 06/12/2041

* * *

A sigh of relief went through feedback department at Virtue-World Entertainment once they could finally hit post on the update.

Their game was breaking ground in several ways, even some they hadn't intended, which had been quite stressful. But with Aina's help they had put together a post they could put up after the Guardian Beast had finished its written 'speech'.

The wording in their post was a little different from the in-game announcement, but it hit the same points, and had a few extra details, though the thing about asking for feedback had caught them off-guard. Thankfully they had managed to quickly edit their text to include that point just before setting it live.

Yuuki had been keeping a close eye on this, and had honestly been nervous about how it would play out. She still suspected that Aina was hiding something from them, but she had really helped them out this time. It might go against security concerns, but she was starting to think that maybe it was okay that even an AI had a couple of secrets.

Pavel also looked satisfied with how things had played out. He and Yuuki had both felt bad for what had happened to those players, and were glad that at least that issue had been fixed. They'd had to accommodate the Residents a bit too, but that might become a common feature as the game developed further.

Though the way Aina, and the system had set up this new raid went against almost every design rule they'd had for content so far. Latesha wasn't exactly pleased about that, since it felt a bit like the AI was questioning her way of doing things, but hopefully the two of them would be able to talk things out.

Kelly saw this as a triumph of their AI, and said she had some ideas to work on for future updates. Whether she meant the expansion they were doing on the 15th, or the big update at New Year's, or something even further ahead was something no one but her could say for sure.

Meanwhile Jorge had been glued to his monitor watching this event from the start, but whatever he was thinking about it he was keeping to himself.

There was another bout of panic as the event was interrupted by some would-be assassins, as if this was some sort of fantasy drama rather than a game they ostensibly had control over, but thankfully that also worked itself out.

Though there was one thing those who paid close enough attention during a certain conversation noticed.

"Her name is Sara?"

* * *

Later that night at the Guild of Unusual Taxonomy's provisional Komeron Headquarters a small meeting was being held.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow for sure."

"Definitely tomorrow."

"I can't wait!"

"You're not nervous at all?"

"Of course I am! But I'm more excited!"

"Well... we'll see how it goes tomorrow."

"Yes, tomorrow."