Scop’s Blog

If you have read the about page on this site, you will know that I have a standing request for your favorite gaming experiences, be they funny, wild, or just plain epic.  A friend of mine, Knightengale, offered to show the rest of us how it is done.

This website, at its core, is about stories, so I think it is fitting that our first Gamer Account (yeah, just made that up) describes a video game completely devoid of graphics:

Hello all, I’ve been asked by Scops to bring to you one of my finer moments in gaming.

This particular story takes place in a MUD (Multi-User Dimensions) called Aetolia.  MUDs are essentially text-based MMORPGs where the world is represented by a series of interconnected rooms with various exit/entry points to each room without graphics.

In this game I chose a class, Syssin, with some of the most unique and engaging mechanics present in gaming even to this day; mechanics that would be almost impossible to implement accurately in a three-dimensional world.

For example Syssin are a snake-based class with control over various venoms which may be loaded into their fangs and injected upon biting their target.  As one grew in power as a Syssin they gained mastery over various venoms each with a wide variety of side effects.  However this ability was not without its downsides.  Each injection required you to reload your fangs with more venom, even if you planned to use the same venom in succession.  Even worse, if you failed to use your venom after a short time the venom would enter your own bloodstream wreaking havoc on your own system.

What makes the venom itself hard to implement in a three-dimensional world were some of the various effects.  Few types of venom caused direct damage or even damage over time. Rather most venoms caused things like paralysis, blindness (something which truly limited information of your surrounding, rather than any accuracy mechanic typically used), crippled certain limbs, etc.  Syssin were not the only ones with mastery of some of these afflictions.  Indeed the game’s combat revolves around carrying the various antidotes and methods of treatment to reverse these conditions.

What makes the system complex is that for example you might have to apply a salve to cure one illness but another illness cripples your arms so you cannot apply said salve.  This meant that you could have several afflictions on you requiring you to unravel a sort of puzzle of afflictions in order to regain your combat potency.

However, what made Syssin truly shine with their venoms was their ability to create Illusions.  An illusion in a text based game basically means “/illusion <insert text describing said illusion here>”.  After which it will display the message to anyone in the same room as you as the illusion dictated.

This allowed a talented Syssin player to broadcast an illusion with a combat message that their target had begun suffering from an effect of Venom A while at the same time the real message that they were suffering from an effect of Venom B would be displayed.  Considering how fast combat can whirr by your opponent could either: 1)take a moment and examine their conditions to find out which is real, and thus risk being afflicted by something new preventing treatment of Venom B, or 2)they can take a gamble and potentially waste resources trying to cure one of the venoms they were assaulted with.

Needless to say it took me a long time to get a hang of playing a Syssin.  With fragile political situations I could have been attacked by a player long before I was ready for it.  Lucky me I got to read up on a lot of this information via in-game manuscripts in virtual libraries written by other players.

My first non-Syssin friend was some kind of Infernal Knight.  Yet, while I was familiar with many afflictions I was not familiar with the full extent of who could do what.

So I challenged this friend to a duel!  The arena was much like a miniature world with several inter-connected rooms containing areas such as an open field, wooded areas, and caves.

The duel began and placed us in random although separate, rooms within the arena.  Peering into surrounding areas I was able to locate him first and sneak up on him.  And while I got the drop on him I had no idea what I was getting into.

I started things off by paralyzing him.

I wasn’t capable of adding many compounding inflictions to keep him from curing paralysis so I hurriedly tried inflicting as much raw damage as I could while he was incapacitated.

However, he quickly saw through my illusion and was back on his feet in no time. Afterwards he proceeded to melt my face off, quite literally. By basically melting my face shut I was utterly blind.

At this point I panicked and paralyzed him again but unsure I’d survive another assault I loaded up a venom known as “Loki”. Aptly named, Loki was a venom which randomly acted as any venom in the Syssin arsenal; including those I had not yet become familiar with.

After loading him up with a few Loki’s I bolted in random directions attempting to scurry away and regain my composure before he could cure paralysis and come back after me. Little did I know I wound up in a cave.

I quickly came to the conclusion I already feared to be the truth. The blindness seemed to be permanent and I had nothing to cure any affliction. So there I stood in some dank cave watching the only thing I could, my health, ready to lash out at anything once my health changed in the slightest.

Match Over.

Winner: Me.

“What?”

There I stood, outside the dueling arena, my friend in the room with me. I was dumbfounded. I read in awe as my friend went on to explain his downfall.

He was an avian character capable of flight. And after he had cured his second dosing of paralysis he flew up above the trees into the air to better ascertain my location. To his horror he discovered that one of my Loki injections had made him highly allergic to sunlight.

Got a story you want to tell?  Shoot me an email at daniel@scopsblog.com, with “My Story” in the subject line.  As long as it’s largely coherent and a fun read, I’ll post it.  For now, peace.  I’m going to bed.