Yesterday I was goofing off in the game Archeage by planting a crop of turmeric in public lands in the middle of a place you have to all but use exploits to reach. It would take 5 hours of meatspace time for the gamble to pay off, so I placed my character next to the vulnerable crop and logged off for the night.
I dreamt it was morning, so I logged back into the game to see if the crop had survived and was ready for harvest, or if another player had beaten me to the punch. In this game, anything on public lands was fair game regardless if you have the PvP skill to defend them. (Private lands cost money and Archeage is a F2P game.) If so, I was prepared to shrug and move on. It was just an experiment, and I knew the risk.
Indeed (in the dream), there was another player sitting on the ground and another crop planted where mine should have been. The game tool-tip said “Pot. Owner: Ashé”. Ashé was sitting next to the small, squat, and unremarkable pot of an unremarkable sky blue color. Ke stood as I got my bearings.
“Here. I harvested your crop before anyone else could.” Ashé opened a trade window and offered my humble crop of turmeric without any request for extortion payment. “I’ve been waiting for you. I knew you’d be back for it.”
I thanked the player. The players in this game are not known for acts of altruism. There are guilds that make sweeps of hard to reach areas solely for the purpose of raiding unprotected crops. (Though that risk of loss makes doing so even more fun.)
“Hang on. This is yours, also.” Ashé pointed at the pot.
“No, that’s your crop.” If it can be called a crop. it was just a pot. The tool-tip did have a countdown timer on it on when the pot would be ready to collect. When I first looked at it, the timer was counting years. Now it is counting minutes.
Ashé laughed. The game’s emote was melodramatic and properly silly. “No. Look again. I said I had been waiting for you. No one else can take this pot but you.”
I moved my mouse over the pot again. “Pot. Owner: [Keri’s character]” That’s my character’s name, alright. But you can’t transfer ownership of placed crops in this game. Well, you’re not supposed to.
“How did you do that? Exploit or GM action?” I still hadn’t realized I was dreaming yet. If an exploit, it was a ban worthy offense that could throw the game economy into the shitter by sidestepping the proper methods of currency distribution. If GM action, well, some GMs can be nice. Sometimes. It happens.
Ashé laughed once more. “So busy chasing the wind, you miss the mountain in front of you! This is YOUR pot. Pick it up. Take it.”
The tool-tip icon changed to show the pot was ready for collection. I thanked Ashé once more and picked up the pot. With my own two hands. Wait. I’m in the game? I am. Then… I’m dreaming.
Ashé’s form changed from a player character with the same appearance as mine to a translucent “ghost” of said character. (I didn’t notice that at first, because I used a pre-made appearance for my character. No customization.)
I examined the pot and realized Ashé’s ghost form was now being drawn into the pot. “Shit! What the hell? I don’t want to trap you!”
Ashé, now drawn completely into the pot, was full of mirth at my words. “Oh, you. No one can trap me. I go as I please. And I please to go with you. This is your pot. This is your ashé. No one can take me from you. I have much to tell you. Much to teach you. But you’re not ready for all that I have. Yet. For now, take me with you. Remember that I am here by my will, not yours. Remember that I am a gift to you and do not take me for granted.”
A… gift? “Who would send you to someone as ignorant and as naive as me?”
Ashé’s voice was fading. “Someone that wants you to have me. And you are neither ignorant nor naive to be asking that type of question. You just don’t know. Yet.” The pot cooled in my hands and I knew there would be no further conversation in this dream.
I accepted the pot and placed it in my inventory. That action disrupted the dream’s integrity and the dream collapsed softly around me.
After I woke, I could not shake the dream nor the name. Looking up the name only increased the pressure to record the dream. There are many implications here, but I take none of them at face value. I have information to vet and understanding to acquire.