Dreamt of another full immersion RPG game. PVP server with everyone playing on the same map and no loyalty amid factions. Just as much of a clusterfuck as you can imagine. I was supposed to be helping a friend take down a quest boss. Rated for a 5-man team, the rewards were based on the level of the those participating and the number of people in the quest group. I knew that. My friend, didn’t.
I had asked him before we got started if he was just completing the quest for completion’s sake or if he was farming for loot. He was already five levels above the suggested level range, and I was fifteen. Simply by being in the group, I would reduce the quality of the rewards to a maximum of white level (regular random shit).
He said he just wanted to “get the damn thing off the quest tracker” and did not care about the loot.
Okay. Fine. Let’s go kill some shit.
Shit was killed. The boss went down in three minutes after engagement. Two minutes too long because my friend was too busy fucking around by dancing instead of attacking. “He can’t hurt me! Watch this!” (Spoiler: He almost died, the shit.) (LRN2TNK!)
Quest completed. Cannot be repeated. Loot dropped. Because we were only a group of two, we received twice as many items as a 5-man group would receive. However, because of our levels, we received lots and lots of “vendor trash”. At least I could break down what I received to support my crafting skills. I was not surprised.
My friend lost his shit.
He was betting on receiving certain elite level gear that would have been a guaranteed drop if our 2-man group were of the quest’s level. (It also would have been a 2 hour fight, and on an open map where anyone could interfere for or against us at any time.)
After he finished screaming profanities in my ear, he pulled the dickiest of dick moves you could do on this server.
He reported me for griefing.
I get an instant debuff. For one hour I can not use any offensive weapons or spells. I get a large pink arrow over my head that shows up on everyone’s map that can not be hidden even if I were to successfully stealth. (Warlock. What fucking stealth?) There is now a bounty on my head and everyone that kills me in that hour gets my level x 10,000 gold. (A significant amount worth going after.) I can’t log out, and even if I pulled my internet connection, my character would remain in game, helpless and lootable.
But that’s not the worst of it.
There is a special boss spawn that emerges. Remember I said this was a full immersion game? The game tracks your responses and learns what you are instinctually afraid of. The Griefer Boss takes the form of that fear and stalks you. It is a very detailed and tactile death.
Run, griefer. Run.
Fortunately, I have a reputation on this server for NOT being a griefer, and I managed to call in some favors owed by folks in big guilds to get me an armed escort at once. My (now former) friend gets a few KOS bounties on his head in retaliation, because there are certain things you just don’t do even on a free-for-all server.
But the escort can’t protect me from the Griefer Boss. I won’t say what form it appeared as. I’ll just say it took 15 seconds before I stopped running in a blind panic and started listening to my escort as they told me which direction to go to take advantage of the Griefer Boss’s lack of mobility in certain terrains.
My unofficial escort grew in numbers as I continued moving to avoid the still stalking Griefer Boss. Some were wanting to make an impression on me. Some were there for the opportunity to attack anyone trying to claim the bounty on my head. Some just wanted to say they were a part of something “big” on the server. A few were trying to get close to me to take me down. They quickly found that my dedicated escort were very good at what they do.
We misjudged our distance from the Griefer Boss. Move too far away and it respawns within 35 feet of the debuffed character. (Rangers know why.) With one minute left on the debuff, it was suddenly right in front of me and attacking. It rooted me to the ground but my escort was already intervening.Real tanks stood between me and the Griefer Boss keeping it occupied while I anxiously counted down the remaining seconds.
I stared down the embodiment of my fears and realized I was no longer afraid.
I was fucking pissed as hell.
The debuff ran out and I regained all my abilities, armor bonuses, weapon bonuses, and class bonuses.
My turn.
I gave everyone officially hostile to me 20 seconds to clear the immediate area because I was going to start launching Area of Effect (AoE) spells. I thanked them for protecting me, and made note of who was sincere and who was just grandstanding. While I waited for my first kiss to charge, I added everyone friendly and neutral that remained to a 40-man raid.
My favorite opening spell charged, and I threw down the AoE at the Griefer Boss’ feet. In all the games I have played, I have been a Warlock, and in this dream game, I am Necro more than ever. The life draining began immediately and those hostile fools that remained within 40 feet of the boss died from the full charge of the spell.
Like a good Necro-spec’d Lock, I summoned their armored skeletons to fight for me.
Griefer Bosses are specialty spawns. I could have a raid full of max level DPS and not a single one would be able to take off even 1 hit point. The only player character that can harm a Griefer Boss is the player it was summoned against.
I was determined I would not allow my fears to master me again.
I don’t know how long it took, only that it tested the resolve of my allies and revealed who were truly my friends and who were opportunistic assholes. I wound up burning through all my mana and all my pots. The healers were hard pressed to keep up with the damage I was taking, and that was with the assistance of my life siphoning spells.
But the more confident I became, the less damaging was the Griefer Boss. What had originally spawned to be the size of a house was now reduced to the size of terrier (terror?). I had nothing left but the dagger my character started with so many levels ago. (I always keep my starting gear. For nostalgia’s sake, I think.) The 3 dps weapon looked rusty and brittle in my hand. The display for it doesn’t even have a sheath so I gave it one.
I planted it deep in the head of the Griefer Boss, killing it.
It took me a while to realize this was all just a game. The initial fear was so real and so vivid. I tasted blood in my mouth and couldn’t determine if it was a projection of the game or if I had really bitten my tongue to keep from screaming. Those with me cheered and slapped me on the back in congratulations and thanks. (When a Griefer Boss is killed, everyone that assisted the targeted player gets XP and loot.)
With the main distraction of the day done and over, everyone fell back to their usual allegiances and skirmishes began breaking out in the crowd. I gathered up my loot and started to walk away.
A GM blocked my path.
“You know the next time, the Griefer Boss will be bigger and stronger. You killed this version of your fear. When you face it again, it will match what you have become.”
I nodded in understanding, then presented my case that the report was fraudulent.
“Oh we knew that from the moment it was submitted. But this game is a reflection of life, you know. Life is not always fair. Life does not always allow you to hide from your fear. The only difference between this game and life, is that death is less of a bitch to go through.”
I asked the GM if they had secretly helped me since they knew the report was false.
“And show favoritism? There’s a reason we are the gods of this game you know. We’re more assholes than all the player base combined. No, you did this on your own and with the resources you already had. Grats. You just leveled up, bitch. Enjoy your new badassery.”
The GM winked and summoned a shaft of golden light (now with extra sparkles) upon him. His form dissolved in the light and the light retreated.
I decided to not risk any further acts of “divine” intervention and logged out of the game. The action removed me from the dream.