Jessie took the headset off and just lay in bed for a moment. Finally deciding to move Jessie sat up and looked at the alarm clock next to his bed noting the time at 10:30 in the morning. Being a Sunday he could almost guarantee that it would be quiet in the house as either his roommates would be hungover and in no mood to make an appearance or would be out of the house with their friends doing whatever they did in their free time.
Deciding that there wasn’t anything better to do, Jessie got out of bed and turned on his computer to see what was going on on the official forums. The post at the top of the forum was a post pinned by an administrator, out of curiosity, and mostly what the title of the post was, Jessie clicked on the post.
****
State of the Banking System and Current Plans for future updates:
We thank everyone for their patience for the in game Banking and currency conversion system. Due to our rush in trying to roll this system out early, we made the mistake of not consulting the banks with whom we partnered with to make such a system possible. The Azure Branch Company would like to Clear some information up and set things straight.
Due to an break down of internal communication between all departments of the Azure Branch Company after the initial launch day and the following week the wrong information was sent to our software developers to launch the banking and currency conversion system, as a result of this mistake the banks were not set to handle to the amount of transactions that happened in the 5 hours between the launch of the update and the roll back of the update.
To All of those who used real world currency to obtain in-game copper and silver, we have worked with the banks to roll back the transactions. This means that you will receive a full refund from the Azure Branch Company. However, you will not be receiving any of the copper or silver you bought, any of the copper or silver that was spent in the 5 hours between the launch of the update and the roll back will not be removed as we only intend to roll back the money and not the items obtained.
To all of those who used the currency conversion system to trade in-game copper and silver for real world money the roll backs were more complicated. As a result the Azure Branch Company has decided to leave any money obtained by the conversion system in your accounts and will not take actions to get it back, this means that if you successfully traded in-game copper or silver for real world money, you may keep it. If you traded in-game copper or silver for real world money but did not receive the money, your account has been modified and the traded currency has been restored to your account in full and the pending transaction or transactions have been cancelled.
While on the topic of features unintentionally being released early, we have had reports of people being sent into negative levels due to deaths. While The Stars of Fate is not meant to be an easy game by any means. The first few months were meant to allow people to get acclimated to how the game works and as such death penalties were meant to be decreased or not added. Due to this incident we have decided to decrease the amount of experience needed to return to level 0 for all people affected. This is a one time change added to the accounts of those who are in negative levels only. This change will reduce the amount of experience needed to 5% of what you required and will be removed once you reach level 0. Please be aware that we have no intention of officially releasing the causes that will result in the deletion of your account and termination of your headset.
Returning to the topic of the in game banking and currency conversion system, The Azure Branch Company have been in talks and negotiations with the world's banks and have come to a unanimous decision. In one month from the posting of this, well, post, we will be launching half of the planned system with the other half slated to be launched 6 months later. The half we plan to launch is the in-game side of the currency conversion system, allowing players to convert their in-game copper and silver to real world money. Any form of in-game currency above silver will not be supported for conversion until the full rollout of Banking and currency conversion system.
Conversion rates will be based on the US dollar and each coin type has its own trade value. For the copper coins regular circles can be traded at $0.01 per coin, the hexagons can be traded for $0.10 and octagons can be traded for $1. Silver coins can be traded for $5 per coin, hexagons can be traded for $10 and octagons for $15. For each account there is a limit of $1500 that may be traded each week and the exchange rates will be reviewed and updated upon release of the full banking and currency exchange system.
Azure Branch Development Team
****
It took Jessie a second read through to realise that his plight with experience had been addressed, the reduction of required experience to 5% of what he previously needed was almost a game changer to him, almost. After quickly punching the numbers into a calculator Jessie's happiness from this change evaporated as he looked at the result. It was much more achievable when compared to the 425 billion exp he had needed earlier but 21 and a quarter billion was still a staggering amount compared to what other players were needing to earn, which, going off the comments, wasn't any higher than around two hundred thousand exp. Letting out a sigh, Jessie got up and changed into a loose fitting t-shirt and pants before making his way into the kitchen. The first thing he did, like almost every sunday, was to load the dishwasher with all the plates that had been left out from when his roommates had just eaten and left them out before heading off to bed. A quick check of the pantry later and Jessie made his way up the street and through the park towards the nearest supermarket. As he walked he thought about all that had happened over the past couple weeks. Aside from the sluggish response time that came from the cheapest headset available, which He had gotten used to in both the waning area and the bazaar, his experience with the game was smooth and so far entirely without bugs. Well, mostly without bugs, Jessie was still on the fence about the unicorn that had all but condemned him to being level 0 for the foreseeable future. The more he thought about what had happened over the past few weeks the more confused he became, and it all seemed to trace back to Fulor. Not only did The ancient god of death grant Jessie a blessing that was supposed to grow with him as he leveled, the god had also chosen the world on which Jessie would start playing the game from. And also forgot to give him a tutorial on important things like skills which he had noticed other gods giving to the player who has selected their blessing.
Of Course he had then been killed by a unicorn he was certain should not have even been in the area the moment he had spawned in, lost 50 levels and required 425 billion or so exp just to get back to level 0. Then upon taking a quest to kill 5 wolves for their pelts he had encountered a nest of dragons and been gifted a dragon egg, only to then lose said dragon egg upon taking more quests to gather resources, on that same quest he had been killed by a power hungry demigod, brought back to life by another ancient god inside their residence, got training with the ancient god of death, and then two weeks after returning to the mortal plane and scaling the dead peaks, he had saved a dragon from bleeding out, angered a whole horde of undead after slipping on a dagger and finally shared a drink with the commander of one of the border armies, who he was sure was a noble of some caliber, then been almost eaten out of cain by the dragon he had saved, after selling off some alchemy ingredients, he was sure he had been severely underpaid for the tulips of death though, as from what everyone was saying they were thought to not exist at all. Jessie shook his head to clear his thoughts, thinking about all the random and nigh improbable encounters he had had in the past few weeks was starting to give him a headache.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
It was on his way past a mall, Jessie noticed a commotion in front of an office building, a group of people were shouting about recruiting for a guild in game, promising fairly large sums of money if players were good enough to join their core teams. And from the sounds of things the pay they were offering other players who joined their guild as full or part time players wasn't bad either. Due to the large crowd of people Jessie count easily get through to continue on, and as he waited for the crossing light to go green so he could continue to the store on the other side of the road, Jessie glance up at the building the crowd was in front of and noticed that the name of the guild the recruiting players were apart of was placed in large letters above the entrance, as well as their guild emblem reading sleepless light with a large heavily stylized crescent moon next to it.
The trip to the supermarket was only about 15 minutes, 5 through the park and 10 to the supermarket, however instead of 10 minutes from the park to the supermarket it took him nearly 30 minutes with all the crowds around office buildings that had been bought by guilds to house their main operations. Muttering to himself about possibly missing an announcement related to guilds somewhere, Jessie finally made it to the supermarket to buy the weeks groceries, he was glad he had gotten into uni on a scholarship which gave him 2 thousand dollars a month, allowing him to live mostly how he wanted as his roommates also paid portions of rent and utilities, as the cost of groceries seemed to be slowly increasing over the weeks. Sighing slightly as he picked up the three bags which he had bought from the supermarket months earlier, he began his walk back to his flat. It was only when he passed the fourth guild building that he heard raised voices, it was one of the largest and fanciest office buildings in the city, which was saying something as the city was home to hundreds of billionaires. Looking at the name on the side of the building Jessie realised it belonged to a guild that has a strong presence in most rpg games. Surprisingly, as Jessie got close he still managed to get a good view of what was going on, despite the crowd growing larger.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN FATHERS HOLDING A COMPETITION. THE GUILD WAS TO GO TO ME NOT ANY OF YOU.” the line was said so loud that people in the front row of spectators had to cover their ears
“Due to the many updates to the game and the size of the guild, Father has decided that only the best of his children should succeed him” said another man who was standing in front of the building. “And due to your, shall we say less than appealing personality?, and uh, abysmal management of your money, i don't think you are the best fit for Galactic, though feel free to join the competition.” after saying that the man walked through the crowd, letting his bodyguard push anyone too slow to move out of the way, leaving the man standing there fuming for a moment before he stormed into the office building.
“I apologise for the scene.” one of the people working a stand in front of the building said after a moment. “If anyone still wants to join Galactic, we are still taking applications.”
After the worker said that, half the people who were watching the altercation surged forward to put their names down for application into the guild while the other half dispersed over the next few minutes.
Jessie, shaking his head, made his way back to his flat, to unload his shopping. He had to stop many times during the half hour walk back just to readjust the bags he was carrying as they had begun to dig painfully into his palms, eventually had made it back and heaved a sigh of relief when he was able to finally put the bags down. Even though it was midday none of his roommates were up, which was unsurprising seeing as they almost always stayed out till 4 or 5 in the morning drinking, spending the last hours at the Orange Lotus because it was the only nightclub that stayed open till 5 in the morning. Leaving a box of painkillers on the counter Jessie made his way back into his room and booted up his computer again to search for any mention of why all the guilds were buying properties and recruiting en masse. About 10 minutes in Jessie got bored and decided to log back into the game, even though it would be an hour or so after midnight, just scrolling past all the images and videos on the forums made him want to log back in.
****
Magnus lay in his cave, his draconic form taking up most of it leaving only a sliver at the entrance. Slowly his eyes opened as he sensed someone walking in. raising his head he had to squint to make out who was entering. That was one of the downsides to his draconic form; it was so large that even an elder wyrm, some of the largest dragons that could be found in the universe, was about the size of an ant compared to him. Letting out a small sigh, that seemed to shake the cave and frightened some of the younger dragons and draconic creatures who also live in the cave, Magnus shrunk his sized down the that of an elder wyrm, still large enough to terrify anyone who saw him, except for some of the gods.
“Why have you come here, Fulor?’ Magnus asked when he could actually see the god.
“Do I have a reason to visit a friend?” the god asked in response. A low growl was the only response Fulor got.
“Okay fine, I came here to try to understand something.”
“And what does the all knowing god of death want to understand?” a slight hint of mockery in Magnus’s voice.
“I know everything about anything relating to death. I'm not a god of knowledge.” Fulor muttered. “But i want to know what interests you about young Ghost?”
“What makes you think I have an interest in the child?”
“You gave him a dragon egg and interjected on behalf of a dying young dragon on a fringe world.”
“I did both on a whim.” Magnus replied. “I did it because I could.”
“Is that all?” Fulor asked, his voice heavy with scepticism. “Because about a decade ago you and Thysonare were discussing things related to the end of your race.”
“What I discussed with the God of fate stays between me and the God of Fate. I don't care if you gave him your blessing or not.” Magnus paused, his draconic face glaring at Fulor. “I will not speak on what we discussed but I shall give you some advice. There is a reason we accepted Lizel and Ferins idea. The young Ghost does not walk under your banner, he walks under his own, he does not represent you nor does he represent any of us, you have your duties along with the other gods. The travelers have their duty, whether they know it or not, the more attention you put on the young Ghost the more danger you put him in and the slower he will grow in power your attention has already caused him undue pain and suffering. Let him walk his own path, check in occasionally and don't interfere unless necessary.”
Magnus continued to glare and Fulor as he digested his words. The glare deepened as a cunning smile emerged on Fulors face.
“Unless necessary?” He asked. “So I should interfere if I deem it necessary?”
“No. whether you deem it necessary or not, you may only interfere with the agreement of two other ancients.” Magnus growled which wiped the smile of Fulors face. With a glare at the dragon Fulor turned and walked out of the cave. Magnus sighed again before looking over to the side of the entrance.
“I trust you can keep him in line Osi, Lest I have to force him in line myself.”
“We’ll keep him in line.” Osioglen said.” it seems he had had too much freedom to interfere with newer worlds." At those words Osioglen also exited the cave.
Once the two gods had left, Magnus released his shrunken form and grew in size till the cave was crammed with one giant dragon who promptly closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
