EFate: An MMO Story

The chaos inside the militia barracks was truly staggering. More than likely, it was the most activity the barracks had seen in a long time, perhaps even ever, Eric thought to himself as he approached the map, opening his notification window as he did so.

[Quest Received: Operation: Northhome]

After wiping out the forward bases of the Ironfrost Horde, the remnants have scattered throughout the northern reaches of Novanalba where they now attack Novanalban settlements and traders. They must be eliminated for the safety of all who dwell in the north!

Primary Quest Objective: Eliminate the advance parties of the Ironfrost Horde.

Rewards: Dependent upon your performance. Increased reputation within the Lunbrengur Region. Increased reputation with the Lunbrengur Region Militia.

[Quest Received: Knight of Crowsea(1)]

In order to become a proper knight of Crowsea, you need to learn from Alistair. His first task for you is to gain the status needed to be appointed as a Platoon Commander. In order to this you must first raise your reputation in Novanalba and learn how to lead. Alistair has proposed that you form your own party for Operation: Northhome.

Primary Quest Objective: Form a party of five members to participate in Operation: Northhome. Perform exceptionally so that you may earn a post as Platoon Commander in the upcoming offensive.

Secondary Quest Objective: Recruit the Tonbura villager, Lark, into your party.

Rewards: Dependent upon your performance in Operation: Northhome. Increased reputation with Alistair. Increased reputation in the Lunbrengur Region. Increased rank with the Lunbrengur Region Militia. Possibility to advance along the Knight's Path.

Seeing that he had not one, but two new quests, Eric quickly scanned through the contents of the quests. While the first quest was fairly standard, simply comprising of a condensed version of what Alistair had told the militia earlier, the second quest was much more interesting. The bit that had caught his eye the most was the part about the Knight's Path. While the quest itself didn't give any information on what the Knight's Path entailed, it certainly didn't sound like a bad thing. In fact, Eric's gamer senses were screaming that it was likely to be something rather incredible. In addition, it looked like the Knight of Crowsea quest was only the first in a series of linked quests. If he could perform admirably in Operation Northhome, then he would be able to successfully complete the quest, hopefully advancing along the Knight's Path and also unlocking the next quest in the chain. However, for that to happen, first he needed to discuss this with his friends. While the quest itself didn't say that he needed to create a party independent of his friends, Alistair had made it abundantly clear that this was what he expected of him, and as both the quest giver and his Lord, Alistair was not someone Eric wanted to piss off. Not with a possible linked quest on his hands, and especially not after what Eric had seen him do in the Battle of Lichfrost.

Dismissing the quest windows, Eric found himself next to the map that Alistair had been using earlier. Now that he'd gotten closer, Eric could see that the map was actually far more detailed than he'd thought at first glance. Ridges and mountains crafted of mana rose impressively above the flat surface, while various canyons and gullies could be seen running through the forests that dominated the map. While the cities were not fully detailed, key buildings could still be distinguished. An enormous palace marked the capital city of Seacove, while Lucy's tower could be seen rising above the tiny mark that was Tonbura Village. Gio had arrived at some point during the briefing, and was now standing next to the map along with Ryan, Jun, and the others, leaving only Rob missing.

"A bigger den means bigger rewards. There's no point clearing out smaller ones, leave those to the noobs," Jun was arguing. His voice raised to be heard above the general din.

"We should do a smaller den first to get used to the difficulty. We can always clear out multiple dens, so let's be cautious for the first clear," Mark shot back.

"We having an argument here?" Eric asked, taking a quick glance at where on the map the two were pointing.

"Just trying to decide on which den to attack first. Jun wants to go for a big one right away, Mark wants to play it safe," Ryan explained.

"You're back, Eric?" Mark asked, turning around to greet his friend.

"Yeah."

"What did Alistair have to talk to you about?"

"I was just about to tell you guys about that. Follow me outside?" Eric asked, jerking his head towards the door. Nodding in a confused manner, the rest of the group followed Eric out of the barracks, leaving the clamoring militia to close ranks around the map as they departed.

"So, what's this about then, Eric?" Mark asked with a curious expression.

"Yeah. What did Alistair tell you?" Jun demanded.

Rather than answer the pair, Eric turned to the rest of the group. "What are your guys' goals for Riptide?"

"Sorry?"

"Come again?"

"What are your goals for Riptide. What do you guys want to accomplish as part of Riptide?" Eric reiterated with a serious tone.

"Become the best," Ryan was the first to answer, firmly replying to the sudden question.

"What he said. No point in settling for anything less," said Jun.

Eric nodded. "And the rest of you?" he asked, addressing the other three.

Griffin merely shrugged. "Have fun, go as far as we can in the tournament."

"Win the tournament I guess?" Gio said after a moment.

"Make Riptide great of course. Why are you asking? Does this have something to do with what Alistair had to talk to you about?" Mark asked.

"Yeah. My conversation with him made me realize a few things. If we want Riptide to succeed, we can't just keep doing what we've been doing. We talked about increasing our training after the tournament, but we need to do more than just that," said Eric.

"So what do you suggest?"

Quickly, Eric laid out what Alistair had told him, putting extra emphasis on the part about taking command of a platoon during the next expedition. Upon hearing what Alistair had said, the rest of Riptide fell silent, a contemplative mood falling upon the party.

Mark was the first to break the silence. "So, you're saying we should split up? Make our own parties?"

"Yes," Eric nodded. "If we want Riptide to become successful, we can't just focus on being a strong team. That's not what Fate's about and it's also not how we qualify for the World Championsh.i.p.s. What we need to do is become strong as a guild and own an outpost and in order to do that we need to be able to attract other strong people to Riptide. We're not going to be able to do that if we stay together all the time."

Mark nodded slowly. "That sounds reasonable. Despite our recent success, none of us ranked very highly on the recent Novanalba power rankings in the forums."

"Wait, there's a power ranking in the forums?" Ryan asked, his gaze moving from Eric as he gave Mark his undivided attention.

"Yeah, a few guys put it together based on people's placings in local tournaments, as well as their achievements and titles earned so far," Mark replied. "The highest any of us got was Jun at 27th. Eric was 32nd, I was 73rd, and the rest of us weren't ranked at all."

"They only put me at 32nd?"

"They only put me five places ahead of Eric?"

Both Eric and Jun spoke at the same time, their indignant remarks causing Mark to wince as he glanced at them.

"Don't yell at me, yell at the guys who put together the ranking. For context, even Hydrus was only ranked at 21st. They didn't take the militia tournament too seriously compared to the ones that were closer to Seacove City. Eric probably would've been lower as well if he hadn't gotten knighted."

"Damn, that's bullshit," Eric swore. Uncharacteristically, Jun nodded, for once agreeing with Eric as he expressed his views on the intelligence of the ranking committee and the various relations of their mothers.

Mark spread his hands helplessly. "It's just a forum ranking. Don't take it so seriously." Even if it is being taken as the official Novanalba ranking list, he added silently.

"Who's in first?" Jun demanded.

"Nova Five's Twizzler."

"Makes sense," Eric conceded. "Any other big names?"

"Most of Nova Five and Atlantic Carries are playing and ranked pretty highly. I don't recognize every name, but the top twenty is pretty well known. Most of them seem to have started closer to Seacove than we did though. Barns and Grott are both here as well, but they're in the upper half near me. You guys and Hydrus are the only ones from the militia tournament to make it into the top fifty."

"That settles it, we have to increase our ranks," Jun decreed with an unusually serious expression.

"So are we going to split up then?" Eric asked cautiously.

"I'm fine with it. What do the rest of you think? This is a pretty big decision after all. Obviously we can talk it over with Rob later as well," Mark asked, turning to the rest of the group.

Ryan and Jun looked at each other.

"I'm cool with it."

"Whatever, at least I won't have to carry Eric's scrub a.s.s. Should make ranking up easier."

Rolling his eyes at Jun's ribbing, Eric turned to Griffin and Gio. "What about you two?"

"I'm not so sure I like the idea. You guys might be able to carry groups and be successful. But I don't think I can do that and continue to be a tank. I'd prefer to stay as a group," Griffin said after a moment. Beside him, Gio had a conflicted look upon his face. Seeing this, Eric turned towards the quietest member of the group.

"Gio, you've been pretty quiet. What do you think?"

"Honestly, I don't like it," Gio replied softly.

"What was that?"

"I said, I don't like it," Gio replied, a little louder this time. "I'm already bad enough at fighting as it is. If you guys get me to lead a group I'm just going to die and embarass myself. As long as you guys are around, I don't mind fighting. But I don't want to fight if you guys aren't going to be there with me," he said, spilling his words out in a rush, as if afraid that he would be cut off if he didn't speak as quickly as possible.

Going silent, the group stared at Gio for a moment. A few of them wore looks of surprise, while Ryan had a look of acceptance on his face.

"I'm glad you finally said it man. I've been wondering if you were really enjoying yourself for a while,"said Ryan, placing his hand upon Gio's shoulder.

"I do enjoy playing with you guys. It's just that I'm not that good at combat. Especially compared to Jun and Eric."

"You can just practi-" Jun began, but Gio cut him off.

"No," he said firmly, Ryan's support having given him confidence. "I know where my talents lie. I'm just average at combat in Fate. No matter how hard I practice, I'm never going to be as good as you, Eric, or Ryan."

A conflicted look flashed across Mark's face as Gio said this. But he remained silent as Gio continued.

"I don't want to quit, and I also don't want us to split up the group. But Eric's right about splitting up the party being best for Riptide, and I don't want to be the reason that Riptide doesn't succeed either." A look of frustration crossed Gio's face as he said this. "Honestly, I don't really know what to do."

"What do you want to do?" Mark asked carefully. "We don't want to force you to do something you're not enjoying. It's ok if not everyone leads their own parties. It might be better even."

The rest of the group nodded at this, reassuring Gio that they wouldn't force him to do anything he didn't want to do. Face brightening as his friends gave him their support, Gio pondered for a moment.

"I like the crafting stuff. Helping out with stuff around the village, doing random quests for villagers. That sort of stuff," Gio replied at last.

Hearing this, an idea struck Eric. "The goal of this is to raise the reputation of Riptide, right?" he asked, speaking up for the first time since Gio had started his tirade.

"I thought it was to become platoon commanders?" Griffin asked.

"That's the goal of splitting up to lead different parties for this exercise. But the other goal is to attract strong players to Riptide. However, we don't just need players who are strong at fighting, and we also don't just need players. If we want Riptide to succeed at owning a territory we'll need blacksmiths, farmers, fletchers, and all sorts of non-combat professions. We're not going to attract those types by fighting monsters and raising our rank with the militia. Or at least, we're not going to attract very many of them," Eric corrected himself. "What if we let Gio stay in town and integrate himself in the local scene? He's already the one with the most NPC friends, and I'd bet he's the one with the highest reputation among important villagers who aren't Alistair or Lucy, what with all the little quests he's always doing."

"Would that work?" Gio asked in an unsure tone. "If I didn't go out fighting, and just stayed in the village?"

"Probably, there's no reason it shouldn't. Especially if you get one of the villagers to take you on as their apprentice, like Tom did with Griffin, or Craig with Jun," Mark said slowly. "It's something I've been wondering about actually, if we can really keep ignoring the non-combat aspects of Fate the way we have. Look at how much more powerful Jun's bow is then the one he started with, or Eric's new sabre. If we could make that level of stuff ourselves, how much stronger would we be?"

"Way stronger. This bow is actually great, and Craig's not even that great a fletcher. He complains about it when he gets drunk," Jun confided. "If Gio can become good at fletching or something else then that would be way more useful than having him as a shitty tank."

"Gee, thanks," Gio said dryly.

"No problem."

"So we allow Gio to stay in the village while the rest of us form parties of our own then?" Eric asked, turning the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"I want to stay with someone else's party. Finding a competent group as a tank is just exhausting," Griffin spoke up.

"Just stick him with Mark. That way he doesn't need to waste time finding a tank he can rely on and he can safely heal," Ryan suggested. Mark nodded at this.

"That works for me. You cool with that Griffin?"

"Yup."

"Ryan, Jun, are you two okay with forming your own parties?" Mark asked. "Jun, I don't want you flaming anyone that's not up to your standards. The entire point of this would be to try and recruit new members to Riptide while raising our reputation with the militia. We don't need you driving people away."

"I'd only drive away shitters like Eric," Jun protested. Seeing that Mark was glaring at him he relented. "But yeah, I'll try my best."

"I can think of a few people I could recruit," Ryan volunteered. "Not sure if they'll have parties by now or not. But they should be willing to help me if I ask right."

"Sounds good. Alright then, since we're all going to be starting parties of our own, we'll postpone our first raid indefinitely. Remember, we're looking for new members to join Riptide, so don't just recruit the first people you find. We want the best," Mark reminded them all sternly.

"Yeah yeah, is that all then?" Jun asked with a bored look. Seeing Jun's disinterested gaze, a light flashed in Eric's eyes.

"Anyone want to make a bet?" Eric asked slyly.

"A bet on what?"

"On who'll have the best party. For fairness sake, we'll determine best party by whoever has the highest rank by the next expedition."

"I'm game."

"Me too."

"Sure."

"What's the wager? Same as usual?"

The other members of Riptide asked. Only Mark abstained, merely sighing as he gave Eric an annoyed look, clearly warning him not to take things too far.

"How about we spice it up a little this time?" Eric suggested. "Screw the last bet we had. We still haven't decided who's going to be the guild leader, right? Just that we're going to make the guild as soon as we can. So let's say that whoever wins is the guild leader and gets to be leader of Riptide after the guild is made."

"Sounds good."

"You're on."

As the group began to discuss the bet, each person claiming that they would be the one to win it, Mark clapped his hands to get their attention once more.

"Let's not waste too much time. We don't want everyone to have found parties while we're still messing around out here. Remember guys, quality over quantity. We want strong members to join Riptide. We won't be able to take on Nova Five or any of the other big teams with scrubs."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Who's going to make the guild and be guild leader while we wait for the next expedition?" Griffin asked, piping up for the first time in a while.

"Just let Mark do it like we usually do," Jun said with a bored look, clearly already planning who to recruit to his party.

"Mark's good, yeah."

"Whatever."

"You good with that, Mark?" Eric asked.

Mark shrugged. "Not like you guys don't get me to make the guild in every game anyways. Yeah, I'm cool with it."

"Sounds good. Alright then, let's form some parties and start clearing out some goblin dens!" Eric said with a grin.

Smiling cheerfully, the group began to disperse, each man heading in a different direction as they began to ponder potential teammates, all of them dreaming about climbing the rankings and beating their friends. After all, wasn't that what life was all about?