Universe Online - Enter the Game: Complete Edition (5 page)

“There we go, done.”  I announce, satisfied.

”Racial traits saved.  Race history has also been amended with your notes.  Final approval can take up to twenty four hours.  Your character is approved.  Next up is the Advanced User selection of Attributes, Aptitudes, Aspects and Traits.  Would you like more information?”

Now it’s getting serious, and as soon as my character is approved, it disappears and I start to glow, only to end up looking just like I had chosen; along with the equipment.  Even I have to grimace at the sudden weight I feel on my body, although the mechanical augmentation of the suit adjusts almost instantly to deal with it.

Good thing I plan to go through the tutorial.  Starting out in this thing is going to be a hassle.

“Yes please.  Start with the Attributes.”  I request as soon as I've caught myself.

”Attributes are the physical characteristics of your character.  They are divided into Physical Attributes, Mental Attributes, Applied Attributes and Bonus Attributes.”

“Physical Attributes are Strength, Agility, and Vitality.”

“Mental Attributes are Intellect, Psyche, and Awareness.”

“Applied Attributes include Health, Stamina, and Psi; which is psionic energy.  Psi is used to power all sorts of devices as well as some Aptitudes and Aspects.”

“Bonus Attributes include Luck, which everyone starts with, and can then be expanded as you travel, work, or fight.  You cannot spend Attribute points from leveling up in most Bonus Attributes.  There are a few that you can though.  They tend to provide passive bonuses.  You can have an unlimited number of Bonus Attributes.”

Okay, so it was mostly still the same as before.  Most of it I already knew from the manual that had been released months ago.  Some of the bits about the Bonus Attributes though was new to me.  It must be a side-effect of being an Advanced User.

I open a screen of my own and start jotting down everything I was just told as personal notes.  No use in letting any of the information go to waste.

“Tell me about Aptitudes, please.”

”Aptitudes are the basis of what you would call 'skills'.  They are not concrete abilities or singular entities on their own, though.  Instead, they represent your average competence across the Aspects each Aptitude governs.”

“An example is the 'Ship Construction Aptitude'.  If you have 13 levels in it, and you use the Aspect 'Ship Repair', you perform the required repairs 13% faster and more deftly, showing off your general competence for that Aptitude and its aligned Aspects.”

“The major trick though is how you align your learned Aptitudes and the Aspects.  Not every Aspect falls under a single Aptitude or vice-versa.  To get the best results, it is often better to create a web of interconnected Aptitudes and Aspects that unlock progressively higher bonuses for your endeavors.”

“This is called the Aspect Web, and it replaces the classic system of skills, masteries, and talents that older games had.  With it, you can train or use anything you want.  They are also level independent, so there is no limit or order required to unlock them.”

That was quite a bit different from how I had imagined it to be, personally.  The presets during the Beta Test were more like classes or jobs than anything else.  It seems even I had discounted the possibility that the system would be different from what we were allowed to play with.

Huh.  I jot all of that down in my personal notes.

That had basically covered the Aspects as well, so I'm going to skip that for now and get right to the action.

“Show Character Creation Screen.”

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Fun Fact #2: The Aspect Web system is one of the most complex systems I’ve ever seen or considered in an RPG.  It can be kinda mind boggling.

“Show Character Creation Screen.”

I speak the words softly, and after a moment a rather large holographic screen pops up in front of me.

It takes me a few minutes to recognize what it is that I’m seeing.  During the Beta Test, most of the user menus and screens were disabled, so I never got the chance to play around with it.  This one kind of looks like those magic circles you'd expect a wizard to draw on the ground.  A circle in the center, with the various Attributes surrounding it.  Then a larger circle for Aptitudes surrounding the Attributes, and finally an even larger ring for Aspects surrounding the Aptitudes.

It is quite complex, but once you know what you're looking at, it turns out to be a very cool design.

Each Attribute is inside its own box, colored in green.  The various marks for Aptitudes are all blank, but they're colored in a deep orange that stands out easily on the blue background.  The encircling markers for Aspects are likewise smaller and empty, if far more numerous than the other sorts.  They're colored in a bright red.  The marks are just dots that orbit within their ring.

It also lists my Creation Points at the top.  I have a whopping 17,500 points!  Basic characters have anywhere between 3000 to a around 10,000 with the maximum number of negative traits.  At that point, it is possible to have a character with the stats of a level 10 or more, assuming they aren't completely messed up from all the negative effects.

I realize from the start that my starting race is a large negative trait all its own.  Although its bonuses are nice, especially when stacked with the Advanced User bonuses, the downside can be very hard to cope with.  I'll definitely have to be careful and go over all of my options with a fine-toothed comb.

Like all new players, all of my Attributes start out at a bare 10, except with the bonuses to my Mental Attributes and Luck making higher.  That's actually really nice, because it boosts my starting Psi, which is basically like mana or mental energy used for concentration and the like, as well as activating tech and psionic related Aspects.

On that note, the Applied Attributes follow a rather simple formula, however it seems to only apply to points added after the original 10.  So if you have 19 points in vitality, the formula would take only the 9 and apply the formula from that.  For Health it uses Vitality * 5 + Strength * 5 /2. Stamina follows the same system, except with Vitality and Agility.  Psi uses Intellect as the primary and Psyche as the secondary.

At least for any points over the starting 10.  So my starting Health and Stamina are the same, while there's already an effective boost from the bonus Mental stats.

Awareness is actually the odd man out, but it basically represents perception.  Your ability to spot things that are out of place and make snap decisions.  From what I understand it's used quite heavily during combat and flying ships; as well as things like tracking and looking for traps.  Or treasure.

It can also be involved with the various sorts of extra-sensory perceptions players can get access to.  There may be other bits of information related to it, but that's the gist of it for now.

Now, I'm tempted to start dumping my points into my stats, especially my physical attributes to try to minimize the negatives of my race.  But there is still so much more to look through.  I have no idea for the costs, either.  And I still have to pick out my starting Aptitudes and Aspects, and traits!

Ah, there are so many options!

I opened up those screens and instantly got flooded with a literal shit ton of message boxes.  I have to swipe the expanded information boxes closed and pull back the zoom in order to get a good look at the names.  And that's only for the Aptitudes.

Unarmed Combat, Martial Weapons, Laser Weapons, Small Weapons, Large Weapons, Mechanical Weapons... and many more.  The top ranks are all weapon and combat oriented Aptitudes.  I skip over them for now.  Since I'm going to be stuck soloing for the time being, I need to choose options that I can be self sufficient in.

I move to the Technological Aptitudes, and find a couple that I want right off the bat. Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Hardware, Assembly.  I end up pulling back up my notes window and start typing in the names to keep track of them.  I’m far from done browsing yet.

Next up I look through the Psionic Aptitudes, then the Survival Aptitudes, and the Personal Aptitudes.  There's a couple in all three of them that catch my interest as well.  Not to mention the Construction and Manufacturing Aptitudes.

I actually have to remind myself that I don't have to choose them all here at the start.  I can learn as many as I want in-game with enough time and effort.

I should stick with the essentials for now.  Those that will let me remain alive should be top priority.  I go ahead and check some of them for their costs, and almost flinch.  The base ones cost between 200 and 300 points, while the big ones cost 2000 points or more!

After reading the expanded information on them, I realize why.  The Aptitudes provide a bonus to the Aspects tied to them.  Even with high levels, the smaller Aptitudes only continue to provide small bonuses; while the bigger ones provide increasingly larger bonuses.  They can also overlap.

Perhaps I should explain that.  When I say 'larger' Aptitude, I mean it in a physical sense.  The larger the box, the more space it takes up on the Aptitude ring in the status screen.  Larger Aptitudes provide more bonuses.  They also have more 'slots' to allow more connections, either directly to Aspects in that ring; or to other Aptitudes small enough to fit 'under' them.

Think of having a Lego brick.  One of the rectangle ones.  You can connect a single rectangle of the same size underneath it.  Or two smaller square ones.  Or four flat ones.  Or eight individual sized ones.  They literally snap together.  And they provide boosted bonuses starting from the top and working their way down.

So if I take the Technology Aptitude, which costs a massive 5000 Creation Points; its bonus starts at a massive 50%.  If I connect the Mechanical Aptitude (400 CP) under it, it boosts any mechanically inclined Aspects connected to it by not just 4%, but a combined 54%.  The bonuses just get higher the more you level them.

The drawback of the bigger Aptitudes though is the requirements to level them are likewise HUGE.  The Technology Aptitude I mentioned before takes 1,000,000 Experience to reach Level 2!  That's mind boggling when you get to thinking about it.  Mechanical Aptitude only takes 800 Experience to level up to 2, and gains a 1% bonus, so it will provide 5%.

At level 2, the Technology Aptitude only gains .5% bonus.

So it is a trade off.  Great starting potential versus cost and slower gains.

Advanced Users will definitely have their work cut out for them.  I'm very thankful that I have quite a bit of time here to go over every detail.  If I had to do this at a rush, I'd definitely blow through everything and be left with a very messed up character.

On a side note, connecting Aptitudes causes them to split the experience they gain as well, with the smaller, lower ones receiving more as they are connected closer to the Aspect being used while the higher, bigger ones receive less.

It is very ingenious though.  The larger bonuses more than make up for the lesser returns.  If done properly, it can increase proficiency by several times.  It’s a great trick for people who work out how to use the system.

There is one set of Aptitudes that catch my interest though.  The Movement Aptitudes under the Personal listing.  Bonus to movement speed and reflexes in different environments!  Yes!  I quickly pull up the information boxes for them.

There's also one for speed, which might also come in handy.

Hm.  That one is also rather nice.  If paired with both the regular Movement and the Flexibility Aptitudes, it would go a long while to help alleviating some of my problems.  But there's a problem.  The Flexibility Aptitude is only a Size 2.  It means I can connect it freely to either of the other two Movement Aptitudes, but at the same time I can only connect two Aspects to it.

It limits the versatility of the Aptitude.

You could say that an Aptitudes usefulness is tied directly to its size, and I'm not sure if there is a way to change it.  There should be a way, but just starting out I'm not sure if it’s possible for me to find it.

Well, I jot down those three Aptitudes in my notes and flick them closed before going back to looking through the rest.  There seems to be hundreds if not thousands of them. I could almost drool.  Basic Users only get access to part of what is available.  I feel sorry for them, in a way.

Ah!  I find a group of Aptitudes under the Special Aptitudes heading.  Most of them are cool, like Psionic Energy Conversion.  But what catches my attention is the largest one listed in the Specials.

Innate Control Aptitude!

I quickly pull that up to check it out.