think normally we’d be following a quest chain which would take us to the mainland
[Group][Efthalia]: yeah but if you’re creating an open world game you shouldn’t expect people to follow linear paths
[Group][Efthalia]: there’s no reason to restrict players interaction with the environment like that
[Group][Efthalia]: what if someone playing medusa wants to run around with someone playing an elf
[Group][Efthalia]: >.<
[Group][Aconite]: You’re cute when you’re ranting
[Group][Aconite]: I’m sure there’s a way. We just haven’t found it yet
[Group][Efthalia]: you’re cute when you’re being unhelpfully zen
[Group][Aconite]: I bet Ialdir will know
[Group][Efthalia]: your going to ask the high elf scum for directions?
[Group][Aconite]: He’s my best friend high elf scum
[Group][Aconite]: I’m going to text him
[Group][Efthalia]: I’ll look it up on HoLhead
[Group][Aconite]: Race you :)
Drew was competitive enough that he didn’t even type “you’re on” before alt-tabbing. He soon realised that while the site was an indispensable resource for loot tables, gear lists, and build planners, it was surprisingly low on pages tagged “How to get out of the damn starting areas.” There was a page for basically every quest in HoL, so if there was a chain that took you from Krytos to the Bone Wastes he’d be able to find it, but then it was a game of “Guess what the low-level quest is called that takes you to the place you want to go.” Turned out, this was one of the few games that Drew was legitimately terrible at.
He was about to resort to googling “how to get out of Minea without a flight path” when he realised enough time had passed that he’d probably lost.
[Group][Aconite]: Jacob says there’s two boats manned by rival elvish captains in the NW of the city
[Group][Aconite]: There’s also a dude in the Temple of Serpentis who’ll give us a quest to speak to one of them
[Group][Aconite]: Drew?
[Group][Aconite]: Are you still there?
[Group][Aconite]: Are you still checking HoLhead?
[Group][Efthalia]: okay you won
[Group][Aconite]: Ooh, what do I get?
[Group][Efthalia]: A luxury elvish cruise, a romantic walk through a swamp and this [Musty Shepherd’s Sandal]
[Group][Aconite]: Wow. Thank you.
[Group][Aconite]: I’m a bit worried about this [Musty Shepherd’s Sandal] though.
[Group][Aconite]: Do you think it belonged to a Musty Shepherd. Or do you think it is itself musty?
[Group][Efthalia]: Could be both
[Group][Aconite]: Wouldn’t that be a Musty Shepherd’s [Musty Sandal]?
[Group][Efthalia]: Or a Musty Shepherd’s [Musty Shepherd’s Sandal]
[Group][Efthalia]: Now come on, dude, we’ll miss the boat
They nipped over to the Temple of Serpentis and picked up a quest from a priestess who informed them that the once mighty empire of the medusas was being courted by both sides in the on-going conflict between the high and dark elves, and that they were to go immediately to support the side of their choosing.
At the docks, they found two contrastingly dressed elves with question marks above their heads. The high elf dude looked a bit like Ialdir, with long golden braids and a haughty expression. His boat was a silver swan rising delicately out of the water. The dark elvish envoy was a cleavagey pirate chick, her ship covered with an implausible number of spikes.
Needless to say, they went with her.
As soon as Drew had clicked through the dialogue, a loading screen popped up showing two angry-looking elves glaring at one another, and a dodgy medusa being mysterious and shadowy in the middle.
You have discovered Tormenter’s Bay.
[Group][Aconite]: Wow, I haven’t been back here since Sol was level 14.
[Group][Efthalia]: i’ve never been here
[Group][Efthalia]: now I think about it i’ve basically not been on this whole continent except the capitals
[Group][Aconite]: Are you elvist or something?
[Group][Efthalia]: i was just always more about endgame
[Group][Efthalia]: i’ve only got three alts
[Group][Aconite]: No wonder you’re the best geared tank on the server
[Group][Efthalia]: lol
[Group][Aconite]: Well TB is your classic hive of scum and villainy. It’s run by dark elf pirates
[Group][Aconite]: It’s way cooler than the Glittering Cove, which is where the smelly high elves take you
[Group][Aconite]: There’s actually quite a decent quest line where you have to track down this cult that’s trying to summon an ancient sea god that totally isn’t Cthulhu
[Group][Efthalia]: you can give me the guided tour after we’ve done BM
[Group][Aconite]: Absolutely. We can have a quiet drink in the Iron Maiden
They made their way north over the blasted heaths surrounding Tormenter’s Bay, trying to avoid the level twelve Ash-Touched Bears that lurked close to the port.
You have discovered The Fetid Morass.
[Group][Aconite]: You really know how to show a boy a good time
[Group][Efthalia]: hey this was your idea
As much as Drew appreciated the design effort that went into much of the game, he had to admit