Welcome to the Game

“Welcome to the game.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Call me -unpronounceable- , I’m here to introduce you to The Game.”
”Who am I?”

“You’re going to be named Isaac.”
”I don’t get to choose?”
”No.”

“What kind of game is it?”

“Are you asking what genre reality is?”
”I guess?”

“I guess you might say it’s open world. But not because invisible walls prevent you from entering places so much as people will feel negatively about you being in certain places and they might physically remove you. There are combat mechanics, vehicle mechanics, romance mechanics, it’s basically all roleplaying, there are skills…. honestly even calling it a game is a bit of interpretation, albeit the subject of this current thought experiment.”

“What was that last bit?”
”Nevermind that.”
”Oooookkayyy…how do I unlock more areas?”
”Complicated. Money helps. You can buy access to a lot of places. If you’re fast you can evade people who might try and remove you. Or if you’re good at fighting. Or you can sneak in.”
”There are stealth components?”
”Very complicated ones.”
”Is there a manual?”
”Of sorts. All manuals are found in game. They come in many forms. Books. Lectures. Conversations. A lot of what you’ll learn will have to be through trial and error, experience.”
”How long is it?
”You won’t have time to read it all during your playthrough.”
”Because it’s that much to read or because the playthrough will be short?”
”Depends on your perspective.”
”How long would it take to get through it all?”
”Thousands of years.”
”And how low will the playthrough be?”
”Depends on a lot. Average for your server and your starting build is 70 - 80.”
”How am I expected to play a game where I could never even understand 1 percent of its mechanics?”
”Sorry.”
”Are you?”
”Sure.”
”Are there survival mechanics?”
”Extremely complicated ones. Not just hunger and thirst, but a specific diet. You’ll need to access medical attention regularly no matter how well you play. Different kinds of medical professional. And you’ll have to pay for it all. And you’ll be in pain and die if you neglect your medical care and bodily needs.”
”Pain?”
”You’ll hate it, trust me. Thirst and hunger too. No meters, no HUD. Sensation instead. You’ll like some of it, some of it you’ll be neutral towards, some of it you’ll do anything to avoid.”
”So I don’t have flawless control over the avatar?”
”No, you have a thing called willpower that’s an expendable resource. Honestly I’m simplifying, it’s actually really complicated. But there are factors that can cause your controls to begin to fail. Your inputs will be responded to late, or won’t be responded to at all.”
”You mentioned paying for medical care. There’s an economic system?”
”A really-”
”-complicated one, right. Will I be playing with other people, or will it all be npcs?”
”You don’t get to know.”
”You’re fucking with me.”
”Nope. I mean, like, they’re gonna behave mostly like you. So like probably? But I’m not actually allowed to tell you.”
”Are there admins keeping an eye on things?”
”You don’t get to know.”
”This this might not be being monitored?”
"I’m not telling.”
”Cooooool. Can I make complaints? Raise concerns? Give suggestions?”
”Sure. You can put any concerns you want into this bin over here.”
”Does someone go through them and read them?”
”You don’t get to know.”

“How many times do I get to play?”
”You don’t get to know.”
”So this might be my only time through? Is there some kinda post-game?”
”You don’t get to know.”

“Am I allowed to try and answer these questions?”
”Someone might try and stop you, or the answers might be impossible to find. But other than that, you can try all you like.”

“Anything else I should know?”
”I’m not allowed to suggest questions.”
”I guess it’s time to get started.”
”For what it’s worth, have a Good Game.”

Act I: Birth….