MMORPG: How a Computer Game Becomes Deadly Serious (42 page)

***

“He gave up!” Robert laughed, exhilarated. “He just couldn’t take it anymore!”

They had received the message that Esjnn had logged off with satisfaction. Rebecca had been right again. Their enemies had finally figured out who they were. Their names were now known by the opposition. The determination with which Khalid had followed Rebecca’s mage around the world had proven that beyond any doubt. They had seen his desperate plea for a portal out of Dalaran as well. There was certainly a chilling side to this. Before, they had been safe on Azeroth. They had spied on the Hammer of Grimstone from the shadows, protected by their anonymity. They had been just faces in the crowd. That was over now.

It felt good to do something in return. Of course, they both realized that sending a virtual character on a little goose chase wasn’t much in the way of retaliation. Not when a twenty-year-old girl had been murdered in cold blood, and they had escaped the same fate by only a hair. To be alive at all, to be able to play a futile and petty joke on one of the men who had shot at him was victory in itself.

“He must have realized there was no way he could find me again, after I left Dalaran through the back door.”

He stretched and yawned. “Do you think there’s something like a wine cellar here?” he asked. “I could use a decent drink by now.”

She looked up from her screen and hesitated. Killermage was still on the wyvern and she hated to log off while airborne. It was impossible to abort a taxi ride. She shrugged. What was she worrying about? None of their enemies were online and, even if they were, nobody knew where she was. It was a big world out there.

She pushed her chair backward and stood, leaving her screen unattended.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said. “I’ll ask Nellie about the wine. Do you prefer red or white?”

He waved at her. “I leave it entirely up to you, my dear. I’m sure you won’t disappoint me!”

She came back nearly ten minutes later, cradling a bottle of wine. Robert recognized it as a Bordeaux from a distance. In her other hand she held two glasses. He smiled with genuine pleasure.

While he was busy with the cork screw, Rebecca threw an idle glance at her computer screen. Killermage had reached her destination some time ago and was now sitting down at the little sandy beach at River’s Heart in the zone of Sholazar Basin. River’s Heart was a lake in the middle of the zone, fed by the influx of water from two rivers that flowed through an immense tropical jungle. On the northern side of the lake was the destination she’d chosen at Krasus Landing, a tiny settlement with a flight path. It was remote, and an unlikely hiding place.

The cork plopped and Robert inhaled the rich aromas of the Bordeaux.

“Come on, give me some!” she begged.

He obliged and poured another glass for himself. They toasted. “To being alive!” Robert said.

“To being alive,” she repeated. She looked for a place to put down her glass, which was difficult because of the computers. “Let’s put this thing away.”

She reached over and clicked twice, meaning to exit the game. Killermage was still with her bottom on the beach. A warning, signaling an invalid command, sounded softly. She frowned and looked up at the screen.

You can’t do that while in combat

“The bastards!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Without hesitation, she hit one of her hotkeys and immediately, Killermage was encased in a protective block of ice. An instant later, a barrage of fire and lightning rained down on her. A magic bolt, closely followed by a bullet, came streaking in from another angle. As if that wasn’t enough, a plated figure rushed her out of nowhere and swung a vicious two handed sword at her head. His attack was joined by the fangs and teeth of a ferocious tiger, apparently belonging to some hunter.

Robert leaped to her side and watched with open mouth. He recognized the Ice Block around Killermage from experience. It was one of the most infuriating abilities in the game, because it made mages completely invulnerable to any damage. He also knew it lasted only ten seconds.

Rebecca appeared to be in a trance. He had never seen her like this before. Her fingers flew over the keyboard and her mouse clicked furiously. He noted some small changes to her screen. It appeared some of her buttons had changed. He guessed she had just optimized her interface for player versus player combat. It had taken her no more than two seconds. While doing this, she muttered under her breath, “Mage, warlock, hunter, warrior and shaman.” She was hitting the Tab key in rapid succession now, cycling through her attackers, even those who weren’t visible. She marked them as targets one to five. They were all Alliance, naturally; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to attack Killermage.

He didn’t dare to speak, afraid he might break her concentration. She started to talk softly, seemingly as much to herself as to him, without any excitement in her voice.

“Hunter is the most dangerous, then warlock. But warrior is first.”

He saw her glance at the timer of the Ice Block. Its effect was nearly exhausted. Her fingers tensed over the keyboard, ready for action. Robert held his breath.

A Frost Nova exploded out of Killermage, freezing the warrior and the tiger in place. They would be immobilized for the duration of the spell, which didn’t mean the warrior couldn’t swing his weapon, though. She also activated her Ice Barrier, a glowing nimbus of ice particles that could absorb a fair amount of damage. Now Killermage used Blink, a spell that teleported her over a short distance, enough to be out of range of any damage the warrior’s sword could have done. In player versus player combat, mobility is the key, and if the warrior had managed to Hamstring or stun her, the fight would have known an early and sad end right there on the beach. The Horde mage was moving.

Rebecca seemed to have a timer in her head that kept track of the casting time of each of their enemy’s spells. She used Presence of Mind that allowed the instant release of a spell that would have required her to stand still while casting. Most mage spells, at least the really damaging ones, had relatively long casting times. She hit the hunter with a Frost Bolt that dealt over seven thousand damage, roughly a quarter of his available health. The bolt would slow his movement speed by fifty percent for a short duration.

“Always good to draw first blood,” she said evenly. “And I can’t have that hunter after me too soon.”

Now she pressed the key to target the warlock.
Robert knew first-hand how decisive their Fear ability could be. Once cast on an enemy, the player would lose control over his character. If Killermage came under its effect, she’d be running around aimlessly in mindless fear.
Robert saw to his horror that the warlock was almost finished casting Fear on them. Rebecca hit Counterspell just in time, which effectively destroyed the spell. Even better, it prevented the warlock from casting any spell out of the Affliction category for some time.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said in that same disembodied voice. “Let’s see if we can escape this trap.”

First, she made use of an ability called Mirror Image. It projected three exact copies of herself next to her that mimicked her every move. They would keep for twenty seconds, offering multiple targets to the enemy, reducing the chance she would be hit.

Then she had Killermage running at full speed toward the rock wall that encompassed the northern side of the lake. Two of her copies exploded and died. She kept running toward the rocks that loomed close by now. There was an exit at the end of the beach where a steep and narrow path led upward to the plateau above. This was where she headed. Of course, the enemy knew this as well and had anticipated this.

She was hit from behind by a Concussive Shot from the hunter. The damage was absorbed by the Ice Barrier, but her speed was reduced significantly. At the same time, the enemy mage stepped into their path. He released a Frost Bolt, and now her movement speed was reduced even more. The damage also shattered the protective barrier. It ate roughly twenty percent of her maximum health. Rebecca was still unfazed.

“Might as well make use of the moment,” she said calmly and targeted the mage. His cast bar showed that he was preparing another Frost Bolt. Killermage started casting a spell as well, and she released a split second sooner. The enemy was turned into a sheep.

“Always remember that the casting time of Polymorph is shorter than that of Frost Bolt, with the right gear,” she told the sheep as she ran past.

She reached the top of the path and ran into the shaman. He had been standing on top of the cliff, and Robert understood he was the healer of the group. His task was to protect his fellows from a safe spot by casting spells that restored lost health.

Shamans are dangerous opponents for a mage. They have abilities to Silence wielders of magic, rendering him temporarily defenseless. Rebecca didn’t even bother to engage him. She just activated Cold Snap, which finished all cool downs on her Frost spells and protected herself with a new Ice Barrier. Her Blink ability had also just become available again, its cooldown finished, and she used it to put distance between her and the shaman. The shaman tried to hit her with an Earth Shock, but the damage was absorbed by the new shield.

They encountered dense vegetation now. Rebecca went for it, even though Robert knew the jungle was teeming with cobras and crocodiles.

“LoS is the key now,” Rebecca said.

For the first time, Robert dared to respond. “Los?”

“Line of Sight,” she answered. “Always look for ways to break LoS when you’re in danger. They can’t hit you if they can’t see you.”

Killermage entered the rainforest and continued in a northerly direction for some time. Rebecca looked over at him briefly. “Is Gunslinger still in Ogrimmar?”

“Yes.”

“Get him and put him on the zeppelin to Warsong Hold in Borean Tundra. Take the flightpath to Bor’Gorok Outpost at the border with Sholazar Basin. I’ll be fleeing in that direction. It’s the only way out.”

He nodded, but flicked an eye at Killermage’s status. Unfortunately, she was still flagged as in combat. A pity, because the moment she was out of combat, she’d be able to use her flying mount to get the hell out of there. The game prohibited players from using their mounts while in combat. She couldn’t use her Teleport ability either, let alone her hearthstone.

She seemed to read his thought. “It’s not going to be that easy. They’re right behind me and they have me targeted as we speak. Don’t forget they have a hunter with them. He’ll be able to track me easily.”

“Can you keep ahead of them?”

“I hope so. I’m just out of their attack range now. But you know how tricky that can be.”

While they were talking, he was launching Gunslinger. “They won’t see me coming,” he realized. “They’re all using Alliance characters now, so I can’t be on their social tab.”

She confirmed this with a slight nod. “That may be our only advantage. I won’t be able to hold these guys off forever.”

Luck was with him for a change. The zeppelin was just leaving the tower in Ogrimmar when he got there, and he was able to jump aboard at the last instant. He accepted Killermage’s invitation to a Party as soon as his feet hit the wooden deck. For an instant he was distracted. Did he just hear the sound that accompanied the queue for battlegrounds? It couldn’t be, and he put it out of his mind.

At Warsong Hold, he used the flight master for the next stage. The flight would take a short while, so he came back to watch what was happening to Rebecca.

She was heading in the direction of the lake again, now approaching it from the northwest, where the cliffs were even higher. Robert noticed that most of her cooldowns were reset by now, meaning she had her whole arsenal of abilities available again. It also meant she had been on the run for several minutes now.

“Now we’re going to see how good they really are,” she said. “I’m going to try to lose them. Let’s see what happens.”

Killermage was almost at the edge of the cliffs. Robert expected her to jump over and try to swim for it, but Rebecca had a more intricate and bold plan in mind. She turned around and faced her attackers. They were right on her heels, just out of range of guns and spells. Now that she was standing still, they closed the gap swiftly. Rebecca flexed her fingers, ready to pounce.

They stopped a short distance away. Maybe they were discussing what to do. Whatever they were about to decide upon, they weren’t prepared for Rebecca’s next move.

Killermage used Blink to jump
forward
, landing right in front of the group. The moment her feet hit the ground, she cast a Frost Nova, this time capturing all of them in blocks of ice that would prevent them from moving for some precious time. Next, she targeted the warlock and frustrated him by interrupting another Fear spell. She cast Mirror Image again, turned, and sprinted for the cliff. She was hit several times in the back but the damage was not lethal. Line of sight was broken the moment she went over the edge.

At the same time she pressed the button that activated Slow Fall, another unique mage ability. It reduced her falling speed, allowing her to maintain her forward running velocity while going down. Her pursuers, when breaking out of the effect of her Frost Nova and following her over the ledge, would plummet into the water at the base of the cliff and would have to swim across the entire lake. Swimming was a lot slower than running.

She hit the water a satisfying distance from the shore. Without looking back, she set out for the beach on the far south side of the lake. When she reached it, she used another Blink to hopefully disappear from sight in the dense underbrush. She pressed her trump button simultaneously: Invisibility.

Robert watched mesmerized how Killermage’s vision of the world slowly faded to a shimmering and colorless outlook. It reminded him of looking into a badly illuminated aquarium. Once her disappearance was complete, Rebecca struck out in due westerly direction. She raced through the jungle while the short lived effect held.
Damn, why wouldn’t that ‘in combat’ icon disappear?