Free The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame by Brent Roth Page A

I was even moved to comment on the forums that drowning was in fact fairly realistic if one was on Ultra-Realism settings, to which the replies were a curious sort.
    They asked what my source was. They questioned why I would say such a thing to try and mislead the population. Yeah, because I made it up for fun.
    No, I experienced it firsthand.
    Everyone had their fears but I didn’t want any of them. If it took experiencing it to overcome or get used to it, then so be it. I was still scared of the thought but having gone through it… at least virtually, it wasn’t as bad as I imagined it to be. Blacking out underwater saved you the trouble of experiencing the worst of it.
    Bah, that experience was not something I would wish on anyone.
    This game was far too realistic. I could understand why some of the players had quit due to traumatic experiences in-game. There was even a lawsuit I saw in the news over someone developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from playing the game. Seemed frivolous but even if it did happen they would never win in court.
    If they did win… this game was doomed.
    It made sense though, what with people experiencing a first-person account that was nearly one-hundred percent accurate in its depiction of being brutally attacked in simulated melee combat. Some people couldn’t handle the mental trauma of watching someone stab them to death.
    Some couldn’t watch others being hacked to death.
    The more I pondered the brutality of the game, the more I realized that the model wasn’t sustainable. This game would have to tone things down in some way or the future was bleak. People tried it now because it was the hot new thing, the most realistic game ever released. A real representation of what it would be like to have your body transported to a fantasy world mired in conflict.
    It wouldn’t be long until the masses flood in from The Egg being released to the public for purchase and then the clamor for change would follow when those same people realize they can’t handle the gruesome nature of the game. It was a game sure, but if you couldn’t tell the difference between this and real life, what was the difference in experiencing a realistic traumatic experience?
    Everything was statistics based anyways, probability and numbers. The more people that experienced the game, the more likely some would take issue with it. People were a vocal lot when it came to things they disagreed with or disliked, often drowning out the positive voices that aren’t quite as moved to be heard.
    For every hundred calls of complaints, there was probably one call to compliment the service received at a restaurant or in general business. That really wasn’t always reflective of the customer service though. Eh maybe I was disillusioned, making a clouded judgment. Based off my recent failure to acquire the Relic, I could simply be overreacting while in a negative state of mind. It didn’t really matter what I thought anyways… the killing of players didn’t bother me anymore.
    I could separate that reality.
    To a degree, I think I’ve moved on from confusing my attachment to an AI with reality as well. Kate was fun, she existed within the game, and she was as realistic as any person I had met in real life but when the day is over and the game is shut down, she isn’t there.
    That’s what I told myself; whether my words held weight were another matter.
     
    “We’ve got full sail now,” said Eindride. “All hands at rest.”
    Setting down my oar, I leaned back as I stared out at the coastline that was rapidly being left behind. We still had ten hours or so left before we reached FWB’s location despite the relatively fast travel of the ship. A good wind and good current pushed our speed up to something close to 16 knots or roughly 18.4 miles per hour but that was essentially beyond our proposed maximum speed.
    There was a good chance that our speed would decline slightly and sooner rather than later at that.