Just as I was about to finalize the character selection options I had chosen, something hit me. I'd forgotten to choose a realm! I'd have to start the character creation all over!
You see, the FOG console wasn't just exceptional for it's revolutionary virtual reality capabilities, but like any good next generation console, for it's mod support. Ether was only the online world in a very loose sense, what Ether was, was actually just a multiverse of different servers, called realms, all accessible to anyone who owned a FOG console.
The developers saw no reason to limit players to a generic high fantasy world, or to a common sci-fi dystopia, and having both was just ridiculous. After all, what chance does a medieval knight have against a mech? So they handed the controls, in a quite literal sense, to the players.
Ether was home to thousand upon thousand of realms, based on such diverse elements as Dungeons and Dragons to Star Wars. And it wasn't just the backgrounds that were different, but entirely gameplay elements could be changed, from huge, persistent universes, to closed realms with only a few members. Upon beginning character creation, a person could choose any one of them to play in.
There was only one problem. He couldn't remember what realm Suzie had begun her character in. He supposed he could just go by random chance, although the odds were greatly against him. Character transfers were possible, to an extent, so long as the worlds and gameplay were relatively compatible. Besides, if worse came to worse, he could just delete this character and start over.
Now, where to begin?
(Author's Note: I realize this may somewhat contradict the background set up in the introduction, but this stort has been stagnating for sometime, and I concur with those who believe this is largely due to a lack of freedom. So I've tried to open it up again. This is in now way in disrespect to the original author, as I think this is a fantastic idea. I hope you enjoy it, and have a great many additions to this thread.)
