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⬣//JUST AS A SEED TAKES ROOT.
A team of four courageous adventurers managed to unearth a secret Area unique from the others: the Hulle Granz Cathedral. Unlike other Areas, this one is lacking all the usual monsters, dungeons, and treasure. What might the purpose of this Area be, then...?
Well, if you’re feeling penitent or perhaps wish to hold a sermon of your own, head to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground and knock yourself out. What? Too soon?
Anyway, be not afraid! The cathedral is perfectly safe. Following Ganymede’s little incident in the cathedral, a timely email has been sent out to beta testers regarding health and safety that reads as follows:
To our beta team,
Please exercise caution when playing video games for extended periods of time. Take breaks every thirty minutes and do not sit in the same position for more than two hours at a time. Remember to stay hydrated and play in a well-lit environment.
Failing to take care of your health while gaming can result in a litany of health complications, including but not limited to eye strain, muscle fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and involuntary loss of consciousness and motor functions.
We take the health and safety of our beta testers very seriously. If you have any concerns, please contact us at cccorp.ccmail.com.
Thank you for your continued efforts,
CyberConnect Corporation of Japan.
Guilds have been patched into the current version of Fragment and are now available for players to create their own and join others. While some guilds have opted to go the private route, others are in need of players to fill their ranks!
The admins have kindly supplied those recruiting for their shiny new guilds with a number of goodies to aid in their player gathering efforts:⬣ A bundle of personalized flyers proudly displaying their guild logo and a description of the guild’s @ home and available amenities.
⬣ Party poppers and streamers. Nothing screams “join my guild!” like a face full of glitter, confetti, and colorful strips of ribbon.
⬣ A megaphone that lets your voice echo far and wide, even across Root Towns and Areas, but with great potential for abuse comes restrictions! The megaphone can only be used five times before it breaks. Use it wisely!
⬣ A unique recipe for a cocktail, latte, tea, or other type of beverage that can be blended up and served in little sample cups to court potential members. These drinks are unique to their guilds and, when consumed, have a special effect that reflects the leader of that guild. Is your guild leader a pretty cheerful guy? Drinking their special brew will make you feel happy too!
Whatever effect your guild’s drink has is up to the leader’s discretion, but if you so desire, drop a comment under the questions top level and we’ll brew one up for you.
Additionally, you may host a guild open house and invite potential guildies into your @ home to let them take a look around! Guild @ homes are typically locked to guild members & their guests only, so use this as your opportunity to put your best foot forward and impress the world with everything your guild has to offer.
Also arriving with the newest update are mountable Grunties! Aren’t they cute? ...Well, they’re someone’s definition of cute.
While the ability to ride around town and in Areas at 2x speed is certainly alluring, you can’t just walk up to the Grunty Ranch located in each Root Town and take one out for a stroll. If you want a mount of your very own, you’ve got to commit! Becoming a proud Grunty owner means you must first become a proud Grunty parent, and to do that, you’ll need to raise your Grunty from infancy into adulthood.
Just what kind of adult might your Grunty become? That depends on how you raise them and what you feed them. Those strange "foods" popping up all over Areas might not taste good to you, but they sure do to Grunties!
For more information on how to acquire a baby Grunty of your very own and raise it into a proper — or not so proper — member of Grunty society, head on over to the Grunty Ranch.
Mac Anu, the City of Twilight known for its gentle ocean breezes, has been uncharacteristically warm lately. Very, very warm. Its usual orange skies have been swapped out for vivid blues, the sun dwelling high in the sky and threatening to burn everything in its wake.
It won’t take much wandering to feel the effects of heat exhaustion sink in, and even after you log out for the day, those symptoms seem to linger. Do Hien and Zelkova know what the hell is going on? Of course not. Unusual occurrences are slowly becoming the norm in Fragment, it seems, but the point of a beta test is to work out any kinks. Report it and move on.
Lumina Cloth is similarly affected by unusual weather phenomena, but it’s much more pleasant and hospitable than poor Mac Anu. The sun hangs just above the horizon, bathing the strip in early evening light. It’s much cooler here too, and what’s more, it appears that a carnival has rolled into town. What fun!
All the usual carnival fare is here: greasy fried foods, drinks served in foot long glasses, and a litany of carnival games that are totally not rigged. Entry is free and so are the prizes, but some of them take a bit of legwork to win.
⬣ Successfully PK another player to win the carnival exclusive Thursday The 12th™ skin. PK’d players will receive an appropriately spooky ghost skin of their own!
⬣ Step on up to the dunk tank and get dunked on to win a sexy swimsuit skin! Both the dunkers and the dunkees will win this skin, but only those who successfully dunk the player in the tank will be rewarded with the chance to show off some skin. The appearance this skin takes is dependent on the player wearing it, so have fun and get creative with it!
⬣ Take a trip through the hall of mirrors with a friend and do some reflecting! Stare too long into the mirrors and you might recall a memory that doesn’t belong to you, but to the person venturing through the hall of mirrors with you. Did that really happen? Surely it’s all in your head. Memories available for memshare are limited to the ones listed on your application.
Additional rewards include giant plush monsters that can be used to decorate guild @ homes and private rooms (limit one per player!) and a pet goldfish that, unfortunately, will die a hero’s tragic death within a week. Womp womp.
We’ve had a busy week! It seems like there was a glitch that allowed players to equip other players as weapons, which resulted in a ten player chain, wielded by none other than our hardworking head administrator, Hien! I’ll have a talk with him about not doing this kind of thing in the future, I promise!
That wasn’t all, though. An unknown entity reached out to the players participating in the ten-player chain and issued them a special title: Good Friends Stick Together. Fragment’s not supposed to have titles. Well, at least not in the beta. But you can go ahead and add it to your name if you want to anyway, and it shouldn’t cause any problems! We still can’t pinpoint who sent those messages and how they overrode the permissions to create those titles in the first place, but... Hmm. I don’t want to start any rumors, so I’ll keep looking into it.
There are those armor sets too, which I didn’t know had been handed out to those of you that reached level 25. Oria brought it to our attention, thankfully! There’s not a whole lot we can do about it now, but we know that some of them are pretty invasive. But knowing is half the battle, right?
Our friend Ganymede suffered an accident recently that had him lying unconscious in the hospital for about a day. He seems to be feeling better now, thankfully. Ḩ̵̲̼͆̃͐̆ò̸̧̰͕̥̈́͒̕͜p̷̫͙̯͇̾̄͜ę̸̹̒f̷̠̭͉̱̅͘ǘ̴͎̙̥̭̈́̈́l̵͇̙͍̳̜̇̓̒l̷̬̲̀̆̈̅̂ͅỳ̵̧̻̖ ̷̠̫̭̰̦̋͗h̴̰͕̑͗e̸̦̼͇̾͘ ̴̡̢̝̺̳̊̎̎̔p̴̳̠̼̜͔̂̅̐à̵͕̹̟ͅỹ̴̡̛͝s̶͉̕ ̴̢͕̬̑̆̕͝b̸̹̲͗͒̊͑͠ē̶̛͖͠ṯ̸̻̺́͒͐t̶̻͕͎̑ĕ̶̖̀͗͛͋r̷͙̗̙̲͙̓̚͝ ̷̻̠͉̈́̚a̷̡̙̳̽́̀̋̔ẗ̴̢̨̛̬̺t̴͖̳͝ē̷͇̆͆̍̚ͅn̵̪̜͉͊̉̔̄͐t̵͕̼͈̓͋̈́̕î̷̬o̸͇̐͋͑͌n̶̟̫̟̽̑͒͐͘ ̷̜̈́̈̀̂̎t̶͙̂͛ô̸̠̜ ̶̫͎̎h̶͖̳͛i̸̗͖̖̅̂͆̄͛s̸͔̈́̇̍ ̸̩̗̻̕s̵̬̼̳̲̞͝ù̸̞̺̣͙̾͒͛ŗ̴̻̟̻̭̂̈́r̶̡͈̲̣̣͋̊͗̕o̶̥̝̮̓ų̴̻̯̬̊̑̑͌̉ͅn̶̢̙̦͔͖̈̒͝d̷̰̼̤̥̃̿͒̌̎i̸̯͑̾͊̑͝n̵̦͐g̸̪̾͝͝s̷̛̝͙̣̹̍͛͝ ̸͔̲̠̩͗̓̀͘a̷̛̼̓̈́͊ṅ̵̥͆̎ḑ̶̨̯̱͍̇ ̷̛̗̮̀̆ḧ̴̼̪́͗͝i̵͓̬̤͂͐͒s̶̮̎̿̃ ̴̛͔̋͗̽h̷̝͑ͅē̴̱ȃ̵̝͎ͅļ̷͍̀͐͊̊̽ẗ̸̼̺̟̥̼́̄͛h̶̥̹̬̮̽̅ ̷̟̖̮͛́̿t̸̢̤̤̂͒͋̍o̶̼̟̓ ̵̥̳͙̖̆̈́ả̶̛̳̱͙̖̩̿̽͘v̴͈͉͖͊͘ỏ̶̤͚̅͑͝i̴̱͈̩̳̳̿̇̕͠ḏ̵͙̮͗͆ ̶̯̭̝̹̯͊s̸͍̰͔̔̀͋͋̐u̷̟̠͑̔̏̚c̵̨͖͉͇̀͆͘ͅh̴̨̓͌̄̈ ̶̧̱̻̼̏̃̃i̷̱͉͈̿̎̋͒͜͝n̴̢͓͍̂͝͠c̷̢̢̛̹͚̑̓̅ͅi̶͕̟̻̘̫̾͌d̶͉͉̏̇e̵͉̱̩̯̤͐̎̉̾n̸̡̠̈͜ţ̴̇͑̈́͘s̵̩̼͔̙̙̉͘ ̵̮̯̞̮̾̈́͋̔̈h̵̡̗͉͉͈̉̐̅̚ȁ̵͖͚̖̾p̸̰̬͖̩̀̈́̆̓p̶̢̛̼̈́͆̒͘ͅe̷̟̘̩̲̻̾̊n̵̨̩̜̟͆͘i̵̙͉̺̮͠ͅṋ̷̆ġ̶͙͚ ̴̩̋à̷̄̑̂͝ͅǧ̵͖̜͍͕̒̑͒a̷̧̛̞͐̃̈́͘i̷̯͉̬̯̽̍n̷̘̝͓̽̅̕!̵̩͑
PK PK PK PK
Possibly strangely after their last conversation, Michel too is now wearing his default armor as a skin over his level cap gear. Sometimes that's how it goes. ]
...Are there any bounds to your bloodthirst?
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[ Same thing? Michel can decide himself. ]
Do you wanna go to the arena or just do it right here?
[ In the carnival where people are. ]
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He gives Oria the unblinking judgmental stare that deserves for just the right number of seconds to be uncomfortable before he tips his head towards the arena. ]
I don't see a need to get bystanders caught up in it. After you.
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[ It doesn't take too long for them to get to the arena and settle in. Oria takes a look at his options and toggles the pain sensor off. ]
You wanna go all the way to the bitter end or stop at a certain HP percentage?
[ Michel can try getting one of the outfits, at least. Oria doesn't seem to mind either way. ]
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[ Drat, he didn't see his chance on the way over to bop Oria with the foam weapon. Unfortunately Michel's latent PK instincts are... lacking. He'll just have to do it after the match.
He does a quick check of his own options and toggling off pain before he takes up his place. ]
What percent?
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How does 15% sound?
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Michel nods and lifts his sword to give a little fencing salute. ]
On your signal.
[ Or the referee's, I'm winging it here. ]
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He'll see how it plays out, so he fires a shot in the air, a normal attack to get them started. Then immediately, he queues up Thorn Shot, a single powerful attack that also has a very high chance to crit (50%). Unfortunately for Michel, it will crit (18) and it will definitely hit (20) in some way. Real lucky for Oria though.
Then he's going to try kiting. Bye, dude. ]
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That crit stings — or, at least, buzzes annoyingly without the pain sensors — but it's not like there's actual pain to stagger him. Glass cannon matches are all about speed, so he ignores the fact that Thorn Shot chewed through an unpleasant fraction of his HP and lunges to close the distance with a straightforward jab (18) to test if he's close enough to close the distance, followed by Cross Slash (6, 6).
God, matches against ranged opponents suck!! ]
Running again already?
[ VENGEANCE FOR THE PARTY... ]
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But since Michel happens to be in close range, he turns right around to load up Triple Doom (1, 19, 12) to shoot them at his face. They're all pierce types that ignore defense, so that tiny defense Michel is hanging onto? Better cling onto it. ]
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One, punching right through his flimsy defense is still not ideal after the earlier critical. Ow (habitual).
That stuns him for a second, which hopefully buys Oria a moment to get more range -- because Michel tries to land one more Sword Flash before the window is gone (3, 16, 16, 15), without pausing to check his own HP pool first. ]
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It would have been great if he could equip two guns at once so that this strategy could be more effective, but alas. Instead, he uses his steam gunner "very fast" speed to try and pistol whip (14) Michel instead by the handle of the gun. This is not a real skill and will count as paltry normal attack damage, but think of the shock he could possibly deliver onto the opponent by suddenly getting pistol whipped in the face. It is something that he'd like to try out. ]
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Maybe that moment of appreciation is why he's still watching the gun rather than dodging (3) as the gun makes a nice elegant arc to clock him right in the face. ...What a striking way to learn firsthand what the hitbox is on the weapons themselves. ]
Ngh-
[ The damage to his hitpoints is paltry; the damage to his dignity may be critical. He's probably floating around 50% HP and 20% DP after that... which means all he can do here is the Blade Brandier's natural resort, spamming combos. He'll launch Cross Slash directly into another Sword Flash (16, 14, 8, 7, 4, 4) at disadvantage, thanks to that pistol whipping. ]
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But that's fine.
Oria creates some distance between them and shoots a Thorn Shot with failed crit (2) and a bit lackluster aim (10), but then he loads a Triple Doom (10, 15, 9).
Maybe he's getting tired. ]
1/2
Is the following sequence punishment for his hubris? Probably. Michel pushes himself in a lunge to close the distance, and his foot slips (2), sending him right into the lackluster Thorn Shot. The haptic feedback of the damage is provocation enough that he decides: if Oria can block a sword with his pistol, surely Michel can mitigate Triple Doom's piercing by blocking with his sword.
It's flawless.
The first shot is deflected smoothly (15). The second hits (4), and in the moment of surprise at his own failure, Michel's grip on the sword loosens. What a good thing Fragment doesn't actually disarm him for a non-disarming move? The last shot (1) hits the sword, well within Michel's hitbox, dealing both piercing damage to him and smacking the flat of Michel's blade directly into his stupid face and knocking him on his ass. ]
2/2
1/2
2/2
Oi, Winter.
[ He lightly taps Michel's cheek with his gun. ]
Helloooo? Did you log out but your avatar's frozen?
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[ Truly, no peace is allowed him even in death. He lets out a quiet oof that maybe spoils his otherwise perfect impression of being glitched as he stares up at the arena ceiling. ]
I'm not your pillow, you little hooligan!
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[ lol. Oria's just being a little shit, but he does get up and holds out a hand to him to help him up. ]
Guess that match is mine then. Good game.
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[ Punk. Winter stares at the hand for a second, but reaches out to accept. If Oria drops him, he's tossing him in the Mac Anu ocean. ]
...Good game. You played well.
[ nice job not rolling any 1's :crymeow: ]
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Oria helps Michel up to his feet, and it's a little difficult since he's like... 6' and Oria (and his avatar) is 5' 7". It's fine. ]
The way you blocked my attacks with your sword was really cool!
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Please... forget you ever saw that.
[ At least the last one! Please!! ]
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[ Sure, it would have been awesome if he ended up blocking all of them, but the performance itself before Michel got knocked onto his butt was very nice to see. ]
Let's pvp again in the next level cap!
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[ But another match wouldn't be the worst thing imaginable. He makes a noncommittal sound. ]
On one condition.
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