World of Eternia: The Complete Collection

by Antony W. F. Chow

  Should this Gauntlet be accepted, the two companies will jointly confirm the details of the event, including but not limited to the renting of additional facilities to accommodate participants, the appointment of a game judge to decide issues arising during this event, and the contribution of the resources necessary to ensure the smooth operation of this live event.”

  Chapter 34 – Recrimination

  "Sir, Mister Dresner is on the line," the intercom interrupts.

  "Thank you, Angie. Please put him through," Charles tells his office secretary in a pleasant tone of voice. The mother of a kindergarten son, Angelina Miller recently re-entered the workforce and is just feeling her way around the company. Charles sits up straight in his chair as he mentally prepares himself to take the call from Gregory Dresner, the Vice Chairman of the company’s board of directors, and a minority investor in the private company. The call is probably related to the public gauntlet I threw down, he smirks. Dresner talks to Charles only when the chairman is too angry to talk directly.

  The CEO takes a sip of coffee from the mug on his desk as Angie patches the call through. "Good morning, Mister Dresner."

  "Not at all, I'm afraid," Gregory replies. "Why wasn't the board of directors informed of your planned publicity stunt?" the director asks, his anger clearly seeping through the intercom.

  There goes civility, Charles thinks wryly. "I respectfully disagree with the term 'publicity stunt,'" he chides mildly. "This is merely a civilized method of settling a dispute between two old college friends."

  "Settling a dispute? Is that what this publicity stunt is about? What about proper procedure, like presenting your plan to the Board of Directors before you throw away your ownership in the company?" the vice chairman retorts.

  "Sir, you sound like we already lost the challenge. I would hope for more support than that from our investors," the CEO replies.

  The words hang in the air for a moment as the two strong willed men refuse to budge an inch on their position. They know that if Charles had presented the plan to the Board of Directors, Gregory and Lewis both would have gotten the board to squelch the plan immediately. Thus, Charles had to engineer a bypass around the board entirely.

  "It's not too late to rescind the challenge," Gregory tries a different tactic.

  "We'll lose all credibility if we do that," Charles rejects the idea. "The media has picked up on this gauntlet, and we have seen a spike in new account registrations, probably from players looking to participate in this unique online event. We have not received a formal reply from EDE yet, but I don't expect Richard to decline the challenge," he continues.

  "Seeing that you're determined to go through with this crazy publicity stunt, I am informing you that the venture capitalists are going to sever their relationship with you. If EDE wins, we will be working with a new CEO since you will be losing your sixty percent stake in VG. If by some miracle you win, then I will tender my resignation from the board and sell my five percent stake in the company. And other backers, including the chairman, will follow suit. Either way, we are through," Gregory concludes. The director hangs up the line before Charles could respond.

  That went a lot better than I expected, Charles thinks as he turns his attention back to his desk.

  Chapter 35 – Formulating

  a Response

  "This is bull crap!" the middle aged man angrily pounds the conference table. His skin is leathery with dry, dark patches from his work raising crops as a youngster on the family farm. However, Jayson Sunderson, Vice President of Investor Relations, is dressed immaculately in a finely custom tailored Italian suit.

  "I agree," another male executive speaks up. The Asian man adjusts his tiny glasses on his nose, and looks at the CEO. "How should we respond to this crazy challenge from Charlie?" asks Lei Lang Yeong, Vice President of Asian operations. He took a red-eye flight from Hong Kong back to the States for this meeting, and he has the blood shot eyes to prove it.

  Richard T. Gibson throws a quick smile at Vernon, his Chief Financial Officer for Eternia Development & Entertainment Co. He slowly turns his head around the small conference room, making eye contact with each of the three male executives on his Board of Directors. "I see this challenge from my old friend as a desperate move," he answers calmly. "Word on the street is that Virtuous Gaming is running into cash flow problems, and their so-called 'secret' mmorpg project is in danger of being dropped. If they could get their hands on our hardware and software, for free, then it's a gamble that Charles Winter would certainly make. Unfortunately, he's a poor gambler, with a lack of understanding of the odds being stacked against him. So, unless the board is heavily against it, I am planning to announce our acceptance of the challenge," he announces.

  The elderly man sitting on the far corner at the table chuckle at this answer, and all eyes turn toward him. "That's the spirit!" he says while rapping his knuckles on the conference table twice.

  "I'm glad you approve, Mr. Freye," Richard replies. Having poured over fifty million dollars into the company, William Jefferson Freye is a major investor in EDE, with one third interest in the company. His shares are second only to Richard’s fifty-five percent share. Therefore, Mr. Freye is the one guy in the room that Richard has to seek support from for decisions that can alter the course of the company. Now that the man has given his approval, the CEO can focus on making a proper response but do it in a way that enhances player interest in World of Eternia, EDE's flag ship product. We may even get a sizable increase in new player accounts from this event, the CEO thinks happily.

  * * *

  At the stroke of midnight, EDE posts a terse response on its home page: "Eternia Development & Entertainment Inc. boldly accepts the challenge from Virtuous Gaming Co., and invites interested players to subscribe to a mailing list created specifically for this inter-company event. Details will be sorted out between the two companies, and announcements for player participation will follow shortly."

  Chapter 36 – Interlude

  Charles Winter glances around the bar. After a moment, he finally sees the man sitting at the side, right behind a pillar. He is annoyed that the man suddenly decided to play “Where’s Waldo?” and chose a different table than his customary table at the very back of the establishment. He walks slowly to the table and joins the other man.

  Richard T. Gibson looks at the man taking a seat across the table but keeps silent. Instead he drums his fingers from his left hand on the table. After the other man is seated, he speaks up. “You must be desperate. Why else would you pull a stunt like that?” he raises an eyebrow and looks at his frenemy.

  “Not desperate,” Charles corrects Richard. “We just ran out of patience with you, and decided to force your hand,” he counters.

  “Is that right?” Richard smiles at the spin of the situation. He heard that Virtual Gaming wasn’t able to obtain an additional round of funding from angel investors. With declining market share in the casual gaming market, VG is in danger of running out of cash for operations.

  “It is,” Charles nods. “If only you had come to your senses and sold your company to us like a good boy, you wouldn’t risk lose everything.”

  “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie,” Richard taunts his rival. “In the gaming world, there’s only one winner and the rest are losers. My players are hardcore gamers who will wipe the floor with your casual gamers in this upcoming live match. There is absolutely no way that I will lose. You miscalculated. Again,” he grins while wagging a finger at his companion.

  “Laugh while you can, Richard,” Charles’ eyes harden in response. “When I take over your company, the first thing I’ll do is boot you out of the door. There’s no place in my company for a thief like you.”

  Richard stares directly into Charles’ eyes. “Have a care in how you address me, Charlie Brown. Or my lawyers will be slapping your behind so hard with defamation papers that you won’t be sitting down for a week!” he snarls.

  Charles smirks at the threat. “Are yo
u afraid that the truth will get out?”

  “It’s more like the ravings of a deranged lunatic,” Richard replies smoothly as he dons his all-business persona again. “The village idiot can cry wolf for only so long before the rest of the village starts to ignore him.”

  Charles rises up from his chair. “I’ve had enough of this pointless chit chat with you. I suggest you start cleaning out your office,” he hisses. Without waiting for a reply, the man quickly leaves the bar.

  Chapter 37 – Anxiety

  Mark knocks on the door, stirring the boss from his seeming daze. How do I make the rules of engagement tilt more in my favor, the chief executive ponders. Richard quickly regains his composure when he realizes that the knocking sound is not imaginary. He smiles and beckons the project manager to enter his office.

  Mark takes a seat in front of the CEO’s desk and places his report on the table. “As requested, this is a preliminary list of possible issues we may encounter in having the Tower Defense match take place. Once our engineers get access to Virtuous Gaming Co.’s mmorpg development, we’ll have a better idea of what needs to be done to integrate our two systems for this event.”

  The company head takes a brief glance at the report. As usual, it is well organized with a table of content followed by detailed discussions of technological, logistical, as well as public relations concerns. “Good work, Mark,” Richard offers his compliments. After all, the subordinate only had a day to put this report together. A quick glance at the heavy bags under Mark’s eyes confirms that the underling had pulled an all-nighter on this report, and the executive greatly appreciates it. “When will you be meeting with your counterparts from VG?” Richard asks.

  “It’s scheduled for the end of this week,” Mark replies.

  “You couldn’t get them to commit to a meeting sooner?” the superior asks, his eyebrows rising sharply. He was hoping the meeting would take place tomorrow actually.

  The project manager shrugs sheepishly. “Apparently the people in that company were as much in the dark to their president’s intentions as we were. Therefore they need a bit more time to get organized for this event,” he answers. “May I be frank with you, sir?” he asks.

  “What’s up?” Richard’s eyebrows rise again.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Mark asks.

  The president of EDE smiles wryly at this question. “Why not? This gives me an opportunity to double the size of my company at minimal cost.” Seeing the doubt on Mark’s face, Richard decides to try a different tactic.

  “Let me tell you a story.” Richard leans back on his black ergonomic chair and folds his arms. “It’s about a young man who entered college having no idea what he wanted to do in life, or what his major would be. He loved online gaming, and was practically raised on World of Warcraft while growing up. He took some computer programming courses and discovered that he had the brains for coding. He was proficient in Java, C and C+, and other languages, and worked with a roommate for a year to perfect a game engine that became the basis of WoE and the main product for this very company.”

  The CEO pauses for a moment to catch his breath, and then continues with his personal story. “The point here is that sometimes opportunity knocks most unexpectedly, and you need to have the courage to accept the challenge and to face the uncertainty. It helped me strike out on my own after I graduated from college, and eventually I became the head of my own company. In the future, if you come across a similar type of opportunity you should not hesitate to accept it,” he advises.

  The subordinate shakes his head in doubt. “I’m not sure if I am cut out for that kind of risk in my life, sir, or be the head of a company for that matter.”

  “It is how people grow,” Richard chides gently. “I hope your opportunity doesn’t knock for a while, since I appreciate having a trustworthy, honest, hardworking, and reliable person like you to work for me. However, I certainly wouldn’t stand in the way of you launching your own startup, if that’s what you decide to do in the future,” he smiles. “Anyway, please keep me posted on your meeting with the VG folks,” he requests.

  “Yes sir. Thank you for sitting down with me,” Mark gets up.

  “Always,” Richard nods in dismissal and resumes his work.

  Chapter 38 – First

  Cooperative Meeting

  “Welcome gentlemen,” Charles Winter offers the soon-to-be-underlings his warmest smile. “I appreciate you taking the time to visit our office.”

  “Thank you for permitting us to visit your facilities,” Mark Whitney replies politely. “We didn’t expect to see the head of Virtuous Gaming Co. attend this meeting as well.”

  Charles waves his hand and grins. “Don’t worry. I won’t be staying for your meeting. I think it is appropriate and proper for me, as head of the company, to introduce you to the people you will be working with closely for the next several weeks,” he explains as the company president leads the small contingent from Eternia Development & Entertainment, Inc. pass rows of desk.

  Workers turn to stare at the newcomers, who will soon be their co-workers once the joint gaming event is completed.

  Charles stops in front of a door marked “Restricted Access.” He taps his company identification against a reader panel on the wall on right side. His card contains a Near-Field Communication (“NFC”) chip. Once the reader confirms the cardholder’s security clearance to enter the restricted area, the door unlocks with a loud “click” sound.

  Inside the room is a bunch of workers sitting in front of computers workstations. Some employees are using Wacom pads for illustrations. Others are collaborating in groups. Play testers are sprinkled all around; their ears covered up by headphones and their eyes glued to the computer screen, the gamers are oblivious to their surroundings.

  Watching over these workers is a woman with curly black hair and wearing a white lab coat over her cream colored blouse and long gray skirt matched with a pair of black Manolo Blahnik shoes. She notices the newcomers right away as they enter the research and development section of the company. The middle aged woman offers an exchange of nods with her boss, and then she turns her full attention to his guests. “Hello! My name is Lisa Huffman, and I’m Vice President of Product Development,” she says with a friendly smile at the group of men.

  Mark quickly walks up to the VP and offers his hand. “My name is Mark Whitney and I’m the project manager at EDE.”

  Lisa offers a warm smile and a firm handshake with the short, pudgy man. She studies his overall laidback appearance; he is wearing a golf shirt of all things, Dockers slacks, and loafers. All he needs is a tan and long wavy hair to go surfing, Lisa thinks as she glances at the other EDE workers to confirm that they are dressed just as casually as the project manager. How will our two companies, with very different cultures and dress codes, merge seamlessly?

  “Well, I guess I will leave the rest up to you, Lisa,” Richards says, jarring her focus back to her boss. “I need to head back to my office.” He turns toward Mark. “Please let me know if you need anything.” With a nod, the CEO leaves the R&D section.

  “If you gentlemen will follow me to my office, I will show you the progress we have made with our MMORPG so far,” Lisa says.

  “Yes, please do,” Mark nods in agreement. “We are anxious to get started.”

  Chapter 39 – Findings

  The project manager sits in front of the CEO’s desk the next morning. Mark is anxious to report on his findings on the status of Virtuous Gaming’s MMORPG project, and to discuss how to merge their work so far into WoE. How will I break the bad news to Richard, he ponders while waiting for his boss to arrive.

  The company head walks into his office, and sees that Mark is already waiting for Richard. “Good morning, Mark,” he greets the seated man as Richard hangs his jacket on the hook behind his door.

  Mark starts to get up from his seat. “Good morning, Richard,” he replies.

  “No, please remain seated,” the President
orders. “I will join you in just a moment,” Richard says in a pleasant tone of voice. There’s no need to make him jiggery. I’m sure he’s already feeling anxious over the upcoming joint match, he thinks.

  “Yes sir,” the underling replies and remains seated.

  Richard slowly takes his seat and studies Mark’s face. The President sees someone who is unwilling to meet Richard’s eyes, glancing downward at the nice executive desk in front of Mark. “Was it that bad?” the CEO surmises.

  The project manager lets out a deep breath. “Let’s put it this way: it is clear that Virtuous Gaming’s product is maybe ten to twenty percent to completion right now,” Mark begins. He leans back in his seat for more comfort, and starts rattling out issues that he noticed. “You mentioned that VG is having trouble raising capital, and to me it shows in their progress in this project. Their game is missing a lot of content, scripts, and objects. The world map they have right now is far too small for an online game unless they are expecting a very low number of players. The game designers haven’t made the most basic decisions on how player progress is measured and at what rate such progress is attainable. What is the monster scaling like? How easy should resources be procured by players? To me, it just feels like these guys are muddying along, the blind leading the blind, with no real vision for completion of the game,” he concludes.

  Richard grins at the somber conclusion. “Well, VG is blessed to have you onboard now,” he jokes.

  Mark rubs his temples with his fingers in a vain attempt to massage away an impending headache. “Sir, I honestly doubt that we will be able to have the joint tower defense match take place, unless you’re willing to scale back—by a lot,” he concludes. “We will need to take short cuts here and there. For starters we should limit the number of players participating in this event. An affair for all comers will break the game. Also, the easiest thing to do right now is to let VG folks take over our oriental expansion,” he floats the suggestion gingerly.