by Rick Scott
Dexterity: 3
Determines melee accuracy, critical hit chance, and activation speed of ranged weapons.
Agility: -10
Determines dodge ability, attack speed, and requirements for light armor.
Intelligence: 6
Determines spell cast speed, technique points, and potency for Elemental Magic.
Mind: 8
Determines magical defense, technique points, and potency for Celestial Magic.
Vitality: 8
Determines stamina, HP, and regeneration speed.
HP: 79/79
Stamina: 152/152
TP: 55/55
Each stat can go as high as 99, max. Each time you level up, you’re awarded one or two attribute points to place wherever you want. I put most of mine into Vitality, because mining takes a crap load of stamina. I glare at my -10 Agility. Thanks a lot, glitchy nervous system. With an Agility score like that, I’d pretty much get hit by almost anything, and it would take me a year to hit them back. Worse still, I can’t even raise it. No matter how many points I put in there, it stays at -10. It also means I lack the stats to wear anything not considered regular clothing. Unless it’s heavy armor, I guess, but I don’t have the money or Strength stats for that, either. Besides, it doesn’t look as cool as the agility-based stuff to me.
Luckily, Miner’s gear doesn’t count as armor. It’s just regular clothes with special skill bonuses. As a Miner, I really only have two skills: Perception and Mining. I list them to check their current levels.
Perception: 59 +13
Mining: 74 +22
The first number is my base skill level; the plusses are my bonuses for gear, which is what I check next.
You are equipped with:
Initiate Miner’s Overalls: +5 Perception +12 Mining +2 Vitality
A pair of coveralls designed for the strenuous rigors of mining.
Initiate Miner’s Helm: +8 Perception
The lamp on this helm makes seeing into the darkness much easier.
Rusted Iron Ring: +1 Strength
A simple iron ring that has seen better days.
And of course, my most important item: my pickaxe.
Iron Mining Pick: +2 Strength +10 Mining
A sturdy tool perfect for chipping away at hardened rock.
It’s pretty decent gear for a Level 6 Miner. I try to keep up to date as much as I can, but with the amount I have to pay for my game time, as well as the help I give my family, I don’t normally have much to spare for gear. The mining pick alone set me back 500 credits on the auction house. But it was a steal for that price. Most times, the crafters sell them for twice that. I probably lucked out with some high-level player who got it as a drop and just wanted to get rid of it quickly to free up inventory space.
The ring is my other prized possession. I dug that up as a rare find.
That’s my other big reason for mining. For every node mined, there’s an extremely small chance of unearthing buried treasure. On the net streams, there are vids of Miners finding rare armor and weapons that could sell for hundreds of thousands of credits. It adds an extra bit of excitement for me. That rare chance of striking it rich and making my family’s dreams come true overnight.
Just the thought of it has my juices pumping and raring to go.
I confirm my selection for class, and then access the fantasy Shard of Nasgar.
My senses go dark for a second time, and then I emerge into a new world . . .
It’s always kind of awesome logging in. But for me, it’s literally like being born again. As my avatar materializes on the Steppe of Andor, my senses come back to me in full 3D overload. I feel strength in my legs, and I can stand on my own. That alone is a miracle worth logging in for. The in-game time is noon, and a gorgeous blue sky is overhead, dotted with puffy white clouds. A cool breeze whistles over the sparse steppe land of low grass, and white rocks protrude from the ground like half-buried bones.
I equip my pickaxe and feel the wooden shaft in my hand, real as anything I’ve touched in real life. The air is sweet, and I inhale deeply to rid myself of the stink of the real world.
I couldn’t get enough of this place if I tried.
An automated greeting pops up on my chat bar.
**==Welcome to Crystal Shards Online==**
You are connected to the world of Nasgar.
It has been 00 days, 7 hours, and 23 minutes since your last login.
You have 1 friend(s) online.
You have 7 guild members online.
Before I can even guess who the friend is, a private message pops up from Gilly. The software automatically translates it into her cutesy half-elf voice, reading along with the text and emoticons.
Gilly: Hey! About time you logged in. You hitting the mines? :P
Gilly loves ending everything with an emoticon when she’s messaging. And it always brings a smile to my face, imagining her making whatever silly face she includes. Though we’ve never met outside of the game, I actually consider Gilly my best friend. We joined our guild, the Nasgar Labor Union, at the same time, about six months ago. And we’ve leveled together ever since. It’s rare to find another person who’s interested only in mining.
I did it because I had to, but Gilly? She gets a kick out of everything about it.
I respond to her through a private message.
Me: Yeah, I logged out outside of Silvertooth last night.
Gilly: Silvertooth!?? D: That’s a Level 40 area. We’d get creamed in there if we run into anything!
Me: Exactly why we should head there. Everyone knows about the silver rush, and the Paxis Mines in the lowbie areas are going to be super overcrowded. Only high-level Miners will be in Silvertooth.
Gilly: And what exactly makes us high-level Miners again? :P
I laugh at her response.
Me: Our Mining skill is high enough to mine the silver nodes there. We just need to avoid the mobs.
I link an item to the chat.
Sneaking Potion
Makes the user undetectable by aggressive enemies. Wears off when an action is performed.
Duration: 5 minutes
It is rumored the mages of the Ivory Keep created this potion to sneak into the lairs of dragons . . .
Me: I got two stacks of these bad boys. One for me, one for you.
Gilly: No Way! Those things are mega expensive! O.O
She was right. They cost about 50 credits each, but I got two stacks of 10 for 750 credits in the auction house last week. Prior preparation and taking advantage of discounts is the key to making money in this game.
Me: If I can turn over four stacks of silver ore today, I’ll be in the money. Plus this high-level mine has a higher chance for HQ ore drops.
HQ stands for high quality. Smiths would use those to forge HQ weapons and armor, and as such, would pay almost five times the normal price for them.
Gilly: Okay, you’re on. But let me give you something for the potions. :D
Me: Cool!
I’m not in a position to refuse, so I don’t. But even if she hadn’t offered, I wouldn’t have asked. Gilly and I share, and share alike, like that.
Gilly: I can’t fast-travel there yet, so I need to run there. Give me about 15 mins. ^_^/
Me: Okay!
The game allows you to set a teleport point to areas you’ve already visited. For a credit fee, you can warp there instantaneously thereafter. But you had to get there the old-fashioned way first. I had set my spawn point here last night to cut down on time, but I probably should have sent Gilly a message to do the same. She logs on a couple hours earlier than me most days, and logs out the same time sooner.
I decide to pass the time by trying out one of the nodes inside the mine.
I stretch my legs in a sprint that depletes my Stamina bar steadily, but I’ve got a lot of stamina, so I can sprint for a pretty long time. I hit the mine entrance and the words “Silvertooth Mines” appears in my vision to denote I’ve entered a new
area.
The mines remind me of the tunnels around my real-life container house, although the tunnel walls are roughly hewn as compared to the perfectly bored, smooth tubes created by the Builders. I use my Prospect ability to reveal any nodes in the area just inside the mouth of the mine entrance, and several yellow dots appear on my mini-map. Unfortunately, I don’t have an actual map of the area yet, so the dots just float there in space with no frame of reference.
You dummy, I chastise myself. I really should have bought a map of the area first.
I have half a mind to ask Gilly to pick one up in town before she heads over to me, but I don’t want to slow her down any more. Besides, we were just going to stick to the upper levels for today. And with how long I’ve been mining, I’ve developed a pretty decent sense of direction.
I venture in a bit further and spot a silver node. My blood is already spiking with excitement as I ready my pickaxe and bring up the stats on the node.
Silver Mining Node
Durability: 20/20
Success Chance: 35%
Not bad. A roughly 1 in 3 chance of a successful hit. The extra experience points I put into my Mining skill has paid off. But I have a few more tricks up my sleeve to increase my odds even more. I use my Miner class abilities—Miner’s Favor and True Strike, in that order.
Miner’s Favor
Double the effect of your next ability.
Cost: 15 TP
True Strike
Spend TP to increase your success rate by 25%.
Cost: 10 TP
My TP bar goes down to 30, but my Success Chance jumps to 85%.
Now, we’re talking.
I take a strike at the rock face with my pickaxe and my Stamina depletes by 20%. But I hear a tinny ring as my pickaxe bounces ineffectively off the surface with a flurry of sparks. What? I grumble at my bad luck. 85% chance, and still a failure?
I hit the node again and feel the solid connect of a successful mining dig. It’s a pleasant ka-ching sound that gets my endorphins pumping. My strength and pickaxe damage combine to take a healthy chunk off the node’s durability bar.
Nice. About three hits a node.
I get it to the last hit, and then activate another ability: Gambler’s Boon.
Gambler’s Boon
Decrease success rate by half, but increase the chance for multiple and rare drops.
I spend my last 30 TP and see my success rate drop to 40%.
It’s a risky move, but the payoff is worth it in my books.
I go for the hit and get the painful ring of failure again.
Darn it! With a failed last hit, the node disappears, and I wind up empty-handed.
Just my rotten luck.
But I get a big chunk of experience points from my failure and my XP bar jumps from about a quarter to nearly halfway full. That’s another cool thing about Crystal Shards Online. Even if you fail, you get an XP boost. I guess it’s the principle of learning from your mistakes, or something.
I have to wait for my TP to regenerate before I can go for another try, so I just wait at the same node until it respawns. When it does, I repeat the process, but get a success on the first two hits this time. I then consider my next move. I could go for the third hit and collect an almost guaranteed silver ore.
Or I could double down and pull Gambler’s Boon again.
I weigh the options.
If I play it safe, I get something, but if I double down, I’ll get a two ore drop, minimum. That would make up for my last failed attempt. Plus, what are the chances I’ll fail twice in a row?
I hit Gambler’s Boon and go for it!
I strike with my pickaxe and get the massive Ker-Ching! of a HQ ore strike.
Woohoo!
I get another big chunk of EXP, and when I check my log for the drops, I can’t believe my eyes.
Critical Success!
You find a Chunk of Silver Ore.
You find a Chunk of Silver Ore.
You find a Chunk of Silver Ore.
You find a Chunk of HQ Silver Ore.
You find a Treasure Box.
Wow! 3 ores, a HQ, plus a treasure box??? My heart is pounding with excitement. It feels like I’ve won the lottery. I don’t care what those other players say about mining. It can be darn exciting at times.
I tap the treasure box to unlock it, hoping it’s something super rare inside. Something I could sell and maybe change my station in life with right away. I cross my fingers as the item unlocks itself from the chest with a flurry of fanfare and exploding stars.
You open a treasure box!
You find a Copper Coin.
You find a Scroll of Shadow Copy
My hopes deflate like a balloon when I see the untradeable tag. That makes it more worthless than the stupid copper coin. I couldn’t even sell it to an NPC. I know the scroll is something I can’t use, but I click on it anyway, just to see what it is.
Scroll of Shadow Copy
Teaches the Ninja ability: Shadow Copy
Level 12 Ninja Only
Create a copy of yourself using Shadow Magic to absorb your next hit.
Cast Time: 1 Second
Recast: 15 seconds
Great . . . a free hit every 15 seconds? What a cheesy, useless low-level skill. I’m just about to junk the thing for inventory space when the ground shakes beneath my feet. It feels like an earthquake. And it’s coming toward me at a high rate of speed. I turn to see a mountain troll running toward me. It releases a deafening roar.
Mountain Troll
Level: 40
Highly territorial, mountain trolls will attack intruders on sight. Though not very clever, they are savage warriors who can take large doses of punishment, as well as dish it out.
Affinity: Earth
My blood turns to ice as the twelve-foot-tall monster charges at me. Its ripped muscles jiggle beneath its gray skin as it runs and snarls. Yellow tusks jut from its lower jaw like daggers, and a huge stone club that’s bigger than I am swings in its meaty palms.
The reptile part of my brain thinks I’m going to die, even though I know it’s just a game, and I freeze like the helpless prey I am.
I attempt to shield myself with my pickaxe as the massive club slams down on top of me. My vision goes deep red with the force of the hit, and while there is no pain, a massive dose of vibration denotes the impact.
I have an out-of-body experience as I watch my avatar, clad in my mining gear, collapse to the ground face-down. Two words hover over my vision:
YOU DIED
Chapter 3: Gilly
I spend a half second sighing to myself for incurring such a stupid death. I watch the mountain troll passively stand on top my corpse for a moment before it slowly returns to its preset patrol route. I should have figured a mid-level zone like this would have roaming, aggressive mobs. I check the timer that has appeared at the side of my interface. It’s counting down from 58 minutes, 32 seconds. At zero, I will automatically respawn at my home point. The only other thing I can do is hit the respawn button early.
I can also just wait and look around the immediate area by panning my vision. The hope is that a healer will come along and be kind enough to give me a raise. Then I’ll only lose a little bit of experience. When you respawn, you not only lose a big chunk of experience, you have to make your way back to your corpse to get all your items.
My chances of a random healing mage running by, however, are slim to none.
I’m just about to hit the respawn button when a message comes through from Gilly.
Gilly: Hey, I’m at the mine entrance. Where are you??? D:
I can chat back, but I decide not to waste time telling her all the details.
She’ll know soon enough, anyway.
Me: I’ll be right there.
I hit the respawn button and my vision fades to black. Then I’m logging in again, except this time, I’m buck naked expect for my avatar’s standard-issue boxers. I check my XP bar and am chag
rined to see that I lost almost half of what I’d just earned. An automatic message pops up.
You have respawned.
You have 24 game hours to retrieve your corpse before your items become lootable to other players. Untradeable items will be lost!
A game hour is about fifteen minutes in the real world. So that gives me eight hours before I basically lose everything. Good thing I set my respawn point to the Steppes of Andor, right outside the Silvertooth Mines. I sprint back to the mine entrance and see Gilly waiting there, peeking into the darkness of the opening, perhaps expecting to see me come running out.
Gilly’s avatar is as cute as her name.
She’s a half-elf, which makes her about as tall as a human. Five-foot-four compared to my six-foot-two. She wears her raven hair short, which matches nicely with her olive complexion and shows off the slight point of her ears. Her wiry body has a wee bit of tone to it, too, like a fitness model, but I rarely see her like that. Most times, her figure is hidden beneath a set of Miner’s coveralls similar to my own. She already has her Miner’s Helm on, too.
I give her character a quick examine.
Name: Gilly
Sex: Female
Race: Half-elf
Class: Miner
Level: 8
Guild: Nasgar Labor Union
Level 8? She must have leveled up before I logged in this morning.