The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream

Chapter 38: Looking For Group

(Sunday, May 23rd Game Day / Wednesday, February 17th Real Day)

Walking forth into the crowded town square I soon found myself surrounded by well over a hundred players screaming and shouting for all manner of things. The grassy clearing where I stood only provided for shoulder-width room, but it was a necessary inconvenience. Toggling the LFG option in the Menu, my name which had been hidden soon flickered on above my head.

Looking down into the small puddle beneath my feet I could see a clear reflection of light blue letters above me:

[Roth Sigurd, First of the North, Archer]

My name had been displayed along with my highest title and my highest proficiency in order for other players to see. Since I was now Looking For Group, it was a necessity. Though, there was no reason to display my title or Archery… there were a million Archers here already.

One look around the place and you could see that the majority of the population was filled with Archer or Rogue-types. They were your standard damage dealers or DPS even though the acronym didn't necessarily make sense for a person, seeing as it meant damage per second… but that's the way abbreviated phrases go nowadays.

Yeah, I would never find a party as an Archer.

This wasn't going to work.

Going back into the Menu, I toggled through the options to remove my title for privacy reasons along with switching my proficiency to Warrior. I had developed that through my usage of a Two-handed Axe and it should serve as a base tank despite the lack of shield.

Tanks were always in high demand, as were healers.

Staring back down into the puddle, the blue lights flickered for a moment as they changed to describe my new state:

[Roth Sigurd, Warrior]

Yeah, I liked that.

Within moments of the change a few invites rang up in front of my visual field, but I declined them all. I preferred those with manners even if it was a simple, "Hi, join my party!"

Anything was better than blind invites.

Those types of invites lacked tact, and spoke more of the people who sent them.

In the distance I could see two high elf females pushing their way through the crowd, stopping directly in front of me. The blonde clearly had some fun modifying her appearance as she was definitely not proportioned normally, with her exaggerated hips and ass that stuck out at least a hand. The brunette was a little tamer, but was still a modified appearance as well.

The blond spoke up first, "You're a tank right? We just need a tank."

Then the brunette chimed in, "We don't have any melee classes in our group."

Oh.

They were from different groups.

Answering them both, "Yeah, I'm a tank."

Unfortunately, this is where the situation becomes complicated. As the two girls stared at my character and the two-handed axe hanging off my back, the dagger in its sleeve on my chest, and a bow lingering by my shoulder just above the quiver dangling by my hip, they came to the major issue.

I had no shield.

The blond didn't seem to think about the shield though, as she asked, "Are you new here? Have you tanked before?"

Of course I've tanked before… but not in this game. It was a tricky question, one that couldn't be answered at face value. Hesitating first, and then just going with it I said, "Yeah I've tanked before, but I'm also new to this dungeon. It was just discovered the other day."

The brunette seemed to be the keener one as she pointed out, "Uh, you have a shield right? …I only see an axe, dagger, and bow."

Well that was quick.

"No, I don't use a shield to tank."

Yep, here it comes.

As soon as the words left my mouth both of the high elf females' faces contorted in that weird way people do when they can't believe what they just heard or saw. Like a comedy unfolding on their faces, I could read it plain as day.

The dejected brunette turned around and walked away with only a tsk.

The blond was a bit more sociable though, "Um, I'm sorry but we need a real tank with a shield to get through the boss fight. You won't be able to tank without one… but good luck!"

I didn't blame them for being cautious.

At the end of the day, most of the players who believed they were "tanks" weren't that great at it. Throw in that bucking typical convention and not gearing the way the masses gear… and well, you're shit out of luck.

People don't respond well to individuality when they don't have a personal reference. For all intents and purposes, if you don't follow "proper" convention you might as well be trash.

No shield, no invite.

That's how most of the players here would treat me.

The worst part was that tanking in general was such a neglected existence. Every party needed one player who could take the aggression and the attacks of the monsters they were fighting. In order to survive that player usually wore the heaviest of armors, thus he would be called the "tank."

But there was no praise or recognition for good tanks, only condemnation for the bad tanks. An unrewarding profession that tended to have more negative preconceptions than it was worth.

Thirty minutes had gone by and I had been rebuffed by twenty-seven parties.

I wasn't sure if there was even a twenty-eighth party to reject me.

I'm pretty sure they all rejected me, already.

Some were quite rude about it, too.

Grabbing my gear, I quickly dumped my sled and excess items off at a room in the inn and paid for a few nights stay. I had already grabbed the two quests pertaining to the First Floor of the dungeon and decided to try my luck elsewhere. At the entrance to the dungeon there were bound to be parties a little more desperate.

Proximity to the goal line has a way of clouding one's judgment.

The closer these parties were to starting the more persuasive having any type of tank would sound, regardless if he or she had a shield. And as I had predicted, relocating to the entrance of the dungeon had proved fruitful, as I ended up waiting thirty-seconds before being courted by a few parties.

Deciding to lay it all out at first to save the trouble, "I'm an experienced tank but new to this dungeon. I do not have a shield but my Health is at 2,100. My defense is also sufficiently high for our levels."

A few people turned around immediately and walked off, but two elves started murmuring amongst themselves. Eventually, they decided to include me in that discussion.

"You say you're experienced, so you've tanked before?"

"Yeah, and I've tanked for years in other games at a high level."

"I see. Your health is kind of high though… did you dump all your stats into Vitality?"

"Nah, I'm a premade."

"Oh, okay. Well, as long as you don't lose aggro, we'll go as far as we can."

Success!

Not a minute after arriving in front of the dungeon I was invited into a party. Screw the people in town who were trying to form the perfect party for an hour or two before ever stepping foot outside. This was how it was done.

Heading inside with them, the black-haired female elf that was talking to me appeared to be the healer of the party. She also had a small crest near her collar, as did the female rogue and both of the male archers next to her. They were of the same design as Ellieby's.

That could prove interesting.