Weclome, Adventurers

Golden Age Mechanic Rundown; What your Sprites Might Not Tell You

Ever played an MMO game? I hope so, because I'm not about to sit here and explain the most basic of basics to you, nor am I going to give you the same shpiel your Sprites did when they first spawned in. These are features that either aren't common in MMO games or are exclusive to Golden Age.

1: You're in the game.
Let's start with the most obvious thing, here. You're in the game. If you die in the game, you die forever. Like Spy Kids 3-D. Except, death doesn't always have to be permenant. This leads us to point 2.

2: Death is not always the end.
In fact, in this game, it can be cheesed as easily as a gullible old lady with dementia. So far, the following aspects have found ways to cheat death; Life, Doom, Hope, Rage, and Heart. And that's not to even mention that you get one free death per person. If you can convince a friend to kiss your cold corpse, that is.

3: Classes and aspects (classpects).
I don't think I have the brain power to explain this right now. It's convoluted, stupid, and trying to understand it will send you in circles. It doesn't matter anymore, anyways --- not in the way it used to. But what does matter is that your Class and Aspect dictate your leveled abilities. Practice makes perfect; try and branch out with your powers to level up faster. Doing the same thing over and over again won't lead to much progress.

4: Derse and Prospit.
Derse is the purple moon you'll see in the sky, and Prospit is the golden one. The smaller moons used to be attached to their respective major moons, but the chains tangled, the small moons collided, and the chains snapped. You will have a "Dreamself" on one of these moons, which is a second version of you that acts as your second life. Once you are revived via Kiss of Life, your dreamself will vanish. If you and your dreamself die, and nobody around you can heal? Game over. (Note: your dreamself will also vanish once you God-Tier.) The Carapacians that dwell on both plants are thinking, feeling things, and you need to treat them like it. Don't be cruel.

5: God Tiering.
God Tiering is, honestly, a really long and tedious thing to deal with, so I'll try and sum it up simply here. Everyone has some basic abilities --- knights moreso than other classes --- but your real powers lie in God Tiering. This can only happen once you are fully leveled, and your sprite will direct you towards your Quest Bed once you get to that point, but I'm here to tell you the truth and take away the shock value. God Tiering involves death. You need to come to terms with the fact that, in Golden Age, you won't get power for nothing. It comes at a price, and in this case, that price is your life.

6: Bosses and Enemies.
The bosses you will be fighting are determined by your Land (Point 9 for reference), and no two players will fight the exact same bosses or enemies. When you first enter the game, the remains of the LOTUS database will pick apart your thoughts and fears in order to create the bosses and enemies you will face; bosses will have a strong resemblance to your worst fears and anxieties, and their lairs will pick at any phobias you may have. For example, someone with Arachnophobia and Claustrophobia may have to fight a giant burrowing spider inside the confines of its burrow. Enemies will also resemble your fears, but to a lesser degree. Eg: the same person may have imps that scuttle around and have multiple sets of arms/legs, but they will not resemble spiders otherwise.

7: Base Building and GRIST.
As many of you have probably figured out, you need GRIST to build anything for your partner in the Dwelling Editor. (Aside: I think GRIST is supposed to be an acronym for something? Not a clue as to what.) The more important/useful that thing is, the more it will cost to build. You can get GRIST from killing enemies, but doing quests will give you more. Bosses also give good GRIST when slain, but since they can only be killed or talked down once, they shouldn't be your main source of GRIST. Consorts and Carapacians give out plenty of quests, as do NPC humans and trolls in the Center Cities.

8: Memory and Dream Bubbles.
Memory and Dream Bubbles dot the outer ring of the map, and while they look the same on the outside, they have different functions. Dream Bubbles are where players with a dead dreamself are sent when they fall asleep, and the bubbles contain the leftover data of dead players. Memory Bubbles are physical manifestations of the memories of current players. As states in point 6, the leftover bits of the LOTUS construct dig around in your mind to find prominent memories, both good and bad, to influence your decisions and create your enemies (also your Land - see point 9). These bubbles, when interacted with, will send whoever interacts with the bubble into the memory it contains, and they will feel as if they are living it themselves, or, if they are the one that the memory is sourced from, they will feel like they are experiencing the memory for the first time again.

9: Your Land.
Your Land is the section of the planet that is considered your domain. For Humans, it will resemble Earth, and for trolls, it will resemble Beforus/Alternia/their general planet of origin. This is where you will find your Consorts, and also where you house/hive will be when you enter the game. Protecting your consorts and doing quests for them is a good way to level up and get weapon parts and schematics early-on. Enemies here will be weak, and food will be decently easy to find if you know how to hunt, fish, or forage. The further away from a player's Domain you get, the stronger things will be, and the more grist you will get from slain enemies and completed quests.