daiqua_mods | PREMISE/SETTING

PREMISE

Perhaps you just went to sleep- or perhaps you only just closed your eyes. Perhaps you were daydreaming, or your attention otherwise lapsed; either way, there's a jolt in the back of your mind, your world briefly morphing in to s̶t̷a̵t̷i̶c̵. When it clears, you're in a strange, misty landscape - your only clue a subtle glow in your vision.

Focus on it, and start your journey through Daiqua. What is Daiqua, you ask? Why, it's nothing less than the world's most state-of-the-art MMO, where users enter a virtual reality and truly experience what it is to swing a sword or cast a spell. Unfortunately for you, while entering was relatively easy - if unintended - you're without any means of logging out, and find yourself trapped in this fantasy world.

While Daiqua prides itself on its realism, for you, this takes a whole new meaning; it may well be a real world, albeit with a few...quirks. Certainly, you can respawn after falling in battle, and can open up a UI on the fly - to say nothing of how items can mysteriously appear and reappear as you sort your inventory. And so, while the world seems relatively low-stakes, there could be worse places to be trapped within.

Nonetheless, for you and those trapped like you, the stakes are magnified. Should you speak with the native players - that is, those who are able to log in and off at will - you'll find that they laugh at the idea of being 'trapped' within the game. And what may be vaguely troublesome bugs for those players become true life-and-death for you - for how can respawn occur if your very existence has been corrupted?

With little recourse, one may find that the game itself is their only option to any sort of resolution. Or even, if nothing else, a pleasant diversion from what their previous world may have offered. After all, games designed designed to be fun, and Daiqua is no different. It is a distraction, an escape, a chance to feel in control of your world and your life as evidenced by its very tagline:

Daiqua: Decide your Destiny.

SETTING

Daiqua is a panfandom, MMO-based jamjar where characters find themselves trapped within the virtual reality of a false fantasy. With the native players convinced they're simply really in to the whole immersive roleplay thing, they find themselves with few options but to play the game, one way or another.

The jamjar is designed to allow a (relatively) open world experience, with characters allowed to play the game straight (eg - leveling up, running dungeons, etc) and/or hunt for clues to the overarching plot. Here's what you can expect...

ACTION/ADVENTURE
◆ Absolutely. The MMO itself is designed to allow plenty of hack and slash, after all! Go out and run quests for NPCs, go in to dungeons, fight monsters, yadda yadda yadda.

SLICE OF LIFE
◆ In a manner of speaking. For those who don't want to focus on fighting, the MMO allows them to instead pursue professions, crafting and creating items to support the playerbase. In addition, there is a high social aspect, a built-in message board allowing for gamewide communication. (To be fair, this is often used as a means of organizing groups or guilds). Presumably, a character could avoid combat almost entirely and stay within the cities, utilizing their professions to make gold and sustain themselves.

HORROR/THRILLER
◆ Very light. While it's easy to read in to the horrific aspects of being trapped within the game, that's mostly up to the characters to determine. Horror in general is not a hard emphasis in the game, though it may come up at times whether in the interaction of data bugs or in the occasional plot. Overall, expect Matrix-level creepiness at the worst, and for anything that is worse to be opt-in.

Plots range from those based in the MMO itself (eg: IC storyarcs that shift the MMO setting) to questions and clues about just what is going on with this place. While the overarching metaplot has a definite structure, players are welcome to create their own miniplots and help direct the flow of the game.