by Edward Brody
YOU HAVE DIED
All of your current level’s progression has been reset to ERROR%.
010101010110101110101111
ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED: Y7803
ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE: NB83Z
ERROR_UNEXP_NET_ERR: AB7Z
An unexpected error has occurred.
The screen went blank.
Kevin’s body went limp, and his heart stopped.
Author’s Notes
One of the things I loved about old-school MMORPGs is that the you could find an amazing item—possibly even the best item in the game—and it was constantly at risk of getting lost, stolen, or broken. You could stumble into a portal right after logging into the game and find yourself stuck with some of the highest-level monsters in the world. But, if you were clever, you might walk away with something way beyond your capabilities if you managed to survive.
When I wrote the first Eden’s Gate, I remembered that. A few people were worried that Gunnar was being rewarded high-level items for completing mundane tasks or killing the lowest level monsters, but that wasn’t the case. When Gunnar picked up Kronos’ sword in Nambunga’s Cave, for example, it wasn’t a quest reward or a loot drop from the maggot queen. It was simply an item that a much higher level character had dropped when he stumbled into the cave and perished. It was chance that the sword was in the cave, not game design.
Eden’s Gate is penned as a truly open world game—a world where you doing the wrong thing is a viable option and where everything is accessible to anyone, regardless of level. There may be requirements (strength, dexterity, etc.) that prevent low-level characters from using something too powerful, but that doesn’t mean they can’t find it, pick it up, or that high-level items or characters won’t find their way into generally low-level zones. Further, there’s no finding the “best weapon available” and it staying attached to your overpowered character forever. Just about everything is at risk of being lost, stolen, or broken. There is no hand-holding or linear paths that characters are forced to follow.
I had a lot of fun writing Eden’s Gate, Book 2: The Sparrow, but it was a much more complex undertaking than the first book. There was so much was going on. Gunnar was working on building a town/trade in Edgewood, a guild, struggling with his relationship with the dark elves, his feelings for Adeelee, his growing moral compass, growing comfortable in his own skin, and trying to figure out what was going on with Jax. All the while, Rachel was still tugging at the back of his mind.
That’s a lot to weave into a book without it becoming disjointed!
I would’ve loved to delve more into the Earth side of the story this time, but I chose to keep the Crylight portions short and sweet to prevent people’s heads from getting overloaded and keep more of the focus in-game. It’ll all be fleshed out further as the series progresses. And Ray Ray? C’mon. You know that’s going to be juicy.
Thanks so much for sticking with the series! Gunnar has a million more adventures ahead, and I hope I can keep the story compelling as he explores and grows in power (and as a person).
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The End
