Bloodlines Online

Alexander watched as the paper map on the table was labeled with markers of white and gold.

White signified allegiance to the church of light while gold signified allegiance to the celestials.

As the markers were placed Alexander grew worried over the imbalance of territory.

'They have at least twenty cities over our own and until the allied nations begin to send aid we won't have much chance... unless we tempt players.'

The faction that gains the most players would likely be the victors of this war since they had a nearly immortal army that could be swayed with rewards.

The danger would truly begin once the leaders of these regions got involved.

Mages capable of leveling cities, warriors that could tear down walls with their bare hands, assassins that could dispatch others in the blink of an eye, these were dangerous beings that the players risked facing.

At any moment these powerful forces could join the war in a physical way and should this happen it would take a strategic strike that the players would not be able to pull off without a psionic mage to link them together.

'I need to poach heavy hitters from the church faction, if I can get even a single player that eventually becomes a powerhouse like the War God's inner circle then I might be able to tear those overpowered npcs down...'

'I just pray the Devil Queen doesn't make an appearance due to the changes I've created, she's terrifying.'

In the past he had only ever witnessed the Devil Queen in action during a single battle, she had been fighting a figure that he later learned was one of the leaders of the beastfolk.

The battle lasted for nearly an entire day with two separate cities being wiped out as a consequence of their clash, the path of destruction never truly recovered either as both were shadow users.

He might forget many details of his past life from minor to major events, but that would remain burned in his mind until the end.

~

Across the server players who could use their real wealth and connections to purchase more gold in the game had been fighting for pieces of gear that appeared in the auction house.

Those who had the funds of guilds would even use their allies to bid on the items while they gained experience but these players always looked to the higher ranked members for direction on bids.

What made matters worse was what many would consider market manipulation within their own economy as these players took advantage of the borderline unregulated auctions by working together to bid on gear until others couldn't compete or until they gave up on competition with large players.

Many players used this to their advantage however because some had begun to learn crafting trades within the game world, they may only have the ability to make lower qualities but the fact that any gear was being sold was seen as a way to make teams more powerful.

One such crafter was busy making potions at a table which was covered in a mess of bottles and glass tube's.

Behind her stood a goblin woman who watched with a sharp and steady gaze until she held her hand out.

"The blood, you add it now as it begins to simmer."

"How do you keep it from coagulating?"

The goblin alchemist shook her head with a sigh.

"Another word from your otherworld that has no meaning here, simply mix the blood in."

Instead of trying to explain it she simply followed the directions she was given.

She hoped that a chemist would end up playing and sharing their knowledge with the game community like in other games.

In almost every vrmmorpg you would get a few players that wanted to brag about their success in the real world through the game, skilled craftsman would show their prowess within games and then brag about their creations as well as techniques honed over time.

When she poured the blood into the prepared bottle that held the potion base she saw that the blood began to act strangely, it quickly separated into individual pockets of blood which started to harden somehow before the hardened blood began to bubble.

Before her eyes the little blobs of hardened blood started to disintegrate like acid eating away at rust.

As she watched the blood dissolve into the solution she noticed her teacher working on something else that she couldn't identify.

"May I ask what that is used for? It must be important right?"

The small alchemist nodded before looking her in the eye after she set a tube on a small fire to heat up.

"This will check how much blood energy was left behind. My normal work leaves about this much but we must be certain."

She put her fingers at roughly the thirty-percent area and when it was apparently hot enough she watched as her teacher took a small dropper and let a small amount drip into the solution she made in the vial.

Inside of the vial she saw a strange reaction take place, the solution began to cloud and then she watched as particles settled at the bottom.

When the precipitation was complete she measured the amount in the vial before sighing.

"I can't get beyond this, I don't have the resources to buy better ingredients."

As she was about to speak up the small alchemist turned towards her.

"Know this; your future as an alchemist will require one part talent, one part knowledge and three parts resources. The only world renowned alchemist who did not begin with the funding of a noble house was one who had gained skills from a god."

~

Across different starter cities and tier one cities players were farming monsters and beasts to reach the threshold for rewards they desired in their respective factions.

Members of the Church Of Light faction were forced to wear white with few exceptions as well as wearing a badge displaying the holy symbol of their church, the rising sun.

The ranks of members of this faction could be seen by how many beams of light the sun on their badge had, starting at one and adding another beam each rank.

Members of the Heavenly faction were simply given badges that resembled angel wings which also served to show their rank within the faction, one pair of wings as the lowest and each rank adding an additional pair.

In certain regions there would be skirmishes caused by the players of each faction competing for kills at the borders often respective cities they inhabited.

These conflicts did not often escalate to pvp but when they did the parties involved would frequently cause large scale battles.

In such battles you would find higher ranked individuals from each faction observing, they were usually NPCs from the region which were scouting potential leaders amongst the fodder and the information on these players would be brought back for the faction branches to consider.

Beyond the simple information gathering these high ranked scouts were mainly there to find any high value players that could be cultivated if already on their side, if they were not then poaching attempts would be considered.

If poaching a high value player from the enemy were not possible then the player would be marked as a target for player killing to push them back in their progress.

The faction war was growing at a rapid pace but this was actually common for faction wars in such games, the difference was the sheer magnitude of players participating in such a game event.

With millions of players already in the game and more joining each day the war became a significant part of gameplay, particularly for new players.

New players would choose their starter city based on what faction held power there and once players left the newbie village they would pick their path accordingly.

Many factors went into this decision.

Some players would be interested in the lore of the game and they might choose either the Church or the Heavens depending on how they felt about the lore.

Some would be more interested in pushing their way to the leader board and the gear value of each faction would impact this choice.

The Church was wealthy and had access to a large amount of items they could give to faction members as rewards as well as resources that would aid in their paths.

The Heavens could teach skills as well as providing higher quality gear but at a lower frequency.

Some players enter the game with the intention of role playing as the character they actually created and some even made backstories for their creations.

Players had many reasons for choosing between factions but one thing remained clear when making this decision, changing your faction to the other was risky.

Upon leaving a faction to join the other the player would begin with negative reputation which required working through the ranks with much more effort, the only exception to this was a player that had been poached.

Every player knew that the faction war would be a historic event in the history of BLO and the winning faction would reign over the losing faction.

If it even remained.