The World (.hack)
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This video game-related article or section describes an aspect of the game in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. |
| The World | |
|---|---|
 The World title screen as seen in the .hack games. |
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| Developer(s) | CC Corporation |
| Publisher(s) | Altimit Corporation |
| Platform(s) | Altimit OS |
| Release date | 2007-12-24 |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Massively multiplayer |
| Input methods | VR Headset, Controller |
The World is a fictional MMORPG in the anime, manga, and game franchise, .hack.
The game was created for the Altimit OS operating system by the CC Corporation. Released on the Virgin's Kiss fictitious holiday, it is the first online game after the also fictitious Pluto's Kiss virus incident that crashed the entire internet in 2005. Players interact with The World using Virtual reality headsets called FMDs (Face-mounted display) and DualShock-like controllers.
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[edit] History
[edit] Background
On December 24, 2005 the Pluto's Kiss virus causes all network connected computers worldwide to malfunction and crash. Though the network recovers 77 minutes later, this exposes the fragile nature of the worldwide network. The virus writer is found to be a 10 year-old grade school student.
The United Nations' World Network Council (WNC) meets again, and endorses the Altimit OS operating system, as it was the one operating system not vulnerable to Pluto's Kiss. By Summer of 2006, Altimit has become a worldwide name and with this, many core developers leave to form the CyberConnect Corporation (CC Corporation).
[edit] Fragment
In that same summer, ALTIMIT Corporation is approached by a German programmer Harald Hoerwick, who presented an MMORPG named Fragment. Interested in its potential, the company founds the CC Corporation soon after. Though network games are heavily restricted by the WNC, due to the relative newness of the new world network, the WNC grants special permission to the CC Corporation in May of 2007, hoping to revive the network games market.
By July, the beta product known as Fragment, has the largest amount of network users online. As its popularity grows, rumors begin to circulate of its connection to a long lost net-distributed text known as the Epitaph of Twilight.
[edit] The World
By October, after nearly all of the servers in the world are now running Altimit OS, the WNC decides to remove all restrictions from the new network starting December 24, 2007 and declaring that day as a new holiday to be known as Virgin's Kiss. CC Corporation announces that Fragment would officially be launched on that day, as the game The World. Over the next few months, a flurry of reservations caused CC Corporation's stock to surpass even Altimit Corporation. Downloads began at midnight, December 24.
As of 2008 it has over 20 million players.
[edit] Revision 2
After a fire in the main CC Corp. building in the year 2015, The World servers and much of its data, including character data, was destroyed. It was later spliced with another project CC Corp. was working on at the time and re-released as The World R:2 in 2016. However, many old players were upset when they found they could not use their old characters and quit playing the game. Fortunately, the new version attracted many new players and over twelve million copies of The World R:2 were sold worldwide.
By 2017, Player Killers have overrun The World R:2.
[edit] Revision X
Released in 2020.
[edit] Structure
[edit] Root Towns
The World is comprised of a cluster of different servers distributed around the world. When players login, they materialize in the Root Town of the server they last used.
Root Towns are central areas in the game where players can socialize, create parties, and do business with other players and NPCs. Each server in The World has its own unique Root Town. They are the starting and ending point of any gaming session. In order to properly logout of the game, the player must be in a Root Town.
Each Root Town has a Chaos Gate, a large revolving ring used to transport players to areas or other servers. To transport to an Area, a series of three keywords must be entered. These keywords determine such parameters such as difficulty, terrain, and weather amongst other things. Most keyword combinations result in an Area with a field and a dungeon.
Root Towns are the only place in The World where players don't need to worry about monsters. The only exception to this rule is that once every few months, the Root Towns will be invaded by monsters; the only way for the players to stop the invasion is to defeat the monsters' leader.
[edit] Areas
A field is a large boundless expanse of terrain of finite size characterized by its open air environment and lack of living civilization. Typically most structures in the fields are the ruins of some long ancient dwellings, or the bones of some massive creature. Though it is boundless, there is a limited distance one can travel in a straight line before arriving at the same point again.
A dungeon is labyrinth across two to five descending levels of interconnected rooms. It contains a single entrance/exit that links the first level to the field and a single stairway between levels. When one enters a room that contains one or more Magic Portals, all exits are sealed until all Magic Portals have been opened. The deepest level of the dungeon contains a special room known for the distinctive floating figure, known as a Gott Statue, behind a golden treasure chest.
Special shrines characterized by an open flame are known as Symbols to players, and grant magical enchantments to nearby party members when activated. They can be found in both the field and the dungeon, though it is more rare to find it in the dungeon.
Magic Portals are revolving rings of mystical energy that activate whenever a player gets within close proximity of it. When activated, Magic Portals summon one or more monsters, though sometimes they may summon treasure chests instead.
[edit] Lost Grounds
Also known as Sacred Zones, Lost Grounds are areas in The World and The World R:2 that have existed since Fragment, the beta version of The World. However, they were not called Lost Grounds until the 2nd revision. They cannot be altered or deleted by system admins and seem to have no real purpose.
[edit] Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground
"Hidden"-"Forbidden"-"Holy Ground" (rendered "Hidden" "Forbidden" "Sacred Zone" in the .hack//A.I. Buster novels) is one of the Sacred Zones- those of which are found in the Epitaph of Twilight- and is known by a few different names by a few different players. It is best known as "Navel of Lake", though as new players pour in, facts such as these become lost in time and story. Because of the loss of these facts, many rumors persist and continue to grow and gain popularity. A particularly small Area, it merely contains a short broken bridge connected to a small ornate cathedral. At one time, people say a blue ocean surrounded the area. Though now, the surrounding land is barren and recessed, the atmosphere here is quite red and dark. Players will varyingly find the area full of foreboding or even full of some great sadness. There is nothing for adventurers there, as there are no Magic Portals or treasure chests. Occasionally it has been used as a meeting place between people, though mostly people come just to see the place featured in many popular rumors and legends.
The latest name for the area is "the Hulle Granz Cathedral" (as of .Hack://G.U.)
In the Epitaph of Twilight, it is where the Adventurers begin their quest.
[edit] Net Slum
- Further information: Helba
The Net Slum (also known as the Cyber Slum) is an illegal field existing in The World that was created as a sanctum for trash data (though in .hack//Sign episode Unison Lios offered to make the Net Slum a legitimate Root Town as a reward to Helba for her help, which she declined), and similar unwanted/illegal cyberstuff. It is inaccessible to regular players as well as to the administration of The World, making it an ideal hideout for those who would otherwise be banned from the game. The Net Slum is run (and was supposedly built) by the player Helba, a level 99 Wavemaster of unsurpassed hacking skills. Failed AIs created by the system, after they're deleted by the Cobalt Knights, all call Net Slum home, or 'Paradise.' Aura's only daughter Zefie takes pity on two of half erased AIs (both now insane) and out of mercy kills them.
In G.U. the Net Slum seems more like a full-function root-town: it has a chaos gate, @home (the area for guilds), and shops. The chaos gate in the Net Slum is more functional than the ones in other towns: this chaos gate can bring you to any location (based on any server of the game).
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