When We're Rollin Through the Wild Wild West

[geonomy]

Who: Everyone! EVERYONE!
Broadcast: IF YOU WANNA
Action: Everywhere! EVERYWHERE!
When: Mid-September - Mid-October

[How's your ship doing, pardners? Is it still pretty damaged? Is it glitching out hardcore? Well, there is one place to land to take care of all that, and that's on a dusty old moon in front of a planet that no one wants to go to. On this moon, you'll find a civilization that looks a lot like one's stepped into a wild west movie, hardened cowpolk and mutant horses and all. Will you become a vigilante, hunting bounties and stopping gangs from doing their dirty work? Will you go exploring planetside, with a cowboy hat and a stalk of wheat in your mouth to complete the look? Good luck with that; there is no wheat. This town ain't big enough for all you flooters, but make it so! For the ratings!

In other words, it's a planet mingle! Get 'er done!]

[September Planet info here]

Comments

[huaaaaagh]

[That's convenient, in its own way.]

I'm used to the map being built-in, so I might have to rely on you a little. Just tell me if we start heading in the wrong direction.

[experiencepoints]

Yeah, no problem. But as long as we're going away from that town, it pretty much can't be the wrong direction.

[huaaaaagh]

I'll keep that in mind, then.

[At least she's made his job easier.]

How's the ride, is the pace okay?

[experiencepoints]

The pace is fine. You can set it however you want, I'm just the passenger.

[There's a short pause, and then...]

So... How do you have a 'built-in' map?

[huaaaaagh]

Well... hmm, how to explain...

[It's difficult to translate it into terms that aren't video game related- since he doesn't know what descriptions would offend her again and which would be normal.]

When you access something from your inventory, or when you store something in it, do you see anything? Or do you just think about what you want to do with it in your head?

[experiencepoints]

... No, you don't see anything unless you're using a menu. It's just something you sort of... do.

[huaaaaagh]

[Huh. So her world does have menus, but they're optional?]

Where I'm from, it shows up visually in menu-form. I can't do it anymore, but if I do this-

[He swipes down at the air, trying to summon a menu that doesn't exist.]

I can change my equipment or skills, summon items, or look at the map. That's what I mean by built-in; it's not an item I call, but a constantly-updating function of the world itself.

[experiencepoints]

... Huh. No, our menu's nothing like that, it's just a thing on modern phones. It's mostly to keep tabs on party members. Why do you need a menu to change equipment?

[huaaaaagh]

I don't know how much inventory space you've got, but the available space in the system I'm used to is pretty substantial. Sometimes I'm carrying so much gear I forgot what I even have, so being able to look through a list is a lot more convenient than trying to remember it all.

[experiencepoints]

Two hundred and fifty-five slots, and items stack up to 99.

Menus can track that if you forget, yeah, but... I just take care not to forget.

[huaaaaagh]

You've got an amazing memory, then.

[His memory's fine, generally, but that's a memory that could rival a computer's.]

[experiencepoints]

[She shrugs. It's true, her memory is very nearly perfect, but rather than a naturally good memory, it's more the result of obsessively over-analyzing everything she does, going over and over everything to pick apart her mistakes, for every day.]

It's useful. Lets me map out dungeons easily, or not waste time re-Scanning monsters to check their status.

[huaaaaagh]

So you've got enemy scanning abilities, too...

[He's genuinely interested in all the similarities between their worlds.]

Do you have access to your abilities here?

[experiencepoints]

... Some of them. It's a long story. I can cast Scan still, if that's what you're asking.

[huaaaaagh]

[He meant any ability, really, but that's good enough.]

I can't seem to activate any of my skills here. It's been really inconvenient.

[Granted, he knows why, but he probably shouldn't say that.]

[experiencepoints]

Really? I mean...

[Given their position, she can't do her normal demonstration, so she'll just make a small whirlwind in the air in front of Kirito.]

None of my spells are blocked, except for the ones I lost before coming here.

[huaaaaagh]

Whoa!

[Kirito dodges the horse around it instinctively, even if it's small and harmless. It's impossible not to.]

That's lucky. I was never any good with spells, but I knew a few. I can't do any here without the spell assist.

[experiencepoints]

Oh- Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.

What's 'spell assist'?

[huaaaaagh]

Just how it sounds. It's a system that exists in my world to help people cast magic. You can look up which spells you've learned, the words and configuration needed to cast them, and how much mana is required for each. It's part of the menu.

[experiencepoints]

... Huh. Something like that would actually be really useful for something like Yura's job...

[huaaaaagh]

If it's someone who's bad at memorizing spells, I can definitely vouch for its usefulness.

[experiencepoints]

I was thinking for children. My, uh... My friend from home, Yura, [judging from how pink her cheeks have just turned, she's probably not saying everything there] has a job running children through low-level dungeons to help them level up. I figure kids who don't pay attention to their own stats might do well with something like that...

[huaaaaagh]

[He's facing front so he doesn't see it at first, but her little stumble makes him glance back. Oho... boyfriend, maybe?]

I can see it being a big help, yeah. It's too bad I can't just teach something like that, or you could take it home with you.

[experiencepoints]

Yeah... It's a mechanic of your world, right? So it can't be taken elsewhere, probably...

[huaaaaagh]

Yeah... sorry. Not really much I can do about that.