Chương 102: Hot Takes Only

By the time Meno got home, Chadculator was still streaming. Meno watched for thirty seconds as Chad explained why Infernal's damage window was "only theoretically disgusting" and why anyone calling Eternal easy should be forced to play it with their eyes open. Chat had somehow become dumber under education, which was impressive in the same way a shrieking tree was impressive. Meno ended the restream, washed his face again, checked his nose, and joined The Meta Desk call from his kitchen.

After a producer tested his mic twice, the show went live. Sera Voss appeared first in a clean white studio feed, hair tied high, smile sharpened for bloodsport. Mina Calde sat beside her in darker clothes, calmer, looking like she knew exactly how bad the panel might get and had already decided it would be good content.

"Welcome back to The Meta Desk," Sera said.

"Tonight, Veyrath has its first true crisis panel." Mina nodded.

"Rank one has changed. The first raid has been cleared in a way nobody expected. Naraltan opened early, immediately became contaminated by a zone calamity, and now every level forty-plus player is voting on Veyrath's next continent."

"Joining us are the current top five players by global level rank," Sera said.

"PrayerBeadGod, rank one, level sixty before class evolution selection. BrineSaint, rank two. Thorn, guild master of Stormhold. Pike, guild master of Highbanner. And VantaRush, leader of HypeForge." Five video tiles filled the screen. VantaRush had silver shoulder-length hair, a goatee, and the polished mid-thirties streamer look carried by a man who had made peace with cameras years ago.

Thorn looked like a bodybuilder trying to pass as a guild leader, with short black hair, a neat black beard, and shoulders that made his chair look underleveled. Pike had a military buzzcut, no beard, a large scar down his left cheek, and a build that looked earned in real life rather than sculpted for intimidation. BrineSaint looked younger than the guild masters but older than Meno. He had short light-brown hair, a clean-shaven face, and broad shoulders that looked more genetic than gym-built.

He gave the impression that he fixed motorcycles, chopped wood to relieve stress, and read system tooltips twice before making coffee. Meno was clearly the youngest on the panel at twenty-seven, and he looked like a guy joining from a shoebox while everyone else had expensive-looking homes in the background. Sera turned toward the camera.

"Let's start with the unavoidable topic. The Lost Temple raid exploit, the Chain of the First Dream trigger behavior, and PrayerBeadGod's solo clear." Meno leaned back in his kitchen chair, bracing for it.

"BrineSaint," Sera said.

"You've been one of the most consistent top-level players since launch. What's your reaction?" BrineSaint looked into his camera, and even through a video tile, Meno felt judged.

"Soloing high-level monsters is one thing," BrineSaint said.

"It is an achievement, and it should be possible for players good enough. But doing it against raid bosses goes too far. XP is one thing. Getting six legendary items on top of that risks one exploit snowballing into another." Meno kept his mouth shut. Barely. Mina glanced down at her notes.

"Thorn, your thoughts?" Thorn grunted.

"Obvious. His ass should be banned." That was the first time Meno heard Thorn speak, and he disliked him immediately. Pike smiled without warmth.

"Thorn is being a sore loser. Even with help from his sister little Moon Moon and Silverwake, they couldn't kill the first boss." Thorn's tile shifted as he leaned forward, but Pike kept going.

"Yes, they were only in the forties, but come on. A single guy soloed it. Really embarrassing."

"Shut your mouth," Thorn said. Sera lifted a hand.

"Let's keep this useful. VantaRush, where do you land on this?" VantaRush folded his hands on his desk.

"I think flexibility matters more than perfect fairness. People play with aspirations of pulling off stunts like PBG pulled off. I don't see a reason to change everything." Meno liked him immediately.

"Patch obvious bugs, sure," Vanta continued.

"The trigger behavior on the chain boss probably should be fixed. But Veyrath should leave room for wild outcomes." Mina turned toward Meno.

"PrayerBeadGod, you're hearing a range of reactions. Exploit, achievement, broken class, emergent play. How do you respond?"

"Look, I am not sure why there is so much outrage when most of these guys spend all day farming dungeon trash." Sera's eyebrows twitched, and Meno kept going.

"They are better at it than others, so they are here. But what have they proved? Nothing. What they are doing is all math, no skill." Thorn's face tightened.

"Careful there. What the crap is that supposed to mean?"

"It means nobody is celebrating your ability to hold up a shield while other people kill stuff for you." Thorn exploded so fast production barely caught him.

"F—" His audio cut. Pike laughed once.

"You are one to talk. The things you do are only possible because your class is broken." Meno looked at Pike's tile. Pike smiled with teeth.

"Should we celebrate your ability to jump around for hours stacking infinite damage? If you had any other class, you would not be able to do anything. You would probably be level thirty getting farmed by your oversized ego." Mina leaned in.

"Let's cool it for one second." BrineSaint and VantaRush stayed silent, both wise enough to avoid joining a burning building.

"Obviously class matters," Meno said.

"It is a VRMMO. Nobody forced you to play a bad class." Pike's smile faded.

"You should have rerolled when you saw no scaling. The balance is all over the place, and that is not my fault. I could do the same on any good class." VantaRush tilted his head.

"You have to see their point." Meno looked at him.

"Your definition of a good class is basically something with infinite damage scaling," Vanta said.

"That is not healthy. No class should kill Vervenzal in a few seconds."

"It was not a few seconds," Meno said.

"It was two hours of jumping around, then figuring out how to carry Chain there." He tapped the table once.

"People only see the end result. They don't understand the process. I did not do anything special with my character. I picked the best options presented to me. You could do the same. You guys could have gone Titan instead of doing dungeons." BrineSaint spoke before Pike could.

"No, we could not have." Meno looked at him.

"Most of our classes only started scaling properly after level thirty and gear," BrineSaint said.

"Trying to kill monsters for Titan is wasteful when you are capped at five level gain and might fail to kill the target anyway. The risk is not worth taking."

"You are clearly wrong," Meno said.

"I am sixty and you are, what, fifty-three?" BrineSaint's mouth tightened.

"Do not talk to me about what is worth it," Meno said.

"You are holding yourself back for no reason. You could do way better risking more. I saw you play. You are good." BrineSaint looked to the side, then back, but did not answer. Thorn's audio returned.

"And what did that get you? You are decked out in insane gear and stuck in a level one hundred zone because you cannot stop doing the dumbest thing possible with even the slightest consideration for anyone else." Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Meno let that one pass. The dumbest possible thing was probably still genius compared to this guy's best idea.

"I am glad the AI woke up and deleted your class," Thorn said.

"Enjoy, idiot." Sera cut in fast.

"Let's move to Naraltan, the raid boss invocation, and the emergency vote now affecting all level forty-plus players." Meno leaned back again. The drama had already done enough damage. Mina focused on Pike.

"Rimvolen, Fractera, or Daxolon?"

"Rimvolen," Pike said immediately.

"Everyone should vote Rimvolen." He spoke like a commander issuing orders to people who had not asked.

"It clearly has a raid based on what the dragon told CheatGod, and it avoids low-visibility pain like Daxolon or labyrinth-style deeper-path puzzles like Fractera. Naraltan is perfect prison for exploiters. He can enjoy dying there while we progress." Thorn snorted.

"Pike with his usual big-brain sentences." Pike looked pleased for half a second, until Thorn continued.

"All zones should have raids. Fractera is clearly superior. Rimvolen is far too slow with snowstorms. Naraltan is ruined by that level one-twenty zone calamity that is going to summon Vervenzal any time now. It is not worth crap." Meno watched them hate each other almost as much as they disliked him. VantaRush looked more adjusted than the others, and BrineSaint kept glancing off-screen, probably toward his wife, manager, or whoever had the job of keeping him from saying what he really thought.

Thorn and Pike, meanwhile, seemed one sentence away from trying to duel through the call. Mina's smile thinned.

"Let's remember this is a panel, not a guild war." BrineSaint spoke again.

"The raid boss invocation ability should not exist in its current form. I do not mind summoning the boss, but turning off parties and enabling free-for-all PvP only turns the zone into a griefing pit." Meno kept quiet because arguing with that would make him sound like Thorn.

"Contribution becomes too vulnerable to chance," BrineSaint said.

"No matter how good you are, if people zerg you, nothing you do matters. Streamers are especially vulnerable." He paused.

"I do not personally care which zone unlocks. I voted Daxolon because it might favor smaller party sizes." Pike leaned toward his mic.

"Oh, poor streamers. What will happen to your two million-plus viewership if you get farmed? Obviously all content should accommodate streamers." BrineSaint looked to the side again, then ignored him. Pike smiled wider.

"Why do you keep looking away? Can you say anything without permission? Sponsors won't like that, would they? Sad, sad, sad." Thorn cut in.

"You are also a streamer. Stop pretending to be better than us, you fake piece of—" The feed bleeped him. Thorn kept going anyway.

"That invocation is a joke. Grave Crown banner is also a joke. We just want to progress without constantly getting —with by clowns." VantaRush raised one hand slightly.

"Streamsniping is a real issue, but I think a once-a-week ability is fine for shaking up the world." He looked toward Meno's tile.

"What happened with the raid boss in Naraltan is different. That was clearly unintended or unfinished zone behavior. The AI should probably delete that Zone Calamity." Meno sat up.

"As for the vote," Vanta continued, "I chose Fractera. The Riftkings setup hinted at maybe branching into other locations once players get deep enough."

"Definitely should not delete the calamity," Meno said. Everyone looked at him.

"Did you see how cool that boss was? It had wings. It one-shot me so fast I couldn't react. That thing definitely drops Mythic items or better." Pike stared at him.

"If you somehow kill that thing at sixty, I am personally deleting Veyrath."

"Huge loss," Meno said.

"No point wasting time on something so unserious," Pike said.

"A lot of other people feel the same. We are not here to compete with cheaters." Thorn chuckled.

"You speak the right words, but complaining about getting clowned on is a bit much. You must be used to it by now. That is basically your personal brand." Pike's audio cut into a long beep.

"What are you here for?" Meno leaned closer to his mic.

"Paid guild members farming gold and feeding you items? Much better, right? Go ahead and delete. Everyone will recover." Pike's face hardened.

"At this point, you are making a caricature of yourself. MMOs are about guilds." Meno waited for Pike to enlighten everyone with his wisdom.

"I checked your old records," Pike said.

"Old VODs with zero views. You never accomplished anything in any of them. You have no idea what you are talking about. Recent success got to your head, but it is over now. Cheater with a broken class." Meno opened his mouth, and his audio cut. Mina spoke over him.

"We're going to redirect. Current plans going forward. Will any of you venture to Naraltan, or is the focus staying on Templefall Hollow and the pending new continent?" Meno looked at his muted icon. VantaRush answered first.

"HypeForge is doing the dungeon in Templefall Hollow. It is the best content so far. Every time you enter, it is basically a different dungeon." He relaxed into the topic easily.

"The end boss has a high chance to drop an Epic III piece even after the first run of the day, around ten percent from our sample. Since it is always a different boss, it is a strong way to gear everyone. No plans for Naraltan."

"It is a good dungeon," BrineSaint said, nodding.

"But the XP is not good enough for full clears if pure leveling is the goal. We usually fish for strong first-boss layouts, clear, then reset." He looked at the camera.

"Naraltan is impossible and poor XP based on what we know. Each NPC seems like a roaming dungeon boss." Meno's mic came back.

"There are things in the water," he said.

"The octopus that attacked me. If you have Bloodwake, you could probably swim deeper into the sea for XP." Thorn rolled his eyes.

"Great idea. You only needed to summon a raid boss to kill one." Meno smiled without feeling it.

"Naraltan should not even be open yet," Thorn said.

"I do not get why the AI accommodates this guy's nonsense. Attacking the dragon, seriously? Then it flies him there because he has the most broken passives in Veyrath and can almost fly. I have never seen such—" Another bleep swallowed the rest.

"No," Thorn said after the cut.

"We do Templefall into clearing the raid properly. There better be a world-first achievement for the proper clear." Pike laughed.

"Why are you acting like you are getting it? Highbanner will clear Vervenzal as intended, first." Thorn started laughing so loudly his audio clipped before production muted him.

"Yes, that is hilarious," Pike said.

"Go beg your sister to help you since half your guild is stuck doing their homework—" A long censor tone swallowed the rest while Thorn stayed muted.

"We are not doing family insults," Sera said.

"BrineSaint, are you planning to attempt Lost Temple?"

"It depends," BrineSaint said.

"We need to see how difficult the full intended clear is once one of the guilds finishes it. If the raid is efficient and the new zone drops weaker gear, I can get enough people together for it."

"There is no way the new zone drops anything close to Legendary III," Meno said. BrineSaint looked to the side, then back toward his camera.

"Templefall Hollow already drops Epic III," Meno said.

"I would expect Legendary I equivalent at most. The rarity brackets are confusing, though." He remembered something.

"Did you get the Mythic amulet for Karma? Why did you need it?"

"Yes," BrineSaint said with one nod.

"I have the amulet you designed." That still felt strange.

"The purpose is obvious," BrineSaint said.

"Karma level reduces gold cost of gear in Red Bastion and unlocks higher rarity. The vendor sells legendary items, but Legendary I requires one hundred thousand Karma and still costs a lot of gold."

"Faction balance is unfortunate there," VantaRush said.

"For top-level players, Red Bastion in Northspire is very good." He glanced aside, maybe at notes.

"I checked Grave Crown gear too, since it uses Karma without gold cost, but most of it is utility and PvP-focused rather than raw damage."

"Rarity tier on weapons matters most," Meno said.

"I am sure Grave Crown has good stuff at higher levels." Thorn made a sound, and Meno ignored him.

"I prefer damage mods too, but some utility mods are amazing in PvE. Sleepless Grip is one of my best items because it allows things that would otherwise be impossible."

"Leave it to you to defend your PvP vendor with a PvE drop example," Thorn said.

"Genius." Meno gave him the amount of attention the comment deserved, which was almost none.

"Also, BrineSaint with his pickup group can dream about clearing this raid," Thorn said.

"Half the people will die to the gold and ivory tile nonsense. It is much harder than PBG makes it look."

"I am confused," Pike said, smiling.

"Are you complimenting him or grieving your deficient skill level?" Thorn's eyes narrowed.

"I saw the clip where you stepped on the gold tile while fighting trash and caused a wipe," Pike said. Thorn's response became pure censor tone.

"Everyone," Mina said, sitting straighter.

"We are going to closing thoughts." Sera nodded gratefully.

"Thirty seconds each. Pike, start us off."

"My closing thought is that PBG is all class," Pike said, looking into his camera like he was addressing troops.

"His skill is high, but overrated. Most of his success comes from cheating and broken interactions. Highbanner will clear Vervenzal first while he gets farmed in Naraltan." His smile sharpened.

"I hope you enjoy your class evolution. Follow my stream for real organized content. We are a strong unit. Nothing will stop us."

"Nothing except maybe Crownfall and Kestrel," Meno said.

"I believe he has already stopped you once." Pike's audio cut again. Thorn smiled.

"True, true. Pike is always talk, no follow-up. Forever second place." Pike's smile thinned, but production had already saved him from himself once.

"Stormhold has been completely overhauled for Veyrath," Thorn said.

"Our players are fast and agile with less old MMO baggage. They may take longer to learn efficient guild structure, but once they get there, we will dominate." He looked at the camera.

"And if I want to play with my sister, I will do so. There is nothing wrong with it." VantaRush came in like someone carrying water to a house fire.

"This hostility is unproductive. I also believe Swing Master was too strong and contributed to many current problems, but that issue seems partly solved now." Meno did not like that phrase. Solved.

"As for HypeForge," VantaRush said, "we are independent units within the same guild. We focus on entertaining, placing high, and keeping our drama mostly internal. Tune in if you want a more relaxed atmosphere without the usual clown show."

"I will keep doing what is efficient," BrineSaint said.

"I cannot control class balance or stop anyone from breaking Veyrath through bugs, so I focus on what I can do." His voice stayed even.

"Efficiency. Highest success chance. If you want to see how to level fast in ways you can do with friends, tune in." Meno sat with that while the same words kept circling the panel: broken class, exploits, bugs, cheater, too strong. Jonas had been right in ways Meno did not enjoy.

"PrayerBeadGod," Sera said, turning to him.

"Closing thought?" Meno had not prepared one, which was probably best.

"No clue what to do, to be honest." The panel quieted slightly.

"I don't need to tell anyone to tune in. When you see the next global notification, you know which stream to open." Thorn's harsh laugh broke into a censor tone around several obvious words.

"—your global notifications, you— and kiss my ass."

"Very mature," Pike said, smiling.

"Good branding there, Thorn. I am sure sponsors love you."

"That's strange," Thorn said.

"Why do we have more sponsors than you?"

"Obviously because half your sponsorship money is from your sister's husband and his buddies." Thorn's entire tile became moving anger and muted profanity until Sera raised her voice with professional force.

"That is all the time we have for tonight. Thank you to our panelists." Mina smiled like her soul had left earlier and her body was finishing the shift.

"The emergency vote remains open. We will continue tracking Veyrath's world-state progression, the Lost Temple race, and the fallout from Naraltan. For The Meta Desk, I'm Mina Calde."

"And I'm Sera Voss. Stay sharp." The call ended, the screen went dark, and Meno sat in his kitchen for a few seconds. The panel had gone about as well as expected, which meant badly, loudly, and with several people making him want to prove them wrong in the most destructive way available. The old familiar tilt settled in, the kind that used to send him into ladder queues he had no business playing, and by the time he stood and looked toward the X7, logging back into Veyrath felt less like a choice than a pull.

It was time to make the hard decision.