FLOW Shuts Down- Virtual Divers Mourn Defunct MMORPG

  In heartbreaking news that ripples across the internet, a veritable classic has finally been put to rest.

  FLOW (Fantasy Life Online World) is remembered as being one of the very first Virtual Dive games which incorporated full cerebral reality immersion, and had been the very first MMORPG at that. Its player base was said to be the entire population of a small country at one point, with daily logins accounting for the vast majority of Virtual Drive traffic in those pioneering days. It's hard not to see why when the list of gameplay features includes a variety of engaging activities such as traveling, crafting, and adventuring in a fully simulated fantasy world named Shin.

  The game is perhaps best fondly memorialized by the Harbinger expansion, in which the world's in-game story reaches its ultimate climax and resulted in a series of legendary raid bosses- said to require a vast majority of the playerbase to cooperate for success. Yet the first to defeat them was not by them, as intended by the developers, but by a single small guild known as Lighthouse. Totaling no more than ten active players, they were able to achieve the first world clear of these enemies meant for a far greater majority. A full video transcription of their fight was made public following accusations of cheating, in which they proved it was not impossible.

  Just very difficult.

  The video went viral and Lighthouse were officially recognized by the developers as the 'Ten Lights of Shin' within their lore. Player numbers rocketed in the wake of this and for the rest of the expansion period, the greatest in the game's history. However, such sales were unfortunately not enough to save their parent company from deciding to sell the studio off to other companies, whom have been alleged as 'exploitative' in the industry.

  Following this expansion, many more were released but of increasingly lower quality and standards. Cash shop items were given higher prioritization, some of which angered the existing playerbase with blatant pay to win mechanics. Slowly, the daily population trickled and bled out as the game and her servers were passed around different companies with diminishing interest. It is their very latest one now who have announced a full shutdown, citing server maintenance costs exceeding revenue.

  We have previously reported that multiple player-led communities have extended offers to maintain these servers themselves, yet apparently these efforts have come to naught. The servers were officially sunset and discontinued, though not without a final hurrah. On its very last day, FLOW saw a brief uptick as old players returned to bid a final farewell to the game they once loved. Some have even reportedly spotted members of Lighthouse briefly logging on, perhaps to reminisce of better days.

  It is currently unknown if the world of Shin will ever return in a sequel or spin-off. Many believe it unlikely, without a full reboot and overhaul, of which few have faith in now that the original development studio has since disbanded. We here will fondly remember FLOW as the progenitor for modern Virtual Drive MMOs, and hold it in our hearts along with the legend of the Ten Lights…

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  Being somebody who spent an unhealthily amount of time in Virtual Dives, I was used to some pretty rough awakenings.

  Sometimes it was my family, telling me to eat real food. Sometimes it was my alarm, reminding me to work real jobs. A few times, embarrassingly, it was my rather outdated gear crashing because I never upgraded even when better models coming out as cerebral reality improved.

  I could never, not when it had been something that was sent to me as one of the Ten Lights as thanks for playing FLOW.

  Ah, how nostalgic. But I was getting off-track now as I blearily blinked and took things in from the darkened room I'd woke in.

  It looked like a workshop. If I didn't know better, it was the workshop in my player home in FLOW. But it couldn't be, because the servers had shut down. I would know, I was there with the others and gave a final toast when the server countdown ended. Then I exited, climbed into bed, then fell asleep.

  So why did I wake up...here? I frowned when I moved and felt instead of heavy armor, something far less weighty. Had I swapped from my normal vanguard attire? Maybe I got bored and wanted to play as a wizard for a bit? I did have a few alternative builds I sometimes indulged in.

  But again, this wasn't possible. FLOW was gone. I shouldn't be here.

  My hand reached up and attempted to summon the dive menu. Nothing. I was just poking at empty air. Okay, this was getting weirder, and weirder. "What's going on- ah!"

  My arms shot up and felt for my throat. It felt weird. It was weird, because that wasn't my character voice at all. When I made him, I'd purposefully chose one of the deepest offerings to sound like a mountain.

  But this one was on the opposite spectrum. High-pitched, almost to the point of sounding like a girl's. It sounded achingly familiar, like I should recognize it. I grimaced and rubbed at my neck, feeling the odd texture that reminded me that wasn't the only odd thing about all this. It wasn't the soft sensation of simulated flesh, it was instead something harder, like a plastic. No, maybe ceramic?

  Now things were starting to ring some bells, because I was remembering now that my account did have some retainers. You could make and hire custom NPCs who would support your character in their efforts, handling anything tedious from gathering materials to estate management. Like everybody else in Lighthouse, I crafted mine to be very focused and tailored to specific tasks to better boost myself. And among them, I remember making a very odd one who stood out from the rest.

  There was a mirror hanging from one of the walls of the workshop. I think I'd put that there so I could see how my character looked in newly crafted gear. I slowly slipped off the chair I had and walked over, very aware of how things looked taller than they used to be. Something that added even more evidence to my suspicions, but it wasn't until I gazed upon myself in the reflective surface that I was absolutely sure now.

  I was not Mikel Shadowbane, Human Paladin of Lighthouse.

  I was...Noel. A puppet automaton retainer of Mikel, whose entire purpose was centered around crafting whatever the knight needed.

  I'd woken up in the wrong character? That was impossible, FLOW didn't let you login with anything but your main character. I'm pretty sure that if it had, there would be an overwhelming amount of smurfing from how many retainers you could hire, even before the currency to do so became a cash shop item. So I stared at myself in the mirror, completely flabbergasted.

  Then, completely because I had to, I checked down there.

  There was nothing, it was completely smooth. Dammit, Kai had been lying all the while-!

  I pushed the thought of my vixen puppeteer friend out my head and lightly slapped myself on the cheeks. That felt odd, because again instead of flesh, I was just patting magically enhanced porcelain. Lore-wise, it was reinforced for a bit more rough and tumble than average ceramic but definitely nowhere near as robust as real flesh. It did make for an excellent conduit for magic, which was why Kai had specialized as one of Lighthouses' resident mages, leaving those with more robust forms to handle the front. People like Mikel were definitely most suited for it.

  But in trade, humans weren't so good at magic, which was why I had created Noel. They could make stuff for me that I couldn't do myself. I'd even go out of my way when leveling them to fully specialize them as a craftsman, going so far as to plan their growth for optimal focus. The result was a master artisan who even my friends asked to borrow now and then to make legendary gear that their own retainers couldn't hope to match.

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  It was a point of pride, and now I was them.

  I glanced at myself in the mirror and felt a chill run down my...spine? No, it was a string now, wasn't it? That was the lore of how puppets in Shin worked. Their 'brain' was actually an intricately etched mana crystal akin to a computer, and then magic strings were run from it to connect to everything else. That was how they were explained to be one of the few true immortal species in the world, so long as their crystal core wasn't ever smashed. And also for why they had the most customization options.

  Which apparently translated for me as a rather androgynous looking youth. I guess I designed them to balance out between my male and female characters? Or maybe I was just drinking some energy drinks then and felt inspired. Either way, I probably could rock either pants or skirts and still confuse all sides.

  "Cool." My new voice echoed through the empty workshop. "Guess Kai might've been onto something. Still, what the heck is going on?"

  Of course, no magical game master popped open to explain everything. Or any tutorial popup. Oh, how I'd love one now, even as one of the Ten Lights! Or maybe formerly? Argh, this was getting perplexing!

  It was then I spied something that had been on the table next to the chair I awoke at. Some sort of journal? I walked over and picked it up, noting the thick layer of dust I disturbed in the process. The pages, they felt flaky and aged too. It had been there a while.

  I read the last entry and shivered, not because I recognized that handwriting. It was...mine? Noel's? But it was the contents that disturbed me.

  She has passed and like that, I am the last one left.

  Nobody was there when I buried her in those flowers she loved. None of her line cared to visit their progenitor, not when their blood was so thin that they may as well be strangers.

  I cannot weep because I was not made with such a function and for that, I am grateful. Else these pages would be stained otherwise. But I can still copy sorrow. I can manufacture sadness. I can feel...loneliness.

  Everybody is gone now. Master Mikel, should you ever return to this humble workshop of mine, should you find this journal, forgive me. I will be activating my shutdown procedure to save my crystal from the grief.

  I am not strong enough, not like you.

  Please awaken me should you like. Request all the services that you would like. It would be my greatest pleasure. And a welcomed respite from this eternity.

  Perhaps, in my wildest dreams, you could even take this simple puppet on your next journey...

  "The heck?" I muttered, feeling a pang of deep guilt. "What happened, Noel? What the hell did I do?"

  I needed to find more clues, more answers. The journal, it mentioned somebody was buried in the flowers. It was a little quest-brain of me to go off it, but I had a pretty good inkling on what I would find.

  If this was Noel's workshop in my player home, then there was another NPC retainer I did remember making. Somebody who spent their time in the gardens of the estate. I wanted to check, just to be sure.

  Exiting the workshop, it was surreal to see the insides of my player house in a different light. It had been a mansion, one of the finest you could grind for before FLOW had cheapened the experience with paid cruise ships. Yeah, that'd set my teeth on edge back then when in this fantasy world, you suddenly had luxury vessels emblazoned with modern shipping companies for product placement.

  Ugh. Compared to them, mine had been tasteful, least in my opinion.

  Though Kai had called it 'old-fashioned' and Sveg insisted it was 'stuffy.' Just because I did admire that sort of gothic manor architecture didn't mean I was outdated! Those two! If they weren't my friends, I'm sure we'd have been rivals.

  I'm pretty sure however that the eeriness should be from the grand arches and pointed spires, not from just how hollow and empty it all felt. There was no lights like in the workshop and everything looked abandoned. A few windows were even smashed in, trees trunks poking through from where they had fallen. All in all, a definite mess that should have been taken care of long ago by the head maid.

  Unless she was gone.

  The hinges groaned, then gave way. The front doors literally fell outwards, years of neglect giving way. I glanced unimpressed at the thick forest that ringed and intruded my estate, then moved onto where the flowerbed had once been. Once an organized and neat thing, however many years passed ensured that it was all but a chaotic and messy thing that I know its caretaker would be distraught at. But there it was, on a masterfully etched headstone slightly worn by the passage of time, confirmation for my- Noel's- sorrow.

  Cordelia, Mistress of our Hearth

  Rest in Peace?

  Cordelia had been another retainer I- Mikel- had created for my account. She was a vampire head maid, the mix creating a battle-capable yet elegant servant that I never regretted making. Even if it led to me being the butt of some jokes when we compared our player homes. They always did shut up when I pointed out that I could invite her to do some solo adventuring, and she could more than pull her weight.

  But I always remembered how her personality was written. How her eyes always lit up whenever we returned home and she could see her flowers. Though due to Cordelia's species, she had to bring a sun shade in the early days to protect her from the mortal weakness. Even when she did level up a bit and gained resistance, it had become an apparent little habit for both her and me to make sure she had one equipped.

  NPCs personalities in FLOW were special, because you could really make them quite in-depth. It had even been central to one of the expansions in the early days, a hotly requested feature that the devs tinkered with. I'd say it worked, as I ran my fingers along the grave with a melancholic weight in my chest.

  My mind then gently reminded that in Shin's lore, vampires could live for quite a long time. Not so much as puppets, artificial beings that they were, but definitely up there with the other races like elves and dwarves. Humans were on the shorter end. So, setting aside the how or whys I was here, I was pretty sure of something.

  If this was the world of Shin, then so much time had passed that Cordelia died of old age. Long ago, even. Which meant that all the other characters were also likely gone, unless they were puppets. I'm pretty sure Noel had been the only one I made.

  Which meant Mikel was likely gone.

  Huh.

  I think I'd almost take my account getting hacked or scammed over just knowing that he was...gone. But I paused, thinking on how I had said my goodbyes already. When the server had shut down, he was gone. Simple as. Same with all my account data.

  But yet here I was, in Noel's body. Apparently now them.

  I sucked in a deep breath, feeling a brief rush through my body. Right, air for me now wasn't for oxygen- it was to absorb the ambient magic in the air. I found myself caring little about how much different my new body was.

  Because the way I saw it, it was a chance for me to continue playing FLOW. Continue the story of a world I'd loved and put so much time in. Continue the legend of Lighthouse, like what we promised when we went our separate ways as we fell out of favor with the dying game and moved on.

  I looked at my ruined manor and couldn't help be feel excited. "New game plus? New life plus?" I wondered aloud before grinning, feeling my fingers. "Noel, if you can hear me- don't worry. Your master's back, and he'll take you on his next adventure. After doing some housekeeping, though."