Digital Damsel - Chapter 3 Poll

SPOILERS! If you haven’t read Chapter 3 yet, you should do so before reading further.

We stand at a major fork in the road in terms of story direction for Digital Damsel, and which path the plot takes will be left up to you, my dear patrons! 

The timely intervention of an angry project manager spared Diane whatever cruel fate awaited her at the hands of that sadistic developer. As she surmised, he really had no intention of fulfilling his offer to preserve her identity when he installed her personality into an NPC. He gets his rocks off by tormenting the poor, disembodied souls that have the misfortune of finding themselves at his mercy, alternating between threats and false promises to break them to his will. Or at least that is what he used to do to get his rocks off; it seems he has joined the ranks of the perpetually unemployed, living on basic income provided by the government!

The virtual development environment (VDE) was left running when the developer’s boss booted him from the system, leaving Diane alone and unsupervised with the developer’s coding interface open. She has an opportunity to save herself from digital oblivion by installing her memories into one of the NPCs in the developer’s project queue; since the firewall the developer created is still in place, the individual memories that make her who she is will be preserved, at least in theory. There are only three NPCs in the queue, and Diane must pick one without really knowing anything about the game in which they are featured, a popular MMVRPG called Fantasie Unchained.

However, that does not mean that you, my dear patrons, must make your decision in complete ignorance! The three NPCs in the developer’s project queue are quite distinct; one is a haughty princess, one is a lowly tavern wench, and one is a rogue of dubious reputation. They are part of a game expansion called “The Jewel of the West,” which adds several new map areas and major quest lines to the game world. Once Diane has committed herself to one of these NPCs, she will actually be in digital limbo until the expansion goes live next month, but she has no way of knowing that! For her (and for you, patrons), the transition will seem to be instantaneous.

These three NPCs fulfil different roles within the game:

The princess is a Quest Resource, and is integral to a new player quest called “The Runaway Bride;” choosing that NPC would throw Diane into a complex storyline designed for a group of players to resolve. 

The wench is an Interactive Bystander; as this NPC, Diane would literally be serving drinks and food to players, as well as providing them with gossip and an occasional roll in the hay if they are so inclined. 

The rogue is a Recruitable Companion, a type of follower made available for players who prefer to play solo rather than in groups; as a companion, the rogue has a personal quest that the player can pursue to win her favor.

I have attached a preview image showing what each of the three NPCs looks like, as well as a close-up view of the screen Diane is looking at in the last image

Into which NPC will Diane install her memories? The choice is up to you, patrons! Please vote below for the option you prefer.