Aspect Realms

***Aspect Realms*** is a video game in *Magical Girl Policy*. It is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for computers that is played by several characters in the series. Peaking at 10 million active players, it is the most played game of its kind in the world. It is the series's equivalent to *World of Warcraft*.

## Description

*Aspect Realms* takes place in a fantasy setting, with much of its story revolving around the war between two factions: the Pact and the Accord. Players choose one of these two sides upon creating an avatar, which restricts which quests may be accepted and groups joined. The avatar's character class, elemental affinity, and allegiance determine which races it may be, which in turn sets its race-exclusive ability, colloquially known as a "racial", as well as its starting position in the game world.

The gameplay follows several conventions typical of an MMORPG: through actions such as battling monsters and completing quests for NPCs, player characters gain experience points, currency, and items. Players are encouraged to interact with each other in various activities, such as Player-versus-Enemy (PvE) dungeon raids, an item marketplace, roleplaying sessions, and a number of Player-versus-Player (PvP) competitions. Communication is offered via a text chat, online forums, and a voice chat service called GuildTalk. Players may form invite-only groups known as guilds, which allows for organized play among fellow members.

## History

### Background

*Aspect Realms*'s release date is not given, but the game was considered relatively new two years before the start of the series. During this time, players of opposite allegiance could engage each other in combat anywhere in the game world instead of specified PvP zones. Those who defeated a large number of a players in this manner without dying themselves were awarded an honorary title: Bloodhawk for Pact players and Warseeker for Accord ones. Robert began playing the game during his sophomore year of high school as a Deviling Windwhisper called Bluster, joined the Mayhem Templar guild, and earned the Bloodhawk title. The game becomes his favorite pastime, and he credits the game as well as his guildmates, such as his close friend Tantrall, for helping him cope with his high school struggles.

At some unspecified point in the past, SFEERS member SaltStorm formed a guild for fellow club members called the Knights of the Spherical Table.

### Week 1

Robert's encounter with Polygal and the Spirit Guard as well as the subsequent questioning by police causes him to miss his guild's PvP session, leading to the team's defeat. After returning to the game, he excuses his absence by claiming he was witness to a robbery, then plays some PvP himself.

The next evening, after his calls with his Uncle Taylor and Ms. Kuna, Robert decides to put off his homework for now and play PvP with his guildmates.

The day after, Robert plays PvP during he, Cory, and Eli's conversation about how their days went. One of his opponents is NightKnight, who gets mad at Bluster's stealth tactics.

Robert's transformation into Spirit Guard Serenity to battle Day LaMode has left him with a female body, and the renamed Robynne finds her usual escape of *Aspect Realms* in jeopardy: she can't speak with her guildmates since she has no good explanation as to why a girl is on Bluster's mic, and she's afraid of changing her screen name to pose as a new member due to a past incident with ColderTurkey, who had left the guild due to not finding it a welcoming environment for girls.

### Weeks 2-4

While checking out the SFEERS booth during Club Week, Eli finds out from ergoAwesome that the club has an *Aspect Realms* group. He later recommends it to Robynne, who is eager to play with people that won't associate her character with Robert.

The next day, Robynne resigns from the Mayhem Templar, claiming it's due to college workload, then clears out her friends list so she won't be spotted moving to a new server. Robynne visits the SFEERS booth and signs up for the club under her new handle of Waveform, letting Knights of the Spherical Table officer GalleyGirl know about her intent to join the guild, though she'll need to transfer her character to the Stoneraven server and alter it into an Accord race in order to do so.

The following night, Robynne muses over what race to change her avatar into, and with Noriko's help decides on a Seraphim, with the stealthy character now a water-based Rippleblade instead of a wind-based Windwhisper. She pings GalleyGirl, who lets her on to the Knights. The group plays late into the night, with Waveform finding herself a popular addition to the guild and de facto PvP leader in place of NightKnight, who is jealous of his usual position getting taken from him.

While the other Spirit Guard work out their misunderstandings over the situation with Cammy, Robynne spends some time checking out the game's Gargoyle city of Storm's Bastion.

After the SFEERS opening social, Robynne convinces Angela to borrow her old computer to play *Aspect Realms* with the Knights of the Spherical Table so she can make friends away from Cammy's watch. Angela receives the computer the next day, and finds herself enthralled with the game.

Angela joins SFEERS and the Knights as Convictiön. Her newness to gaming is refreshing to her guildmates, who take to showing her the ropes. When Robynne guides Angela through the game, she uses a healer character called Isocruciatic, and Mallory often chats with the two during this.

NightKnight starts making excuses to skip PvP sessions, as his pride has been shot at the more skilled Waveform taking his typical spot of PvP head.

### Week 5

After the battle with Cell-celia, Angela suggests Robynne play *Aspect Realms* with her to unwind. Robynne's fatigue from the battle and her uncle's upcoming arrival is apparent, so she heads to bed at Angela and Mallory's suggestion, while Angela continues by herself for a while.

## Notable players

 Robert Dreese/Robynne Darling | * Bluster (Deviling Windwhisper)
* Waveförm (Seraphim Rippleblade)
 Tantrall | Tantrall (unspecified Pact healer)

There are also two notable *Aspect Realms* guilds: the Mayhem Templar and the Knights of the Spherical Table.