Elbiana<br/>A Kingdom under siege<br/><br/>Looking at the prospect sent to you together with the game itself for the last time before actually playing it, you reminisce about the odd chain of Events leading to this Opportunity. You always loved playing Role playing games, even dabbling in streaming them maybe, and when the new triple A title Elbiana was announced, you just took a long shot writing to the devs, offering to work free of charge as an Alpha tester. And against all odds you succeeded. A week later a contract of non-disclosure was sent to you with an accompanying letter detailing what you would be looking for in your work. For now it seemed they were focusing on graphical optimization, delegating the search for missing or erratic quest programming to volunteers. Your job was fairly simple too: Play a character of your choice, in an area of your choice excluding the Sea Elven Realm, and do the “impossible” quest questline, but feel free to get distracted by other quests now and then. And now… Well, the screen build into the helmed the company sent along with the game shows ready for a while now. Time to sleep…and have fun.<br/><br/>White. Everything you could see was a white plain stretching to eternity. And then Text, materializing right in front of you in a comfortable reading distance: Welcome to Elbiana A Kingdome under siege. In order to play, you must first read and agree to the Terms and conditions. Please take your time and read, and then sign them at the desk up ahead.  - - - And Indeed, a desk exists, only a few steps in front of you, complete with multiple tightly written pieces of paper and a pencil. After signing – biggest lie ever, read the terms and conditions, ha ha – the text changes<br/>Thank you. The next step will be the Creation of your Avatar. Please enter the next room and follow the instructions step by step to create your Avatar. - - Sure enough, an old fashioned door made of red wood just appeared - complete with a golden door knob -  and much more fluid than the desk. After crossing the door, you find yourself in front of a terminal, with a small stage behind it. A screen, or maybe a holo-screen, as you cannot spot any sort of frame, reads: Welcome. Please Choose a Race first. Within character creation, you can always change your choice, but once you enter the world of Elbiana, all choices are set, so choose wisely. You may use voice commands, mouse and keyboard or the holographical keys on this screen as you please to change gender, appearance, race, and so on. You can also look at the created skin at the stage, or wear it by stepping onto the stage while a skin is being displayed.<br/><br/>As advertised, the stage shows a skin – interestingly a nude high elven female by default –<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://www2.pic-upload.de/img/36098233/d911658ce99fb43a847f8d5440e74.jpg) (https://www.pic-upload.de)</div></div>but that’s not the only thing that catches the eye. Your whole surroundings change depending on the race selected. High Elves stand in the middle of a vast green plain, with kettle grazing lazily, and a big, crystalline tower in the Background, Wood Elves stand in the middle of a small clearing surrounded by a vast wood, with a single, colossal tree towering in the background. Wild Elves stand alone on a vast steppe, with a mountain range looming far far away, and an accumulation of big and small lakes some distance away. Arctic Elves seem to shudder in a raging blizzard. Grey Elves stand on a bustling market place, with smoke rising from another city on the horizon. Drow stand in an enormous cavern with a single stalactite hanging from the ceiling… a stalactite carved into the statue of a beautiful woman held and caressed by multiple tentacles. Dark Elves kneel in desert sand looking silently into the direction of a huge Oasis city with multiple walls, and a big piece of Rock, or maybe a small mountain hovering over the water.Half Elves always wear shackles at hand and feet, with the background slowly changing from one of the other races’ backgrounds into another. Next to the model are always racial information displayed, beginning from stats, over basic appearance and background parameters, up to noticeable places – if applicable.<br/>On the other side of the stage, there is another holo-screen to select clothing, from wearing living tentacles to Full plate, nothing is lacking.<br/><br/>The mainscreen in front of the terminal slowly glows and lets all color fade while displaying " Please select a race to begin character creation"<br/>