Startgame (no ontology)
From Mazeworld
The Startgame is the name given to the beginning of a contestant's journey in Mazeworld. The Startgame details the story on how they arrived in Mazeworld, their first talk with the Game Master via loudspeaker, and the reception of their starting equipment, before heading through the first door and start wandering in the mazes.
In the case of a contestant that finished Mazeworld and chose to do another run, the story will be skipped, going straight to the questions.
The story
This is narrated to the contestant himself/herself - in this case, the occurrences of the word you will refer to the contestant, not you as a player.
You are dead. Your life was probably complex and full of events of various kinds, but one thing is sure, you don't remember well what happened. As you watch your body and float upwards, you believe you will make it to the Other world. However, instead of going ahead to the next part of your afterlife, your soul was intercepted…
After what seemed like a long dream, you wake up, in a new body similar from the one you had before you died - you seem to be feeling perfectly fine: no wounds, no illnesses, this new body feels spotless and perfect. Except that where you are isn't Hell, nor Heaven, and this isn't even a new life. You feel that you simply woke up from a bad dream. In short… You feel the same as ever.
You stand up and notice that you are as naked as in the first day. Looking around you, you notice you're in a square room, with bland, gray walls made of what looks like concrete. No windows, and some kind of door ahead of you. Above you, white, fluorescent light. And hanging from the ceiling, in the corner, some sort of loudspeaker.
The loudspeaker starts coughing noise, apparently just being turned on. A male voice starts speaking out of it. "Aha! Our newcomer just woke up. Perfect, perfect."
You wonder who that is and what you're doing here.
"Hello, new contestant. Welcome to this place, which we call Mazeworld! You must be wondering why you are here, right? Well, I will explain. Your soul was judged worthy enough to be saved from your past life, and we are essentially giving you a chance for reincarnation. However, this is not going to be simple. Your objective is to find a way out of the mazes, preferably in a good enough shape as the body you now have, must be taken care of. For you will leave Mazeworld in this body, dead or alive.
The voice continues, while you take the time to sink in what he says. "Oh, but where are my manners? You may call me the Game Master, or GM if you wish, it's shorter. We are three GMs, monitoring people like you throughout their journey in the mazes. To be able to leave this place, you must retrieve four items, the Cardinal Amulets. They are scattered in the Mazes and can only be obtained through skill, patience, endurance, luck, or all of those at once.
Once again don't forget this body you have now, will be the one you end up with at the end of this journey, dead or alive."
"But before we throw you in the mazes, you will have to answer to our patented Contestant Personality Test. At the end of those questions, you will receive your starting equipment and insight on yourself and your personality."
The questions
Since March 23th, 2012 with the introduction of revision 2 to Mazeworld 2.0, a brand new set of starting questions has been designed. The questions asked to the contestant are now under the guise of the Contestant Personality Test (CPT) which claims to allow them to discover "the true YOU and everything you ever wanted to know about YOURSELF".
Question 1: Which one of those styles do you like the most?
- A) The action hero
- B) The laidback sniper
- C) The rogue cop
- D) The mercenary
- E) The survivalist
- F) The magnificent bastard
- G) The iron fist authority figure
- H) The free-spirited avenger
- I) The psycho
Question 2: If you could change your lifestyle and stick forever to it, what would you pick?
- A) Living in a ranch in Texas, with a wife/husband, a dog, a pick-up truck with the gun rack, and a barbecue every weekend
- B) Moving to the jungles in Africa and becoming the friend of gorillas and chimpanzees
- C) Getting a flamboyant house near a French beach and enjoy the beach view every day of the year
- D) Become a Greenpeace member and endlessly fight for nature's sake (even though she asked you for nothin* G)
- E) Become the owner of your very own brand of beer, and have it known as the "most hardcore beer" in the world
- F) Move to Japan and become the owner of a hot springs bath
Question 3: The fate of a popular teen idol derided by critics for terrible singing, is in your hands. You...
- A) Think he should be respected as a role model for the future generations
- B) Hang him
- C) Hang and shoot him
- D) Subject him to waterboarding
- E) Force him to wear nothing but a collar, walk on all fours and bark like a dog while following you around
Question 4: You have received 500 dollars to spend in any store of your area. You spend it on…
- A) Groceries for the next two months
- B) Spend it on designer clothes and finally look wear as rich and secure as you always wished to be
- C) That latest-generation workout machine to spend two-thirds of your time training on
- D) Wal-Mart ammunition and an extra rifle for plinking in your backyard
- E) That small store with the hard rock music and the very cool selection of biker accessories
- F) The perfect cosplay outfit of your favorite anime character
- G) Food, supplies, shotgun ammunition, a guide on how to survive the zombie apocalypse, and anxiolytics to overcome paranoia
Question 5: If you could choose only song genre to listen to for those long trips on the highway, it would be...
- A) Classic and/or driving rock, or something equivalent you'd listen on the go, so every highway is Route 66 and every meal is a T-Bone steak
- B) Upbeat, adrenaline-pumping electro house music, because every night is "Outrun cops" night
- C) Fast-paced 1980's hard rock, because every road is like your own personal race track
- D) Old-school 1990's hip-hop, because only true street rats - such as you - know how to keep it real
- E) Classical music, particularly dramatic pieces (Overture 1818, the Soviet national anthem), because these are the only true sounds for you
- F) Marijuana reggae and other kinds of feel-good music, because you don't have to put up with road rage
- G) Chicago house music or some other form of underground club music, because you cultivate an underground attitude
- H) Something nobody has heard of, because you are a hipster
Question 6: When you are faced with a problem or an issue in your day-to-day life, what words describe best the way you deal with it?
- A) Honorably, driven by a code of conduct
- B) Like a boss, awesomely, with style
- C) Righteously, with gallantry
- D) Soldierly, patriotically
- E) Dutifully, selflessly, as a second-nature
- F) Affectionately, compassionately
Question 7: You are stranded on an island, and you can have only one of the following. You pick…
- A) Your loved one
- B) A satellite phone
- C) A survival knife
- D) A guide about exotic plants
- E) A solar-powered radio with a selection of reggae music
- F) Enough fuel to transform the island into a gigantic bonfire
Question 8: We are in the 17th century, and you're well-known among pirates and corsairs for…
- A) Your bone-chilling smile of gold and silver
- B) Your large hands covered in bracelets (which are very good at chokin* G)
- C) Your two flintlock pistols, symbol of a very early lineage of cowboys and dual-wielding psychos
- D) Your galleon called "The Island Crusher"
- E) Your enormous cannon you nicknamed "Mama"
- F) Your immense wealth and fleet of successful merchant ships
Question 9: Which of those vehicles reflect best your tastes?
- A) The expensive, high-performance sports car
- B) The ultra comfortable luxury sedan
- C) The family-oriented minivan with 7 seats
- D) The ultra-powerful, ultra-maniable sports bike
- E) The riced-up import car with a paintjob customized according to your tastes
- F) The ambulance (or another form of rescue vehicl* E)
- G) The limousine with personal chauffeur
Question 10: It's your birthday and you received a mystery gift. You open it and find...
- A) An unexpected but actually very useful and practical item which you end up using every day
- B) Something that happens to be an item you've always wanted - and you suspect the senders knew exactly what you wanted
- C) A basket full of food and comfortable clothes of your size
- D) Appropriate clothes for a cosplay or a disguise of your favorite fictional character
- E) A wad of cash (or equivalent currency)
- F) The war relics of that ancestor in your family who fought during a war generations ago
Question 11: Friends come ringing at your door at 10 PM, they want you to join them at a party, but you had other plans. You finally decide to…
- A) Go to this party; might be some hot chicks/boys to check out
- B) Go to this party and buy everyone drinks; to be the king/queen of the night!
- C) Tell them to get lost; you never go to parties anyway
- D) Don't answer and lock yourself up at home; the computer is your friend
- E) Tell them you'll join them later yourself, then go to the party with a shotgun; That'll teach them to respect YOUR plans
- F) Greet your friends with your shotgun and threaten to shoot them if they don't leave; It could be a trap from the CIA!
Question 12: Which mission set do you want to attempt?
- A) Normal missions. Suited to beginners discovering the game.
- B) Alternate missions. Suited to more seasoned players seeking more difficulty.
- C) Contract missions. Suited to players enjoying freer and less-linear missions.
Aftermath
Once the contestant has finished the questions, he/she will receive a RM22SF LBE and all of the items corresponding to the answers chosen. Once this is done, the contestant is invited to pass one of the doors and enter the first room of his/her journey in Mazeworld. Passing the first door is the official point at which the Startgame ends.
