"...I´m on a futuristic crisp white roof under an enormous and amazing blue sky. A woman dressed in casual worker clothing assigns me a quest while talking to me. Her uniform is futuristic and pristine but she still looks like a worker. She had dark skin and dreadlocks and was very happy. I had a dragon in my party. He was named Bramble and was a very metallic and shiny gold color. After this I enter a flat beautiful beach and across our island is another one, filled with dinosaurs. There are about 100, a plethora of colors and sizes. A scene plays when a carnotaurusesque dinosaur runs across to our section of the ocean and catches a fish that was in mid-leap close to me. They are rivals. I have a user interface but its never acknowledged whether it was a simulation or another world."

NEO ROAR ONLINE

Among the several virtual reality MMOs that have sprouted from the minds of the most technologically advanced game development studios its hard not to note NRO´s presence. Amidst the handful of fantasy and science fiction games, it´s a wild card that somehow manages to be both and neither depending on which incompetent and pissed off games journalist you´re speaking to. The fans are well aware of their existence as the odd one out, and maybe that´s why the community is considered to be one of the friendliest among virtual reality junkies.

NEO ROAR ONLINE, the game where you control and command dinosaurs ranging from historically accurate to completely fantastical. The game with an optimistic and bright world where science and and fully immersive dinosaur cockfighting can not only cross paths but meld perfectly. You no doubt have a strong reason to have devoted yourself to this title over whatever knight and space cadet adventures are being shoved down your throat by the press. And if not, well, you better. Because you´re stuck.

No one, or at least no one in your new world is aware of the reasons behind being unable to log out. The blame has been aimed at anything and everyone from the creators of the technology to the studio behind the game to even the game´s most prominent factions. Some of the NPCs have even developed a bit of a sentience to them, your beasts included. You are among the newest and last wave of players and find yourself without a faction or viable means of protection against the array of threats surrounding you. The community, as you´ve seen on internet forums and reddit posts, is incredibly mellow. But will the status quo remain now that the opportunity for escape has been shut off? 

The technology

The virtual reality technology used to play NEO ROAR ONLINE is comparatively rudimentary compared to the kind shown in movies and television shows. It´s a set of gloves and a contraption for your head paired with a flat open space. Games developed using the gear, or 6 Eyes as its officially called, tend to be restricted to appearing in arcades, hobby stores and other public areas due to their costs. A hefty digital purchase is required in order to obtain an ID for a game and then access it from any 6 Eyes available. The system isn´t perfect, but it allows consumers to avoid spending thousands and developers to be able to push the limits on graphics and the like without being bogged down with domestic downgrades. 

The world

The world of NEO ROAR ONLINE is one where humanity has successfully colonized two other planets and has left Earth as a playground for the wealthy to engage in limitless experimentation. While the technology involved may seem advanced to us, to the average citizen of its universe its nothing but the basics. Architecture and garments have a striking and crisp appearance distinguishable by the use of bright whites and modern aesthetics. The more gaming inclined have labeled it "futuristic noblebright" in looks. This does not necessarily apply to the rest of the world however. There are plenty of dangerous and cruel experiments taking place on the same planet, hidden under lush and man made jungles. You could definitely live comfortably on a sandy colored cabin by a pristine beach, but your yearning for the life of a dinosaur wrangler is what dragged you into this mess in the first place.