Fiesta Online Correspondent: In-Game Weddings
MMORPG.com Fiesta Online Correspondent THomas Watson writes this feature looking at the ability to get married in-game in Outspark's F2P title.
There are many MMORPGs out there that have attempted to bring out features to the online gaming community that puts reality into a very high priority. These features have no doubt brought online players much closer together. Players who live far away from each other in real life come to meet in the game and learn about each other. Players who never knew each other become best friends. In Fiesta Online, players aim to be the best on the game servers they play on. To be the best means to be able to overcome the most treacherous of monsters and to have the best stats of all players. Oftentimes, to achieve this, one must have a loyal partner to adventure alongside with. It can be a guild mate, a best friend, a staff member, etc. It comes down to some point along the journey that one might ask themselves how they feel about their partner. Do they want to be next to their partner through the rest of their adventure? Not many online games allow its players to marry each other, allowing them to be loving partners for the rest of their gaming experience. One person might ask "will there ever be a chance that I can be able to marry this person in game?" Not many MMORPGs can answer this question, however Outspark's Fiesta Online can. With their newest in-game wedding feature already released, many players are thrilled to take part in this traditional real-life event that is now finally implemented into the game.
Many ask, "What's so great about in-game marriages?" Some think that virtual MMORPG weddings are pointless because it deals with reality. Thousands of players all over the world play Fiesta, so you never know who you are marrying in the game. The character in the game looks cute and intelligent but in real life, the player could be a whole different person that you may want to avoid.
The point of the in-game wedding feature is to bring a sense of reality into the game. It is up to the players to choose who they want to marry and if they want to actually marry that particular person. Whether or not the player in real life is different from the character the person portrays, it is up to the person to have the necessary precautions if anything goes wrong that involves their personal life. Just like Outspark's Service Operations Manager SKiNG says in his interview with MMOFury regarding the Level 89 Expansion update for Fiesta, players are able to "virtually marry their in-game sweetheart". It isn't about who the person is in reality (even though sometimes real-life friends can marry each other in game). It is about the person who you see in-game. It's all fun and virtual.
By going to Fiesta's Cash Shop, players are able to attain a wedding application and dress/tuxedo to proceed further into this feature. Players are not required to buy the wedding dress/tuxedo but who wouldn't want to buy it? It's wedding tradition! However, it is up to the player's choice and it is only required to attain a wedding application.
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Once the to-be groom attains a wedding ring from the wedding NPC (image below) located in Elderine, he is able to go up to the girl he loves and kneel down to propose. Just like in real life, the wedding ring costs money, however this is not real-life money, this is just in-game money (copper, silver, gold, etc.). Hopefully the girl you love has the same feelings as you do and accepts the proposal. Once your proposal has been accepted, a notice will appear on your screen announcing to everyone on the server that your proposal has been accepted by your loved one.
The wedding NPC will let the happy to-be couple register to have a wedding ceremony. Once the wedding ceremony has been registered, the to-be couple gets ready by sending out guest invites to their closest friends to attend their ceremony. Up to 30 guests can be invited (15 guests for both the bride and groom) and you are allotted 20 minutes to send out the invitations. If there has already been wedding ceremonies registered before you, you will have to wait until they're done before you can register for a wedding ceremony spot. This will give you time to prepare for the big event! Announcement messages to everyone on the server will appear on the screen displaying a congratulations-like message for those who are about to teleport to the wedding chapel and get married. If you and your loved one's name appears in the message, which means your wedding ceremony is ready to start!
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Once your wedding ceremony registration comes, you, your soon-to-be virtual wife, and guests, will be allowed to teleport to the wedding chapel by clicking on the Wedding NPC (image above). The wedding chapel, as many will be able to see, looks very sacred as it has the characteristics of what a church looks like. Something that players will also notice is the fact that the chapel floats in the sky. Yes, high above the land of Isya in the light blue skies, the Bless Gardens wedding chapel hovers with a waterfall flowing along the chapel's grounds and down on to the land below. The portal from which the players will teleport from is located at the beginning of the blue carpet where the bride and groom will walk when the ceremony starts. As the wedding goes on, birds fly and tears are shed. What a celebration it is for the happy bride and groom. This special feature in Fiesta, just like in real-life, involves a priest-like person, vows (in the form of a talking book), engagement rings, and everything else that goes into a traditional wedding. Once you have been married, you and your virtual wife along with the guests will be able to have a 5-minute post-wedding party. Fiesta rewards newly-weds by automatically giving them permanent bonus stat mini-pets, the ability to teleport to each other when one's in danger, and a wedding buff. Also, when the couple is in a party together while in battle, they will earn bonus experience. To learn more about this feature, go to Fiesta's guide on weddings.
