Getting Credentials
After the mysterious message issued by the Centurion, credentials appeared all over the galaxy, with no regard for a presence of civilization, societal status, or logical destination. The disks have been found buried in the garbage of alleyways, sent in velvet letters to the established elite, and even floating in deep space.
To log in to G.O.L.A.R.I.O.N., a group of up to six individuals needs to register a team account at a specialized Drift Beacon, and authenticate themselves bio-metrically. Afterwards, the credential disk can only be used by members of the registered team, and members cannot be added or removed outside of their untimely death. It isn’t quite clear how the game knows that a player has perished, but it does so without fail, and only if that soul has passed into the Boneyard for good.
Access Beacons
Access Beacons are Drift Beacons that have been modified to point directly into the Drift, rather than allowing one to skim across the barrier between the planes. An Access Beacon no longer functions for any other purpose after this change is made, and refuses to access the Drift without a registered credential disk.
As Drift Beacons are rarely available to the public, the hunt for Beacon engineers has already begun, and governments have restricted access to a number of well-known Drift Becaons.
Once established, a team may regularly log in to G.O.L.A.R.I.O.N., although this leaves them in a catatonic state. As their minds are preoccupied with their traversal through the Drift, players find themselves unable to process any information from the outside world, and thus are at the mercy of those around them.
For this reason, a wise team is likely to recruit their engineer in secret, and construct an Access Beacon in a remote location, far from the eyes – and blood lust – of competing teams.
Restricted Credentials
Through a variety of means, a player of G.O.L.A.R.I.O.N. may find that their credentials have been restricted. This is typically due to their avatar’s death, but uncommonly includes breaking the rules of the game, inappropriate behavior, or attempting to hack an Access Beacon. As credentials can only be removed via death, and duplicate credentials are not allowed, the game uses the penalty of time instead, as described below:
- Avatar Death: 24 Hours x Number of Overall Deaths
- Inappropriate Behavior: 24 Hours to 1 month
- Torturing an NPC: 1 week to 3 months
- Murder of an NPC: 1 month to 1 year
- Hacking an Access Beacon: 10 years
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