It's time to make a stand.

Before anything else, I want you to watch the video I've embedded here. You might have already seen it before, at an end-of-Closed-Beta party, or elsewhere on the Internet, or even from the official website.

Start watching carefully from 03:13 to 02:20.

And when you're done watching the video, take a deep breath, and think about it.

Granado Espada has just turned into a truly interactive MMORPG.

What you've just seen is the beginning of a major storyline event: upon reaching level 52, players can now choose whether to support the Republicans or the Royalists. And the choice will have a significant impact on the future of the GE story line and development.

Specifically:

"Your choice will decide the fate of the new continent."

The two factions to choose from are:

The Royalists

Led by Princess Gabriella, the de facto representative of Vespanolan power, and daughter of Queen Esperanza. We first see her in the video as she arrives in Granado Espada, at what I'm assuming are the docks in Coimbra, reviewing regiments and receiving homage.

While we do see her slapping the man with the ponytail in the video, and know that she calls him "stupid", we're still missing the context for her anger.

Judging from history, though, it's easy to guess what her objective is: she wants Granado Espada to remain a tributary state to her mother's kingdom, and may be looking forward to ruling over the New World herself. She's a princess, after all, and as long as we don't see any other members of the Vespanolan royal family, it's probably safe to assume that she is the heir to Queen Esperanza's throne. Therefore, she comes partly to represent her country's interests in Granado Espada, and may also have come partly to prepare herself to rule it.

The Republicans

Led by Simon Ayende, the man with the cane and the feathers on his coat.

When he appears in the video, he is making a speech in the City of Auch to a number of assembled families, in which he emphasizes that Granado Espada is a new world. It's no longer part of Orpesia, and perhaps he means to imply that the people of GE don't have to remain under that old world's hegemony.

With his similarly brief time in the spotlight, we don't know right now what Ayende's motives are. Perhaps he means to rule Granado Espada himself? Perhaps he wants Granado Espada to become a democracy? We've no idea. All we know is that he means to break the New World free from Vespanolan power and influence, and to become, most possibly, self-ruling. In short, he wants independence.

While I'll wait just as eagerly for the details and background on this storyline development, maybe you'll indulge me as I tell you which faction I'm likely going to be supporting once I hit that magic level 52.

I'm going to join the Republicans.

There's just something to be said for joining the underdogs. Look how many times it's worked: David vs. Goliath, the 300 Spartans vs. the Persian hordes, the Rebel Alliance vs. the Empire. It's been played out here in the Philippines, in the United States, in Spain [on which Vespanola is based], and in many of the great conflicts of history.

In an in-game sense, I'm joining the Republicans partly because of what Grace Bernelli says just before you acquire her Character Card.

After you defeat the second of the Treasure Golems AND its controller, the Sorceress Cherlyn, Bernelli tells you her story, that she was originally an intelligence officer from the country of Brestia. She goes on to say that after her country's defeat in the Three-Year War Vespanola didn't exactly treat Brestia graciously, and that that kingdom had sinister plans for the New World. Bernelli refers to Cherlyn's very presence in Granado Espada as part of a plot originating from Vespanola, and that she was determined to ferret out the truth.

Most importantly, though, she tells you something similar to what Ayende is saying in the video. It goes something like this:

"When I came here to Granado Espada I became a citizen of Granado Espada. We're all equal here."

[That's not an exact quote, but rather the gist of her feelings.]

I guess that would just be me and my preference for independence becoming my own family's philosophy.

I never thought I'd ever find myself looking forward to the faction wars in Granado Espada, but this storyline event is making me think that I should start training for PvP, too.

[Anybody who's played a lot of, say, Legend of the Five Rings, The Matrix Online, and that sort of storyline-driven game? I would really love to hear your take on this.]