|
To do a recent game upgrade, we needed to wipe all the characters from the database on the evening of June 2nd, forcing everyone to start over the next day. The wipe was well predicted and advertised. What we hadn't foreseen was the poignancy of creating a virtual-reality apocalypse. Players had invested a great deal of energy into their characters, led them through many stirring adventures, and come to identify with them, and when an announcement was broadcast that an 11th-hour party was being held in Glenden Wood, a large number turned out. A handful of players organized the event themselves on the spur of the moment, quickly attracting over 40 participants. Game admins then showed up and assisted by teleporting interested adventurers to the site from all over the continent.
Afterward, Fracas@Zone submitted an account of the last hour of his character, Shreck; +Mr_Quazarr provided a transcript of the chat that took place as players exercised their wit while displaying their hard-earned powers and possessions; and several players sent in screenshots. Though not exactly a somber, contemplative occasion, the gathering did celebrate players' attachment to their characters. It also prompted them to look beyond all the accumulated statistics and virtual-reality possessions to the more enduring community of real people. A psychologist would probably have a heyday examining the spontaneous rituals of the apocalypse party -- the symbolic shedding of the personas in the removal of clothes and armor, the benediction of a priest created especially for the occasion -- but we'll let you draw your own conclusions.
Shreck's Final Hour
Screenshots of the Apocalypse
Event Chat Log
|
