...is a game two can play and both win. - Eva Gabor




"Hey man, how's it going? You seem kind of down."
"Completely effing depressed is more like it."
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, I dunno. I just completely scorched my save for this game I've been playing for almost five years."



"Whoa. Holy crap. I remember you talking about that. A lot. You were into that. I thought you had that on lockdown!"
"I thought so, too. Could have sworn I had the best ending in store, for sure."
"Well, what happened?"
"Turns out I took way too long on some quests I didn't realize were time-sensitive, for the most part. That caused a rival to my character that I didn't even know about to appear, and... well..."
"Well, what?"
"...the showdown didn't go so well. Best I could do was survive the battle."
"Ouch."
"Yeah. I threw some time into some sidequests afterwards, but nothing came of it. Game's pretty much over, and I can't really reset and redo everything. I'm out."
"That sucks. You going to be okay?"
"Probably not? Not anytime soon, anyway."
"...."
"Say, can you do me a favor?"
"Sure, anything."
"If there's even the slightest hint I'm considering ending things, or I seem weird-"
"You always seem weird."
"-er than usual, please, just smack me in the face until it passes."
"...if that's what it takes, you've got it."

*-*

"Well, your mood seems to have improved since we last talked. Up to anything interesting?"
"Yeah, actually. Got into a new game last week."
"Really? What's it like?"
"Pretty fun, actually. Came out a little earlier than what I'm used to playing, but no noticable differences from my norm, actually. A couple of my friends have been taking a shot at it too, but I've got a feeling luck may be on my side."
"Any reason for that?"
"Yeah. I remembered that I saw a teaser trailer for this back in high school, but it was really short, and I never got around to tracking down the title until now."
"...that's it?"
"Yeah, but I dunno, it feels like an omen or something."
"If you say so. Just be careful, though. You know you haven't exactly had much time to get your last big game out of your system."
"No worries, man, it's not like I'm going to do something stupid this time."



"Uh oh. I've seen that look before. Game over?"
"I did something really stupid."
"Would it be too much to ask exactly what?"
"Both my friends managed to gain some serious ground on me, so I kind of pulled a desperation move to try and win back some points."
"And?"
"No good. I think I nearly broke the game, it had no idea what I was trying to pull off."
"...it happens, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess. I'm taking a break from playing anything for a while, this time."
"Good idea. Take care of yourself."

*-*

"Word is you've picked up the controller again. I thought you said you were taking a good, long break."
"I was."
"And now you aren't."
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"Well, it turns out, my little brother was playing something new, but couldn't figure out the controls, and never got past level one. He found something more to his liking, and one of his friends took the first game off his hands, but he wasn't good at it, either. So, things just kind of fell in my lap on this one."
"...are you serious?"
"What? I got a good look at the case when my bro first picked it up, and I liked what I saw. Played a demo not too long ago, and things just meshed."
"That's still kind of weird, man."
"Whatever. I seem to be making decent progress, and learning some new tricks, too."
"Good on you, man. You sure it isn't too soon, though?"
"I sure don't think so."



"Hey."
"Hey. You were right."
"About what?"
"Too soon."
"...that sucks. What happened this time?"
"Everything was going fine, until I got slapped with this dance minigame. I got through it all right, I thought, but right at the finale, just before a save point, my thumb slipped."
"That's it?"
"It sounds like nothing, but apparently, it was a pretty important plot point. Something just refused to click. I'm kind of hosed, now."
"Sucks, dude. But you've got to admit, it was still a bit weird for you to be playing that."
"Maybe. Time to get back to that hiatus. I definitely need to stick to it this time."

*-*

"Yo, remember that game two friends and I were playing last summer?"
"Yeah, the one you screwed up pretty badly?"
"Precisely. Well, you're not going to believe it, but I got invited back."
"...what? That doesn't happen. That never happens."
"Apparently, it does. My original progress was completely wiped, but my old login works, and I was told directly I could take another shot."
"Unbelievable."
"Yeah. The other two guys are still having a bit of a head-to-head thing in-game, but the one's been throwing time away on another game, which they're not too happy about, and the other guy seems reluctant to level much further than he's already gotten, regardless of the incentives and loot waiting for him."
"Sounds decent for you, then."
"Yeah, we'll see. I'm taking it easy at first, trying to get a better feel for things before I get too deep and things really start to have consequences."
"Not the worst idea, especially given how miraculous a second chance is. I have doubts you'd get a third if you messed up again."
"No kidding."



"...are you crying?"
"*sniff* Just slightly, yes."
"Did you-"
"I didn't do anything to fuck up this time, and I swear I will destroy you if you do not stop that line of thinking right now."
"Whoa, dude. Ease up. What happened?"
"...asweghipg dead."
"What?"
"I said, it's over. Dead."
"What do you mean, dead?"
"Dead as in no longer living."
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry."
"Things were going so well, too."
"They were?"
"Yeah. I'd been on a personal mission tree for a while, and all signs pointed to things stepping up in the near future."
"And?"
"Well, the servers had to go in for some serious maintenance, and one of the techs got held up in New York, what with the whole 9/11 thing. By the time they could reschedule, either whatever was wrong had gotten a lot worse, or someone screwed up, or a combination of both, and..."
"...and?"
"...and everything wiped. Full systematic failure. Friends of mine let me know just as I was getting home from work to log in. Game over. Just like that."
"...I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything. Please. I don't think I could take it."
"Alright. Is there anything going on for any of you who played, in the aftermath?"
"There's supposed to be a get-together in memoriam, but I'm not sure I should go."
"Why not?"
"Because I can guarantee I am going to be an absolute wreck, and given that most of the other attendees are bound to be competitors, there won't be much anyone I can lean on. I don't want to be sobbing, snotty, and awkward all at once."
"...you should go. They'd want you to, from the sound of how far you'd gotten. I'm sure some of your friends will be there."
"...you're right."
"Yeah, that does seem to be a growing pattern."
"You ass."

*-*

"My, don't you look... somewhere between chipper and murderous."
"I'd say that describes things pretty well."
"What's up?"
"Remember my last game, the one that... that-"
"-yeah, don't push yourself. It hasn't been that long."
"Well, I checked out that other game my one competitor had been playing at the same time, and it's actually pretty interesting."
"Really."
"Yes. It's cool, he'd pretty much quit this, and tried to get back to leveling on the other game, until everything went down the toilet."
"Oh, okay."
"Or so I thought, anyway."
"Eh?"
"Maybe it's because he noticed I'd started playing, but now, every time I'm starting to get a decent run in, he logs in and starts hanging around."
"...how nice of him."
"Yeah. He's kind of a huge dick."
"Clearly. Well, what're you gonna do?"
"I've lodged some complaints, and they're currently under consideration. Rumor has it a ban might be in the works for this guy, since he's been nothing but trouble before."
"Works out for you, then. At least I should hope so."



"Glum, are we? That guy's ban didn't work out?"
"Oh, no. It definitely went through. It was delightful. Did a ton of questing, made tons of progress, had a great time."
"So what's the problem?"
"Things got to the point where I couldn't put in nearly as much time as I should have."
"Uh oh."
"In the end, my account got suspended for lack of use."
"Sucks."
"Yeah, well. Something was bugging me about the whole thing toward the end. Not sure what, but I feel like things would be better if I just played casually, once the suspension's up."
"Could be worse. Definitely your best success to date."
"I guess."

*-*

"Dude dude dude dude dude!"
"Slow down. Why so excited?"
"I don't think I mentioned it before, but towards the end of my run on that last game, I got a brief preview of a new title coming out."
"And?"
"And it's just been released, and it really, really seems to be right up my alley."
"I see. I assume this means you're going to try it out?"
"Absolutely. I wasn't sure whether it was going to come out here, but I'm sooo stoked it did."
"Mmkay. Well, good luck, I guess."



"Dammit."
"What's up?"
"This game's a lot harder than I anticipated."
"Doesn't sound so good."
"Kinda. It's really pretty, though, and fairly interesting. I think I'm going to keep plugging away at it, though I'm having a bit of difficulty getting a handle on the controls."
"Oh? You're sure you want to keep this up?"
"Yeah. I've got a feeling it'll be worth it in the long run. It's not completely unplayable, just... kind of vague, and not exactly easy."
"Hmm."

*-*

"Haven't seen you in a while, man. You still playing the same game?"
"Well, I was, for a while."
"Get anywhere?"
"Not really. I thought I was doing particularly well at one point last year, but I made some mistakes, and things got ugly."
"Ugly?"
"Well, at first it wasn't so bad, until this one really annoying sidequest, that I wanted no part of, kept popping up whenever I wanted to get something done."
"That's not good. Couldn't get rid of it?"
"Not at all. After a while, I straight-up filed a complaint about it, and I think I pissed someone off."
"Why's that?"
"My login stopped working all of a sudden. Can't play at all now."
"And you have no idea why?"
"No clear idea, but whatever. Been giving something else a try."



"What's that?"
"New thing that came out just recently, found out about it at work. Been putting in a little time here and there on my breaks, but..."
"But, what?"
"...it's kind of up in the air whether it's safe to install in the first place. I mean, there's steady item rewards, but I'm still worried about it."
"Hope you find out if it's okay to play. You're due for something decent."
"Don't I know it."

*-*

"So, how'd that iffy install work out?"
"Turns out it was perfectly fine, but no go anyway. I haven't been able to find the disc."
"Seriously?"
"Yup. Completely vanished."
"That stinks."
"You can say that again. I was really looking forward to spending some time on that. But things worked out in the end."
"Oh?"
"Found out about this one title on a forum I'm on. Poked around, asked some questions."
"And?"
"Looks like I'll get some hands-on time at a friend's party soon."
"Nice! I know I've said on several occasions before that you're due, but now I'd say you're overdue for something to work out."
"We'll see. The introductory and tutorial stuff seems to be going well enough, at least."



"So much for that attempt."
"What screwed this one up?"
"Second party I got to play at, the controller was getting passed around quite a bit."
"I see."
"And one of the attendees nearly burned the game."
"As in, tried to pirate it?"
"No. As in, nearly set on fire."
"Oh my."
"It's fine; it was an accident, and things were put out before anything got damaged."
"That still doesn't quite explain why you had to stop."
"Illegal move attempts. Drank too much, didn't even remember."
"Man. You might want to consider not drinking while you play until you hit a certain level, next time."
"Good idea."

*-*

"Guess what?"
"What?"
"My login for what I was playing a couple times before started working again."
"You got another second chance?"
"Sort of. This time, my progress, for good or for ill, still stands. But apparently, they missed me or something."
"I see. I thought you were having more trouble than it was worth, though."
"Ehhhh. Been reevaluating that assumption as of late. If I'm getting a shot at redeeming my character, there's probably a reason behind it, right?"
"Maybe. Just be careful, man."



"So much for being careful."
"What happened this time?"
"Had a few drinks, said some stupid things in general chat, basically made an ass of myself."
"Smooth. I thought we agreed you needed to be careful about that."
"I know. Didn't help that Douchey McDoucherson was back, and I called him out on everyone's behalf. The moderation staff were not pleased."
"How so?"
"Got this whole spiel about how I was trying to do their job for them before I got booted and locked out again."
"Damn, dude."

*-*

"What're you whistling for? Good mood?"
"For once, yes."
"Playing something new?"
"Indeed."
"What've you got going on this time?"
"Nothing big, just something I came across while shopping. Mostly casual right now, grinding levels slowly. Been afraid to step things up too quickly."
"Understandable. Don't rein yourself in too hard, though, or you'll never get anywhere."
"I know. I just haven't had the best history when it comes to getting to more advanced levels."
"True, that."



"Well, shit."
"Doesn't sound so good."
"Could be worse. Another lost disc. Combed around for a week, and nothing."
"That blows. At least you didn't do something stupid."
"Mmhmm. At least, I don't think I did."
"That's a step up."

*-*

"How's it going? It's been some time."
"Don't I know it."
"Playing anything lately?"
"Yes, actually. I tried a couple of demos after losing that last disc, but nothing really grabbed me."
"So what is it you're up to now?"
"You remember that-"
"Oh no."
"What?"
"You aren't."
"I'm considering it."
"No."
"Maybe?"
"Let me ask you this much. How long has it been since you first tried playing this same game?"
"Um... gimme a second here... six, seven years?"
"SEVEN YEARS. Question two: How many times have you hit setbacks that would be considered somewhere between moderate and complete screw-ups?"
"More than I can count?"
"Exactly. So please, tell me how, in however slightly right your mind may be, going back to this is even remotely a good idea?"
"I dunno, man. The fact I'm getting yet another chance is a good sign, right?"
"Is it? Has it been for all the other chances you've gotten?"
"...not...really? But dude, this time is so different. It's been a while. The game's changed a lot. I've changed a lot."
"So you think. Look, I'm not going to stop you. But so help me, I am certain this can end in nothing but trouble."
"If you say so. Just watch me. I've got this."



"You didn't have it, did you?"
"...nnnnope."
"Please, do me a favor and tell me how it went down. I want to hear this. Being right is awesome."
"It wasn't that mindblowing, really. You know that whole hitting a certain level before drinking and playing thing?"
"You mean that thing you consistently fail to do?"
"Hey, back off. I thought I'd reached a decent level for it, given how much time I'd already put into things. It's hard to tell with this one. The menus are pretty hard to navigate, the UI isn't very communicative at all, and it's not like I had a manual."
"Uh-huh. Well, you got drunk. Then what?"
"I kept shooting for a quest that was beyond my level and not really appropriate for my character build, several other players noticed it, I ignored their recommendations to knock it off and stop interrupting their play sessions, and moderation was notified."
"Great."
"Well, in some ways, yeah."
"What do you mean?"
"I was threatened with total account deletion, and you know what I said in response?"
"What?"
"I told them straight up to do it. I may not be able to forget all the questing I did, but I'm just as done with this crap as it would seem to be with me."
"Good boy! Perhaps you aren't completely hopeless!"
"Perhaps."

*-*

"This is possibly the longest I've seen you go without playing anything. You okay?"
"Yeah. I really needed to get the bad taste out of my mouth from the last game before I tried anything new. Been exploring, though, as of late."
"Anything in particular catching your eye?"
"Yeah, actually. Saw a preview for something at work not long after the last disaster, but then there was no coverage for the longest time, so I thought it was a fluke."
"Okay."
"Well, turns out it was released under the radar. It's been up and running for a while, but I just started dipping my toes in recently."



"How's it treating you?"
"Pretty well so far, actually. It's been surprisingly easy to get into once I got over my fear of screwing up. Does a great job of making you feel immersed and interacting with the player."
"Sounds nice."
"It is. I've been taking it slow, of course, but things are going incredibly smoothly. Levels and loot have been coming in at a steady pace, and I've yet to hit any major bumps, save for the week and a half I thought the game'd stopped working. Turns out the server slightly fried itself and was under repair."
"Sounds really nice. I'm glad something's finally coming up Milhouse, as it were."
"Seriously. There's a leveling milestone I'm coming up on that I've been hemming and hawing about. Nothing too major, but given my history..."
"Understandable. Just remember that hesitation's been a problem as often as jumping the gun. Wait until you're comfortable, dude. Though it sounds like you're pretty close."
"Totally. Things are down for maintenance next week, so I've got time to think about my next move."
"Very nice, indeed. Well, good luck man. You deserve a break like you wouldn't believe."






Certain images originally by Juliana Coutinho, Lauren Montgomery, Patipat Asavasena, Kai, Jennifer Lee, Samantha Whitten, RoxyKatz, and AdEL.