“Like saving the world? I think that’s kinda the point of a fantasy epic. You want to save the world,” Lucas argued. “It might not seem like fun, but some people feel insignificant in real life. In the fantasy world, they get to be the masters of their own domain and the kings and queens of a magical realm.” Despite his own opinion on the subject being virtually the same as hers, the devil’s advocate in him encouraged him to champion that banal route of virtue more than a villain-in-the-making should. The turn in the conversation left an odd idea in his head, though: People probably want to try out the bad guy route just as much as I do.

“Funny. I don’t know how you feel special or unique in a massively multiplayer game surrounded by literally millions of people who have all done the exact same quests as you,” she countered.

“They don’t see those things though. They just see themselves righting wrongs, saving the damsel in . . .” Lucas paused at that thought. We don’t have a damsel. The entire Imperium quest line is about saving the non-human races from a racist, tyrannical government that oppresses them, but there isn’t a single quest that I remember seeing on the boards to save a damsel. You kill the bad guys, you free the town, but there is no damsel in distress locked away in some tower . . .

“Damsel in what? Boredom from the fact that, as soon as you free a town, it’s immediately reconquered by necessary quest events? Even though the penalties for failure are serious, the map doesn’t change. I don’t know how the game can be satisfying,” Liu ranted, pointing out yet another flaw in the system.

“The map . . . really doesn’t change,” Lucas admitted. “But if it did . . . how cool would that be?”

“It’d be better. But still. I think I’d let my dark desires out if I were to play. I’d be an evil witch. I’d torture, murder, and brutalize people for fun as I went around stealing carriages and beating up old people on the street for money.”

“I’m pretty sure they already made that game,” Lucas said, recalling the video game with that exact theme only set in the present day.