One Last Sunset
Prologue
Ivan
Dear Wilros Lightbringer
We would like to start off by thanking you for your years of loyalty and patronage. This email is sent with a heavy heart. We regret to inform all of our users that Alphablade, the world’s first-ever Fully Immersive Environment Role Playing Game will be taken offline on August 31.
Thanks to the overwhelming support of individuals such as yourself, Alphablade is approaching a record-setting 54 years online! However, due to the game’s inability to scale to work with the latest in FIE technology and the planned release of the game’s successor, Omegashield, we feel that this decision is inevitable.
Please take these next three months to immerse yourself one last time in the game that captured the world’s hearts and imaginations. In celebration of Alphablade’s unprecedented success, we will be unlocking platinum access for all players (even you, our lovable free-to-play-ers).
Just a reminder, all in-game currency, items, and purchases are non-refundable and non-transferable to Omegashi...
Ivan stopped reading the mail. This was huge! The game that launched the FIE-RPG industry was shutting its last servers down. Gamers on forums all over the net had been speculating about a move like this. With the announcement of Omegashield earlier this year, in the minds of the gamer audience, the timer on Alphablade had been set. It was one of the worst-kept secrets online. But still, to have it confirmed?
Continuing to ignore his professor’s review session, Ivan switched from his mail to Discord, the main chat app that he used for talking with his friends. This news was bigger than some final that Ivan knew he was going to ace. If attendance hadn’t been mandatory, Ivan wouldn’t have bothered showing up. He’d not gotten less than a hundred on all the other tests and he wasn’t expecting any more difficulty on the final next week. Ivan's fingers swept across his phone’s screen.
Ringo iVan
Dude, guys, did you see the mail from RLF about Alphablade?
FrankerZ’s ghost
Yeah. They really should have done it years ago. That “big 50” celebration blew
Ringo iVan
I dunno. I kinda liked it
Error 413 Payload Too Large
Of course you would Ivan. You were a fucking deathguard
Ivan tsked. He didn’t remember where 413 had joined from, but he hated the guy. The friend of my friend is my friend, unless they suck. He could have blocked him, but gaps in conversations bothered him.
Ringo iVan
I just can’t believe they’re going to pull the plug. That’s like pulling the plug on grandma or something.
FrankerZ’s ghost
Considering how much shit you have to put on to play, that’s an apt analogy
I’m a Salad
Yeah. I’ve not played Alpha in years. Can’t wait for Omega to come out. Shit’s gonna rule.
Ringo iVan
Yeah, but Alpha’s the original. Granted I’ve not played since the 50 event either.
I’m a Salad
Meh. They’re just trying to lure you in to pay for plat when they launch Omega.
Error 413 Payload Too Large
FTP chumps
Ivan felt like 413’s free-to-play remark was specifically directed at him. It was a shitty way of saying it, but he agreed with the sentiment. Being on an FTP account sucked. He wanted to experience what platinum access was like.
He had always dreamed of being able to play on a plat account. According to the articles he’d read online, having all your senses working in the game made it so much more real. It didn’t matter to Ivan if Salad was right that it was mainly a pitch to get people to buy in on plat accounts when Omegashield came out or not.
Ringo iVan
We’re on summer vacation. Any of you feel like joining me on a fresh account bender?
FrankerZ’s ghost
Sorry, Ivan. I’ve got summer school and work
I’m a Salad
I’ve got that internship. I might be able to pop on some weekends though.
Error 413 Payload Too Large
I’m gonna be too busy showing e-grills my error code.
Ringo iVan
Can we kick this guy already?
It was a pointless question. 413 was too good at games, and in various direct messages with the other guys in the group, they said they could put up with his chauvinism in return for the high-ranking finishes and elo boosts they got out of grouping with him. Ivan refused to play if 413 was playing, which was probably the reason 413 hated Ivan so much.
Now, just one semester left before Ivan graduated university and headed out into the real world, his ability to deal with 413 had all but dissipated. If the other guys could put up with his shit, then Ivan didn’t want to be with them anyway.
FrankerZ and Salad were the only two people on the server that he really played with or liked actually. They’d been on his side for kicking 413 and were the main reason Ivan hadn’t left the group entirely. But that time was up. He could just make a new server and invite those two and forget about the rest.
He created a new server and invited his two friends. Once they accepted he switched back to the main group’s server and typed:
Ringo iVan
You know what, you guys decided to be shit-head enablers for imaginary video game points. Screw you all and definitely screw you 413. Grow up.
With that, he left the server. He felt good. He felt like he’d just freed himself from a dark force that would drag him down. As soon as he left the server Salad sent him a dm.
I’m a Salad
Hey man, you okay?
Ringo iVan
Never felt better! You don’t know how much relief I feel for telling 413 to grow up
I’m a Salad
No, not that. Your plan to waste the summer doesn’t have anything to do with Amber does it?
Ivan looked up from his phone. Two years he’d spent with Amber and she just dumped him like that. She didn’t even really have a reason either, just that they’d ‘grown apart.’
Ringo iVan
Nah, I’m good man. thanks
I’ve got to get back to this review session. later
Ivan turned his phone screen off and slid it into his pocket. Again, Salad was right. He was running away from the breakup, but when he emerged, he’d be a healed man. This summer was going to be good. He could feel it.
At last, the professor signaled that the review session was over and Ivan dumped his notebooks in his backpack. He filed out of the lecture hall with the rest of the students. Unlike most of them who were fretting over the upcoming finals, Ivan was bubbling. Just one more week and he’d have two and a half months of uninterrupted Alphablade immersion with plat access. He could hardly wait.