El Sexorcisto!
Page 14
Lastly, the trusty Iron Dagger. Well, if all else failed, it would be something.
The only thing that gave me pause was that there was no level attached to the lightsaber. All other items had levels. What’s more, all other items seemed to be appropriate for the setting— this, Ultima Thule, being a rather dreadfully by-the-numbers fantasy world optimized for economic simulation. That I encountered halflings often proved a delight, and the presence of primeval creatures such as dinosaurs and Neanderthals as dwarves also brought little joys. What’s more, I saw caravans of camels along rural roads, a sight usually left to the Arabian fantasy realm. Yet these were mere bits of pleasurable creativity. The grain stalks still fell by peasant scythes. Cottages wore shaggy thatches as roofs and half-timbered frames. Horses drew carriages. Students of magickal houses raised mischief in Gothic cathedrals. Corbelled arch bridges of common stones crossed streams and short rivers. Tired dragons returned from their migratory flights alongside the birds and pterosaurs. This arcadian realm needed no introduction, for we’ve all seen it before. Virtual economic simulators— VESes— would never be known for their sterling creativity like their MMORPG brethren. Indeed, all they cared about was the sterling. The dollar. The yuan. Yet they always held fun jobs, existing in that twilight spectrum between old notions of labor and modern virtual lives.
Yes, those nasty old stuffy economists shuffled their lapels and fancied tea with a pinkie raised— work merely shifted into virtuality. Our primal desire for meaning through labor would never be quashed, and we were willing to desecrate literal fantasy-worlds for the sake of letting sweat run down our necks, fastening starched collars, and coming home alienated from jobs all too familiar.
On some level, that soothed me. Some semblance of our old ways remained with us and always would. For those who suffered from future shock, having an escape that brought a nostalgic reminder of how things once worked— even one that resulted from the exponential rise of information technology— was a blessing. As I watched the halfling fellows jog and dance around me, I smiled.