The Offices of War Never Changes

The luxurious, mahogany-wainscoted walls of the CEO's office seemed to bear down on those assembled. Awards and plaques hung in silent testament to Steele's power. The white noise was broken every second by a grandfather clock, Its deep ticking a reminder of where they all were. How they Got the clock inside the building, or office, was anyone's guess.

Steele observed her visitors with a stoic expression. The air in the room was hot and thick, like a blanket of dread had settled over them. She had a spread of employees who though maybe not at the top of their departments, she trusted their insights. Not that she'd ever tell them. Letting employees know their true market value was only a good idea if it saved you money.

"Report," the woman demanded.

Debbie fidgeted nervously before speaking up. "Inglebert Waschbär is acting a little strange. He talks to himself and seems lost in thought most of the time. I don't think he's sleeping or eating either," she said apprehensively.

Steele raised an eyebrow at this, but remained unconcerned. "So what you're saying is that he's dedicated to his work? That's commendable," she replied cooly.

Debbie shook her head frantically. "No, it's more than that. We don't think he leaves the office at all. He sneaks around late at night and makes these strange changes to old content, and adds new code that we can't even comprehend... Sometimes we hear him arguing with himself, and I swear that one time he even lost."

Debbie could see she wasn't swaying Steele in the slightest. "He's always there, lurking behind corners and watching us," she finished weakly.

Steele let out a small sigh, clearly unimpressed. "You mean overseeing? Doing his job?" She gave Debbie a small smile. "Stress does weird things to people in leadership, not everyone handles the pressure as well as I do." Her gaze swept around the room daring anyone to mention the time she'd dragged a man by his tie to the break room, and made him eat the fish he'd left in the fridge two weeks before.

"If that's all, it sounds like we have nothing to worry about," Steele said calmly. "Keep an eye on him for now."

Debbie leaned in close, "There's a rumor going around that he isn't a man at all, but a three raccoons in a trench coat."

Steele raised an eyebrow then looked away dismissively, not giving Debbie another glance, "What do you have for me?" She asked, turning to the mousy man from the accounting offices sitting next to the junior dev, with a face that Debbie vaguely remembered, and name that she absolutely did not.

"Share prices are up," The man started, voice calculated yet precise. "Paid-for character modifications are up, store-bought mounts are up. Every metric points towards an increase in store activity. Most notably, our new coin - where players can buy in-game gold with real money - is our best seller".

Steele interjected with a question: "The pay-to-win item I heard about?"

"We have to call it a 'non-performance impacting item' for legal reasons." The man corrected.

"Inglebert added that", Debbie added, trying to find a way to bring some form of negative attention to the man, "we didn't even test it... It's like he has a secret horde of developers."

The CEO's face suddenly became grave and she interrogated, "There is no one that we owe money to for this, correct?".

Debbie was too stunned to reply right away: "Is that really what's important here?".

A stern look flashed across Steele's face before she replied: "Yes."

The bean counter chipped in with assurance: "We have no outstanding bills."

Steele nodded her head slowly. "Good."

Steele eyed the third subordinate she'd summoned to the room. She was in charge of Player Engagement and PR, and her handshake gave off a sense of confidence.

"Players are crafting more than ever," Kylie began, "despite hitting the normal expansion point drop off. They're incentivized to do so since ill-equipped players have opted to buy crafted gear instead of wearing 'trash' gear that is targeted by raccoons."

"Gathering has more player interaction than it ever has in any other expansion. We don't know why, but all of the bots that usually run the prices down have vanished." she continued. "Dungeons have also seen more activity due to the switch from guaranteed quest drops to random chance loot drops that offer a chance for something exceptional. Unsurprisingly, people seem drawn to gambling."

"The new playable raccoon class has seen unprecedented playability - almost everyone tried it out, and many have even switched to it as their 'main' character," Kylie reported. "Guilds across the board have seen increased group content."

Kylie concluded her report with a flourish: "Login time and player retention is at an all-time high."

All of those things were just words to Steele though. Interesting, and something to learn from for sure, but they were the pieces, and what mattered was the whole.

Steele turned back to the accountant, "How are our expansion numbers looking?"

The accountant cleared his throat before speaking, "Sales and subscriptions have continued to increase since launch, with hardly any need for our advertising budget due to all the free press we have received. The testing costs have been minimal for reasons Debbie has already explained. "

He paused for a moment, considering Steele's stern expression before grimly continuing, "That being said, petty theft has surged throughout the company—items such as paperclips, food from refrigerators and staplers have been taken. While none of these items are particularly expensive, it is still alarming."

Steele glanced over towards Kylie, "What can you tell me about the PR situation?"

Kylie's eyes lit up as she spoke, clearly excited about the news she had to deliver. "The public is having a field day with the roaming packs of raccoons that wreak chaos and destruction upon the digital populace. There are already meme's – although I don't get them; the players seem to find it hilarious."

"Not everyone has been so receptive though," she continued. "We've received our fair share of complaints and seen an increasing number of anti-raccoon guilds crop up on the forums. We're watching them closely."

Kylie paused briefly before continuing. "The latest development is an intriguing one - reports are coming in of a mysterious black market using some unknown currency system. We haven't been able to confirm anything yet, but there have been screenshots of odd gear popping up all over the place."

"Firing Bob in disgrace from his Lead Developer position was apparently a wise move; punishing him for the expansion launch incident appeased the angry mob and hiring Inglebert Waschbär had somehow netted us a lot of goodwill from our community." She stumbled and hesitated, her optimism fading. In a moment of weakness, she wanted to question Steele's decision to hire the infamous developer. But she continued the briefing.

Her gaze met Steele's face and held it firmly. "Our decision to keep the raid under wraps may ruffle some feathers among world first raiders, but we've certainly generated quite a bit of hype around this update. It will draw a lot of views, but do prepare yourself for a few complaints from those same raiders."

Steele waved her hand, motioning for the three of them to leave. Once they had gone, she stepped toward a hidden door, designed to look like just another part of the wall. She opened it, revealing the fourth subordinate she had invited to this meeting. The corporate lawyer.

"People who play our game have started to take raccoons as pets, how liable are we?" Steele inquired with a curious expression.

The lawyer responded confidently, "We have conducted extensive research and the risk for us is minimal. As for the purchasable cosmetics that are being hidden behind unlocks, while it may be in a moral grey area, there are no laws against it." He continued on. "Moreover, providing meaningless rewards such as 'ribbons' at the end of every dungeon or raid does not constitute coercion or manipulation in any legally recognized way."

"And what about the guild situation?" Steele asked with a furrowed brow.

"We have carefully amended our Terms of Service to echo our stance against abuses of power within the game or through guilds," the lawyer answered firmly. "It may make things worse before it gets better, but doing so will help protect us from further legal liability should those issues arise again."

With a nod of understanding and appreciation, Steele saw off the lawyer.

Steele rose from her chair, feeling the strain in her lower back from being forced to sit in an upright position for so long. Appearing as an insurmountable wall to these people came with a cost- and the price to pay was a visit to the doctor soon.

Her thoughts drifted to her subordinates, she knew underneath their looks of respect were thoughts of discomfort. The chairs Steele had for guests in her office were nothing short of torture devices - yet they had remained composed as well. They would do best to remain so for the days ahead.

Ten months ago the board had discussed shutting down War Never Changes- a game that she had come to love and appreciate. With determination, she worked tirelessly to save the struggling company.

Steele moved behind her desk and powered on her computer, logging into WNC with her character, BowsGoBrrrr.