Karl rarely took the time to ponder and decide where his life was heading. He was always one to simply follow the tide. His wise ol' dad once told him about the three types of people in the world: the type who made things happen, the type who watched things happen and finally those like Karl; adrift, directionless, never quite sure what in the world just happened.
When Karl pulled up his game and was met with a giant counter that exclaimed the expansion drop for WNC was less than an hour away, he was pleasantly surprised. Karl had no idea that an expansion had even been in the works, he hadn't really even known that WNC was the type of game that got expansions. He thought what it had was all it was going to be, and he was fine with that.
Now that he knew about the drop, Karl decided to make a day of it. He placed an order at his favorite Italian restaurant, determined to have some delicious seafood pasta. With the order on the way, Karl made himself cozy in the bathroom; dimmed lights, fluffy bubble bath and lavender scented candles glowing around him.
As Karl laid back in the tub with a soft sigh, he let the hot water slowly warm away his worries. The smell of lavender filled the air as relaxation coursed through him. He closed his eyes and thought about the upcoming game, hoping that the developers would finally pulled their heads out of wherever they had them stuck up, and gave the players the game they really wanted, not what the developers thought they should like.
Karl was still in the midst of his relaxing soak when the doorbell rang, startling him. He leapt out, sloshing water and bubbles, and hastily dried off before throwing on a new pair of jeans and T-shirt. He couldn't help but smile and he pulled opened his front door. There stood a delivery driver, holding out a wicker basket that was brimming with aromas of spices and herbs - a feast for the eyes and senses that had absolutely nothing nothing in common with what he had ordered. He inhaled deeply, savoring the tempting smells.
He found the chicken curry a welcome surprise. In the distance, birds cheerfully chirped their joyful cries echoing off the trees. Karl quickly tipped the delivery driver and shut the door to escape from their racket.
Karl nestled in his modern set-up at home; far superior in power to the antique machinery he was forced to use in the office. He opened the discord app and saw a few messages from Steven blinking on his monitor. The guild chat was abuzz- Karl skimmed through the lines of text, then sent back a reply wishing Steven good luck. Then he realized his food was getting cold on the desk, so he minimized the discord window to focus on eating.
As he sat down, freshly relaxed from his bath, the aromatic smells of curry wafted up to Karl's nose. His eyes widened in admiration as he surveyed the vibrant colors and shapes before him; cumin, turmeric, and coriander blended together with cooked chicken and crunchy vegetables melding into a tantalizing feast for the senses.
Karl didn't really know what many of the ingredients were, he still hadn't noticed that the logo on the box was from a different restaurant than the one he had ordered from, but that didn't stop him from appreciating the dish in all its complexity.
Karl's plastic spoon scraped against the styrofoam plate as he took his first bite. The balanced flavors of sweet and heat bursting in his mouth. Tender chicken mingled with fragrant spices, the kick of curry blending with the sweet tang of tomatoes and onions - every bite revealed a new layer of flavor.
Over all it was a little spicy for his taste. He left a review of his meal on the app. The owners of The Catch of the Day were a little confused at the four start review that stated their 'curry was too spicy'. Four stars was four stars though, so they took the win.
**********
Samantha was up against the clock, as usual - WNC expansion going live in less than an hour and she was itching to jump in - but not before finishing off the last of her work for the day. If she left it hanging unfinished, the guilt would follow her into the game, like it did back when she was a kid, snatching up a Snickers from the cupboard before dinner ate it in the closet before dinner. She'd come out of that closet bawling her eyes out, apologizing, convinced that he could see right through her.
Her fingers flew across her keyboard as her anxiety grew stronger with every passing second. Emails blasted out of her computer like lightning, leaving no time for errors.
Finally, with only thirty minutes to spare, Samantha finished the last of her tasks, and disconnected from work. She even took it a step further than normal, and disabled the work software, a bloated mess of programs that were more akin to spyware than anything to help productivity.
That had felt wrong though, so she immediately brought the program back up. She couldn't quite bear the feeling of completely disconnecting herself from work - better to stay informed than be ignorant.
Forcing herself to take a much-needed break for sanity's sake, Samantha filled a ceramic mug with warm creamy hot cocoa and started prepping some snacks for the marathon ahead. As she stirred in marshmallows into the mug, she absentmindedly thought about all of the hours she had spent customizing how her new raccoon class would look - fiddling with the different shades of its fur, customizing every single detail down to the last whisker, it had taken her a while to decide between whisker setting 34 and setting 84. 84 gave her raccoon a real friendly look in the 'i'm the neighborhood raccoon, nice to meet you' way, but 84 just felt right.
Taking one last sip of her sweet drink, Samantha ambled over to her computer and settled into her chair. She was determined to invest a few more minutes into crafting her new character, but the discord chat was mired in chaos. She hadn't heard any word of Steven since days before and Jim was being his usual domineering self, while Karl—she couldn't understand why he was even an officer—seemed completely oblivious to the chaos around him.
She after trying and failing to be the voice of reason, she left the discord dumpster fire, and went back to customizing her raccoon, though mostly she switched between whisker setting 34 and 84, knowing full well she was going to go with 84 in the end.
**********
Jim had been up and at it since the crack of dawn, up before most gamers even went to sleep. He had taken a whole week off from his job as an engineer to dedicate himself to this expansion drop, and he wasn't about to let any trivialities such as 'basic biological needs' interrupt his plan.
His bedroom had been transformed beyond recognition into a makeshift war room. Two monitors were side-by-side: one dedicated to the game, the other displaying real-time research materials and pertinent data. His wall was a collage of paper; maps, post-it notes, diagrams and strategies. His plan was to get to max level in under two hours, and that was his conservative estimate.
He had already created a comprehensive breakdown of the top items to acquire, in order to remain competitive. He had searched through forums and social media for any unofficial news on the coming expansion. He had watched countless video reviews from well-known YouTubers such as MrImplode, GitGoodGamer, and GodlyGamerGoat; delving into Reddit threads on various gaming sites like Gamers Anon, WNC-Haven, and Warriors of the Raccoon, to stay informed.
Jim’s fingertips traced over the tupperware container filled with a balanced and healthy meal, sealed tight for maximum freshness. Thirty more lined his fridge and freezer, all his meals meticulously planned out for the upcoming expansion. He kept going over the next few days in his head, looking for any hidden flaw or missed complication that could disrupt his performance during the upcoming expansion.
He had an electric coaster that kept his coffee warm at all times and chopsticks so he could snack without bringing any mess to his hands or keyboard. He looked back at the giant package of toilet paper for the fourth or so time. He hadn't taken some of the more delicate human needs into consideration last expansion drop. He'd also gotten his hands on supplements from a somewhat sketchy website that were supposed to boost attention and concentration. The pills had wreaked havoc on his gut and his bathroom was left barren, a colossal error that he'd soon come to regret, and swore would never be repeated. He'd had to move out of that apartment after that, those walls just reminded him of his shame. Yes, this time the bathroom was fully stocked.
That was all in the past now, and best not thought about since it'd been delt with. Those who forgot the past were doomed to repeat it, those who obsess over it were doomed to die of shame.
So with everything perfectly in place, all that remained was for Jim to take a deep breath and sip his coffee - nothing could stop him now.
He grinned as he sent a few more messages in the guild discord, reveling in how easy it was to get these people riled up. The thrill of provoking responses from his fellow players via text was almost like a drug, coursing through his veins with every keystroke. Finally, satisfied that he had stirred up enough controversy for one day, Jim leaned back and chuckled to himself, knowing that he had won yet again.
**********
Steven was desperately trying to ignore the looming presence of the Rise of the Raccoon expansion drop. His guild was a battleground.
The warzone of Discord had become too much for Steven to handle, so he muted most channels in vain hope of some peace. His fingers quivered as he loaded his main account and faced the battlefield that was War Never Changes once again. Despite every ounce of courage draining from his body, Steven mustered up enough strength to get the raid roster sorted out and posted it on a secured channel - an act of cowardice meant to appease some of the players.
He looked to the officers who had taken up leadership in his stead. Samantha did her best to appear helpful yet diplomatically uninvolved. Jim's words were like flaming arrows that ignited the fight into an inferno. Steven feared he was doomed when even Karl replied with a merciless "good luck".
With just half an hour to go until the official release of War Never Changes: Rise of the Raccoons, Steven had already given up all hope.
**********
The offices War Never Changes:
Debbie, the misguided junior developer who had recklessly merged to production with little oversight, shook uncontrollably as she watched chaos unfold. Her first crunch time was turning into a disaster; the office had shifted from frantic energy to pure panic as they raced against the clock to try and make launch day. They were in a mad dash; the finish line looked ominously like an insurmountable brick wall.
She thought she was ready for crunch time but quickly realized she was monumentally mistaken. She expected to encounter some minor issues during the expansion launch, instead here they were wrestling with insufferable roadblocks; unruly hacks posing as patches, unpolished assets, missing NPCs, game breaking bugs, the mail-armor crafting tree just wasn't there and no one knew why. The team would prioritize what they could tackle first and stall on concerning problems without a speedy resolution; praying that nothing too crucial malfunctioned.
The air was heavy with sweat, flat soda, and desperation as Debbie, a devout atheist for the majority of her adult life, prayed for some kind of miracle as they scrambled to get everything done at the fiftieth minute of the eleventh hour.
Debbie swore the the CEO's eyes were blazing, her face a maelstrom of raw emotion. The atmosphere in the command center quaked with fear as employees shrank away into dark corners, not daring to meet her gaze. Those closest to Steele felt the heat radiating off her wrathful screams.
No matter how terrified Debbie was of what lay ahead, nothing scared her quite as much as the figure cloaked in shadows standing silently in the corner of the room. His menacing grin seemed to promise salvation -- but they all knew better than to trust him. After almost a year of working with this monster, they were well aware that times had to be far beyond desperate for anyone to surrender to his authority.
**********
The World At Large
The countdown had reached 5 seconds and all of the world seemed to stop in it's tracks. Every screen, laptop, tablet and phone filled with anticipation as the new expansion logo illuminated, the thunderous echoes of hundreds of servers groaning under the load reverberating around the globe. Players flocked in droves, eyes wide in wonderment as they caught a glimpse of a man and werewolf locked in an epic battle - only to be defeated by a raccoon!
A collective gasp was heard around the world before fingers flew across keys and controllers alike as players logged into the new expansion, eagerness and excitement palpable in their actions. War Never Changes had changed once more, but this time something truly special seemed within arm's reach for all involved.
That was very the moment the servers came crashing down.