Think fast: the world will end in 60 seconds. Do you commit suicide, stay conscious until the very end, or log off before you're forced to log off, going silent on your own terms?
That was the decision facing players of Asheron's Call 2. The failed massively multiplayer game just closed forever, right on schedule.
Reading Ellen Ripley's account of the end of her avatar's world, we can't help but feel empathy for her and for all of the other players who had carved out identities for themselves in the game. In the final moments of the world, players gathered on a hilltop to watch the final sunset and chatted with each other:
Clavius I: people are crying : (
Lostalot: this is so sad I can't stand it"
Auntanua: I know, I
will probably cry too in the end. It's ok.
Momm: i can barely see for the tears
Image above shows avatars popping out of existence for the last time. Photo by Ellen Ripley.
[Via Collision Detection]
