I am shocked, appalled and amused at people who cannot do simple math.
I am not talking about complex algebra or calculus; just simple exercises of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. The last time I looked at such things, City of Heroes had a subscriber base of 130,000 users.
Perhaps a quarter of them would be on at any given time, and that is a very generous estimate. Of those, only a
smaller fraction would be playing on Virtue; though perhaps a slightly higher percentage, given the popularity of the server.
From there you could estimate that some 4,500 individuals had been caught up in whatever
the hell happened. That is 2,250 heroes and 2,250 villains; making the assumption that more heroes than villains were
logged on ; I would suspect that actual numbers slanted more towards the heroes in this regard. If those 4,500
individuals were exclusively in North America, they would represent one in approximately 118,000. That meant twelve
individuals in the National Capital Region of Canada. Seventy in New York City.
On a world scale this seems insignificant. Even
if you can bench press a car, throw an endless series of fireballs, or heal those around you by thinking happy thoughts.
The reality was far different. Though the
newswires were not yet abuzz with stories of comic book heroes and villains; there were enough reports of strange events to demonstrate that whatever had
happened, was already being felt, and on a scale much larger than the already generous estimate of 4,500 individuals.
While I cannot be sure; with the limited evidence that I have at hand, I hold a
hypothesis. Focus. Whatever happened keyed in to a particular
focus. Those playing on Virtue, really playing, were immersed in the idea of a character they were holding in their
mind; that imprint being then stamped in our reality. It would also explain why I could move beyond the mechanics of
the game. My mental image of Excalibastard included far more than the skill sets of a dual blade scrapper. That carried through to the new reality I was dealing with.
Perhaps it was not just those on Virtue Server at that moment.
Perhaps there were others whose mental image of, well something, had been imprinted on
the world.
That was a concerning thought.
There was another concerning though.
Why was I being attacked by demons?
Okay. I wasn't technically being attacked by
demons.
The museum was being attacked by demons.
I just happened to be there with my lovely wife.
Fuck.
I am not talking about complex algebra or calculus; just simple exercises of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. The last time I looked at such things, City of Heroes had a subscriber base of 130,000 users.
Perhaps a quarter of them would be on at any given time, and that is a very generous estimate. Of those, only a
smaller fraction would be playing on Virtue; though perhaps a slightly higher percentage, given the popularity of the server.
From there you could estimate that some 4,500 individuals had been caught up in whatever
the hell happened. That is 2,250 heroes and 2,250 villains; making the assumption that more heroes than villains were
logged on ; I would suspect that actual numbers slanted more towards the heroes in this regard. If those 4,500
individuals were exclusively in North America, they would represent one in approximately 118,000. That meant twelve
individuals in the National Capital Region of Canada. Seventy in New York City.
On a world scale this seems insignificant. Even
if you can bench press a car, throw an endless series of fireballs, or heal those around you by thinking happy thoughts.
The reality was far different. Though the
newswires were not yet abuzz with stories of comic book heroes and villains; there were enough reports of strange events to demonstrate that whatever had
happened, was already being felt, and on a scale much larger than the already generous estimate of 4,500 individuals.
While I cannot be sure; with the limited evidence that I have at hand, I hold a
hypothesis. Focus. Whatever happened keyed in to a particular
focus. Those playing on Virtue, really playing, were immersed in the idea of a character they were holding in their
mind; that imprint being then stamped in our reality. It would also explain why I could move beyond the mechanics of
the game. My mental image of Excalibastard included far more than the skill sets of a dual blade scrapper. That carried through to the new reality I was dealing with.
Perhaps it was not just those on Virtue Server at that moment.
Perhaps there were others whose mental image of, well something, had been imprinted on
the world.
That was a concerning thought.
There was another concerning though.
Why was I being attacked by demons?
Okay. I wasn't technically being attacked by
demons.
The museum was being attacked by demons.
I just happened to be there with my lovely wife.
Fuck.