[center][h1]~Poor Habits~[/h1][/center]

I took a hand to my beard and scratched it, pondering on Totsurugi’s words.

[color=#68BCDD]“I guess that is a good point. There’s so much to pick, but only so much time one can really explore it. In fact, when one starts there’s no way to even know all the options or to really get a grasp on what you could find. Defeat the bosses in a certain order and you might get a whole class with an entirely different set of skills, it would be pretty hard to keep up with that.”[/color] For someone like me, picking out the things that fit my strategy or theme as they came, it didn’t seem like a big deal, but I couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of headaches those really competitive players in those high-up guilds even went through, probably, trying to keep up with all the new things that were constantly being discovered, and all those millions of different little interactions each ability could have in the game. The balance of the game was also pretty out of whack, but it wasn’t like the choices were bad, plus it was all kind of overshadowed by the focus on glitches of high-level play, cheats and counter-cheats if you will. Nonetheless… [color=#68BCDD]“It’s definitely a matter to take into consideration. I don’t think one should get rid of this ability to find new skills and abilities by exploring the game, but perhaps it should be less uhm...prominent? Less extensive? Something like that?”[/color]

Our little chat had to end momentarily as we entered the store. My later question seemed to prompt Totsurugi to stop and think for just a bit, before explaining his conclusion that she was looking for some manner of manual on how to defeat the other quest’s foe. I grinned and nodded.

[color=#68BCDD]“Yep, that’s exactly right! That was some good thinking! Much better than a certain fellow who had to look it up online…”[/color] I slowly looked away as my grin grew a little faulty from embarrassment. Even after my little cheating, I still remembered taking quite a bit of time with the whole mini-game in my attempt to track down the book, but it seemed as though Totsurugi had a different thought. I raised an eyebrow as I approached and leaned over her, while her hands fiddled with the insides of the drawers as though they were palping through mud in search of a quarter. I whistled when she “bumped into” the book she was searching for, followed by a small clap from me. [color=#68BCDD]“Hahaha, I’d never have thought of that! But ya kinda lucked out this time. You should be careful Totsu, you never know what kind of glitch might show up. Sometimes they only happen for very specific reasons, others are more persistent. Players take advantage of the later all the time, but if you go searching for new ones, you could get stuck on infinite dying loops, or your character could start bugging out, there’s even been players who tried to play with bugs only to find they were botched hacking attempts that connected to their devices instead as a result.”[/color]

A moment of awkward silence followed that small exchange, fortunately broken by Totsurugi’s inquiry on my personal life, and my ramble. Even she seemed to have caught on to that bad habit of mine. She chuckled too, reminding me of a certain someone.

[color=#68BCDD]“I really should get it under control, shouldn’t I? My daughter used to make fun of me for it all the time too. I just can’t help it though, the thoughts and the worries just flood in one after the other, like I hope she’s ok, it would be nice if she hadn’t gotten involve with any more nasty people like that one bast- Ah, uh, nevermind. Not an appropriate train of thought right now…”[/color]

I sighed. 

[color=#68BCDD]“In any case you’re right. We need to get those thoughts behind us. So, what do you say we get a move on? What’s done is done, but we can still make a better job in whatever we do come tomorrow, whichever kind of tomorrow it may turn out to be in the end.”[/color]

[color=#68BCDD]“Well, I can’t really tell you [i]everything[/i]. I trust you, I really do, but you never know, right? Like you could be hacked or someone might be listen in or you might end up trusting someone with it whom you shouldn’t. If you’d still listen I’d be happy to share some of it, but not all of it, not until I get a more solid deal underway that I can be sure won’t be lost to half-assed plagiarism, get what I mean?”[/color] I raised a finger and waved it around a bit as I talked, then I looked up and scratched my beard again. [color=#68BCDD]“Now, for the sample, I suppose the logical place to start would be what my project even is or something along those lines, right? So, uh, here goes nothing: I’m working on a VRMMORPG. Actually, it may be more accurate to say I’m designing it. It’s been a hassle, having to deal with those back and forths with the assigned programmer. It’s like one of those public lawyers who for whatever reason barely seem to do their job because they are just assigned as the “option you take if you can’t afford anything better”. You know what I mean? Anyways, I was thinking about this system where you pick classes and as the classes get stronger you can pick between abilities the classes could get, each letting you tap into a different playstyle of the class’s core mechanics. I’ve got some in mind already, races too. I was thinking the races could maybe level up too, or at least get some sort of evolution… But I don’t know how I could implement that yet. What is your first impression, just hearing that? I guess compared to this it probably seems like a really small thing, doesn’t it? Maybe boring or unimaginative even… Maybe my job’s routine is getting to me… all those assignments, always the same thing over and over again, and then I come home, and my wife is…”[/color]