Dylan sat at his computer and munched down on a bag of chips. The crunchy snack was the last of his ordered dinner, a sandwich combo from Joe's Diner, the local place down the street. He liked stopping there after stressful days at work. The owner Joe made a an Italian sandwich, Dylan's favorite stress relief al. Recently Dylan had been seeing more of Joe. The architecture firm he worked for downtown had snagged a huge contract for the city's revitalization project and the whole place had been put hard to work designing and contracting.
But that was work stuff. Dylan was ho now and work was behind him. Right now he was enjoying the rest of his day, the interview with Arthur Jovanovich playing on his second monitor. He had been following the ga for a while, ever since Vert had announced the ga on their website. He crunched down on a chip as Arthur premiered a gaplay video.
The premise of the ga imdiately interested him. An open-world MMO where people played as superheroes with freedom of choice sounded like an amazing idea. And sure, if the idea wasn't executed correctly the ga would be terrible, but Dylan believed Vert would deliver. There was also the fact it was a superhero MMO.
Of course, anyone who knew Dylan could tell you the superhero part is what interested him. An entire wall in his bedroom was lined with posters and comics of superheroes from every genre. He had old comics from every age: The Golden age, the Silver age, the Bronze age, all of them. Each comic was packed into a clear plastic casing to prevent dust buildup while still open so he could read them. Bookshelves lined the wall perpendicular, filled with more comics and organized by volu.
Most of Dylan's extra inco went into purchasing these collections of comics and paraphernalia. After that, he'd buy gas that caught his eye and anything leftover got stuck in a savings account. Most would say his idea of personal finance was backward but Dylan believed in living life to its fullest. Saving up to enjoy his life when he was about to kick the bucket wasn't his style.
The Netchat on his computer pinged with a ssage.
xXxDemonSlayerxXx:
Dude did you see the Vert interview at the gas expo!
It was his friend John. The two had known each other since high school. Both had joined the gas club at their school, which turned out to be a club for board gas. John and Dylan were the only two who played online gas and had hit it off, sharing their IDs.
Superfan39526:
Uh, duh? You think I'd miss sothing like that?
xXxDemonSlayerxXx:
I an you said work was pushing you so I dunno
But
My god
That announcent
Superfan39526:
I know!
That video was so sweet. The graphics look so good.
xXxDemonSlayerxXx:
Not that!
The one where you can get paid to play videogas!
Superfan39526:
Oh
Yeah I saw that
Not really interested.
And it was true. Dylan liked his current job, despite how busy he was at the mont. He made good money, enough to live with plenty of cash to spare. So he saw no need to treat World of Supers as a job.
xXxDemonSlayerxXx:
NOT INTERESTED
YOU COULD GET PAID TO PLAY VIDEOGAS
THATS LIKE
EVERYTHING I WANTED AS A KID
Superfan39526:
Yeah, but I got a good job.
xXxDemonSlayerxXx:
BUT GETTING PAID TO PLAY GAS
Superfan39526:
Well you'll have one less competitor then
John was obviously excited about the announcent and he'd always wanted to work with gas. Unfortunately, the world wasn't so kind to John. The man had been trying for years to join any ga studio but had been turned down. So John worked as an IT specialist instead.
But for Dylan gaming was a hobby. He knew if he took the ga seriously he'd end up hating everything he loved about gas. He enjoyed the feeling he got pretending to be the hero or villain and imrsing himself in the story. He lost himself in the imagined worlds and tried to build his characters to match the strengths and flaws he gave them.
Not John. His friend was the type to min-max. Dylan rembered one ti when they were trying out a new MOBA. John had found guides and researched all the chanics while Dylan just jumped into the tutorial. In the first ga, Dylan had picked a support character but had been assigned a damage role. John had yelled at him the entire ga, going on about the correct build for the character, why they sucked as a carry, and how Dylan should be playing his character differently.
But that was John, the man was a full-on ta slave. Dylan liked trying new things, even if they weren't the most optimal. He played DPS characters as supports or combined two skills that were never ant to work together. Ninety-nine percent of the ti his experints ended in catastrophic failure. But that one percent success was too good to pass up.
xXxDemonSlayerxXx:
So you going hero or villain first?
Dylan thought about it. From what he read the heroes' headquarters was stationed on a moon base and an AI would issue quests. Heroes could also go solo and make their own way but wouldn't have access to the sa perks. Villains could do sothing similar. Start as a henchman for a cri boss and work your way up or go at it on your own.
All the options sounded fun and Dylan was sure that he'd play every type at so point. But a certain villain trope had been worming its way into his mind recently. It was sothing he didn't see outside of children's cartoons or codies, mostly because popular culture had made the relatable villain popular. He was thinking of the pure evil type of villain. Evil for evil's sake and charismatic from sheer confidence.
Superfan39526:
I'm thinking villain
Go at it solo for the first character
xXxDemonSlayerxXx:
What no way you need that support network.
Look I've been reading all the spoilers and leaks
They all say you want the support network if you want to reach the end ga content fast
You'll get free powerups and gadgets for working with them
Going solo ans you gotta get it all yourself and that ans slower leveling which ans you won't get noticed by Vert for the job
Superfan39526:
I said I didn't care about the job.
xXxDemonSlayerxXx:
Sure you don't
Look I'm going hero first, plan to work under the big NPC heroes as a sidekick
Gonna get a lot of free stuff quick and then make a betrayal to beco a villain
That's gonna get noticed for sure
Dylan rolled his eyes. No doubt John had taken the idea from one of the top comnts, which ant he and hundreds of others would try the plan. But he also knew John wouldn't let the conversation drop unless he admitted sothing.
Superfan39526:
Alright I'll start under a cri lord as a henchman then.
He didn't have to start as a galomaniac. He could be so cri lord's shadowy right hand. That could be fun.
He dismissed the idea as he thought of it. It wasn't like he didn't like the character trope, but it felt so mundane. He'd imagined playing as a mad scientist coming out with deadly inventions that threatened the very fabric of the universe. He could see it now. He'd laugh maniacally as a ragtag group of heroes fought their way past his deathbots and into his lair. There he would square off against his foes and defeat them in a blaze of glory! As the heroes lay defeated he would gloat about his perfect plan and then unleash his terror! The universe would be his!
Sothing felt off about that statent, but Dylan couldn't put his finger on it. He reached into his bag of chips for so brain fuel but ca up empty. He'd eaten the last of them in his chat with John. Grumbling, Dylan went to his kitchen to grab an apple or sothing.
He ca back to an advertisent on his computer. The gas expo had finished the last of its interview with Arthur and was showing off a kid's phone ga. It was one of those simple gas where you would match three colored shapes to score points. The twist on this one was an evil-looking man stood at the top cackling manically. The villain dropped the colored shapes which turned out to be bombs. If you matched enough shapes the bombs exploded early, match enough and the bombs would blow up in the villains face.
That's what he was missing! The villain was supposed to lose. He couldn't be a suprely evil villain out to destroy the universe and succeed with it. But that did change so of his ideas. He couldn't play a competent evil villain if he had to lose the fight. That left the competent villain who was beaten by his hubris or the bungling villain who was a threat but constantly stopped.
The question for Dylan was which sounded more fun. The hubristic villain had style, their presence filled a room. The most charismatic villains were this type. But the problem with these villains is that they were a one-ti thing. These antagonists were so caught up in their grand sche that it couldn't possibly fail. So when it did they tended to go down with the ship.
The bungling villain didn't have that problem, but they were designed for children's television. These villains might be confident, but their sches would never work correctly. Their inventions would have random effects and backfire on them in the end. Of course, the villain would always be back again next week with so harebrained sche.
He liked parts of both villains. He wanted to be this overly confident, self-assured character who grabbed a room with their presence. But he also wanted to keep playing the character if his plans failed. He knew his pride wouldn't let him continue playing the hubristic villain if he failed a sche. Though he didn't want to go full bungling villain either. The absurd plans sounded exciting and fun but he didn't want to lose every sche. So had to be a little bit successful or he'd get bored.
Maybe he could combine the two? Have all the confidence and all the wacky ideas together. Yeah. Who cares if one sche didn't work when you have twenty more ready to go, all equally able to take over the world. He could even have so fail on purpose in order to make his successes that much better.
An image was coming into Dylan's head now. A villain who would take over the world interestingly. Sure, he could try world domination with mind control, or giant robots. But what if he instead used mind-controlled giant robots! He'd have to ask for mad science as his first power, as it was the only powerset he knew that allowed for a wide array of sches.
He turned towards his wall of comics. Yes, he'd combine the personalities of his favorite dastardly villains and add the charisma needed for people to treat them as a threat. Images of a tall man dressed in a suit and sporting a curved mustache ford in his head. The combination of all his favorites put into one character. Dylan couldn't wait for the ga to release.
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