History TearJerker / HypnospaceOutlaw

-->''"You could've become someone your mother was proud of. I'm sorry, Zane."''\\
''"Tiffany, I took your future away from you. Your little worlds delighted others; mine destroyed them. I'm sorry."''\\
''"Roddy, you might not buy this, but I considered you my best friend at the end there. My work consumed me and became me. People who weren't helping me build my masterpiece were invisible. Through all of it, you were always willing to come back and put up with my garbage, and God I wish you hadn't. I'm sorry."''\\
''"Rodney, your family came after us hard after the crash. They disgusted me. They smelled like body odor. Their clothes were stained, stretched out, and dirty. They wore flip-flops. They came all the way to San Francisco to our offices and we sent them away. I want you to know that if they're still around I am going to make it right. I'm sorry."''\\
''"Mavis - I'm sorry."''\\
''"I hope you're with your wife now, Carl. I'm sorry."''

-->''"You could've become someone your mother was proud of. I'm sorry, Zane."''
-->''"Tiffany, I took your future away from you. Your little worlds delighted others; mine destroyed them. I'm sorry."''
-->''"Roddy, you might not buy this, but I considered you my best friend at the end there. My work consumed me and became me. People who weren't helping me build my masterpiece were invisible. Through all of it, you were always willing to come back and put up with my garbage, and God I wish you hadn't. I'm sorry."''
-->''"Rodney, your family came after us hard after the crash. They disgusted me. They smelled like body odor. Their clothes were stained, stretched out, and dirty. They wore flip-flops. They came all the way to San Francisco to our offices and we sent them away. I want you to know that if they're still around I am going to make it right. I'm sorry."''
-->''"Mavis - I'm sorry."''
-->''"I hope you're with your wife now, Carl. I'm sorry."''

* During the game's final stretch, you can access the HAP Intranet in 2019. One of the pages lists the victims of the Mindcrash event. These include the {{Jerkass}} 15-year old Zane, a woman in a nursing home, Hypnospace programmer and pioneer of Axxelerator Roddy Wall, and Tiffany Wright... [[ILetGwenStacyDie Tim's internet friend, whom he had a crush on.]] This gets worse once you realize that Tim was in prison for six years for this, during which he had to grapple with the fact that he may have killed her by accident.

* Rodney Hooks is one of the unavoidable casualties of the Mindcrash. Rodney and his family are clearly very poor; Dylan describes his relatives as stinky, and dressed in dirty, stained, stretched clothing - something that didn't stop them from coming all the way to San Francisco to demand answers about Rodney's death. Why was Rodney on Hypnospace when the Mindcrash happened? He was participating in an "all-day Hypnospace challenge" with a monetary reward - a reward he was hoping would send his kids to college, helping them break out of the cycle of poverty. It's never made clear whether this challenge was legitimate, or just another prank. Dylan promises to 'make it right' in his apology note to Rodney, but two decades too late. Even if Dylan will be in any position to help them after the truth of the Mindcrash comes out, it's almost certainly too late for Rodney's kids.

* At the very end of the game, Dylan sends you, and the other members of the Hypnospace Archival Project, Outlaw v1.00. After twenty plus years, you finally get to play the game that Dylan destroyed Hypnospace and Microsoft for - and it's a memorial for the Hypnospace users [[TheDeadHaveNames who died in the Mindcrash]]. Each one you catch downloads a unique note to your desktop, personalized letters of apology to the Hypnospace citizens who died to Dylan's mistake. When you catch one, their car spins up into the sky, disintegrating into white light, as the log displays the message "[[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence USERNAME HAS ASCENDED]]".

** After Dylan sends you Outlaw v1.00, you have to "apprehend" the users [[TheDeadHaveNames who died in the Mindcrash]]. Each one downloads a unique note to your desktop when you catch them: personalized letters to the Hypnospace citizens who died to Dylan's mistake. In Tiff (and potentially Zane's} cases, he mourns the wonderful young people they could have become if he hadn't cut their lives short. To Rodney,Dylan describes how awful and crude Rod's poor, redneck family were when they met him... but admires the determination they had to hold him responsible for Rod's death, despite the vast socioeconomic discrepancy between them and him; he swears that he will use his resources to make things right, somehow.

** In Outlaw v1.00, you have to "apprehend" the users who were killed by Dylan. Each one downloads a unique note to your desktop when you catch them: personalized letters to his victims, apologizing and (in Tiff and Zane's cases) mourning the wonderful young people they could have become if he hadn't cut their lives short. Even to Rodney, the loudmouthed conspiracy theorist asshole, Dylan describes how awful and crude Rod's poor, redneck family were when they met him... but admires the determination they had to hold him responsible Rod's death, and swears that he will use his resources to make things right, somehow.

* Hypnospace Heaven is a poignant little corner of Hypnospace dedicated to older members who have lost loved ones or children. That's all it needs to be to be quietly heartbreaking, with a hefty dose of AdultFear that will probably hit home that much harder for anyone old enough to appreciate the game's nostalgic vibes. From Carl Parker's tribute to his wife, Lisa, to Abigail Lorne's tribute to her husband and daughter, it's enough to make anyone appreciate how much it hurts to lose a loved one.

** Tim Stevens takes the blame for what happens due to his poorly-timed prank being seen as the cause of it. He is charged for murders, including the death of his beloved Tiffany, and spends the next couple of years wracked with guilt over it. His profile on the archiving project says as much.

* The fall of Coolfest '99. The event was apparently a massive disaster that killed the movement for good, but special mention goes to how Chowder Man tried to make it his comeback. A mishap with a helicopter ended with fans injured, one of his legs gone, and his drummer dead. This tragedy was so bad that The Dumpster can't even bring themselves to joke about it and refuse to focus on it for long. He would later go on to sorrowfully [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxsgSB6TbrU write a song about this.]] You can ''hear'' how crushed the guy is.

* The fall of Coolfest '99. The event was apparently a massive disaster that killed the movement for good, but special mention goes to how Chowder Man tried to make it his comeback. A mishap with a helicopter ended with fans injured, one of his legs gone, and his drummer dead. This tragedy was so bad that The Dumpster can't even bring themselves to joke about it and refuse to focus on it for long. He would later go on to sorrowfully write a song about this.

** In Outlaw v1.00, you have to “apprehend” the users who were killed by Dylan. Each one downloads a unique note to your desktop when you catch them: personalized letters to his victims, apologizing and (in Tiff and Zane's cases) mourning the wonderful young people they could have become if he hadn't cut their lives short. Even to Rodney, the loudmouthed conspiracy theorist asshole, Dylan describes how awful and crude Rod's poor, redneck family were when they met him... but admires the determination they had to hold him responsible Rod's death, and swears that he will use his resources to make things right, somehow.

* Investigating Sherri and [[spoiler:getting her banned. Sure, she's got a shady business that is asking for real money, but after reporting on her the first time and coming back to her, she begs the enforcers not to take her down since she does this to pay rent. What's even worse is knowing that Gus has fallen in love with her and set up an entire marriage proposal using an elaborate Hypnospace page. At that point, if you've reported her again, she'll never see it and Gus will have no idea. ''[[FromBadtoWorse Then]]'' there's the fact that this proposal happens shortly before the infamous Mindcrash...]]

* The final part of the third act, [[spoiler:also known as the Mindcrash. The event breaks the system of the headband, and several people end up injured with some people even ''dead''. You can try to save some by getting them banned, but there will inevitably be people who die from this and there's nothing that you can do about it.]]
** Tim [[spoiler:Stevens takes the blame for what happens due to his poorly-timed prank being seen as the cause of it. He is charged for murders, including the death of his beloved Tiffany, and spends the next couple of years wracked with guilt over it. His profile on the archiving project says as much.]]
** A bit of FridgeHorror comes from [[spoiler:Roddy Wall being one of the victims. He had been fired from his job at Merchantsoft for helping his friends of The Freelands. Despite this, he apparently still kept the headband and continued to use it even after his friends left for their competitor. Whether it be due to him still having respect for Merchansoft and his friends there, a continued interest in Hypnospace or one last use before leaving the community, he ends up dead due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dylan is broken up by his death.]]
* During the game's final stretch, [[spoiler:you can access the HAP Intranet in 2019. One of the pages lists the victims of the Mindcrash event. These include the {{Jerkass}} 15-year old Zane, a woman in a nursing home, Hypnospace programmer and pioneer of Axxelerator Roddy Wall, and Tiffany Wright... [[ILetGwenStacyDie Tim's internet friend, whom he had a crush on.]]]] This gets worse once you realize that [[spoiler: Tim was in prison for six years for this, during which he had to grapple with the fact that he may have killed her by accident.]]
** [[spoiler:In Outlaw v1.00, you have to “apprehend” the users who were killed by Dylan. Each one downloads a unique note to your desktop when you catch them: personalized letters to his victims, apologizing and (in Tiff and Zane's cases) mourning the wonderful young people they could have become if he hadn't cut their lives short. Even to Rodney, the loudmouthed conspiracy theorist asshole, Dylan describes how awful and crude Rod's poor, redneck family were when they met him... but admires the determination they had to hold him responsible Rod's death, and swears that he will use his resources to make things right, somehow.]]
* The whole game can feel this way for older players. Its portrayal of late 90s internet is spot on enough to be funny, but there's an undercurrent of wistful nostalgia that anyone who experienced that era of the web can probably relate to. [[spoiler:Especially in the later sections of the game, where Hypnospace is completely abandoned, but still preserved in a bittersweet time capsule, not unlike the Geocities and Angelfire fan pages of the real world.]]

* Investigating Sherri and [[spoiler:getting her banned. Sure, she's got a shady business that is asking for real money, but after reporting on her the first time and coming back to her, she begs the enforcers not to take her down since she does this to pay rent. What's even worse is knowing that Gus has fallen in love with her and set up an entire marriage proposal using an elaborate Hypnospace page. At that point, if you've reported her again, she'll never see it and Gus will have no idea. ''[[FromBadtoWorse Then]]'' there's the fact that this proposal happens shortly before the infamous mindcrash...]]

* The whole game can feel this way for older players. Its portrayal of late 90s internet is spot on enough to be funny, but there's an undercurrent of wistful nostalgia that anyone who experienced that era of the web can probably relate to. [[spoiler:Especially in the later sections of the game, where Hypnospace is completely abandoned, but still preserved in a bittersweet time capsule, not unlike the Geocities and Angelfire fan pages of the real world.]]

* During the game's final stretch, [[spoiler:you can access the HAP Intranet in 2019. One of the pages lists the victims of the Mindcrash event. These include the {{Jerkass}} 15-year old Zane, a woman in a nursing home, Hypnospace programmer and pioneer of Axxelerator Randy Wall, and Tiffany Wright... [[ILetGwenStacyDie Tim's internet friend, whom he had a crush on.]]]] This gets worse once you realize that [[spoiler: Tim was in prison for six years for this, during which he had to grapple with the fact that he may have killed her by accident.]]

* The fall of Coolfest '99. The even was apparently a massive disaster that killed the movement for good, but special mention goes to how Chowder Man tried to make it his comeback. A mishap with a helicopter ended with fans injured, one of his legs gone, and his drummer dead. This tragedy was so bad that The Dumpster can't even bring themselves to joke about it and refuse to focus on it for long. He would later go on to sorrowfully write a song about this.

* The fall of Coolfest '99. The even was apparently a massive disaster that killed the movement for good, but special mention goes to how Chowder Man tried to make it his comeback. A mishap with a helicopter ended with fans injured, one of his legs gone, and his drummer dead. He would later go on to sorrowfully write a song about this.

* During the game's final stretch, [[spoiler: you can access the HAP Intranet in 2019. One of the pages lists the victims of the Mindcrash event. These include the {{Jerkass}} 15-year old Zane, a woman in a nursing home, Hypnospace programmer and pioneer of Axxelerator Randy Wall, and Tiffany Wright... [[ILetGwenStacyDie Tim's internet friend, whom he had a crush on.]]]] This gets worse once you realize that [[spoiler: Tim was in prison for six years for this, during which he had to grapple with the fact that he may have killed her by accident.]]

** The whole game can feel this way for older players. Its portrayal of late 90s internet is spot on enough to be funny, but there's an undercurrent of wistful nostalgia that anyone who experienced that era of the web can probably relate to. [[spoiler:Especially in the later sections of the game, where Hypnospace is completely abandoned, but still preserved in a bittersweet time capsule, not unlike the Geocities and Angelfire fan pages of the real world.]]