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1* From the Cracked.com list "[[http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-most-elaborate-dick-moves-in-online-gaming-history_p2/ The 7 Most Elaborate Dick Moves in Online Gaming History]]," #3: The Shard Vigil (of Harry). What follows is the account of the so-called "Defenders of the Shard".
2** "Turbine ran a year-long story triggered by players shattering precious crystals, because chasing shiny objects and killing things are all MMO gamers ever do. Unless you want them to in which case they'll do the exact opposite. The "Defenders of the Shard" set up camp around the sixth and final crystal, the Shard of the Herald, the prison of Bael' Zhaeron, Hopeslayer, and nicknamed it Harry. Twenty-four hours a day they defended it against other players and sacrificed themselves to it, because Asheron's Call monsters can level up by killing players. The Harry Krishnas impaled themselves on His Spikiness until He was practically invincible. '''This one group was holding up the next update for every server of the entire game.''' The developers had to step in, and in the awesome manner of movie bad guys they stepped down to fight the players on their own level. Instead of simply rewriting the crystal as gone, they appeared in-game as mythical characters and called two high-level players to join their attack. These players had completed an earlier quest making them indebted to the story's cause but, brilliantly, one had already defected and was now a Disciple of Harry. The admins donned their epic weapons, sallied forth and got their asses kicked. They were killed by their own players in a world they'd built, making this officially a science-fiction movie. Twenty Turbine staff watching on a break-room screen were treated to players jumping up and down on the admin's corpses. Because Asheron's Call doesn't have a crouch button. Worse, Harry had resisted command level instructions to power down. The staff joked that He had attained sentience. Understand: If a computer program ever escapes and kills us it won't be because of the military, it'll be because gamers trained it to. The staff tried again. And again. They got third time lucky in their own game, and instead of banning people they paid tribute to their valiant foes. The Thistledown server got a unique monument, the "Shard Vigil Memorial," honoring the players who had kicked the company's ass for so long."

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