ABANDONED. Short story: virtual game of world domination

[Jayner]

I think this was a game that was so popular news/sports reports followed its progress.

One guy after years of patient strategy was within weeks of taking control and establishing a global peace, when some spoiler wrecks his plan, without achieving anything for himself!
A broken man, he seeks out the spoiler who delivers a long speech about the world wasn't meant to be in stasis/progress comes from conflict, or something like that. I suppose it was a nihilist rationale.

I read this probaby a couple of decades ago before things like Second Life existed. Reminded of it as I have recently started playing an online game where you build villages/form alliances etc.

Bit of a long shot this one, but I thought I would give it a go...

[Kathy]

I've *read* that story, but I'm blanking on identifying information. I just got access to most of my short story books, though, and I'll see if it's in one of those. Unfortunately, I've borrowed some short story compendiums from the library as well, but maybe we'll be lucky and it'll be in one of the ones I own.

[Jayner]

Thank you Kathy!

I was well into sci-fi at that time, so it was probably in a book of sci-fi short stories. I didn't much like short stories (still don't), but I remember that I exhausted my local library's stock of John Wyndham and Arthur C Clarke, and had to move on to the collections of short stories! lol

[Bryan457]

There is a very similar storyline within The Worthing Saga. There is a sim type game in which someone has managed to create a society of global peace and prosperity. The player goes into suspended animation and comes out every few years to check up on the game, or he can be awakened in an emergency. A spoiler takes over somehow, maybe buys, the ability to make changes to this players game account or society, and starts to systematically make changes that destroy the peace and bring about its destruction. The original guy meets with the spoiler to ask him why he is doing this. I don't remember the answer, but the spoiler eventually gets into a position to use the knowledge he has gained in the real world. He runs for government office, like president.

[Bryan457]

After a bit of research, I remembered that one of the reasons I disliked The Worthing Saga was because it is a book of short stories. One of the stories is called "Breaking the Game."
The wikepedia article on it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking...) says, "Herman Nuber has just woken up from a state of suspended animation brought on by the fictional drug Somec and is looking forward to returning to his virtual world conquest game. Unfortunately for him his position is being played by someone else and that person doesn't want to sell it for any price. When he discovers how poorly the person is playing he gets desperate and arranged to meet the other player. He is shocked to discover that the other player is his own grandson Abner Doon. During the conversation Abner tells Herman that he is going to completely destroy his position. After his position is destroyed, Herman meets with Abner again and learns that he plans on doing the same thing to the empire in the real world."

[Bryan457]

Looks like the person who posted this, Jayner was last active in Sept. 2008.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

lol, but Bryan--at least its probably "solved" now--even if Jayner doesn't ever come back and check. :o)

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Jayner, are you still looking for this short story? As Bryan457 noted, Jayner hasn't been active since 2008.