I remember, and it seems like a distant memory... a young Serbian boy with no money to speak of, circa mid 2000s, playing the shittiest free mmos imaginable. Too stupid to know right from wrong, but enchanted by these seemingly vast worlds full of heroes like himself... The moment my starry eyes got a taste of sand as I destroyed the somewhat rare daggers while trying to upgrade them. A smooth-brained move perhaps, never did I figure I needed a safety net - this assurance that my weapons wouldn't break, a pricey item obtainable from auction houses... So we sat, my similarly unlucky comrades in arms and I, at the center of the pvp arena, like homeless crackheads when a slightly lower leveled ranger waltzed in and properly one tapped us into the beyond realm. It was a funny sight and our jaws dropped when this Legolas showed us his weapon - it wasn't the stuff of legends mind you, more of a shepherd's hunting bow used to ward off stray wolves, but the +15 enchantment on it made it hit like an m4. This ally of mine, inspired by this wayward seafood player, took it upon himself to upgrade his weapon as well; using super secret strats from farest reaches of the nets, this madman got his magic staff to +12, all raw no protections. There were tricks you see, unspoken of, if you stood at a particular spot in the arena, the right pixel, at the right time (very early in the morning while the server isn't as congested) you would defy the world's laws and get favor from Fortuna herself. Even as a young dumbfuck I couldn't fully believe it myself, the comrade clamored I try it out, I couldn't... So yours truly did the only natural responsible thing and let his friend do it instead; an assurance of my own that I could at least blame someone else if it fails. Like two peas in a pod we were, he'd never scram with my stuff... A recipe for disaster you may think, but a day later my daggers came back, imbued with a red aura. Never have my hands held such a powerful arm till then, and yet... they were only +10. My companion dared not test the threads of fate further, to lose a weapon so menacing and then have to bear the bad news...

Of course current knowledge and experience makes you realize the past wasn't as mystical as you believed, but it's still fun to reminisce! How we could be so dumb and gullible, at least games in the future would get better and not feature any of the same scumfuck mechanics!