We are good people zombies.

Left 4 dead is a great online, multi-player co-op, first-person shooter set in a zombie apocalypse. The tension from moment to moment is visceral; I have never been so immersed in the game world before. My (over)use of voice communication might be part of the reason for my fervent, often irate, involvement. Yelling at people online presents otherwise inaccessible insight into gamer psychology. My own included, of course.

But let's talk about other psyches. On the No Mercy campaign, which follows the survivors' escape from street-level start to helipad-atop-a-hospital finish, there is a sequence where you have to activate an event and fight off a horde of zombies. BUT, the ever-diligent crowd of gamers found that they could skip this event completely with a tempting exploit. In Versus mode, you take turns doing the same scenario. My team went first and we decided not to exploit and play it fair, fighting off the horde. Their turn. They started trying the exploit. I tried guilting them into playing it the same way we did. Surprisingly (or not?) it was easy to guilt them into doing the right thing and playing legitimately. ("How?" you might not be asking. I took the low road and called them "pussies" and more boorishly "VAGINAS." Sexist, but on the Internet it is ridiculously practical and effective to get the guilt stream going.) Their team shortly died after they started playing fair. Awesome.

I had to explain the basics of the game to make that story work. But that story didn't really work, since I came off sexist and glib, instead of profoundly observant and hopeful for humanity.

I aim high and shoot myself in the foot.