[ WP ] Year is 2029 and Blizzard decided to shutdown World of Warcraft by locking players out when a character of their own dies . You 're an alliance level 134 Mage making your last stand with a handful of other players in Stormwind when you hear a loud `` kek ''

A mage, in an expansion released four years ago. The updates stopped two years ago. I still remember the announcement. Numbers had been dropping, so they'd close the game with another game - you can play for as long as you can live. As soon as you die, your account is locked for good. 
 
 I was one of a few hundred left. Nobody had much fun playing anymore. Most people just wanted to wipe out the other faction. That was the game now. The servers were all merged as numbers dropped, and at this point, only a few guilds had more than a couple of members. 
 
 Nobody dared invade the capitals. They had always been suicide runs. Even if you had enough people to brute force your way through the city, people would die constantly. Healers would frantically combat resurrect to get just that bit more damage on the enemy faction's leader. But now those days were gone. So nobody invaded. They all valued their false lives too much. 
 
 Or did they? 
 
 One day this was proven false. Trade chat turned to roleplay mode. In a way they wanted this. The game was getting boring and kills were few and far between. If anyone was n't in Stormwind now, they would be soon. Most of a faction would be killed off today. 
 
 `` THE MAIN GATE HAS BEEN BREACHED, HOLD THE TRADE DISTRICT!'' 
 `` KUL'GASH REK! LOK'TAR OGAR!'' 
 
 The Horde flooded in. We were higher in number. Swords clashed. I mashed my buttons harder than I ever had before and I ever have since. I had n't even been back in the game for too long - I was only level 134 and was still in the denial phase of realising the great pruning. So suffice to say, I was n't putting out the best numbers. But I was fine. If I could still turn Horde scum into sheep, I was still contributing. I do recall one particular discussion. My shaman friend talked to me. 
 
 `` this is fun. but can we beat them?'' 
 `` ele has been op for three years, i do n't see why not now.'' 
 
 All was going well. We held the line. Warriors, warlocks, paladins, priests - these and more fell to us. We were winning. But there was one class we did not account for. 
 
... 
 
 `` Kek.'' 
 
... 
 
 Most thought nothing of it. Neither did I. It was just a Horde player who'd not died yet and was a bit big for his boots. But I saw his name. Stabuneck. A common rogue name, but... Looking... There we no rogues. 
 
 `` CAAETHIL!'' 
 
 My shaman friend, level 140, began burning down a rogue who had been stealthed behind me. But it would n't last. He was kicked. One ran and sapped me - there was nothing I could do. I could only watch from my monitor as my shaman friend was destroyed by a team of about six rogues. 
 
 Then they came for me. I was still distraught. My paladin friend, second best friend only to the shaman, saved me. He consecrated the ground and tanked the damage they took as others caught on to what was going down and focused the rogues. 
 
 But I did nothing. I was still lost in the stress. My shaman friend was gone. I had no contact with him outside of Warcraft. I made a stupid move then, one I still do n't quite understand. 
 
 I logged out and uninstalled. It happened so fast. I tried about a month later. The game only had a few stragglers left - the Horde won that day. But I had been in combat when I logged out, which meant that my character was still there to kill, without a player. That's what happened - that's how my character died. 
 
 

