Merc: Excuse me, sir; do you have any fabric soft - hey, you work for Third Echelon, right?
Spy: Yeah - so that would make you a mercenary for Team Upsilon, then.
Merc:...
Spy: Boy, this is awkward... how's the neck?
Merc: Oh, it's fine. Except I can't feel my left elbow sometimes.
Spy: Sorry. Just doing my job.
Merc: Just what is your job, anyway?
Spy: Oh it's pretty standard spy stuff, really. We infiltrate your buildings in teams of three and hack your corporate computers for secrets.
Merc: Those Victoria's Secret files? Not mine.
Spy: Not those kind of secrets. Anyway, is that what the three of you Mercs are always looking at with your flashlights?
Merc: Very funny. We are looking for any of you would-be Hacky McGees - and if you get found, you get shot, buster.
Spy: You'll never see me in my black spy jumpsuit, anyway.
Merc: Is that what that fancy leotard thing is? I thought you were a ballerina or something.
Spy: Nope, standard issue. Cold wash only, though. You only make that mistake once.
Merc: I'll take my assault rifle any day. Magazine fed, full-auto capability with sniper scope... her name is Bertha.
Spy: You clearly have issues. We don't carry weapons.
Ex-Bethesda dev turned indie says "good things often happen by accident," like that time Skyrim players convinced themselves the RPG's foxes were leading them to treasure
Palworld dev says the studio went dark for months because "the team was getting burnt out from all the social media stuff, I was getting burnt out, our CEO was under attack in Japan"
Metaphor: ReFantazio had to dial back an early battle system inspired by a notoriously brutal 2003 JRPG, because 20 years later, players found it "irrational" and "just not fun"
