HIGH COURT BUILDINGS
Conscience Square
Mindcester
3rd September 2015

Day two in The case of Ulda Versus the State of Mind - The Trial

Judge Rt Hon Ruthless Conscience Presiding

""All rise"" The Bailiff makes a quick look to confirm that they are.......

The hanging judge makes an unhurried entrance. An air almost of majesty conveys his authority to the assembled in his court. He sits with a grace unexpected of his large frame. The Bailiff bids the assembled to be seated. Before the judge sits the Defence at one desk and Prosecution at another. To the left of the judge a separate bench of two tiers contains twelve fidgeting men some whispering and checking the time. At the back a raised dock faces the judge and in it sits the Defendant, Ulda and her clearly nervous user, Rick. She is slightly hunched and sensing her mood, Rick shifts his stool a little until his shoulder presses lightly against her arm. He whispers " It's gonna be alright hon".

The Bailiff speaks in a forceful tone, but without shouting " Silence please, the court is now in session" a loud crack from the judges gavel punctuates the statement and a heavy silence descends.

Judge Conscience makes his opening remarks and instructs the Jury " This is a most unusual case, not least because I act in my impartial capacity on behalf of the user, who by contrast also supports the accused. You must also bear in mind that any witness called will in fact also be a representative aspect of the user and whilst aspects will respond from the required point of view, oaths will not be necessary . You are not required to consider the validity of any presented evidence, merely its applicability.

The Judge without blinking turns to look down at the Prosecutor " You may deliver your Opening Statement"

" Thank you M'Lud" the slim, confident brief rises from his table and takes to the floor. He take a few slow deliberate steps toward the Jurors bench whilst seemingly admiring his own shoes, stops and looks up. He surveys the seated twelve good common senses and true for a few seconds then begins........
" We assemble in this metaphorical mental recess good people of the jury, for one purpose only. To decide if by being re-loaded after death, the Defendant committed the crime of which she is accused. That being to still be alive in a Dead is Dead gameplay after being fatally shot. Well......" He gives a sarcastic chuckle and looks at Ulda. " she clearly is". He begins to slowly walk away, but speaks loudly in measured tones " You will hear her defence claim various mitigations. He will cite no doubt her good character and unswerving loyalty to her User. He will try to convince you that the 'Dead is Dead' style does have limitations to its application and of course all of that is true." He pivots around suddenly and fixes a stare that seems to bore into each Juror personally. " However, I will show you that such mitigations, whilst they exist, can not possibly apply to the defendant and she is simply breaking the rules". He turns his head slowly toward Ulda and his mouth takes on a snear. Raising a pointed finger to the beautiful blond Nord woman in the Dock he finishes his remarks " I will prove that this pretentious sack of criminal code does not deserve to live a moment longer"
Judge Conscience " your overstepping your bounds Mr Prosecutor, I will decide the Defendant's fate IF she is found guilty. If you have finished please return to your seat"
Prosecution " I beg your pardon M'Lud" he gives a respectful nod and sits quietly.

Judge Conscience " Mr Defence please proceed with your Opening Statement"

Brief for the Defence " Thank you your Honour". He stands and secures his single jacket button with one hand.
" The defendant, Ulda, is indeed a paragon of loyalty to Rick and that shouldn't be surprising since they practically form a single entity during gameplay". A few of the jurors give slight nods and smiles as they are in a position to understand that well. " As to her character being good or otherwise, that is not the issue here today. I will as my learned friend suggests aim to prove that the circumstances of her tragic death were falsely arranged and she absolutely deserves a full reprieve from the consequences of her action, both then and for any future repeat of that same action. Thank you". He returns to his desk and gives a sly smirk to the Prosecutor who returns a hard stare.

The Prosecutor rises. "I'd like to call the witness for the prosecution". An aspect of Rick is ushered into the court and takes his seat in the witness box. " Rick, please explain concisely for the court the circumstances surrounding Ulda's death from the moment of entering the fateful loaded cell."
Aspect of Rick. " Yes of course. We entered the Dawnstar Sanctuary during the Dark Brotherhood quest ' the cure for Madness'. The game antagonist 'Cicero' was laughing manically as a disembodied voice. As we proceeded through a door, a Sanctuary Guardian materialised and flew at me weapon raised. I raised my Dragon Plate shield and shouted Marked for Death to weaken the opponent before ending him with rapid slashing of my Dragonbone dagger. We then came to a wooden rope bridge. Metal spears were thrusting across the bridge, so we stopped to consider the trap. Suddenly at the far end of the short bridge another Sanctuary Guardian walked into view. He soon spotted us and drew his bow. I switched my shield for the once per day power 'Spectoral Assassin' as the spell fired so did the Sanctuary Guardian. His arrow pierced Ulda full in the chest. She was dead before she hit the floor and a kill cam death animation played out. After that a reload was automatically effected."
Mr. Prosecutor " Thank you Rick for that clear account. For the benefit of the Jury please explain the terms I and we as relating to the defendant"
Rick " Well, during play, because I control Ulda's actions the terms are synonymous and interchangeable "
Mr Prosecutor " I see, now this switching out of the shield. Would that not greatly reduce the afforded protection"
Rick "well yes a fair bit I suppose"
Mr. Prosecutor " I understand that in subsequent tests you found the Guardians to be powerful adversaries, correct? Powerful enough to ensure a single shot would in fact be fatal, is that not so"
Defence interjects " Objection Your Honour my learned friend is leading the witness"
Judge Conscience " Yes. Mr. prosecutor please refrain from placing assumptions"
The prosecutor faces the judge "Apologies M'Lud". Then returns to Rick "powerful never the less"
Rick " Yes, but the degree of danger was not fully appreciated until the umm accident"
Prosecutor " so your actions took less than the fullest account of possible and unknown danger......some might call that negligent or perhaps even careless" he smiles at the intently listening jurors. " I have no further questions your Honour"
Judge Conscience scribbles a few hasty lines on his papers " Mr. Defender, do you wish to cross examin" and peers over his bench at the brief, who takes to the floor.
"Thank you your Honour" he takes a slow stroll to the witness stand.
" Rick. Would you state for the court the Armour Rating of that shield"
Rick responds " um about 105"
"About 105, quite substantial then, but how much did lowering that shield affect the overall Armour Rating?"
Rick " not tremendously so......um about 20 % I'd say. Not enough to drop far below the Armour Cap
Defence " Would it be fair to say that an Armour Rating of let us say 430 would be expected to be sufficient?"
Rick " Well not on its own perhaps, but Ulda's health was 620, so yes!"
Defence "so not perhaps negligent after all.......no further questions for this witness Your Honour"

Judge Conscience looks to the aspect of Rick " Thank you, you may step down." Then continues "Mr Defender do you wish to call a witness for the defence "
"I do Your Honour". The Defenders aspect of Rick is ushered in and takes to the stand. In the Dock, Rick tilts his head sideways close to Ulda and whispers whilst looking ahead " He's our guy, it all hinges on him"

The Brief for the Defence approaches the aspect of Rick with a smile. " The court has heard that an Armour Rating 430 combined with a health of 620 should be sufficient to withstand the damage delt by a Sanctuary Guardian's arrow. Would you please elucidate for the court why this should be so?"
Rick "Certainly. The Guardian's are in fact little more than Forsworn Ravagers re-textured for visual effect. It is known that they share the same skill sets and perks. Their maximum damage delivery would, after allowing for all multipliers and the Extra Damage Perk, be sufficient to penetrate Ulda,s armour inflicting damage capable of taking barely half of her available health."
The Defender "So if I may clarify for the court......the Guardian should be incapable of killing Ulda...Correct?"
Rick "Yes"
The Defender "Explain if you would this term 'Extra Damage Perk' "
Rick " It is a randomly applied multiplier which may be awarded to an enemy character which boosts their killing ability. It is umm, invisible to the user"
Defender " Invisible to the user" he raises his eyebrows as he turns to the jury. "So Ulda's user, Rick, would not have known that she was facing a far more powerful than normally possible adversary"
Rick " Well, IF it were applied then no. He would not, and unfortunately we can't know after the event because it may not be applied upon a reload."
The Defender "That would seem somewhat unfair" he throws up his arms in mock frustration. Then continues "But in any event, applied or not the Guardian somehow delivered even more damage than that would allow. Is there any other mechanism to your knowledge that might allow such a devastating damage to be brought to bare upon an unsuspecting character?"
Rick " well there's always the glitch or bug or coding error possibility"
Defender " meaning?"
Rick " Meaning some completely unintentional feature of the programme code which either increases the damage delt or reduces damage mitigation, or both. Often, but not always at random"
Defender " And such an occurrence then might not only result in my client's demise, but also be difficult if not impossible to repeat and test?"
Rick "Yes"
The Defender "Indeed, how convenient. ....Now, It is an understood principle of Dead is Dead play, that circumstances beyond the users control that result in an untimely death qualify for a reload without prejudice. Is that not so?
Rick "That is my understanding, yes".
Defender " And would you not describe an un-suspected and overwhelming application of Devastating damage that is not part of the intended programmed play to be....beyond the users control"
Rick" Yes I would"
" Thank you Rick. I have no further questions Your Honour"

Judge Conscience glances to the other brief who is visibly itching to get out of his seat " Your witness Mr. Prosecutor"
"Thank you M'Lud" which sounded a lot like ' At Last!' ......... " Rick. Your detailed testimony has been invaluable to the court, however, I fail to see the significance of whether the Defendant was killed by either a programmed feature or an accidental glitch. The fact is she was killed, correct?"
Rick " Yes she did die, the umm kill cam played out the death scene"
The Prosecutor turns to the jury and says simply, but firmly " She died" He gestures raised hands.
"Thank you M'Lud I have no further use for this witness"

Judge Conscience looks across the court room of the tired and the nervous "We shall take a short recess before the closing arguments" The gavel bangs and almost everyone files out to take a break. Almost everyone. Ulda's Brief gestures Rick from the dock for a quiet chat. Ulda remains seated and fiddles pointlessly with her armour.
Ulda's Brief speaks in a lowered voice " Don't worry Rick, I think we've got him on the run, he has nothing but the same old tired argument. The jurors are all advocates of good straight common sense. They will see it from our point of view, perhaps they already do, though I admit they are a difficult bunch to read. Have faith." Rick returns to his avatar. She manages a thin smile as he sits beside her and reaches a comforting arm around her.

The court files back in to take their seats. After the required preliminaries the court is at last ready to hear the closing arguments of both sides.

Judge Conscience "If we are ready gentlemen the court would like to hear you close......Mr. prosecutor"
The Prosecutor, confident as always, strolls around the floor as though it were HIS courtroom.

"Good people of the Jury. Dead is Dead characters perish every day. It's a risk that goes with the territory, a risk of survival against the odds. Indeed even our own esteemed user would tell you it is that very fact that makes the challenge worthwhile. But with every risk there comes the very real possibility that the character might just actually die and EVERYTHING that has been worked for is lost. In many forms of the play style it is acknowledged that deaths resulting from factors external to the users control may and I stress only may be considered for a reload, but in these rare cases the key words are 'external to the users control'. The game environment specifically pits powerful adversaries against the users character as a part of normal play. Being shot by a more powerful enemy than the player's character can withstand is a part of the expected risk and not a factor external to the users control. Were that not the case every death would warrant a reload. The defendant had accrued an impressive three hundred play hours......it matters not. The defendant did defeat the first Sanctuary Guardian that she met.....it matters not. The defendant is the apple in the eye of her user.....it matters not. All that matters gentlemen of the jury, is that due ONLY to an in game adversary, she WAS killed. The fact that she was then reloaded means you must find her guilty as charged, thank you". He returns to his seat with a clearly smug expression.

Judge Conscience scribbles furiously for a few moments " Mr. Defender, when you are ready"

The Defence brief rises with a sombre demeaner " Members of the jury. Evidence!. I should like to produce for you the actual bow and arrow that made the unfortunate kill and.....I should have liked to have called the Sanctuary Guardian Archer who made the kill so that we may actually examine the Perks and Critical bonus's that were in play at that fateful moment. However, as you now realise the automatic re-loading of the game conveniently resets the bonus attributes and since they show up only rarely, that evidence is effectively destroyed. Sadly there is no way to ascertain whether the origin of the Devaststing Kill power was an unfortunate accident or clever programming to trap the unwary. If you decide that the Devastating Damage was far in excess of what could be expected or even deemed possible, then mitigating that damage would be impossible and therefore outside of the users control. The question you need to consider is not whether Ulda was killed, but whether she was killed in an unfair manner that should warrant a re- load. I need not remind you that should you be uncertain in this matter you must consider that to be a Reasonable Doubt."

The Defender addresses the bench " I rest my case Your Honour"

Judge's remarks to the Jury "The prosecution and defence have made their arguments and presented supporting evidence to sway your descision and emotional state. Should you decide there is an absence of sufficient compelling evidence to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt you must return a not guilty verdict"

The twelve good common senses and true, file out of their benches and are ushered into a back room to consider the evidence, within the undisturbed seclusion of the sub conscious Jury Room. Now we wait !

The verdict. It has been a long time to be sure. The Jury room door cracks open and a head whispers quietly to the Bailiff, who in turn informs the judge in a hushed tone. " Your Honour the Jury are ready to return to the court".

The twelve retake their seats and after some shuffling all falls silent.
Judge Conscience "would the Forman please stand". The nearest juror gets to his feet, " have you reached a verdict?"
Forman "We have your honour"
Judge " and is that the same verdict of at least ten of you"
Forman " Yes your Honour". Judge Conscience nods " Proceed"
A palpable hush thickens the air. Rick reaches for Ulda's hand, her powerful grip tightens around his.
The Forman, clearly struggling with emotion addresses the bench " Against the charge of continuing to exist beyond the point of Death......we find the defendant GUILTY as charged. "
Rick leaps to his feet " NO! No no I will not accept this".
Judge Conscience " You have no choice, this is My court and I act for you.......now take your seat or you will be held in contempt." Rick sits continuously shaking his head. The judge scribbles some more, then stops and puts his pen down in a slow and deliberate manner.

Baliff " The Defendant will stand"

Ulda and Rick both stand. He takes her hand to hear the sentence. His eyes moisten, they both know what must come next.

Judge the Rt Hon Ruthless Conscience " In passing sentence for this crime there shall be no leniency nor right of appeal. You have clearly breached the rule of Dead is Dead and for that you shall feel the full weight of the law." The judge pauses, building the gravity to its head......

" Ulda avatar of Rick it is the descision of this court that you be taken from this place and Deleted in your entirety"

Rick practically bellows the place down " you can't do this, you just can't " he is restrained and Ulda is lead from his side. As their grip breaks she turns to face him " Continue to love me and I will find a way" with that she is gone.
The distraught Rick now crushed from within can barely stand as he faces the judge.

Judge Conscience " Rick, you will recall from the pre-trial that I said You are not on trial in this court. That remains true of course, however, your actions are certainly not beyond reproach in this matter. I would urge you to seriously consider your position and how this unfortunate outcome could have best been avoided. It is my fervent hope that the loss you have suffered here today will serve to remind you that the Dead is Dead law is never to be breached.

Rick and the judge diffuse into each other as the court dissolves

........................

....Seriously? You're having this much dilemma over whether or not to pitch a DID character that you now started a second thread over it? What was wrong with just posting it in the existing DID thread to begin with?

Cat...I'm not even going to dignify that facetious comment.....

It's not pitching one, quite the reverse.....you probably didn't even read it in two minutes......so y'know.....

If you're trying this hard to get your character back, just do it.

Don't let your dreams be dreams.

Rick knows that to keep playing Ulda would be even more painful than to let her pass.

@ MFD. And just how do you propose I manage that MFD?

The time for trying to get her back is over.....did you read and enjoy the cogently argued drama.....or just guess wrongly it was just some kinda whinge?

Oh no matter......( rolls eyes)

@ Anthropoid.....short answer...correct. But don't shrug off the persuasive arguments....imagining it play out is the amusemant. The ending is poignant.

Regardless of the outcome, the story was well-written and interesting.

It's truly amazing how deeply the passing of a DiD character can effect us, and for those who don't understand, there is really no explaining it. They would do well simply to understand that WHY that is so is not really important, only that it is true and the pain felt is real. if the player in question takes it seriously, then it is in fact serious, and IMO nobody should be making light of it, or denigrating it.

Thank you Neil. I could have of course just written the principle of the whole thing in three lines. But I went to the ( very considerable) lengths to provide something amusing.

It's not of course a 'perfect' court process but more an Anglo-American mash up. However, to get the feel and general process right
I did research a load of YouTube cases and legal instructional vids. Learned more than I knew about who has to say what and when. That kinda drove me on.

Apologies if there are any studying legal eagles out there who could drive a coach and horses through it......but I did try to place the testimony and arguments as well as I could.....then provide a suitably harrowing finale. Used a lot of hankies finishing it up.......

Well done, Rick. A good read, and a good depiction of the anguish of losing a loved character.

Ignore those who don't understand what was going on here. It's their loss.

Thank you Glargg that means a lot m8.

If you don't mind me saying it, I think the Ulda's lawyer goofed up rather badly on two occasions. First by conceding that Ulda died and second by presenting the argument that there is a god sword power randomly being distributed to NPCs.

He should instead have anolysed the equipment of the guardian, anolysed the abilities of the guardian, and asked the jury to consider how that could add up to what was observed without the benefit of a glitch. Therefore Ulda did in fact not die, she simply got glitched into a 0-health state, no different than if she'd have fallen through a bridge or gotten dragon-snacked while located outside the range of the dragon. And since she never died in the first place, she clearly cannot possibly be guilty of existing beyond death.

Then the prosecutor would've had to argue that what was observed was not a glitch, a claim for which there is no evidence. And if the prosecutor cannot make a convincing argument then reasonable doubt would seem distinctly possible outcome of the trial.

The way I explained DiD (or rather "Dead is Dead Neurosis," the affliction which we all suffer and which leads us to struggle to keep them alive and grieve when they die) to my wife was this:

Imagine you are playing Monopoly with what you think is a human opponent. You get a bad roll or make a bad decision and then realize it was suboptimal. You say so and your opponent says in a robotic tone (it is actually just a programmed opponent): No problem, you can redo that turn if you want.

Would that be fun? To play against an opponent that literally let you redo every time you made a mistake or had a spell of bad luck?

Would it be entertaining if you went to the ballet and they were stumbling around, uncoordinated and clumsy, and every time they messed up they said "Ah sorry. Start over."

DiD ethos is simply the essence of that desire to achieve masterful if not perfect gameplay. If the "game" is just as fun to you when you reload, then it isn't really a game, because a game is a set of challenges in which there are rewards and a potential to lose. Remove the potential to lose, i.e., to suffer "game over" and it is in fact not a game.

Well put, Anthropoid!

Black Spider......you may be right. Though 0 health state takes some swallowing. Of interest I did actually once see that . Health zero but alive, by the thinnest of margins. Unfortunately the clincher would gave been seeing the death cam play out........that pretty much means dead to everyone. anolysing the guardian did in fact happen, but I felt it unnecessary to relay actual stats as you had already done that for us. Remember the court is within my mental faculty......so if I saw your math its admissible evidence without me having to rediscover it.

The point of the 'Case' was to provide an amusing way to see my argument of pros and cons as I reasoned it out in my head. To be clear it wasn't simply a story......it was a visualisation of my mental process.

Arthropoid.......your view would be valid if I was arguing to allow regular reloads while attempting to hold an illusion of playing Dead is Dead. However, this was the 236 th iteration of Ulda ( that's a lot of Ulda's). I was well used to restarting from scratch. I was hoping that on this one occasion a reload may have been allowable without breaching any rules. My arguments proved it was not and she had to die.

The court turned out to be more severe in its sentencing that I had bargained for and Ulda was consigned to death in her ENTIRETY. That mean including the progenitor save. The sentence has already been carried out.

Is there....ANY way out of this. Any hope to cling to.....it don't look good does it.
But There IS in fact a tiny hook she gave me before being lead to her deletion.
A good friend of mine from the forums explained to me that an ' in depth' character like Ulda who is formulated as much from your own psyche as pixels, is greater than the mere 'save file'. After hundreds of hours with her and an attachment that hooks into me at an emotional level. Ulda kinda exists regardless of the games console. The console and TV are just a medium to allow her to form and be seen.
Such might be true of anybody's long term heart felt character......if you wish it to be so.
A bit existential perhaps, but her hook maybe her salvation in time. I do still have a picture of her on my ipad so y'know...gone but not forgotten.