Pit People is a game about irreverence.
So "Q" is dead. He died of cardiac arrest on a massage table, classic "Q." A happy ending, all things considered. Let me back up. "Q" is the creator of a website called (this will be the first and last time I ever link to this site, but not for the reasons you may think) Worldstarhiphop.com.
You know how sometimes a dog looks like it's owner? Ok, let me back up even further. "Q" and I live in the same town, there aren't many black people in technology in general let alone in one town so we were bound to bump into each other sooner or later. We weren't anywhere close to friends, we disagreed on life, like eighty-five percent of it. People are basically good vs. people are basically not. That kind of thing.
I will say he had this "Jerry Springer" swag that was magnetic. The type of guy to be affable but when he started talking about business you could taste the joyful nihilism in the air with a subtle hint of "he cared about everything deeply at one time, then something happened, then he just like, legitimately stopped giving a fuck about helping people grow or change."
My theory is that when he started his website there was a faint glimmer of hope inside him that end users would see past the anger, past the fear, past the hurt, past the knee-jerk expulsion that occurs when a person is exposed to something miles out of their comfort zone that is hard to process but needs to be seen to be understood.
Instead he flipped the switch, saw the perpetual schadenfreude convention thrown in any given Worldstar comment section and said, "Well... shit. Might as well get paid."
All said and done "Q" did the world a huge favor which is guaranteed to go unappreciated for many, many years to come. Until this modern era the ability to read and write and thereby the ability to archive thoughts and experiences has been an incredibly exclusionary practice.
We can only know ancient life from the perspective of leaders, philosophers, and the wealthy. I have always wanted to learn about the daily life of a 9-5 schmuck living in Rome around the end, I want to know what the builders of the Pyramids joked about on the job, what music a so-called simpleminded surf listened to and what they really said about the king's policies after downing a couple drinks at the pub.
Years from now when the world isn't like this anymore, a young person will enter an internet search for "Urban life in the early 2000's" and Worldstar will provide them an unedited look through the periscope of time. It is sort of like putting an earth period into a digital trust, only to be cashed out when humanity is far enough away from the moment to appreciate the currency.
Rest in peace "Q" you tubby shitlord. Also, thanks. You are a champion, and I appreciate you. Also JERBZ.
The Protoculture Mixtape : Issue : Games : Corpulent
