Todd Howard and Phil Spencer had an important meeting, they needed to decide what direction Starfield would go in. Starfield was Bethesda Game Studios next game, a space epic set in a massive world filled with hand crafted and procedural content. Todd and Phil always had friendly disagreements in the past, but this time it was very tense, neither of them could agree on a very important game mechanic in Starfield and they were about to come to blows over it. Phil wanted to add loot boxes to the game, while Todd Howard didn't want any microtransactions at all. It came down to which one of them would give up their beliefs for the other, who would have to change their ways? Who would cave first?

The two men sat across from each other, staring at one another like wild dogs locked in mortal combat. Both men held their ground, both men looked ready to pounce and tear out each others throats. They both knew that if either one gave in, then there would be no peace between them anymore. This wasn't just a war of words or ideas, this was personal. This was something much deeper than that, this was a battle for dominance, this was a fight for survival. The outcome of this conflict could mean life or death. One man would lose his job and his reputation forever, while the other would become the most powerful person in the video game industry.

"Phil," said Todd as he took a deep breath and steadied himself. He had to keep his cool, he couldn't let the pressure get to him. "I can't do this."

"What?" said Phil with a raised eyebrow. He'd been expecting to hear something along those lines, but he still hoped that maybe Todd might see reason after seeing the evidence in front of his eyes.

"You know I can't allow loot boxes in Starfield. You're going against my principles."

"Then we'll just have to work around it," replied Phil with confidence. He hadn't backed down yet, and he wouldn't start now.

"How are you going to do that?" asked Todd with a look of pure disgust on his face.

"We won't use loot boxes at all, instead we will sell players the chance to win items through gambling. We will call it a 'lucky box' and only offer them during big events."

Todd's jaw dropped open, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stood up so quickly that his chair fell back onto the floor behind him. His face was bright red and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Are you serious right now? That's even worse!" shouted Todd.

"Why don't we both sit down before we say anything else," suggested Phil calmly.

They both sat back down opposite one another again.

"Look, Todd, I understand that this is a big deal for you. But I'm telling you, this way will make more money for us both."

"It's not about the money, Phil. Loot boxes are wrong and I cannot support such practices. Not even for profit."

"Well then, we have a problem here. If you really feel strongly about this, then we should part ways right now. We can go our own separate ways and never work together again."

Todd Howard stared into the distance, thinking deeply. A few seconds passed and then he finally spoke.

"No," he said. "I can't leave you guys alone without knowing why you did this to me. I need answers."

He stood up once again and walked over to the window. He opened the blinds and gazed out upon the city below. There were hundreds of people walking along the streets, many of whom were dressed in fancy clothes. Some of them were carrying briefcases full of cash. He could smell the stench of money permeating throughout the city.

"This place is disgusting," he muttered. "Everywhere you look you see rich people swindling each other out of their hard earned money. Everyone has to play by these rules or they end up homeless. They've got nothing left to live off and no one cares. No one gives a shit about the little guy, everyone just looks out for themselves."

His anger was building inside him like a volcano waiting to explode.

"That's how I grew up too," he continued. "Rich parents who lived off the blood and sweat of the working class. And when I grew old enough, I joined in the fun and made myself a lot of money. I was happy, I felt like I belonged. I thought I'd achieved everything I ever wanted in life. But I was wrong, because now I find myself living in a society where the wealthy rule over the poor and the weak. They take whatever they want and treat anyone beneath them like garbage. It's disgusting! How am I supposed to enjoy myself when I know that millions of other people are suffering?"

Todd turned away from the window and faced Phil again. He was breathing heavily and his fists were clenched tightly.

"So that's why I can't accept your idea," he continued. "If we include loot boxes in Starfield, it means that we condone that kind of behavior. It's the same thing as rewarding someone for being greedy, for taking advantage of other people. It encourages the system to continue. What we need to do is change things. We need to bring an end to this capitalist lifestyle that we're living. We need to build a new world, one that isn't run by the greedy elite."

"But Todd," protested Phil, "if we don't include loot boxes in Starfield, it's going to cost us a ton of money! Millions of dollars. Think of all the lost revenue we'll have to make up for."

"So what?" retorted Todd. "Starfield is already going to be a huge game. We're going to make billions of dollars, even without loot boxes. So what does it matter? Are you willing to sacrifice the lives of millions of people so you can make a few extra bucks?"

"Of course not!" said Phil in surprise. "I didn't ask for this position in the first place, I didn't want to be put in charge of making decisions like this. All I want to do is create games, and help other people to do the same."

"Then why are you doing this Phil," Todd shouted as tears started forming in his eyes. "You could have just refused to implement loot boxes, like I tried to tell you. Why didn't you just stand up to them? Why are you going along with their plan to ruin the video game industry?"

Phil laughed. "Because that's exactly what I want, I hate gamers. Gamers are the scum of the earth. They're the reason we have to work so hard to keep up with their demands. It's like they're constantly trying to sabotage us. They always want more, but they have the least amount of value to contribute to the whole equation. Look at them, they're all so fat and ugly. They're nothing but parasites that leech off society for their entire existence."

"You don't know what you're talking about," said Todd in disbelief.

"Oh I do," said Phil. "I've seen the evidence in front of my eyes. Just look at them, the gamer base is mostly made up of middle aged men who are overweight, balding, and completely miserable with their lives."

Todd had heard enough. He stormed over to Phil's desk and grabbed him by the collar.

"I've had it," Todd yelled. "I've had enough of this. You think you know everything, you think you can just walk in and dictate how my game should be developed? You think you know better than me? Well guess what Phil, you are WRONG!!"

With that he slammed Phil down onto his office chair and sat down in front of him. He held the man down with one arm, while with the other he pointed at his computer screen.

"You know what, Phil?" he said with a grin on his face. "I'm going to give you one last chance to change your mind. I'm going to show you something that will hopefully convince you to do the right thing."

Todd pressed a button on his keyboard and suddenly a large screen popped up in front of him. It displayed a list of names, each name was followed by a number. Todd moved his mouse over to the number one on the list. He clicked it once, twice, three times until it highlighted in red, then he typed in a few letters into the search bar next to it.

"What are you doing?" asked Phil nervously. He looked over at Todd in horror as he saw his boss typing in a few words into the search bar.

"What are you going to do, Todd? You can't just… Oh my God!"

Suddenly Todd had typed in a word that none of them had ever seen before. A few seconds passed and then Todd clicked enter. A message appeared on the screen and Todd quickly read it aloud. "Skyrim has been deleted from your Steam account. This item is no longer available for purchase or download. You are now logged out of Steam and this website."

"Why Todd," Phil said with astonishment on his face. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why did you delete Skyrim?"

"Because I'm the boss," replied Todd with a laugh. "and you don't screw with me."