Comments on: EP124: Save Me Plz

By: keeping safe distance but courting disaster » are we in a daughter universe?

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:37:37 +0000

[...] Rollback recently and listening to a recent Escape Pod episode (I didn’t really care for that story but did find the premise interesting) has gotten me to [...]

By: bob

bob — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:23:02 +0000

I just love every show. I have trouble finding an EP that I do not have. Thanks thanks thanks

By: Geek Army Knife » Blog Archive » Geek Army Knife #3

Geek Army Knife » Blog Archive » Geek Army Knife #3 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:59:20 +0000

[...] Save Me Plz [...]

By: Save Me Plz « Writing Every Day

Save Me Plz « Writing Every Day — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:20:12 +0000

[...] really liked the story the first time I heard it on Escape Pod, and on re-reading, it becomes even more unsettling. My biggest problem with the story is that Meg [...]

By: Steven Smethurst

Steven Smethurst — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:31:13 +0000

Glorious ! After hearing this story my head has been buzzing for the last week. One of my favorites. Forwarded it to all my Wow 'disabled' friends.

Very enjoyable, Thank you!

By: David Barr Kirtley : Blog : “Save Me Plz” on Escape Pod

David Barr Kirtley : Blog : “Save Me Plz” on Escape Pod — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:57:25 +0000

[...] My short story “Save Me Plz,” which appeared in the October 2007 issue of Realms of Fantasy, is now available as a free audio download from Escape Pod. [...]

By: The Evil Eyebrow » Blog Archive » “Save me Plz”

The Evil Eyebrow » Blog Archive » “Save me Plz” — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:38:35 +0000

[...] Recent Escape Pod short strory, “Save me Plz” has been released as free fiction, accoring to SFSignal. It’s an interesting story. If you’re into gaming, or role playing, or both, I recommend reading it, or listening to the Escape Pod episode. [...]

By: nora at inkstain » Blog Archive » Fiction Podcasts

nora at inkstain » Blog Archive » Fiction Podcasts — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 05:16:10 +0000

[...] the geek dad ones are my favorite. I recommend the following stories on it to start you out: Save Me, Plz, Conversations With and About My Electric Toothbrush and The Giving [...]

By: Johan Nilsson

Johan Nilsson — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:47:22 +0000

An interesting story (I listened to this while playing World of Warcraft – kind of eerie). But the reading was AMAZING! Mur Lafferty was fantastic as always. Her voice is really pleasant to listen to.

By: Dave (aka Nev the Deranged)

Dave (aka Nev the Deranged) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 01:44:27 +0000

I said: "What if reality is just a simulation, and what if the programmers (IE God) got bored with it and just went off to do something else? That might explain a lot."

And then I thought: "And perhaps more importantly, what if they come back?"

By: Dave (aka Nev the Deranged)

Dave (aka Nev the Deranged) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 01:30:35 +0000

What if reality is just a simulation, and what if the programmers (IE God) got bored with it and just went off to do something else? That might explain a lot.

Wouldn't it be interesting to find a bug? Or even a way to access a prior version of the program, a la the Matrix; or The 13th Floor?

Maybe there really did used to be dragons and wizards and ghostly pirates and unstoppable ninja warriors, and the developers just got bored with that and decided they wanted politics and corporations and poverty?

Not the best story, but certainly a thought provoking one.

Good to hear Mur is still kicking around the -Pod offices.

By: josay

josay — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 02:54:43 +0000

good story
any of it can apply to any of us at any time in our journey however high or low we fly
good reader

By: DrFloyd5

DrFloyd5 — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:57:29 +0000

Great Story, I must share it with my WoW playing buddies. Worth it if only for the +100 sword of cleaving.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 03:06:43 +0000

What was interesting for me was the way that the story can be taken as a metaphor for some contemporary marriage relationships where one partner ends up performing repetitious life tasks in order to free up the other partner's time for achieving their life goals. This could be a partner in an unfulfilling but lucrative job who finances the other partner's ability to spend their time creatively, or a partner who does all of the repetitous chores associated with running the household so that the other partner can build their career.

The end result is a life that is shaped creatively by one partner, but effectuated through the labor of the other. This to me is sad.

Similarly, her rejection of their physically ugly former selves is sad and yet who wouldn't be happy to wake up one day being beautiful and having no memory of the ugliness of the past.

By: adir1 » Blog Archive » WARNING: This Blog Post is Simulated

adir1 » Blog Archive » WARNING: This Blog Post is Simulated — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 05:00:37 +0000

[...] see, I was listening to Episode 124 of the ever excellent EscapePod, which is by far my favorite podcast. It presents short science [...]

By: Morrow S.

Morrow S. — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 07:52:28 +0000

That Was "expletive deleted" Awesome!

Good story, heck, I've at times thought that God was a programmer and we where all living in a construct of his design, but that's getting off subject.

I've played World of Warcraft before,(two years straight)and now I'm not. So yes, MMO-RPGs can be fun and life consuming; they also can be gotten away from. As for the reader of the tale, good voice, even better story telling skills, and she made it fun.

By: Janni

Janni — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 05:02:30 +0000

This was genuinely creepy, in part for exactly the reason Tineil says. Creepy, but also a bit too real, which is what makes it work well.

There are guys like this out there, and women who put up with them ... once you accept the magic itself, the rest is way too plausable.

By: Tineil

Tineil — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:56:51 +0000

I like how gripping this story is by taking things that would not normally be seen in real life and bringing them together with reality to create something new and distincly differnt. That being said, this story also disturbs me because eventhough Meg became beautiful, she lost, in entirety, the person she was to become a figment of someone else’s dream. That happens too much today WITHOUT the help of RPG, and that is very sad.

By: Ogremarco

Ogremarco — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:13:09 +0000

Definitely a sinister sort of story.

By: Martin Rundkvist

Martin Rundkvist — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 08:37:40 +0000

I didn’t like the story much until the sardonically evil ending, which IMNSHO saved the piece.

By: Bright Lies

Bright Lies — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:30:33 +0000

I loved the story.
Mur’s performance was fantastic as always!
I enjoyed reading everyone’s comments as well. I don’t understand how this story is significantly related to the movie “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray… >_> And I’m starting to think that some of you critics should write your own damn stories if you think even this one wasn’t good enough… but still, I enjoyed reading all the comments after listening.

Have I told you lately (Pseudopod), that I love you…?

By: Dan the Man

Dan the Man — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:49:43 +0000

It started off well, and I thought there was some great social commentary at hand about parallels between “old-school” addictions and MMORPG obsessions, then the story seemed to get distracted by something shiny and wandered off. Maybe the Elf-Meg at the end was really the story saying “save me plz!”

By: Gary H

Gary H — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:28:44 +0000

Reading = fabulous (Mur is awesome)
Story = mediocre, at best. It started off ok, then just devolved into every gamers fantasy (I get to change the real world so that I’m cool and normal.) Just be happy with who you are and love people for who they are, not what you want them to be. Wait, that may have been the point of the story, so I change my initial assessment. Good theme, mediocre execution.

By: Mr. Sim

Mr. Sim — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:05:24 +0000

Great story though It being on the SF fantasy boarder. I am wondering if it could have been saved for pod castle

By: Escape Pod, for shame! | CoffeeBear.net

Escape Pod, for shame! | CoffeeBear.net — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:03:55 +0000

[...] story to be a bad rewrite/adaption of Groundhog Day. The movie wasn’t all that great and Save Me Plz is even worse. At least in Groundhog Day Bill Murray’s character, Phil Connors, had to do all [...]

By: Vody

Vody — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:57:15 +0000

Devon didn’t just change the world, he changed a woman! Kudos to you! If only I knew that all I had to do to change a woman was to create a real fanasy world…

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:00:02 +0000

There are so many trains of thought provoked by this story, I don't know where to start. Who created Devon and Meg's world? How did the first wand get there? Why did the devs leave such a dangerous exploit unpatched for so long? Why didn't a GM come along and ban Devon for abusing it?

On a more serious note the irony of Meg grinding for wands in real life exactly the same way she loathes Devon doing in the game makes me wonder if she didn't deserve her fate.

Whenever you create a fantasy world, always include a way to log out!

By: REU

REU — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:55:37 +0000

If you think about it (as a humorous comment) He got her into bed over 1,274 times. And if she doesn't remember, he didn't have to do it that one time if he didn't feel like it. If Meg likes doing the same thing over... doesn't that mean he got his own paradise over hers? Just thought of that.

Overall I liked the concept of the story and it was well executed. However I do think that it didn't really delve into moral consequences of doing such a thing.

I do find it odd that she earned the wands and never once got to use them... which means, what personality changes did she sign up for under his care?

Still well done.

By: jh

jh — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:27:54 +0000

Okay. I admit I can listen to Mur Lafferty for an entire eternity and not really grow tired of it. I suspect it's because, for some reason, she is the female version of Garrison Keilor.. another person I could stand to hear forever.

That aside, I loved this story and it's subtlety. It reminded me, at times, of Zelazny's edging into Amber. As a person who has lost people into that other world, hearing a story about a crossover into our world was stunning.

Very well done!

By: John Markos O'Neill

John Markos O'Neill — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:29:46 +0000

Horror.