Oh, back in the day I wanted my own copy of Half-Life. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life_%28video_game%29]
I wanted a copy of Half-Life so badly I went to my Father and asked him, "What task(s) can I perform around the house so that I may earn a minimum of exactly thirty dollars? [http://thebsreport.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/30dollars.gif]"
Being that he had recent felled a stout black locust [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_locust] tree in our back yard and had just finished cutting it into short logs the logical reply I of course received was, "Why son, if you split, haul and stack all of the wood from this tree I figure that will be worth thirty dollars [http://www.ot-inc.com/newsletter/images/30dollars-only.jpg] to me."
A-ha! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvkdYr54f0Y] A goal to smite! I puffed my chest in determination, retrieved the family axe [http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2027/1972191768_02a001f21e.jpg] and set to work.
For two and a half days I labored under the hot unrelenting August sun. Split, haul, stack, split, haul, stack...
Finally my task was done, a two-trunk tree at least seventy feet tall obliterated! With the rewards of my labor in hand I set off to the nearest vendor [http://globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/compusa-whats-in-the-box.jpg] of low-priced electronic entertainment.
To my eternal fortune, this was before most stores started enforcing "No selling 'M' rated games to minors" so I, at the tender age of 13 was able to capture my prize without difficulty.
Oh for several weeks what joy it was! Bashing headcrabs with crowbars! Fleeing from 20 foot tall flame spewing monstrosities! Sneaking past bone-bladed tentacles! Evading every attempt of the military to end me! After having played the game through several times, I discovered and took my first tentative steps into the world of mods. [http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/uss-darkstar-half-life/]
But it was all to be lost soon. For you see, this was in the dark days before the game was patched to make it no longer require the CD to be in the tray to play, and also before my parents had seen fit to procure a CD burner so that backup copies could be created.
With that in mind I had been sharing the joy with a few of my friends down the hill from me. Every few days when I went over I would place my precious data-disc in its polycarbonate container, insert it into the deep pocket of my trusty lab coat [http://www.buylabcoat.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/coat.jpg], and make the journey to their residence via bicycle.
One fateful day when I was returning home from a session well spent hopping platform-to-platform in Xen when by accident my leg pushed the case up and out of my pocket and onto the pavement! At this point the precious round bit carrier was unharmed, but as I bent over to retrieve it tragedy struck.
My coat got stuck on my bicycle and dragged the front tire over the disc which in turn dragged it across the pavement giving it numerous gouges so deep they cut through the metal foil within!
All that work, gone. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SJVP4YAybs&feature=related]
Now my game was unplayable, no one else I knew owned it, and my brother who had introduced me to it some months ago was hundred of miles away at college. [http://www.uidaho.edu/]
It was several months before I finally persuaded him to mail me a burned copy to replace the one I'd foolishly destroyed.
To this day I still have that mangled disc, it is a constant reminder to me of my hubris and the importance of keeping proper backups!
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Ok, so my story really wasn't all that bad in the grand scheme of things and there are certainly worse gaming disasters but that's all I've got for you.