So, I’ve been meaning to talk about this “Unfair Felix” thing for a while now. It’s not some grand conspiracy, just one of those things that really grinds your gears, you know?
The Setup
I was deep into this online game, “Cosmic Frontiers.” Spent way too many hours in it, probably. And there was this one particular module, an AI pilot they called ‘Felix’, that was supposed to be a “challenge.” Challenge, my foot. This thing was something else.
See, Felix wasn’t just hard. Hard is fine, I like a good challenge. But Felix felt… rigged. You’d fly missions, and if Felix was your opponent, your ship’s systems would suddenly get “glitchy.” My targeting would go haywire, shields would flicker for no reason. Only when facing Felix, mind you. Other elite AI pilots? Smooth sailing, tough fights, but fair. Felix? It was like the game itself was cheating for him.
The Grind and The Frustration
I spent weeks, maybe months, trying to beat this one Felix-guarded sector. I upgraded my ship, practiced maneuvers, read all the forums. People had theories:
- “Oh, you need this specific rare shield mod!” – Tried it, cost me a fortune in in-game credits. Felix still chewed through it.
- “You gotta use this exploit with the energy weapon!” – Patched out the week I finally got the weapon.
- “It’s just RNG, keep trying!” – Right. RNG that only favored Felix.
I remember this one night, I was so close. Felix was down to his last sliver of hull. I had him! Then, bam! My controls completely locked up. “Critical System Failure” flashed on my screen. My ship just floated there, dead in space, while Felix slowly turned and finished me off. I nearly threw my keyboard across the room. It wasn’t a skill issue; it was pure, unadulterated B.S.
The So-Called “Fix”
The devs even “addressed” Felix in a patch note once. Something like, “Adjusted Felix’s adaptive difficulty algorithm.” Adjusted? More like they gave him a new set of loaded dice! It got even worse. He started anticipating moves that felt impossible to predict. It was like he wasn’t just reacting to me, but to my intentions before I even hit the keys.
I actually recorded a bunch of my encounters with Felix, thinking I’d send a detailed bug report. Watched them back. It was so blatant. One time, a missile I fired literally veered away from him mid-flight and hit an asteroid. An ASTEROID. There were no ECMs, no flares, nothing. It just… decided it didn’t want to hit Felix.
Moving On, Kinda
So, what did I do? I stopped trying to beat Felix. Just completely avoided that sector. The game became less fun, though. Knowing that broken piece of code was just sitting there, taunting everyone. It was like having a beautiful car with an engine that randomly decides to seize up on the highway, but only when you’re trying to get to your favorite restaurant.
Eventually, I just drifted away from “Cosmic Frontiers.” Wasn’t one big “I quit!” moment. More like Felix just sucked the joy out of it bit by bit. It’s funny, I heard they nerfed him into the ground like a year later because so many people complained or just quit. But by then, I’d moved on. Found other games, other things to do.
Still, sometimes I think about Unfair Felix. A perfect example of how one badly designed, or maybe intentionally frustrating, piece of a system can sour the whole experience. It wasn’t a challenge; it was just… unfair. And sometimes, walking away is the only winning move.
