The meta-story behind the comic just makes my head hurt. Don't get me long I love the comic. But I'm just not sure if the 'game' universe is supposed to be a real, alternate dimension. That seems to be the case... But if so, how do the ancillary characters that are run by players in the other world work? If they are living beings controlled by other world players do they continue to exist and function when the players are logged off? Wouldn't that cause problems with people logging on and off while 'their characters' area already doing something? Or do they disappear/go into a fugue state while the players are logged out? You would think someone would notice thousands or millions of people are only 'active' a few hours a day, and can't do anything at other times.
I suppose it could be explained that the 'player characters' use advanced algorithms to go about their lives while the players are logged out, to 'promote realism'. It just seems odd and inadequately explained to me. Which is probably a sign that I'm trying to over think it.