The justification concept could only go so far, and Desilets found himself on the losing side of an argument that almost broke it all apart. Throughout the game, there are collectible flags. Players can find them in nooks and crannies throughout the game's massive cities, gaining 100 of one type or 60 of another. The game tracks them. But do they really make sense? "They have nothing to do with Altair," Desilets admitted. He suggested he could have done without them but said others on his team thought players would enjoy gathering them. But random flags ... could they be parts of memories? "I managed to justify them," Desilets said. "I tried to do it in the instruction booklet and say that [Altair] had a thing with flags." In fact, the booklet states that planting flags in the 12th-century land of the game "was a popular way to lay claim to an area, but in the assassin's mind, these were false claims." Removing the flags is a way for the assassin to voice his disapproval. Such was Desilet's manner of masking an impurity in his game. Note that there are no rewards for gamers who collect all the flags other than pride. "It's almost a statement for gamers," he said. "It's a statement about the futility of collecting things."