Wed Apr 10 10:15:41 2019

At 2 o'clock PM, Day of the Great Gods, 26th of the Month of Winter
on the Theran calendar Njork perished, never to return.

Race:	half-drow
Class:	healer
Level:	51
Alignment:	Neutral
Ethos:	Orderly
Cabal:	HERALD, the Heralds of the Eternal Star
Age:	123
Hours:	240

Agree about player numbers. We're at a point where changes/incentives that were not appropriate previously should now be re-evaluated in light of the vicious cycle of low player count making people logout.

I'm talking about quest forms, IMM exp, lowering edge costs, reopening HELL and ST and anything that offers a new experience for long-time players. But, I'm not getting my hopes up.

I don't think I played with Njork, but did with Zidiri a lot as Serris. At least when you weren't going link-dead. ;)

I tried to improve the linked-dead part with Njork. That said, I think I had more fun with Zidiri. Strange that we didn't interact while I was Njork - I could have sworn one of the shifters with whom I traveled was played by you.

I should have said I didn't play with Njork much.

Deletion: I've a lot of family visiting for the next month or so and thus did not have the time to focus on Njork. It's been a fun ride, I love the healer class and I love me some Heralds (though see below).

Herald "Philosophy": I strongly oppose Heralds as "gear lockers" approach that some players take. I hope it did not bleed through too much in my IC interactions. I tried to encourage my co-Heralds to do the same and while some did (Thorgrim), others certainly did not (Fyliena).

Player Numbers: I'm probably in the minority who thinks that healer is a great solo class - it can accomplish (with a bit of patience) a lot of great things. I say that because I don't want to open up my statement to "well, what did you think? healer is a support only class". With that out of the way, the player numbers are criticallly low. Here's a login pretty typical for Njork's late life - log on, 12 people online, 1 person in range, I talk to 1 person in range, that person either doesn't respond or is gathering preps, I wait 30 minutes while doing some heraldy stuff (Treasure Trove helped), nothing changes, I log off. I don't have a solution for player numbers. I continue to believe that Umiron's "nuke edges; delete; delete" was a huge mistake (though they are in much better shape now than right after the original "nuke") and giving people more room to experiment with the code that already exists is likely to bring back some old schoolers.

Exploration: I don't know if it's driven by current player numbers, but generally speaking, the exploration spirit is not where it used to be. During Njork's ~250 hours, the Great Dragons ruled Thera, Yzekon remained unlocked and people generally weren't too keen on dropping an hour or two to go somewhere deep and dangerous.

Goodbyes:

-> Ishuli (the "Most Esteemed"): Thank you for the empowerment and I really liked our interactions. (For whatever reason, despite your human form, I always saw/imagined you as a middle-aged gnome with a big hat and a pair of pince-nez glasses!) Our chats reminded me of law school where I would make a proposal (on a policy paper, for example) to a professor and then said professor would push me to think outside of my original proposal and deepen my idea / thesis. In other words, you were great and I sincerely thank you for your time with me (and everything else you do for CF). I wasn't a great Ishuli follower - you were serious, I was going for quirky. On my end, it was a mistake to go for weaver (requires writing) and also committing to an ambitious treatise. I felt guilty for not completing it - I had some broad brush strokes for the remaining chapters. I'll do better next time!

-> Daphedee: I'm always impressed with the depth of your character. I knew you as a mortal (I was Xoog/Bildot) and you continue to maintain after an ungodly amount of hours the "gold standard" of RP/immersion.

-> The "big" W: You popped in (popped out?) a couple of times and as always it's a breath of fresh air. Would have loved to see more of you - I think CF needs your whimsy!

HERALDS:

-> Thorgrim: Great attitude, great dwarf, great travelmate, not the best bartender (but that didn't matter). I hope you got to see / experience things you didn't see / experience before. Always put a smile on my face to see you around.

-> Fyliena: Your ***previous*** incarnation was great - she had a thirst for knowledge, she was a great Herald, she had soul and whimsy! Fyliena was a soulless clone of your previous self. It's not that I didn't like Fyliena, it's that every interaction with Fyliena was recognition of what it could be, but yet it wasn't. You seemed to be interested in finding gear and retaining it by hiding at the Inn or the guild.

(While on the subject of Heralds - I was disappointed - though only marginally so - to not have been appointed the High Herald - I know I did not quite fit the mold - High Heralds have a bit more depth than Njork had (so I understand why I didn't), but I really think becoming High Herald would have given me some tools / authority to rebuild the Inn. As of now, it's in complete slumps. Someone - on the player side or the imm side - should really try to inject some life into it.)

SOME OTHERS:

-> Empire: I'm a sucker for Empire (even though I've never played an Imperial - never even had a character take a blood oath). Urjasa / Zaralv and others - thank you for traveling with Njork, discovering new places.

-> Elves: I think I came harder against "snooty elves" than I intended. I really enjoyed "E" (the Marshall) and my chats with Aurew were frequently the highlights of the login session. Special mention of Eligbel - despite me threatening to toss you out of the Inn for poisoning patrons, you were amazing. I really wished you stuck it out.

-> Orcs (the other elves): stop deleting! I think I helped at least two get chieftain and then you turn around and delete! Boo! (Also a sucker for orcs - see Empire.)

ALL OTHERS: Literally, not a single negative interaction with anyone in the playerbase / immbase. Thank you all for keeping it interesting and spending time on this niche hobby. I welcome feedback (particularly if it's constructive (or destructive) criticism) so I can avoid those behaviors in the future.

Best and warmest wishes to all!

Your friendly serial healer - Njork / Zidiri / Bildot / Akoruko (all Heralds) + Artenno / Vythigor (my first healers / characters in CF - all Tribunal)

<><><><>

I'll take a break for a while, may be back in the coming months. I don't think I'll do Herald again - been there done that and it really could use some player-driven or imm-driven attention (it's the slumpiest I've ever seen it). I've never played a serious good or evil character, I may try something along those lines - IDEAS ARE WELCOME!

>(While on the subject of Heralds - I was disappointed - though
>only marginally so - to not have been appointed the High
>Herald - I know I did not quite fit the mold - High Heralds
>have a bit more depth than Njork had (so I understand why I
>didn't), but I really think becoming High Herald would have
>given me some tools / authority to rebuild the Inn. As of
>now, it's in complete slumps. Someone - on the player side or
>the imm side - should really try to inject some life into
>it.)

I'm pretty sure I told you we'd be watching how you progressed but that's also about the time when your hours started dropping and it never really felt like the right move. Hope you find fun with something new in the future!

No, no, you certainly did! It's a bit of a chicken and the egg problem. You want hours for leadership, but leadership in of itself creates hours by pushing the player. I am an eternal admirer of Daphedee - my disappointment is truly marginal. You've given me great direction and tips. It's not easy being Herald with the current numbers.

Oh dream weaver
I believe you can get me through the night
Oh dream weaver
I believe we can reach the morning light

Surrealism is tough, I liked your attempts at it, our chats, and seeing how chatty you were with folks. Definitely had that charming Heraldic feeling that makes me wish I was a mort hanging out with you.

Unlucky for you, Ish is hardly Heraldy and speaks with a typically more dry demeanor. But I liked our contrast when we chatted, it added some color to the interactions! I was also constantly tempted to sing Dreamweaver at you and somehow mesh it with Ken Kesey given your history of caves and mind-altering fungus.

I'm also surprised you lasted so long as a healer. As fun as healing is, I know being the required side-kick can be a bit rough after a while, so kudos for managing it as long as you did.

Dreaaaaaamweaaavaaaaa!

-Ish

Thank you for the kind words. I did have a dream weaver in mind when rolling Njork, so I'm glad it came across. At least, no one called me Bjork (which sort of dawned on me when I was around level 30 or so)! Thanks again for all your time and interactions! I'll miss you and Neferefre!