Disclaimer: I just came off a 90 work week doing an awards show in a tent and didn't see Murphy's post below until I came to paste this in. Anyway:

I don’t think I’ll play CF again. I’ve got too many other things going on in my life to want to put time into a game that feels more like a second job than a hobby. Anyway, here’s my unsolicited take on what’s wrong with CF from someone whose last serious character HeroIMMed.

As long as there is interest, there can be CF. As long as ten people are willing to play and someone is willing to code, Thera can be a place. I truly believe this.

The problem is the humongous disconnect between players and IMMs.

Players, you need to chill. Your job is to have fun and make the game fun for others. If you can’t do both at the same time, #### off. “I can only have fun at the expense of others,” is teenage edgelord #### that you all should have outgrown by now. I’m not saying do this or don’t do that, but you can full sac every kill and still make the game fun for others. You just choose not to.
You also need to chill on the forums. I never saw all the way behind the scenes, but I promise you that no IMM is going out of their way to #### you over. I know this because it’s joked about on IMM channels, but honestly no one is emotionally invested enough in this #### to #### with you to the point that your flurries don’t work very well or whatever.

IMMs, by and large you remind me of the kind of guys who manage loading docks in NYC. Yes, it’s a tremendous amount of power to be able to say who can and cannot load or unload at The Sheraton. Yes, you can #### people over, waste their time, and go out of your way to annoy them. But why would you do that? It’s just a ####ing loading dock. It’s just a ####ing text-based adventure game. You guys need to chill. You are big fish in very, very small ponds. Keep that in mind.
Some of you guys seem to actively dislike the players. If you don’t like these people you’re not being compensated to interact with, #### off. At this point just tolerating each other isn’t enough. We need to like the people we play with. If you guys would make the game more fun for the players they would be happier and complain less and you would resent them less. People want edges and Halloween forms. What’s the problem?
The single best thing you could do for this game is find someone who is motivated and available to code. Amazingly you have someone who is chomping at the bit to do this, but you’ve erected an artificial roadblock to keep him away from the code. This isn’t the biggest wound that CF is currently suffering from, but this is where it’s bleeding from. You know exactly what to do to rescue this game. Do it or accept that it’s going to die.

CF is the best escapism I’ve ever experienced and the most fun I’ve ever had in front of a screen. It’s a real shame that it’s on its deathbed, but anyone with a telnet connection can help save it. You all need to make it more fun for each other. Players, you can do that by not being ####s. IMMs, you can do this by examining what the hell you get out of this, because some of you seem to be more annoyed than anything. CF is simple. If you’re not having fun you’re doing it wrong.
All y’all need to get with the ####ing program or this game will be nothing but a memory before too long. It’s frustrating to see how you can save it, but having to wade through post after post of conspiracy theories and well-meaning but ultimately useless input from low level IMMs. Listen to the people and stop locking threads. That’s passive aggressive ####. Do better.
If you all do all this you can make CF a place that I certainly would return to.

Macaca, Homard, Jawn Foote, Mauz, Tanzer and many others.