If you really think you have lost a friend because of such foolishness, then he didn't sound like a very good friend to begin with. I'd give him a few months until he changes his tune, he still sounds like he hasn't fully absorbed what it means to be a part of the CF community.

I've been here since right after the beginning of CF. The only imms that pre-dated me that I am aware are still in existence are Galadriel and ShadarHaran's current incarnations. I can speak with both an Imm perspective, and that of a mortal from the last 6 years in saying that CF is just as good now (if not better) than it was way back when we averaged 100 players at a time. Honestly, back in CF's busiest times, RP was usually rather lacking on a large scale. Even the "Elite" cabals like Shadow and Masters cabal channels were flooded with blatant OOC chatter.

Usually, people do not realize how silly they are being until they have had time to reflect back on their earlier characters in logs and see how far they have come. I wish I had logged more of the early days so I could prove to people that things really weren't any better back then. The only difference between then and now is back then things were newer and fresher, and everybody had potential to be famous. Now, everything has been done, but there are a lot more choices and opportunities to keep the game from getting old.

I think we all suffer from powergaming syndrome from time to time. It is healthy to do this so you try to make a better character that stands out. Once the magic of the perfect class/race/cabal/eq wears off, you still have to learn how to live with the other members of the mud... if you alienate everybody because you strive to make a perfect character, then you will not have a very fulfilling time with CF and will likely grow bored and leave.

Karakan Aka Lloth/Jezral/Khargqwzxdds