Tue Jul 11 12:22:11 2017

At 6 o'clock PM, Day of the Bull, 22nd of the Month of Winter
on the Theran calendar Raltevio perished, never to return.

Race:	half-drow
Class:	ranger
Level:	53
Alignment:	Neutral
Ethos:	Neutral
Cabal:	HERALD, the Heralds of the Eternal Star
Age:	1500
Hours:	5369

I notice I am late to the game, and frankly did not see this coming at all. I really did enjoy the time we got to spend together in immland. I did not get a chance to have a follower of yours, but I am sure it would have been an awesome ride. Good luck to you and yours my friend, and I look forward to talking to you again.

I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to be part of your Troupe and my time there was, without a doubt, the best time I've ever had playing any game ever.

You oversaw what was a truly special time in CF's long history. It's weird how vividly not-textual my memories of these things have become over time. Thank you for that.

You were a wonderful imm - you cared about the community inside and outside of the game and it showed. I really enjoyed being your follower. Xoog and Bildot loved Raltevio.

I've not had a character in a long time - as you say in your post - work, family, forum drama are all distractions from actually making a character, but I was constantly brainstorming on a role/character that would eventually be a Raltevio follower. You were certainly a very magnetic presence for CF.

You'll be dearly missed, Virtuoso!

Best and warmest wishes to you!

P.S.: "Innpire" was really fun. I consider it the "golden age" of Age Four for me.

As per the various email discussions regarding empowerment and so on, you probably had a good idea of where things were heading for me anyway.

With respect to the "Innpire era", I agree. Most fun I've had in years- I didn't contribute much though in all honesty. The players involved were responsible for that fun. There were a group of really stellar roleplayers who came together to get that going. It was a privilege to be part of that and it will be a highlight of my CF, including my time as a player. There was also support some serious support from other staff with behind the scenes immteraction as well as snooping going on.

I was RPing Raltevio as a drunk passed out in the cities with a bottle of whiskey for a couple of weeks after that crop of Heralds and notable Empire heroes deleted/age/con died. Good times.

Hopefully that won't be the last Golden Age. I honestly hadn't given Herald much of a look-in for years prior to Ralt. I might have to orbit the Inn more if I ever play again.

I've a vacation coming up. It may be Herald time in your honor!

Had a lot of fun writing poems as Ild. Tried to find a reason to interact with you on other chars, but I really don't seek out IMMs in game as I'm not very good at it.

Thanks for your contributions!

Ild
Kycue
Heaghul
Tummel
Gergan
Gryld
Sulcha
Stormshadow
Illiash
Grimreaper
Saagkri

Poetry isn't really something I'm a massive fan of, but it certainly fits some fantasy, particularly the Tolkien variant.

Raltevio was a complex character (maybe a bit too complex) and I don't know if I actually ever really got a feel for it. At times I felt like I was RPing Tom Bombadil, and other times there was more darkness and depth there.

If I was vis and people wanted to interact, I tried to keep things interesting. Fairly recently I was running some games using Monty-Hall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem

It's difficult to keep things original and keep players on their toes though!

Bonus since you mentioned poetry- a poem by Dylan Thomas that sums up this community still being active despite all odds:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Weren't you working on area stuff like...last night?

But I was unable to hit the deadline after over a year. Had a discussion with the staff. Cannot give the time that's needed to run cabals, contribute meaningfully etc. AND getting bumped up to 53 was contingent on getting the area completed, therefore decided to not continue.

My fault for not reading ahead before commenting. I had some great interactions with you with one of my past mortals. Don't be a stranger.

At least it wasn't your 3rd major area your promotion was contingent upon.

I have contributed very little to the MUD for some time. I should have pulled the trigger earlier, and probably would have done so, if my area wasn't still needing completion.

This isn't about the staff as much as it's about me not having the time, energy and dedication to give to the game right now. The combination of stuff in my own life and constant drama out of game sapped my desire to contribute and jaded me. Having said that, things still need to get done, and need to move forward.

Can't speak for past admins, but I understand and respect the desire of this admin to keep things moving forward. Even if it's just a case of people trying to do the best with the limited time and resources on hand, the community and players DO deserve an active admin.

Thank you for being awesome. Thank you for being cool. Thank you for being understanding. Thank you for caring. Thank you for everything. I really have been wanting to make a Ral follower but haven't been able to find the time before, and now that I'm working 80hour weeks I won't be able to find time in the near future. I hope you continue to stick around, in some form. And I'll second what's been said by others, you're an AWESOME DM, and I hope you can find the time to make it back for some more adventures with the DnD crew.

You made this game better, and losing you will be a huge loss. Time will go on, and all shall be well. Best wishes to you my friend.

cheers,
-frosty

Thanks for the kind words.

"You made this game better, and losing you will be a huge loss."

This is probably not the case at the moment. And much of the contributions I was making on the staff can also be made outside the staff if I can find the time and energy to do so again.

I might take a look at DnD some time in the future if time permits. As it stands I'm also working very long weeks which makes it difficult to do anything other than want to curl up in a ball and sleep by the end of it.

Some time ago Destuvius put his neck out on the line for me and accelerated me to 53 with the understanding that I would get my area live. I failed in that task this week and missed a deadline. Having had a discussion with senior staff, I've elected to do the right thing and delete. The time that it takes to run and maintain this game is immense, over the last 18 months income has become an issue, family has become an issue, work has become an issue. Increasingly I am struggling to find the time (and energy) to dedicate to this game, had I hit my deadline I doubt the end outcome would be any different today but it might have delayed the deletion by a month or two.

I just wanted to say, sorry to the players and staff for being deadbeat. You deserved better.

Thanks to everyone who has kept this game going over the years. It is not easy, and is often thankless. Thanks to all of the players who make this game what it is, particularly the silent/non-vocal majority who just want to play.

It is a shame that the time requirements of the game cannot be adjusted in line to allow people to play more often or more frequently - its clear as we get older there is not as much leeway with respect to free time. Life kicks in.

I hope that I was, overall, a positive influence for most of the players and staff I came into contact with.

PS: Over the course of the last 24 months it's painfully clear to me that some of the hardest working staff members get brutalized on the forums just for being the ones who are actively contributing/working. This game needs a lot of things to survive, but the positive communication needs to remain between players and staff. As an imm you can please all of the people some of the time, or some of the people all of the time. You cannot please all of the people all of the time.

PPS: I was considering waiting until after the 14th to delete based on various things going on, but I'm not going to tailor my schedule to an egomaniac who is thriving on attention. Obviously, this has nothing to do with that "discussion" whatsoever.

To Dest and Umi. I really am sorry if I let you down, or upset you at all at any time over the course of being a heroimm. I know we had our ups and downs.

I respect you guys immensely for your contributions to the game - and that's not to take away from the ongoing contributions of any of the other staff, but I deemed you guys to be close friends over the duration of my time as an imm.

Nothing that has been said, or done at any point in the course of running this game, will change my respect for you guys. I wish you all the best for the future.

Thanks to Scarab for the shot. It's a tough place to step in as the owner an a lot of responsibility to assume. Hopefully the new fresh crop of heroimms will help to alleviate some of that.

And as we walk our paths in life, they must change to coincide with the needs of our lives.

I do not accept the victory by default in the challenge I made to beat you in getting my area live before you. When and if you come back we'll set a new challenge.

I wish you the best with you and yours. I hope and pray for happiness in it. It has been a pleasure.

GLWYN

Congrats on getting your fixes back and good luck with that project. No one has managed to get it hashed out to completion. You can buck the trend :)

NT

Play a couple chars when you find the time again :)

My CF experience has increased exponentially since I stopped giving a #### about the unofficial forums.

I enjoyed them too. It's too bad your characters have a tendency to flame out.

With respect to the other stuff, I don't blame you.

NT

>Thanks to everyone who has kept this game going over the
>years. It is not easy, and is often thankless. Thanks to all
>of the players who make this game what it is, particularly the
>silent/non-vocal majority who just want to play.

I'm sad to say this, but the silent/non-vocal majority has already left the game for good :(

I'm sad to say this, but the silent/non-vocal majority has already left the game for good :(

I don't think that's true. I think they still orbit the community, and some play here and there but generally the community is disconnected, fragmented, and largely do not have the time they had when they were 18 years old in 1997. There has been a steady downward trend on both longevity of average character (in hours) and the total number of characters for many years now.

Without going off on a long socio-economic discussion* the reasons for the decline in numbers, I will suffice to say that the community and the staff have been doing the best with what they have available.

Honestly the fact that this game is still going is kind of a miracle in itself. Most of the clones/variants are dead.

*Would rather keep this out of the death thread, in respect of some of the folks I really appreciate staff-wise. Save it for another debate at another time.

I certainly understand the pressures related to time and can sympathize. It sounds like you have some other (very serious!) priorities, and you should attend to them. If you get a chance to finish off the area at some point, we'll be happy to have it go live.

GLWE

various headwinds that are against them. I am also glad you stepped in when Zulg opted out. Leadership isn't an easy gig but you're doing a good job from what I've seen.

If I can get into a position where my loved ones and I are in a better place, and I can free up some time (big if!) I will definitely be continuing some marketing slog on the other side.

I will get that area in as discussed also. From my end I made that promise to the staff and I'm not going to renege.

Sad to see you go, although I feel your pain also, being in a similar boat with a sudden increase in work related obligations.
I'll echo the sentiments of staff and players alike, you were a pleasure to have around, and I hope you make it back someday.


cheers!

You're a class act. Hope your folks are doing okay with all that's been happening on this side of the Atlantic. Wish you and yours all the best with the future, and I hope the job is working out well!

Just one of the best.

I'm pretty sad about this, even though I know it's been a long time coming... you can't expect real life not to take a hit from spending 5,369 hours on this game.

That said, I know for a fact that you created some extraordinarily memorable experiences and told some great stories in that time. You have a real talent for that. I wish you the best in your RL endeavors (though, given your brainpower and work ethic, I don't expect you need my well-wishes).

I really do hope you keep in touch. You're a good guy and are full of insights and laughs. Hats off to you!

We'll be in touch and I'll orbit the community. There are a lot of really great people in the community and always have been. Interacting with you has been one of the highlights of CF.

You were always a source for comedy, creativity, and compassion. Your positive attitude in Immland inspires me to do better and you will be sorely missed.

Hope all clears up in the future and one day you can return.

Nothing but love for ya! Don't be a stranger!


P.S. you're the best DM this side of the Mississippi.

P.P.S. ####ing E-descs...

See a lot of promise in new wave of heroimms, and failing that, we can always set up a D&D sess. Less stress. Shame about the time zone though!