Sat May 28 15:43:20 2011

At 2 o'clock PM, Day of Freedom, 25th of the Month of the Old Forces
on the Theran calendar Werthius perished, never to return.

Regardless of what the naysayers have to say, when I was on, you were the shining monument that made playing Aerlion a better experience for me. I loved Werthius, I wish I could have been as good as you were in PK, and you had a solid roleplay that you stuck to regardless of the situation you were in, even when I nearly got you killed through my own ignorance.

I would say that maybe the immortals saw more of you than I did, but you and I both know that's probably not true - I played so much back then and you and I were almost always logged in at the same time - so I feel entitled to say that my assessment of you is a very correct one, Werthius was great, you deserved to be Captain and if it hadn't been for you, Aerlion wouldn't have even been as good as he was.

You involved yourself from what I saw in the life of everyone else in the Fortress, respectfully if a bit gruffly, and it ruffles my feathers that you didn't get what I feel you deserved. Gurzgred had his shot and he ####ed it up (no offense Gurzgred) and you were clearly the man in line to be Captain. You were one of the reasons it took me so long to lose interest in my own character being ignored by the Immortals, save Iunna.

So, here's my salute, Captain Werthius.

- Aerlion

(P.S., when you play in a cabal, it doesn't matter after the fact - once the damage is already done and you delete or stop playing the char - whether or not you actually were being ignored, the problem is feeling ignored, and it's really an easy fix. Really.)

Kind of a shame I didn't get to sit down and have a chat with you though.

Every once in awhile i like to return to my comfort zone, and try and return to the fortress and play out a Paladin.

I made some real mistakes where the player came out, like asking Jekor to acquire the hummingbird pendants for me with all his shinies for bartering.(I did however end up acquiring it on honorable terms, and gave it away as a show that i was trying to turn a new leaf)

For alot of reasons, i loved Werthius, and for alot more, i unfortunately was left for a sour taste. Always being a Thror or Baerinika follower, i really wanted to try out a religion i never had before, and thus Iunna came to be. I wanted to do something that you didnt see as often as the dwarf/storm/elf paladins. So i wanted to try out a human Paladin.

Werthius played out as in his youth, he was the entitled and arrogant spoiled son of a lord, who expected and wanted the world on his platter. By the end he was the old man who looked back on his past, and wanted to leave a sincere real impact for all the players, and fortress and immortals.

I've always played out the aggressive gung-ho player who pushed others into the duties. But considering Werthius actually followed quite perfectly his role, I've never been so shunned by the Fort immortals before. You want a character to start as knowing nothing, but wanting everything, and then learning as his life progresses. Difference between RP and realism i suppose. Perhaps you just wanted the end result of the wizened 50yr old in the "18 year old".

Adekar - As i said, i tried to play out a life of a character, and i think it is a really shame that i was written off and told your basically at about as far as your going to go. Because I was written off by you, and i feel like i was written off by the player of Iunna and Padwei. Two immortals that have a heavy influence in Werthius's life. You didnt even give a chance, and i dont think you realized what i was trying to do.

Side note, every other character i have ever had, i've loved your interactions. Your a great IMM.

Iunna - At first it seemed to go well, and other then that one mistake, I am really not sure where it all went wrong. After the empowerment and first virtue (around 100hrs) I couldnt get you to give me the time of day for another 130hours. Its a really crappy feeling to feel like you got written off. I probably deserved it though. Everyone slips in RP once in awhile, but i really wonder if it was the Iunna, or the player who ended up turning her back. As a character, i dont think Werthius ever once was outside the confinements of Iunna.

Nae-Nae - I loved your player, and i continue to love your presence as a AVA. Your going to make a great immortal. When i look back at all the IMMS. You continue to be the most positive impact.

My biggest pet peve that occured, Was i tried to do something original and more challenging by going human, and trying to play alittle outside the box of the conventional Paladin. Go Iunna to give it a little new flare. Immortals have all the chance to decide what the Paladin is going to be. More of a Healer, more offensive, or defensive. I hate that two characters (Aerlion and myself) both ended up going to Iunna with the same build, and she made us exact copies of each other. There was nothing to define the both of us except for the player. She could of made us a combination of anything and everything but ended up making us identical. I dont know if it was intentional or not, but i didnt want to be like someone else, Thats why i tried a new religion that was out of my comfort zone.

Fortitude, while it had its perks to the weapons outside the class, and it seemed to grant a mini haste under essence, I thought it was a useless virtue. (or at least one that just didnt fit my playstyle)

I am sorry i have to wrap it up so i can get to work. I will do shout out to players later, please feel free to leave any questions or comments. Immortals, despite me being soured by this experience, I sincerely appreciate everything you do. Thanks for this game.

Something constructive to work on for your next try at this - you PK well, you're very competent, and you do RP well. However, you give off a very power-gamey vibe and I have to admit you carry an ego around wtih you. It makes you the player stand out to me and it generally rubs the imms the wrong way. If you could control the power gamey urges and keep a lid on that ego a little you'd get the rewards you're looking for. Just my two sense, I know you wanted Captain there and while I wouldnt have been exactly opposed to giving it to you, I would rather see someone who cares more for their fellow players have it. It is an esteemed privaledge to be named a cabal leader, but there's more that goes with it.

Good luck on your next, you always are a solid presence in the Fort.

I think the Paladin part of the character was sometimes underplayed.

I mean, when we went out fighting evil, there were a few occassion that I had myself thinking "A heal would be nice", and it would come, but pretty much at the last possible moment.

You were very much focused on getting the kill, which is fine Maran stuff, but as a Paladin, you should always be very much aware of the people around you as well.

Anyway, considering all the other good stuff I saw from you, this is a very minor point.

Totally enjoyed the character, see you with the next.

-Thuorn

>Iunna - At first it seemed to go well, and other then that one
>mistake, I am really not sure where it all went wrong. After
>the empowerment and first virtue (around 100hrs) I couldnt get
>you to give me the time of day for another 130hours. Its a
>really crappy feeling to feel like you got written off. I
>probably deserved it though. Everyone slips in RP once in
>awhile, but i really wonder if it was the Iunna, or the player
>who ended up turning her back. As a character, i dont think
>Werthius ever once was outside the confinements of Iunna.

Unfortunately you caught me at a time when I find Iunna a lot less
interesting to play/log on than my other options.

My decision to like you had pretty much nothing to do with Adekar,
FWIW. You'd be surprised how many people we can disagree on.

In general I thought the character was decent, but from a religious
standpoint, you kept going back to tempering yourself, which is a
pretty big Thror thing. I know things can be a little hazy when you
have two religions that cover one sphere, but I repeatedly told you
this was not my version of fire. For some reason you kept going
back to that. I also sent you on one task at the end (and I didn't
even think it was that difficult) to get you a second virtue. I don't
think you brought anyone back as I requested, but things might
have been different if you had.

In any case, good luck with what's next (hopefully a more enjoyable
experience).

Werthius was a character that I found to be a valuable aid in the pk aspect of CF. You had summon, you knew your stuff, and you weren't afraid to get into a brawl. With you on Fort was definitely a stronger presence. I was sort of surprised you didn't know about about the templar moves, but from the sounds of it you were really stepping into your own on the pk front.

I hope this delete isn't because you lost your suit. It's always rough and I've been guilty of those deletes before, but in hindsight they are always preemptive it feels like.

Having said that, Werthius also felt very poorly rp'd as a paladin to me, and that's a huge pet peeve of mine. You seemed to essentially toss aspects of the Code to the wind that I think would have been, at the least, a very good source of conflict and rp for this character.(Attacking in town nonchalantly comes to mind. Gurzgred didn't care, but, Gurzgred isn't a paladin. Humility, etc)

Aside from that I would ask, from a player to player standpoint that you please stop ordering everyone around in fights. There's a time and a place for everyone to figure out what to do going into a battle, or maybe if someones flight falls mid-combat, call it out. But the amount of ordering you did was just unnecessary in my opinion. Even when I was a lowbie you were dictating my every fight to me and that just tends to rub people the wrong way and make them less inclined to want to work with you in the future.

paladins have 2 major built in shortcomings. Poor melee damage and low mana/mana regen. Fortitude does a great job of covering the melee part.

Without it you are basically an assassin without dual wield. 3 attacks with a relatively easy to parry weapon is not scary. Fortitude essence gives you a fourth attack and goes a long way in making sure your blows actually land thru people with decent defenses.

First of all, well done. You were a force to be reckoned with when you logged one and played a significant role in the Light's continued success. Also, I considered you a great friend, ally, and companion, and my own experience during logins can't help but be diminished now that you're gone.

Second, holy crap, I've never met someone that wanted to be a leader as badly as you did for the reasons you had. I mean, I can understand wanting to lead Empire or Scion or Outlander or actually ANY cabal except for Fortress, where you get a huge power boost and little added responsibility .. but never have I seen someone want to lead Fortress that badly where all you get is a leaderweapon and arguably the most duties/obligations of all the cabal leaders. So it wasn't for the power or the game mechanic benefits .. you truly wanted to give something back and leave your mark I guess. And I hadn't come up against someone with that kind of motivation before. So it was unique, and interesting, and I commend it. Thumbsup from me for the motivation to serve.

Now to the meat of your goodbye.

As an initial matter. 55 is NOT old, Man. That's not a grizzled old man looking back on his life. I was just talking about it with friends this weekend, and the consensus seems to be that your greatest earning power is between 35-55. Maybe I'm just old, but the closer I get to 55, the more I realize people at that age have strong ambitions, experience, and motivation.

Which in a seemingly-but-not-really-off-topic way leads me to the fact that YOU GAVE UP TOO SOON. You actually roleplayed exactly what you wanted to extremely well. And you could see the slow transformation taking over Werthius. At least, I could. I mean, you went from someone that people called a "total ####" to someone people called "kinda a ####". That's big. Another 50 game hours, and you'd be "lovable old Werthius." I don't really think anyone, mortal or immortal, ever ruled out you getting leadership - it was just a matter of letting you complete the transformation and trusting that you'd completed it (I'm half guessing here because I have no control over these things, but based on in game communications I had, that was my impression).

So, just like 55 isn't the waning years of ambition, 250 hours isn't the waning years of a great character. I think you just have to stick it out and not give up. It's a shame to see a character like Werthius go out when (in my mind) he was closing in on what he wanted most.

Sorry for the long windedness of the reply, but like I said, I liked Werthius a good deal

Good luck with your next!

I know 55 years sounds like a lot if compared to real life, but hey, in CF most humans can expect to live and stay strong until 90.

I liked what I saw from Werthius, including the eagerness to lead and order people around. I guess I just like to see someone who takes the initiative in their hands, because I'm not like that myself (not with this character, at least).

By the way, there -is- one huge benefit from being a leader. That is longer life and slower con loss, and the earlier you get the spot, the more you get from it, amirite?

You were a TOUGH bastard, but unfortunately, unless a paladin has the faith virtue, they're just totally trumped by a shaman, especially an imperial one. Never felt really threatened by you while I had the dispel button, but thats expected with the build vs build we had going on. You had balls though, i'll give you that.

Good luck with the next.

I was really curious to see where you would take things. I think you could have done some very interesting things to...make things go your way in the end. Alas, I guess it's not to be. Best of luck with whatever's next!

Nae-nae