To my friends, enemies, supporters, detractors and colleagues
Since launch I've spent many hours (far too many if truth be told... I could have probably done something more productive in that time, like learning the piano, or irrigating the Sahara). I've made friends here. Some left, for varying reasons. Some just vanished and were never seen or heard from again. Others I still talk with on a daily basis.
Okay. We're getting to the nostalgic wishy-washy bit, so feel free to flit your eyes down past this part
I'd be lying if I said I hated this game. Such a blanket statement wouldn't do justice to my experiences. In the 15 or so months I've played AO I've experienced joy, excitement, despair, anger, frustration, love, sadness and other emotions too nauseating to mention without losing the few remaining readers that didn't just skip down. But... whatever has happened en masse in the past month, and in more isolated spots beforehand (the number '12.6' still sends a chill down the spine of developer and AO oldie alike), they cannot change the positive memories I've had. For those, I thank both Funcom, for making them possible, and the rest of you, for either being there to share the memories, to instigate the incident, or to be the unwitting victim
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You can resume reading now.
Why am I leaving? Well, much like the First World War, no single factor on its own could be considered the reason, but rather the combination of them together (whee! I managed to fit in a dramatic simile!). Here are the main factors though.
Firstly, having spent 15 months in this game I've pretty much run out of things to do. Those who know me, or have killed me
Secondly, as many of you know, my Guild 'The Council' recently disbanded, and many of my closest friends left (by choice or circumstance). The 'Demios situation 'has been well publicised, so I won't reiterate. Those who care already know, and those who don't are unlikely to do so just because of lil' ol' me. But needless to say that, given the above, the biggest thing keeping me in-game was my duties as a Founder of TC, and my friends within the Guild. Most of those have now left, and moved on to AC2.
Thirdly, the Arms Race between Britain and Germany, particularly following the construction of HMS Dreadnaught, led to... *Snaps back to reality* Hum... ignore that
There are other factors. Small ones that are too numerous to mention (and this post's long enough as it is
So all that is left is to say 'Farewell'. It's been an eventful 15 months. I'm not going to leave with any bitter recriminations towards Funcom, it's not in my nature. In fact, I truly hope that they can turn the recent perceived decline (at least from my perspective) around and make AO a success... if only so that they can release a sequel to The Longest Journey
For those that are interested, yes I will too be playing AC2 now. Was this a factor? Maybe, but if it wasn't AC2 that I moved to, I'd have returned to UO or nothing at all. My decision to leave AO was made before playing AC2 became a possibility.
I'm not ruling out a return at a later date, and I will not be selling my account, so if you see 'Destria' again in the future, then you know that the Prodigal Daughter has returned!
Remember to use your new gun on a Clan member
Ruthanne 'Destria' Villalba, formerly of "The Council", level 200 Omni-Tek Doctor
