Goodbye, my friends.

My VIP status for this account expires tomorrow and all efforts to use timecards to extend that duration have failed, so unless the VIP switch gets flipped on for everyone before the end this will be my last post on these forums. I'd like to talk a little bit about myself, my experiences with this game, and the people who have made these last five and a half years some of the best I could ask for, even if they were full of their own ups and downs.

First, me. I posted in the unmasking thread yesterday, but in case people haven't found that thread (it's great, by the way, you really should check it out), here's some background information. My name is Robert, I'm 23, and I'm an electronics technician in the US Navy. Here's me a few months ago with my grandparents.



I started playing this game near the end of my senior year of high school, in mid-May 2007 - just a few days after I9 came out. This came at the urging of my friends, who had been playing for a while before that point. At first I was hesitant because I didn't think I'd ever be able to enjoy an MMO so I initially resisted their efforts - I had no idea that I'd be playing the game for years after they all stopped. They eventually won, and I logged into the game for the first time on May 12, 2007. My first character was a joke character, because even then I still didn't think I'd play past the end of the two-week trial. Though that character's costume has changed slightly over the years, and I've taken to using newer ones, some of you may remember the Amazing Balrog. I don't remember why I chose that name, but what I do remember is that the monster legs were chosen because when I was picking legs, my mouse spazzed and that's what the menu landed on.



Needless to say, by the time the 14-day trial ended, I was hooked. Through the summer before I started college I played extensively with those friends from high school, but as college began they drifted away from the game for various reasons. Meanwhile, I started playing even more than before and found a website for a pretty cool supergroup, full of people that mentored me, taught me more about the game than I could have imagined, and helped me out when I was doing so well, either in- or out-of-game. Though we eventually parted ways, I still keep in touch with several of those players both in-game and in other places. Needless to say, I didn't do well in college, partly because the major I'd chosen didn't agree with me, and partly because I spent so much time playing this game. After two years of school I figured it would be better if I took some time off to decide what I wanted to do with my life, and my friends in-game were there while I was making those decisions. I don't think if I'd kept going to school I would have joined the Navy, which has proven to be an incredibly positive experience for me, so I at least have this game to thank for that, even if it came in a roundabout way.

I casually PvP'd in Siren's Call with my flying Katana/Regen Scrapper for a while starting in late 2007/early 2008, though I still thought PvP was a bit silly and didn't like the attitude of some people I'd met in zone. I remember arguing about PvP in some global channels with the very people that would soon become my mentors on all things PvP. By the summer of 2008, I was getting to the point where I wanted to level and build a character specifically for PvP, so I set out to do that. I remember watching the finals of a 2v2 tournament on Justice where Ajax and Aura, who had spent the $10 each way on server transfers from Freedom just for a shot at the billion inf winning prize, beat Deth and Solo in the last match. I remember powerleveling my Rad/Psi by myself, without a bridge, and hitting level 50 in October 2008, only a few weeks before Issue 13 went into closed beta on the test server. I remember the outcry from the PvP playerbase, and I remember being upset because it meant the character I'd spent so much time on getting ready wouldn't be nearly as good as I'd wanted him to be. Though the changes didn't affect me directly because I wasn't huge into PvP at that time, several players I spent time in-game with drifted away and I don't think it was ever the same for me. Yet I kept playing, because the community that was left was still amazing. I joined dUmb (a team based on Infinity) for the first post-I13 ladder, and stayed with them for a while through various leagues and tournaments, joining a few other teams along the way, including Convenient.

When Going Rogue came out, I decided not to purchase it, because apart from side-switching it didn't appeal to me. I ended up getting all of it when the game went F2P anyways because I maintained my subscription, but looking back now I regret that a little bit, because I never did fully catch up on the Praetorian content or Incarnate system - I've only got one character with every existing Incarnate slot unlocked, and even then it's only partially slotted out. I'm trying to complete some of the content that's been added or updated in the last year, year and a half, but I'm not sure I'll get around to it. I don't think I can do everything, but I'm okay with that, because whether I've completed everything there is to do or not, it's been a hell of a ride and I couldn't have asked for a better community to share it with.

I'd like to thank the following players, without whom I would likely not be posting this today (if I forget your name, I am deeply sorry):

* ActiveX, Despair, IVShadow, Stone Cutter, and FlamingSavage: for getting me to try out the game in the first place.
* Candlestick, Con, Dent, Dethwing, Lucas, Quatermain, among others: for introducing me, in their own ways, to the world of PvP.
* Barrier, Bleak, Dream Crusher, Doyler, Epsilon, Exit, Feugan, Gabby, Haunt, Imp, Johnny Wildfire, Keenon, Mercury Down, MrLiberty, Nanu, Neuronia, PF, Psoma, PF, Philly, Ra, Rick James, Roy, Tor, Shini, Slax, Sid, John, Shard, Smoke, Spag, Swansu, Solo, Red Ranger, Teh Artic, Trance, Trez, Troken, TR, Tryiel, Razor, Xanatos, Z, Silit, Vert, Jimmay, among others: for providing me with endless hours of entertainment and frustration in the post-I13 PvP world, on Justice, Freedom, Infinity, and Virtue.
* Ba'alat (Zizka), Boku, Cai, Chloe Crimson, Choake, Ele, Enrious, Gaderath, Gerswin, Henry, Kilspyke, Jenny Lewis, Kaese, Kyth, Liz, Mermione, Nord, Pum, Saiko, Sam Hufinson, Nakoa, Soliton Wave, The Pope, Toona, Iggy, Illenia, Zar, Uber, and many more: for being fellow powergamers who helped me realize that it wasn't the characters, but the players at the keyboard, that could bend and sometimes outright break the game (to this day, how many groups can say they can do a 'bring-whatever' ITF and still finish in less than 20 minutes?).
* Cassie, Bobitron, Blackshroud, Damon Savage, Tainted, Hellsminion, Lite of Paragon, MorriganRaven, Radmind, Rockie, Sin, JLicious, Laylian, Blackshroud, Reetta, War Patriot, Femme, Talynt, and many others: for accepting me into Legends of Justice, teaching me the ropes, and then putting up with me when I became a pretentious *** for a while.
* ElectronicCicadas, Mistress Rue, TargetOne, Alzharade, Millicent, NovaStar, Quest, Cleretic, Fro, Warp, and others, for various reasons.
* Ael Rhiana, Aeon, American-Dream, Azmeran, Blue Science, Bobblez, Bohmfalk, Chaos Creator, Docam, Dr. Jewel, Electora, Electron Gal, Game Theorist, Good-Arrow, Guil, Hydro, Kaese, Kanga, Kaiser Soze, Katfood, Kelcius, Kyth, Lane Darkmist, Mistress Death, MoltenSlowa, Nanook, Noodle, Nyxy, Queen of Snow, Reisen, Scarlet Fern, Sister Sin, Snoofles, Soliton Wave, Square One, Swan Song, ThePhage: you're on my globals list, you must have done something to interest me!
* Everyone else who I've run into, good or bad, over these last five and a half years. Thank you so very, very much. I can only hope one of the plans in the works to save this game, or at least its community, comes through, because you're all an amazing group of people.

For those who wish to contact me, my usernames for various services are listed in my signature, and I'm sure you can find me on Facebook if you look hard enough through the CoH and JFA groups. I find the quote in my signature works for this occasion as well, but I'm going to close with the following video:

We'll meet again - don't know where, don't know when - but I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.

mac, I'm going to be rude and copy/paste your signature here.

When you drop to Premium, the signatures and avatars disappear.

So that others can see the info if they miss it be fore you drop to Premium, here's the info from the signature:

Mac, thank you so very much for all u did in the past for me and the rest of the game.

Tyvm for spending RL cash and allowing Me and the other Con and Exile members to use ur vent for SO long.

Goodbye my friend, I hope to see u again some day, I'll look for u on facebook.

Mac,

Glad you made it back before the end. Good players and good peeps are the best thing a person can ask for to hang with in any game.

Please check in everyday till the servers go down, who knows what "SUNSET THE GAME" means.

Just gotta have the crew for the end of COH

I'll restate it "You are One of the Best"