Illarion.org

First, to the staff and the countless players I have encounter over the years thank you deeply for the entertainment you have provided me over the last ten years. I cannot truly express the deep appreciation and respect I have for the staff and developers of this game. The time and dedication you have poured out boggles my mind when so long ago I wanted to be a video game developer. As I reflect on that time I know I failed because I tried to do too much on my own and burnt myself out. Thankfully, Illarion provided a place for my imagination to play as I pursued more practical means to support myself. In that time Illarion gave me a great sense of community that I had a hard time finding in real life.

It is that idea of community that I find myself obsessing about lately. A place to come and gather, to enjoy something outside myself. I guess that really comes from being in a world that is greatly focused on self importance and individualism. Even as I played sports there were cliques within the team. I understand that people naturally gravitate to like minded people, but even in my early days of playing Illarion I saw this small community divide itself in much the same way. For ten years I have tried to bridge that gap with my role-play and find ways to unite characters both as a player and as a GM. As of late that mission and drive has worn on me and I turn to you my community.

I want to be part of something dynamic with a group of people. Am I alone in wanting that? If not what is preventing us from doing it?

I agree with what you say so I will keep it short: I guess the best way is simply that we try to remind ourselves that we just want t enjoy this game together. I fear we cannot do much else about it. Don't get pulled down by this. Human beings have flaws and so will have everything they ever do. That, however, should not stop us from enjoying the very good sides of this game.