Heading Off, AMA

[Skylez 865]

 

Salutations,
The name gig is kind of new, this is Skylez1. After spending a good chunk of time playing on and off since 2013 I think it’s time I commit myself to leaving this server. As quite frankly I’ve found it ridiculous the amount of times I’ve disappeared without a word and re-emerged within the last year or so. I’ve never made a leaving post or an AMA before so I’m hoping this can give me, as well others some closure and finalization when it comes to me dipping.

 

If you don’t know me, I can’t say I blame you. I was never truly interested in becoming notable on the server through RP, PVP, or whatever. Most of my time I tried to ride the waves and just find a good circle of folks to have enjoyable RP with, occasionally delving into bouts of PVP. I started on this server playing an elf with the Salvus Shields back in Anthos. From the few things I can recall, I did enjoy my time here, but I lost interest in the server for one reason or another. I came back during early Vailor and have been playing irregularly since then. I’m grateful for branching out and getting involved in lots of different communities and types of RP. From elves, paladins, orcs, humans, undead, dark magics, strigae, ET, LT, and probably a dozen or so more, I’d like to think I have really been around the block. I’ve met some great people and experienced some amazing stories that I know I’ll remember for a very, very long time.

Why am I leaving? Old habits die hard. Prior to enlisting in the military in early 2019, in hopes of making something of myself and serving my country, I relied on LotC heavily for escapism from real life problems. From what I can remember, I typically racked around 20-35 hours on the server a week for many months. I was disconnected from reality in a way, relationships with my family and some friends deteriorated. Over time my mental health eroded as well, as while I consciously knew what I was doing, I clung to it because it was comfortable, easy, and fun at times. Nowadays, while I am far from that past state in my life, I find myself drawn back here time to time, as I look back fondly, and tend to dismiss the negative connotations. Part of me wants to keep on this self-improvement train, workout more than I do already, learn a new skill, take a productive hobby, the other half sees my online friends, LotC, and what that entails, as an “easy out,” the comfortable route that encourages me to be stagnant in life. I tend to get really invested and focused in whatever I put my attention on, sometimes for the worse, as shown here. I really want to keep moving forward with my life and experience all that I can experience, and I find that isn’t possible with having half of me clinging to LotC and online friends. The love of writing, literature, and storytelling this server fostered in me will stay with in my heart for the rest of my life, but I can’t keep returning to my past or I’m hamstringing myself and my future.
 

Keep on keeping on, push forth and accomplish all that you set yourself to, influence others positively through your lifestyle and your choices.

 

“As Iron sharpens iron, one person must sharpen another.”
Proverbs 27:17

Sentiments for others:

Spoiler

@ScreamingDingo While I know you're generally seen as some scary, screaming dude here, I want to thank you for caring Joel. You seemed pretty annoyed with me every time I decided to return to this place, and I believe that is because you wanted better for me and to move on like a lot of the Boys. Your writing style and characters inspired me a lot, and we had some great stories. I hope you are successful in your studies and enjoy the line of work you are seeking to get into.

@Heero I always enjoyed our late night talks and I'm grateful that you had enough trust in me to talk to me about your problems. I hope you're in a better place now than before, Rp with you was a treat. Thanks for introducing me to Gundam too ahaha, UC timeline will forever be my favorite. Sorry I couldn't play your son whenever Crumeme eventually finds his grade "A" waifu :" )

 

@Parkins I remember asking your character for necromancy in early Vailor ahaha. I played a ghoul for a while and eventually became friends with you sometime in Axios. Thank you for adamantly vouching for OOC competence when my oren legionnaire was made into a darkstalker. Because of you I experienced my favorite story I've written here, so thank you. You've also been a great friend to me and I really enjoy how genuine are conversations were. I know you don't play anymore, but perhaps you'll see this one day.

@Swqrclan You became one of the best friends I made on here. I always found myself able to express just about anything to you, and I am truly grateful for that. Thank you for the stories we've made together, along with your Narrative. I really enjoyed delving into that, and I hope it continues in some form of another.

@Lyonharted You and the Legio I Ioannes are really what made me try human rp, and I often found myself never looking back after that. Thank you for that, I always enjoyed rp'ing with you and Sylvester.

@The Lion Mordskov will always be my favorite eventline, and that is largely because of the vision you and Zac held for it. Thank you for the fun times and the engrossing story. Hope you're doing well nowadays man.

@Yakith_Lizard You and your antics never fail to make me laugh. Thank you for that.
 

@Callistus While I don't know you as well as others, you quickly became a good friend here. Between your intriguing writing, and spending late nights playing Tarkov with you, I always felt I could have a good time with you. Thank you for that, I hope that the varg continue to progress, the lore you and Jentos wrote is among some of the best that was made for this server. I wish you the best in your studies, become that engineer you strive to be.
 

@Archangelic We have quite the history, and while a lot of it, especially towards the end was negative, thank you for the RP. I hope you continue to grow in life. I apologize if I ever hurt you or your feelings.
 

@TrendE I'd like to apologize for how I acted regarding the encounter between your knight and my striga. I took it too seriously at the time and definitely at the price of everyone's enjoyment in that scenario. I was in a awful spot in my life, and while that is not an excuse, I hope it provides you some insight as to why I acted the way I did. I may not agree with the way you do things at times, but I think you're a pretty good guy overall and I wish you nothing but the best. 

 

@Temp You were always one of the most mature among the Boys. A voice of reason at times. Thank you for all the rp you created and providing a different way of thinking to the groups we've been in. You're pretty inspiring too, from your awful accident to where you are now. You didn't give up like I could imagine others might have. Keep it going man. You've got a set of strong shoulders.

 

@Nivellen Your rp never failed to inspire. It's not overly verbose or theatric, you provide the right amount of detail and it never felt like a drag waiting for you to emote, like some do. Thanks for the good times, and I hope you are successful wherever you might be, state-side or not. 

 

@Jentos Thank you for all the crazed peasant/raevir rp. I loved roleplaying with your characters and trying to understand what kind of madness befell them. Best of luck in whatever you do.

 

@shmucko mode I know we didn't always get along, but you were always open to talking, thank you. I hope you're living your best life, maybe one day I'll sit down and get to watch a movie directed by you.

 

@unknown soldier Thank you for always being fun to be around. Whether that be doing smith rp as brothers, or spending time playing bedwars and rambling about anything and everything. I hope college is everything you want it to be and more.
 

@Mordhaund Thank you for always seeming to place value in my opinions, I appreciate that. Along that, you made me feel welcome every time I was in a group of yours. I'm sorry we never got to play Mordhau, you would have destroyed me without a doubt ahaha. 
 

@Screechr You were always friendly and seemed to enjoy my RP a lot, which always made me feel appreciated and welcomed. Thanks for the good times, and keep practicing skinning, your work looks really good!

 

@Angmarzku Thanks for all the superb RP with your ghoul made wraith, the westerlands, and undead in general. You are the person that really got me into undead rp back when I played a ghoul in vailor. Your builds were always beyond compare and inspired creativity like none other. 

@Gamma Thanks for always making me feel welcomed, and the great rp, alongside all the games played outside the server. I know you'll excel in art school, your work never fails to amaze.
 

@Keefy Really glad we got to meet in person, if only for a few minutes. You were always a joy to RP with and Hareven is my favorite druid, hands down.

 

@Lhindir_ We didn't always see eye to eye, especially in the years past, yet you tend to brought engaging rp with you wherever you went. Thank you for that. Hail the IVth Legion.

 

@Zarsies Thanks for the good times. A lot of your lore led to a boatload of fun, interesting rp. Without you and your wide contributions to the server this place would definitely not be as mystical (haha) of a place as it is.
 

@Jake! Thought I could leave you out? Not a chance, just had to have you scroll all the way down here. You've been a great friend since middle school and I hope that introducing you to the server was a good thing in the end. Regardless, RP with you was a blast, from our humble beginnings as delves in a welf nation, to doing Afflicted RP with you. You can always reach me via text or steam, if I'm online. I hope you go on to do great things, I'd love to see a production with your acting in it. 

If I didn't mention you for whatever reason, I'll probably reach out to you soon as I make rounds over the coming days.

 

 

Never made an AMA so I figure why not now? Better late than never. I’ll reply to any questions left here for a few days. Fire away.

[excited 10833]

Rest easy.

 

You're doing much better now bro. 

[JEEGK 1253]

really hate how well you know me

 

take care man, we'll go hard in other games

[Gustando 1453]

I'm really glad to hear that you're doing way better now, and of your decision to finally leave LOTC for good. Rest easy, brotha- i'll cherish the times we did stuff together.

Also. What's your most memorable group that you were apart of?

[Temp 2006]

Yeah man, don't be a stranger.

[Callistus 963]

I'll see you soon in valheim, brother. o7

[excited 10833]

Forgot to ask - throw me your Discord. I wanna keep in touch. 

[Valannor 6344]

o7 chief, wish ya the best. 

[Child Neglecter 2128]

yeah, your right, I probably would've destroyed you in Mordhau 

 

it's sad to see you go man, keep in touch for sure - you know where to find me, you've got my Discord. You were always a great addition to the group brother. 

[Archangelic 212]

Stay safe.

 

 

Hit up my line when you feel.

[Treshure 5579]

I went down a very similar path as yours, Skylez. It's easy to look back at Mineman and say, "God, what an escapist hell". And for some people, it's a genuinely good thing to stay away. But remember to stay true to yourself. In recent years, I had gotten so caught up in doing what I thought was the most socially acceptable thing that I forgot what I personally enjoyed. My advice is to live your best life, but make it yours. I found this server during a difficult part of my life, and it without a doubt was escapism. But I found a community and a group of friends for life. I would have never discovered my passion for storytelling without it. Bad circumstances can lead to good things. And sometimes, it might not always be black and white.

 

Take that with you wherever you go. Take care, man.

[Hephaestus 1317]

Sleep well.

 

May time be kind to you in the next life.

[Parkins 549]

Where's my Valheim invite?

[Skylez 865]

11 hours ago, Screechr said:

Also. What's your most memorable group that you were apart of?

Aesthetic and overall theme? The Redshrouds. A brotherhood of the dead Swgrclan founded, comprised of mostly darkstalkers. We would roam around and harass both dark and holy groups, other undead, mages, etc, anything that was deemed to be an anomaly or something to be corrected.

For RP? Marked Men/Manticore Initiative. Met some great people through this group, and we created some amazing stories in my opinion, like the Mordskov eventline. Really set the bar for me in regards to RP, for better or for worse, as it was somewhat hard to look back after that.

[Zarsies 6024]

Best of luck out there my dude. I resonate with the constant relapsing but I think I'm too far gone and hooked for good. LotC is a huge timesink and is only worth it when you spend a minimal amount of time on it with high enjoyment. Fly free.