the recent "grand farewell" threads

[650Booger]

are they a good thing?  I feel like new players who are checking out the GDB for the first time will peek in the player announcements forum, see multiple veteran-quitting threads, and think "dying game, not worth my time".

we'll all miss you, but perhaps its better to say goodbye to individual friends rather than the internet as a whole?

sorry to be a negative nancy, I have the health of the game in mind

[Dar]

Are they good for the general band wagon, sheep oriented morale? No.

Do people deserve to say good bye to a community they spent 1-20 years with? Yes. They do. They do and to hell with optics.

At the same time. These farewell threads are nothing new. People  began playing when they were 12+, and now they are in their mid 30s. Combine the time you spent on ALL video games in your life and compare it to the time you spent in armageddon.  Who wins?


Plus. Not to belittle an attempt to break their addiction, but these farewell threads happen periodically. Years pass and those players return.

[perfecto]

So damn true; everyone we say goodbye to, we say welcome back a while later. 

We don't call it Crackageddon for nothin'!

[Achoo]

New dude here, but I've been a part of several older internet communities (ProBoards and the like) and those types of post just happen every now and then. In my experience they aren't usually reflective of the health of the community as a whole. Quite nice to see the tradition revived, really, most communities now don't do that sort of thing.

I'm just here to enjoy the fiction and probably die horribly (In-game, that is).

Edit (March 13th): So the recent threads in this forum on related topics have put a bit of a damper on the old enthusiasm, moreso than the grand farewell threads in any case.

[Riev]

I definitely feel that if there ARE a couple people so dedicated to the game/community that they feel they need to say goodbye, you can certainly put a positive spin on the optics. Its not "community dying" its "community so strong people have hard feelings about saying goodbye".

[sleepyhead]

I came back, anyway. So there's that. (I'm an alt of one of the people who said goodbye, although I'm now using this as my main account.)

[Akaramu]

In my experience, a goodbye post means they still care and will probably be back at some point in the future.

[Armaddict]

Do people deserve to say good bye to a community they spent 1-20 years with? Yes. They do. They do and to hell with optics.

[Dresan]

A long time ago an administrator in another game spoke his thoughts on farewell threads. They stated that they were okay with Farewell threads because he felt that person still cared enough about the game to take the time to post. In their experience the person would return after some time had passed.

He felt that it was the people that just suddenly stopped logging in that tended to not to return.

Considering I did just that and never returned to that particular game for almost ten years...he might have had a point.

[Culinary Critic]

Good thing.

The reason I say so is that nearly every single one I've read has stated (sometimes repeatedly) what a fantastic time the person had playing the game, what a great group of people the player base are, that they will miss the game and that (in many cases) they hope to come back someday.

These messages are almost always positive about Arm, the world, the players, staff and the GDB.  (sentiments that I echo wholeheartedly, by the way).

I rarely use the word deserve (mainly because it is massively overused), but do agree with Dar that people who have put years contributing to Armageddon and Zalanthas have earned the right to say goodbye and send their best wishes to those still in the world.  We've all played many, many characters who died and never had a chance to say goodbye.  Taking the chance to do so to the people who played the friends, enemies, bosses, employers, loved ones and templars who abused those characters seems very appropriate to my mind.

[Akaramu]

A long time ago an administrator in another game spoke his thoughts on farewell threads. They stated that they were okay with Farewell threads because he felt that person still cared enough about the game to take the time to post. In their experience the person would return after some time had passed.

He felt that it was the people that just suddenly stopped logging in that tended to not to return.

Considering I did just that and never returned to that particular game for almost ten years...he might have had a point.

I didn't make a post, and I returned after 3 years. I took breaks before, but that particular break-off was so bad that just thinking about the game made me uncomfortable for a long, long time. I couldn't even stand to look at the GDB.

I'm never ever going to request my account notes because I think seeing them would trigger me all over again.

[Rhyden]

I'd be interested to see how many of those farewell folks actually stay gone, and for how long.

For example, I took a year or so hiatus and am kind of, sort of, mostly back.

Diggin' all these new code changes, btw.

[Akaramu]

I think it depends a lot on everyone's real life situation. Those with busy lives and families are maybe a little less likely to come back than internet hermits.

[solera]

I think it depends a lot on everyone's real life situation. Those with busy lives and families are maybe a little less likely to come back than internet hermits.

There is retirement and empty nests to come. 

[Hauwke]

If Arm is still going strong in 40 ish years I suspect I will be spending a shit-ton of time all day every day during retirement. It almost sounds sad to say that.

[Riev]

Good thing.

The reason I say so is that nearly every single one I've read has stated (sometimes repeatedly) what a fantastic time the person had playing the game, what a great group of people the player base are, that they will miss the game and that (in many cases) they hope to come back someday.

These messages are almost always positive about Arm, the world, the players, staff and the GDB.  (sentiments that I echo wholeheartedly, by the way).

Its also important to remember that very few people who end up dissatisfied about the game, stick with it long enough to "be someone that sends a farewell". And those that do so in a negative manner get their posts moderated and the user gets banned.

Partially because "WE'VE ALWAYS ENJOYED THIS GAME AND ITS ALWAYS GREAT" but also because those that DO become dissatisfied are often unable to get across why they are dissatisfied without flaming, namecalling, or someone feeling personally targeted.

[In Dreams]

Being a player that's been away awhile but still has a roleplaying itch where I still occasionally want to give it another try, I'll admit I was pretty turned off by how depressingly visible the player/staff divide seems to be. All the moreso because I'm very very much apart from that myself, literally never having a bad experience with staff! I hadn't much idea what was under the surface until recently.

It feels like a bad sign when so many openly distrust each other and a healthy discussion can't take place.

[solera]

em dive tackles ~In.Dreams.

[titansfan]

This thread makes me very sad. I've seen, heard, and been told of players who have long played being banned or quitting recently. The log ins are lower than I've seen in a long while.  I'm so hopeful all this will get sorted out and people will come back and stave off this slump. Arm is the love of my gaming life and I want to see it flourish with great players old and new.

[Riev]

This thread makes me very sad. I've seen, heard, and been told of players who have long played being banned or quitting recently. The log ins are lower than I've seen in a long while.  I'm so hopeful all this will get sorted out and people will come back and stave off this slump. Arm is the love of my gaming life and I want to see it flourish with great players old and new.

Not to be apologetic, but also consider Battlefield, For Honor, ramp up for Mass Effect Andromeda, FFXV, Horizon.... there are a lot of first-quarter games that have come out, and we are all gamers.

[Nergal]

I think farewell threads are a good thing. If you want to take the time to say goodbye then you should. Whether you come back or not, or are likely to come back or not, shouldn't be a concern of other players or the staff.

It's somewhat cynical to look at goodbyes as damaging. They're a caring expression from another player. Players will disagree and butt heads with staff, and in reverse, a lot. It's important for players and staff to be able to do that without fear of driving players away. I would hope that potential new players see impassioned arguments and goodbyes as a sign that players are dedicated to the game. Personally what would drive me away from the game are things like underhanded behavior (from players or staff) and trolling. I think it's far more important to suppress that and keep the atmosphere "civil" and "logical" rather than "happy" (although "happy" is certainly nice, too).

Sometimes these goodbyes are planned for months, or the player tells themselves "one more character". Sometimes these goodbyes are a knee-jerk reaction. We're not here to judge and it's important that players don't either. This game is a community and a society, or at least, one has been built around the game by its players and staff. If someone wants to say goodbye, say goodbye back and wish them the best. It's really the only reasonable thing to do here.

[Shoka Windrunner]

This thread makes me very sad. I've seen, heard, and been told of players who have long played being banned or quitting recently. The log ins are lower than I've seen in a long while.  I'm so hopeful all this will get sorted out and people will come back and stave off this slump. Arm is the love of my gaming life and I want to see it flourish with great players old and new.

Not to be apologetic, but also consider Battlefield, For Honor, ramp up for Mass Effect Andromeda, FFXV, Horizon.... there are a lot of first-quarter games that have come out, and we are all gamers.

You forgot Breath of the Wild.  Cause actually pretty good and enjoyable.  (Horizon is a good one in this same vein)



For Nergal.  Because a reason.

Also I kind of agree with Nergal.  It is sad sometimes to see that person who played that PC in that clan that you really liked leave though.  Kind of like when a friend moves away.  It's sad, memories flood in, regrets, maybe tears, trying to figure out what you might have done to get them to stay, who you can blame.   

This thread reads like people trying to reach a catharsis over a loss of some sort I think.