Cheers to the Staff and Players

[Lizzie]

...for everything that's gone into this Grand Re-Opening of the game.

The staff has made lots of great changes, all to support the incoming players. Between the code changes and building changes, it looks like the game itself is doing really well thus far. We had 80 players near the start of Opening day, and it was still churning along steadily at or near 60 until it was time for me to do the sleep-med routine.

Terrific first day, and thanks again to the staff who worked their asses off to bring us Season 1.

Can't wait to see how this all plays out!

[zealus]

Wanted to play just 1 hour.
It's dawn.
This game man.

60 players online!
Whoooooo!

Keep it up people, y'all are awesome.

[Dresan]

Congratulations to all the staff for a successful launch.

Honestly the naysayers, vitriol and negativity thrown at staff when this project began was abhorrent. However despite the incredibly challenging start, everyone now gets to enjoy the game.

Not many find themselves in situations where it is just easier to give up and move on, than it is to rebuild. Fewer still find themselves  willing to take up such a challenge through outright abuse on all sides.  Finally, even less people manage to succeed under these conditions.

Regardless of what the future holds, you have all accomplished this feat. It truly makes this success something that deserves respect.

[Gimfalisette]

It was a really fun day.

• I re-learned how to emote!
• Somehow managed to end up with THREE backpacks?!
• Survived the tavern spam (gold star)
• Had a couple of good conversations with interesting PCs (thumbs up)
• Helped a few newbies in Discord, watching them be excited/frustrated/excited again was nostalgic and delightful and heartwarming <3
• Talked to a player who came back after 17+ years! They recognized my name and we got to chat about old times. Then they made a PC! (This is a really good player y'all, someone I looked up to when I started.)

A very satisfying day. Tomorrow I think I'm gonna set "brief room" though because oof.

Much appreciation to all the players and to the staffing team. Staff can't do it without players and players can't do it without staff. And we all do it better when everyone is bringing their A game.

[Valkyrja]

I had such a wonderful time animating for players today for the first time and I hope to support more stories moving forward in the Season. I blinked and 12 hours went by. We're only just getting started and we have so much planned!! 😁

I'm immensely grateful to all of our players for joining us and together I know we're gonna make Season 1 the best Arm yet!

[Windstorm]

It takes some bravery to overcome the general fear of change and never-ending deluges of naysaying to make changes to a game that's so old and  - bewilderingly, to me - resistant to even minor improvements or modernization. But I'm happy to say that Arm's weathered the fears and cries and finally, showed it wouldn't be weighed down by ghosts of its own past. It's a feat and particularly in light of this place's particular history, quite remarkable.

That doesn't mean we stop here though. Arm has long, long been outdated in ways and remains so in plenty of others. I do encourage the staff, and everyone, to think of this sort of revolution in terms of being something ongoing. Be open to change. Make some hamburgers out of those sacred cows. Turns out, they can taste pretty good!

A stagnant establishment of any sort that changes nothing, leaves things how they are, and insists it's perfect while support is in perpetual decline is both lying to itself and at best slowly dying. Let's not be that anymore. There's lots left to do. Eventually, the present excitement will die down. Populations will likely settle somewhere lower. Problems will arise.

Only a lasting commitment to listening to players and a positive environment will keep foundations like these strong. Only a stubborn willingness to put new players and their experiences first will keep them coming. Only listening will make them stay.

Take risks. Change things. Create fresh new experiences. If players want to take the wheel, don't wrestle it out of their hands; build a road in front of them instead. If something doesn't work, backtrack. Give more people more chances, more agency.

Thanks for listening. But to both players and staff, don't make this the end. Make it the beginning.

[FuSoYa]

Just to throw in my two cents.

If you had asked me what would be on my bingo card for this year - jumping back into Armageddon would NOT have been there.

Not because I didn't want to, I have OFTEN cited my time with Armageddon 15 years ago as the number one gaming experience of my life - and to know something about me is to know that I adore games and they are pretty much my main hobby.  I simply just felt that that was a chapter/door of my life that was definitely closed so I would always just think back on it wistfully.

The past couple weeks of anticipation have been a trip and then actually getting into game and going was better than I ever expected.

Though I've never considered myself to be one of those "top" players I have always so very much enjoyed my time within the community and I very much look forward to hopefully staying alive and getting into some fun shit with my current character.

Kudos to the staff barely begin to do it justice.

[CirclelessBard]

It's really hard to quantify just how amazing the game felt yesterday. There was a certain energy among all the players entering or re-entering the game for the first time, and things just sort of... clicked. Everyone fell into place naturally and although there were a few bumps and syntax errors, it felt like everyone knew what kind of character they wanted to portray and what kind of story they wanted to tell. I am looking forward to seeing that vibe continue throughout the season's run. The staff have been great and the players have been naturals at inhabiting roles within the new story. I'm looking forward to writing a shared story with all of you!

[helix]

I had... a ton of fun yesterday. I'm not as social a player as some others. But there was heart pounding, DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN?, and 'wow, look at that!' moments.

I would just like to say... thank you, staff, for all the stuff you did in the world. Because it's pretty cool out there.

[Tasemu]

me: complaining always cause there s not enough players
me again: unable to follow wtf is going on when there are more than 5 people in a tavern

I doubted and always thought it will be a second armageddon 2.0 but its obvious i was wrong. if some people were grumpy, it was because they valued the game and thought it was taken away from them.

good to be able to emote again

[burble]

Yesterday was like stepping back in time to '94. You (staff and players) captured the magic of what made this game special. For a moment, I thought I time traveled! If anyone was curious about what early Arm was like, yesterday was it - tons of energy, stories everywhere you turn, a living book that you don't want to put down.

Great Job! 

[manonfire]

+1

[Bogre]

Fantastic job to the staff, for sparking a new start, revving excitement, and committing to the work of GMing, which is often thankless. Thanks for acknowledging past mistakes, promoting clean slates, better shared story, and having a 'work together' mindset rather than adversarial.

To the rest of the world cast, such a thrill of energy yesterday. Keep it up, keep Arm time healthy, devote enough to your IRL time so that you can burn bright in game. Make fun for others. Dig into your characters. Give others the benefit of the doubt, and be optimistic. Give the staff breathing room, from time to time. Welcome the new players and help them shine. Build the world, try not to kick at others' sandcastles if there's an out.

For everyone, staff and players and myself:  There will be friction, there will be irritation and loss, but - high stakes is why we love this game. Armers are hard-headed. Just - please keep the bets riding rather than pushing everyone all in from the get go. Epic stories we can gush about in the future are better than a quick 'win'.

[Usiku]

Keep it up, keep Arm time healthy, devote enough to your IRL time so that you can burn bright in game. Make fun for others. Dig into your characters. Give others the benefit of the doubt, and be optimistic. Give the staff breathing room, from time to time. Welcome the new players and help them shine. Build the world, try not to kick at others' sandcastles if there's an out.

I read this to the "tune" of Sunscreen. 

You guys all rock!!

[Cowboy]

It took me about two minutes to feel at home in game.  All of the hard work was way beyond any of my expectations.  Thank you all.

[WarriorPoet]

For sure. I haven't got to play much but I have seen some good stuff out there. Solid roleplay, scents of plots, nice everyday storytelling.

Newbies in particular! One new player in an aba really made me smile. Killing it!

[FantasyWriter]

Helped a few newbies in Discord, watching them be excited/frustrated/excited again was nostalgic and delightful and heartwarming <3

This has been my favorite part of the reset.

[Precarious]

I tried this game for the first time 11 years ago. I played multiple characters with quick deaths and never fully got the grasp of it but the rp interested me. I had just discovered muds at 17 and videogames were my normal go to. I don't really remember much of that time but I do know the experience of what I thought it could have/ should have been wasn't there partially due to difficulty and lack of playerbase and I looked around for other muds but never fully could get into one. I continued on with other things in my life. A few weeks ago I was reminded in a random way of muds and thought I'd check in and maybe try getting into it again. Man the reddit posts I found when I looked this one up. Then I discovered a change to be made and it was down and supposed to start back up in a few days. This picqued my interest and was excited to try this game at the beginning of a new chapter. Forgot again and then was like oh yeah a few days after reopening. The experience so far has been great. I'm still basically a newb but some syntax stuff came back easily. I have a poor memory and not very keyboard savvy so it is a bit of a struggle still but the rp experience has been exceptional so far. I started a character ( after rather quickly dying with my first) with a concept that only works with fair and open rp and I am not disappointed with how its played out so far. I am a new old new player and hope I can be more involved moving forward in the weaving of stories. As a more shy person in general I am having to learn you have to thrust yourself into the story and be more outgoing ic for it to happen.It is an experience like no other. Thanks to all involved. Ps. Ive been so in the mindset I woke up and thought emote gets out of bed.

[Usiku]

I tried this game for the first time 11 years ago. I played multiple characters with quick deaths and never fully got the grasp of it but the rp interested me. I had just discovered muds at 17 and videogames were my normal go to. I don't really remember much of that time but I do know the experience of what I thought it could have/ should have been wasn't there partially due to difficulty and lack of playerbase and I looked around for other muds but never fully could get into one. I continued on with other things in my life. A few weeks ago I was reminded in a random way of muds and thought I'd check in and maybe try getting into it again. Man the reddit posts I found when I looked this one up. Then I discovered a change to be made and it was down and supposed to start back up in a few days. This picqued my interest and was excited to try this game at the beginning of a new chapter. Forgot again and then was like oh yeah a few days after reopening. The experience so far has been great. I'm still basically a newb but some syntax stuff came back easily. I have a poor memory and not very keyboard savvy so it is a bit of a struggle still but the rp experience has been exceptional so far. I started a character ( after rather quickly dying with my first) with a concept that only works with fair and open rp and I am not disappointed with how its played out so far. I am a new old new player and hope I can be more involved moving forward in the weaving of stories. As a more shy person in general I am having to learn you have to thrust yourself into the story and be more outgoing ic for it to happen.It is an experience like no other. Thanks to all involved. Ps. Ive been so in the mindset I woke up and thought emote gets out of bed.

Love this! Thank you for sharing your experience, it's really lovely to hear.

[Incognito]

A big big shoutout to Halaster and Usiku, also to Enthemu, Eurynomos and of course Ataraxis and Zorkbob for turning this game around and sailing through all sorts of turbulence. You guys definitely deserve a big hand from all of us who are die-hard Arm fans and keep playing it decade after decade.