To Dust Returnest

Coming to the end of my time as a volunteer administrator for Lusternia has been a difficult journey for me. I’ve been playing Lusternia since open beta in 2004 and I have truly loved the game. Seven years later, I felt that I had achieved a lot as a player but that I would like to try contributing to Lusternia on a different level. Coming in as an ephemeral, I got to see the game from an entirely different perspective. I’ve had a lot of fun working with Estarra and my fellow admin and I’ve made a lot of good memories. However, as Maylea has mentioned, our volunteers juggle a lot of different hats. For me, I work full-time for the city, volunteer with different service organizations, act as an advisor at a local university, and so much more. Oh, I’m also married. My wife would be upset if I didn’t mention that.

 

For the past six months, I’ve watched my online time dwindle. Zvoltz stopped making appearances except when there was a big event and it became very rare that I interacted with my order members. It was becoming clear to me that I just didn’t have the time, but I wanted to keep at it in the hope that something would change. In the end, nothing has changed and it is time for me to step down. Fain used to say that the average shelf life for a god is two years, and my two years are definitely up.

 

I’ll miss it a lot. The admins for Lusternia are an amazing group of people. They’re smart, creative, talented, and steadfast friends. I cannot think of a better group of people to have at the helm of my favorite game. Being an admin cuts you off from the game, but there are so many great people in the Havens that I have never felt lonely.

 

I’ll also miss the players in Zvoltz’s order, in Hallifax, and in the game in general. One of the greatest feelings you can have as an admin is when a player raves about an interaction with you or about something you’ve added to the game. If we’ve interacted, I hope that the experience has made Lusternia a more deep and enjoyable place for you.

 

I’ll miss being Zvoltz. There was so much that I still wanted to accomplish with the character. Personality quirks I wanted to bring out. Relationships and rivalries to display. The story of his lost love and his new romance with Isune. Iklara and Mysrai. There are so many stories that I never got to tell!

 

I’ll miss Isune too. She has been there since day one when I was a scared and lost little ephemeral. She welcomed me to the Havens with open arms and has been someone who has supported me through so many difficult times, both in Lusternia and in real life. When it seemed like I was never going to finish my ephemeral projects and become a big boy god, Isune was there encouraging me. When I actually did finish, she was there to celebrate with me even though she was still working hard on her own ephemeral projects. She was there when I had my first, trembling interaction with players as a big bad god. She’s listened to me complain about everything under the sun and offered positive thoughts when I was feeling down. She was my dream partner on Team Hallifax Pantheon. She is awesome.

 

Seeing the writing on the wall, I’ve been doing a lot of (sometimes melancholy) thinking about what it will be like when I step down. Then I remembered something. We all begin in Lusternia as players and no matter where we go or what we do, it is to the playerbase that we eventually return. I look forward to the continued adventures we’ll have together in the exciting future that Lusternia has ahead of us.