So I have been curating and taking care of EU PvE 1008 since day 1, building public map rooms for the obilisks there, and keeping the peace.
I have seen clans, exploits, buildings, geopolitical borders and drama come and go, like snow and leafs across the seasons.
My buildings were seen as landmarks, more ancient than all the structures on the server. I made friends with all the clans but 1.
I made a mistake of not recognizing or noticing early enough a particular player afflicted with down syndrom, and unwittingly began a war with him. (Yes, the one called Raghnaid who plastered the entire map with roads…a war that lasted 6 months, and ended with me and several friends blowing up his bases with the Trebuchet exploit in PvE. It’s like America dropping the Hiroshima bomb, that ended World War II)
And after that, 3 months of pure bliss… Until Raghnaid decided to come back with a vengeance, because leveling a new character on a different server was more hassle then weathering the more forgiving me, 3 months later.
Ever since then it was griefing by him day in day out. And fair enough. I deserved it I guess.
So I watched the TV series “The Man in the High Castle”, and after almost a whole year of suffering the retribution of Raghnaid, it got me thinking.
What if I could just “blink” myself into a parallel universe where annoying players ceased to exist (i.e. all of them), where Funcom had implemented the vanity slot system, where weapons were never nerfed. Where wipes were never looming due to popular demand, where resources weren’t constantly built over by new people who didn’t know better, where people who don’t speak english start walling off entire sections of the map, where Vit 3 actually healed faster. Where functional warpaint would be permanent until death, and flawless aquilonian swords are a thing. Where Greatswords still knocked back, and spears were fun.
A world where pillaring didn’t cause drama, or the fear of Obilisk being blocked…
A world where I could have personal obilisks set up, and teleport there at will. A world where I don’t feel guilty for teleporting things I have already earned, straight into my inventory. A world where I can stand still and take in, without scoffing at the sea of pillars.
A world where I don’t make friends, only to lose them in the end.
I have learned that being at peace with one’s achievements and letting go, is a burden lightened by an acquiescence of suffering and understanding.
I played a session of modded single player, and I felt bliss. A kind of bliss that has convinced me never to play a survival multiplayer ever again, and has even got me thinking about selling my LTI starships for Star Citizen. Wherever there are people, there is suffering.
Now that I have let go of official servers, I can totally understand why people say that official servers ought to be discontinued and that they are the source of most grievances on this forum.
I finally resonate with the people here on this forum (like shadoza or Cattbria) who are proponents of the single player experience.
And I’ve held off playing single-player because I’ve always needed the presence of others to legitimize all that I have done. It doesn’t feel real, if you can cheat.
But after 1 and a half years of suffering other players, waiting for Funcom to implement vanity slots and PIN chests, alliance systems and more and earning all that I have earned, the admin panel feels more like a dimensional teleporter (teleporting my things to SP from the official servers) than a cheat panel.
People say “Well, just because you lack the discipline to not cheat, doesn’t mean the admin panel needs to be locked.” and “just face-mash your keyboard for the admin password, problem solved”, but now I feel like… i’ve earned the admin panel.
Now I can just purely enjoy CE for the first time, the way I want to enjoy it.
This is my personal epiphany, unique to the path I had walked. Just thought i’d share this with everyone, because it’s quite a big deal for me to let go of something I’ve cared for, for so long
It’s been a good ride, EU PvE 1008, but it’s time for greener pastures.
Mods FTW.
