From Anikin and Calevin

[tengheau]

Howdy folks,

I hate to actually speak the words, but Anikin and Calevin are gone from Atys. Anikin-player is 10 years old, Calevin-player is 45. Our time here was part of an extended experiment in parenting wherein he and I interact in worlds where I am not stronger, more capable, better informed and have years experience on him.

We arrived during "The Troubles" and were marooned on the island. We went to level 80 or so without cats, and to 100 alone and stranded in the Tryker lands, seeing few others and with no guild besides our "House of Flying Yubos" (which is still a great name, actually we almost named our new kinship "House of Flying Yew Bows", but in the end went for something more aligned with the lore). We trekked a whole lot, noodled around a lot and made friends. If Anikin could have gotten XP for watching over diggers in Dyron he would have made 250 in a week. Then some friends disappeared, the tide began to ebb. We moved to DoK and discovered a new group of people both Anikin and I will now miss.

From my perspective there were great successes and only a couple of failures. Anikin's typing has greatly improved, he learned how to compare swords by calculating DPM, I got to coach him through a lot of social situations and provide (somewhat) controlled exposure to stuff he is going to learn about anyway. I got to see him taking charge of what he should and shouldn't be exposed to. When (EoA) guild chat would get a little excessive, well okay lets be honest here, massively inappropriate for a 10 year old, he would just turn it off. I suggested the approach, but he was in charge of implementation, I was really impressed.

Without blame to anyone, the dependency of players upon guilds for cats was the downfall of the experiment. As an adult with a whole lot of life experience, it's absurd for me to be subject in any way to teenagers who, for all the maturity to which they might have claim, simply don't have the years of mistakes to reference that I do. But I let that happen, and it won't happen again on any world.

Compounding the problem was the well known law of physics that says a 16 year old *will* be annoyed by a 10 year old, the 10 year old being everything that the 16 year old is trying not to be. And I am afraid that a 45 year old listening to teenagers talk about drinking with such visceral immediacy just looks a little cute and is more than a little tedious.

In the end it did not work for Anikin to continue on Atys, and while I prefer much about Atys to where I now go I must follow him to where we can work together.

But all that is only part of what I came here to say. I also came to say that just before I canceled our accounts I was billed for another month and so let me just add this...

We, the players of Cho, fought for every OP as a team and that sense of team that is the only real thing of worth you will take to Aris. There is a reality in your "Cho Faction" that can never begin to occur in your incidental game factions. Stick together, work together, I have read these forums for months and don't see a cohesiveness of community which can withstand what we built on Cho. If you don't let the illusion of faction get in the way of the reality of our bonds as a community, you can come to Aris not as beggars but as those who can redefine and even claim the future of that world. They will band together at first to try to stop the tide, but I don't think they can stop a determined Cho population from taking a reasonable percentage of the OPs. Forget about Kara and Kami when it comes to your friends from Cho, support them and let them support you.

This is all as prelude to saying, if there is an OP battle this Saturday or Saturday week I will be there, maybe Anikin as well. And if there is not, why not?

Calevin

[philu]

Shame to see you go, luck with your future, wherever it may lead.

[komissar]

well mates, what can I say... It all depends on a guild .
Cho was an underpopulated server and that was the main trouble you confronted imho.

As for ages and grownups being on peer lvl with youngsters I totally disagree. In my guild OOTN we have people above 50, people at 35-40 and guys at 20-29. We all live an play togther as a family though I myself have two little kids while some older players have kids my age... We used to have a HO who was 14 and i must tell you he was a more mature person than many 30 yearolds I have met...

Of course this is a game for a bit more mature community and being 10 one might find it rather hard to adapt. But please don't generalise like that, after all you have only seen 1/4 of atys at the most. Atys is not about mobs and sources, it's about people - the players.

So my advice is take a bit more time in this new Aris, who knows, maybe your experiment can go differently

[cloudy97]

Sounds indeed like a fun experiment you both had, something I might try when my son turns ten (in about 10 years). Personally I haven't experienced teenage dominant guilds during my time here, everybody seems to be SO old. Or mature is the better word maybe.

[carrie]

It was my pleasure to know you both in EoA. I wish you both well and hope that we will meet again one day.


Take care Ani and Cal!!

[stevel1]

Hi to Calevin and Ani, thanks for the good times in EoA and the help/fun we had, I hope you both stick around awhile longer. I am going to give Aris a go.
Hope to see you there
Traj

[maxmolly]

Thanks for the note calevin. It's so nice to be able to hear why a player has departed. So many develop friendships and then Poooof they're gone. Anikin was a joy to watch as he raced in circles and your kind parenting was evident. The DoK will sorely miss you. I trust you and Anikin will find a new gaming home. Let us know if you find a good one. Oh and my personal guess is that you two are now ensnared with the Pokemon monster.

[raven41]

Take care! Be sure to have fun wherever you go next (Id write mor but Ijust wokeup )

[mashed]

I am so sorry to learn of your leaving cal/ani i will always consider you both as good friends and hope 1 day we will get the chance to work together again.

You will sadly missed guys.

And i would like to thank you for all those times ani stood over me and cleared away the annoying arana from where i was digging in dyron.

And good journeying to you guys, no matter what and where it takes you.

[blyth]

Thanks for the update Calevin. DoK will miss you and your son who was always very helpful and polite - the obvious product of good parenting. Tell him I' bet my melee is higher than his now! Thanks for the encouraging words also, we Choians are sticking together I think but also making new friends. If you're in the Void or around Dyron, give me a shout.

HeHe Have to change my signature - Defender of Kami on Ari now