Wyrom, I always believed in you. Even when it became clear that the ELR would be a disaster for me, I still supported you. I never would have predicted a reasonable individual like yourself to condone a move like this. You always seemed quite willing to listen to dissenting opinions, but this? You have poor Aulis up here pretending to be the White House press secretary, tripping all over himself to avoid making any mention of the fact that this move prevents former players from contributing to the discussion in any meaningful way. That isn't the GS I know and love.
I know my tone is often unkind, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to say that I haven't been fair and consistent in my criticisms of the ELR (I even routinely refer back to your pre-ELR statement regarding the necessity of nerfing rapid fire/immolate in order to make room for more robust playstyles - I believe in that, man!). I suppose if you can't get me on forum violations, locking all former players out of forum discussion is the next best thing? Disappointing. Apologies to the rest of you, as this was never my intention.
To my friends and the GS community: It was a pleasure playing with all of you. This game always brought characters to life in a way I have a hard time matching in other games, and Tav was my favorite by far. Playing an unconditionally positive character was simultaneously the easiest and most difficult challenge I've faced in my attempts at roleplay. Easiest in the sense that my character never really had much depth, but also difficult because staying true to such an unrealistic personality turned out to be more of a challenge than I expected. Not everyone is nice (least of all me!) and it's not always easy to treat people like they're your friend when they're attacking you, insulting you, spitting in your face and leaving you for dead!
It was a very rewarding experience for me and I thank you all for that. I hope you got some enjoyment out of playing along with Tav the past several years as well. Also, I sincerely hope that I can see past this some day and return to GS. But right now I'm extremely disappointed in the outcome of the ELR, the staff response, and now this. It's beneath you, Wyrom. You and your staff are better than this and I hope some day you'll prove me right.
Goodbye and good luck. I'll drop by LNet from time to time to say hello and keep up with what's new in GS, but I don't see much point in visiting the forums any longer. Perhaps with me out of the way Estild will have the safe space he needs to continue his crusade to stamp out criticism of his grand plan.
~Taverkin
