I finally had enough of Warhammer, and have cancelled my subscription.  The reasons for doing so are many: lack of PvE content, unbalanced RvR, lack of social/rp features and a lack of viable crafting and a working economy.  Couple that with the upcoming nerf to my main character’s class, and I was left with no desire to play.

 

The hardest part of the decision wasn’t deciding to cancel the subscription, but rather what to do with the guild Caliga and I started.  We put a lot of thought into it and went over every possibility that we could think of, from turning it over to someone else to run, modifying it in some way, or shutting it down.  After many hours (yes, hours) of discussion about it, we decided to disband the guild and shut it down.

 

Guilds close for a multitude of reasons, and ours is no different.  Although outward appearances may seem that we took this drastic step with no consideration for anyone else, that’s just not true.  We spent as much time in making this decision as we did in coming up with the idea of the guild in the first place.

 

I’m sure that many folks are angry, and I don’t blame them.  I would probably be angry too, were I in their position.  However, after getting angry, I’d simply move on, find another guild or start one of my own and continue playing.  (No, scratch that.  I will NEVER lead another guild again, and if I do, I’m going to ask Cal & Daccus to clobber me over the head.) The sum total of inconvenience on anyone’s part is about the same—writing a one-sentence addendum to the roleplay backstory (if desired), finding another guild and putting in an application.  No more work than cancelling subscriptions to vent servers and websites, deleting material, reading irate mails, etc, and in some ways a lot more pleasant.

 

I’ve learned in my many years of gaming, after experiencing many heartbreaks related to guilds and other players, that it is, in fact, just a game.  It’s not life or death.  It’s a hobby.  It’s a past-time we play with virtual strangers for our amusement.  For me personally, Warhammer and the guild had become a hobby that wasn’t fun anymore.  I wouldn’t expect my guildmates to stick around in a game where they weren’t having fun; we’ve had folks leave the guild before for many reasons.  I’ve always cut people slack and said “Do what’s right for you.”  I expect the same courtesy in return, though I’m quite sure I won’t get it.

 

On my part, there’s no hard feelings.  Instead, I leave Warhammer with more good memories than bad of my guild, a lot of disappointment in the game itself, and nothing but well-wishes for those folks continuing to play.

 

Time to move on.