Positivity Chain

[Xavior Mues]

No, it's not my turn with the talking stick, but coloring in the lines has never been my style.
Harris said a mouthful in naming Jake as one of those genetic freaks that seems to actually posses a desire to bridge gaps and not a need to crush the opposition.
Not very long ago we were small groups of men lead by an alpha, collecting resources, and preying on anyone different. Genetically, we haven't changed from those predators. Jake is one of the few humans that seems to be a step or so beyond killing me for being different from him. He gives me hope in more than just the RoH.

[Jake]

I am not sure that Harris was calling me a genetic freak...but I appreciate your words.

I think all of us are capable of stepping outside of our comfort zone to receive/consider new ideas and possibly confrontational subjects. It doesn't require orcish blood or anything.

Sometimes that examination of foreign ideas bears wonderful fruit.

This is a secondary thread to the main chain, so I'll risk mentioning someone that may not see or respond to the thread.

Speaking of controversial personages, I know Rakeesh is one of them, especially for some, but I did always appreciate that his efforts were aimed at contributing to the game and community.

If you never had the chance to try the DoG, if it ever does come back, give it a try! It turned out to be a surprisingly fun matrix and RP experience. For those that did try it, especially the boss fights, I hope you'd agree with me that it was/they were a lot of fun. I think it had something for both the gamer (a complex and interesting matrix), as well as an interesting setting for the development of fun characters and stories.

[Rakeesh]

I'm not active these days, but I do still read up on the forums, and am not hard to get a hold of on AIM.

I think this thread's a great idea -- positivity and collaboration is what makes this community great when it's at its best. It struggles most when we let drama and difference of opinion outweigh what can be created when we work together.

I'm glad that Jake (and at least a few people) enjoyed Duel of Guns. I wish that I'd pulled the trigger on it a couple of years earlier, maybe, when the community was a little larger and was dueling with a little more frequency. I can't imagine that I won't be back, or that I won't bring DoG back, when I feel like the timing is right.

With all of that said, there are a lot of people yet to be mentioned that have given to me and this community. Anyone involved with the rather large "Assault on Overlord's Isle" storyline/side-game a couple of years back has my never-ending gratitude and love. We did something kind of crazy and totally awesome together.

I want to bring this back to the player of Hope since they got accidentally skipped.

You're a newer face around ROH (relatively, at least!) ... but you've developed a sort of fairness and balance to your presence. You do a lot to help the newest players, which is absolutely essential for ROH to continue to exist, and you bring a level of nuance to your writing and variety of characters that you play that is more than skin deep. I appreciate that. You've always been willing to collaborate, and are a great team player, and that's the essence of what makes ROH great.

[Hope]

I'm sorry to Eva's player for not seeing that post sooner and not continuing the chain going without a synapse. Thanks for the second chance at it Rakeesh.

I'm very proud to have helped you along your dueling path with DoF Eva. The matrix can seem daunting at first and good players don't always make good coaches/leaders/etc. This goes for RoH, video games, sports etc and I wasn't sure I was able to help facilitate someone as I had hoped, but you really took to dueling and have done incredibly well and I'm happy to have been of some help along the way. (Totally better than me in Magic though so that was not my doing in the least)

Rakeesh thank you for your words, sincerely. I wish I hadn't been working the estranged hours I had been during this latest DoG tenure because there was so much more I wanted to write for it. The dystopian setting met with the new matrix and rules were just a blast and writing for it was a lot of fun, how would a character now be in such a setting? I want to do more of it so I think I will, just wanted to say thank you for what you've contributed.

To keep it moving on now is really hard. There are a lot of players who have gone out of their way to be really just great friends and people that at times I didn't deserve. I'll pass the baton to Rayvinn's player who has given the Arena a facelift both IC and OOC. I take it for granted that there are Talons now with themes and settings and it wasn't always the case. Rayvinn's done a fantastic job of revamping what the DoS sport brings, whether it's a shiny new icon to go along with an RP experience or getting someone who was on the fence like me to taking part in more events.

[Rayvinn]

Aw shucks, Hope, thank you. Of course, I cannot take full credit for any of the changes; there were plenty of others that helped.

It is really difficult for me to name just one person on this site that I appreciate and think is pretty amazing when I appreciate most of you for what you bring. Those that I speak to regularly are told frequently of my appreciation so I am not going to name any of them now.

I am going to name Maggie's player for the following reasons:

You stuck with playing Maggie as a duelist against all of the criticism both IC and OOC and that couldn't have been easy. Not only did you stick with it, you defended her barony multiple times. You are also a regular presence on the forum and in the chat and have always been very welcoming and encouraging to most players whether new or old. I may not always agree with you, or you with me, but I do respect your dedication to the sports and to your characters. I also appreciate your mad research skills and vast knowledge regarding the sports.

[Mairead Harker]

Thank you so much, Rayvinn!

The criticism about child characters dueling has been going on for some time. Years ago, Rhi was played as a child character. After that experience, when the time came for Maggie to move from NPC to PC status, I had a good idea of what I'd be dealing with OOC and what she'd be dealing with IC. I started following the philosophy of the player of Suluss'urn which is no one can make a game suck for you, but you; it helped.

At some point in this thread, Matt was mentioned, but hasn't been heard from, yet. While we're waiting on him to get his two bits into the discussion, I'm going to name G! G's been involved in the dueling games for about two decades. He's one of the many that has not only put years into this as a player, but in keeping the forum alive and thriving. I've really enjoyed the themed events you've come up with.

[JewellRavenlock]

I think four months is probably enough time to wait for G to respond :)

Reforging the chain here: Lirssa!

You are such a positive force in this community. Even before you ever tried your hand at dueling, you were always present to cheer and interact. You're a blast to have as a teammate, fun to duel against, hilarious to cheer with, and just an overall delightful player who understands what good sportsmanship is.

Also, it's fun to see how surprised you are every time you win.

So glad I've had a chance to play with you more over the last two years. We're fortunate to have you as part of the community.

[Lirssa Sarengrave]

Thank you, Jewell! That's very kind of you, and I've enjoyed the writing we've shared, too!

To keep the chain going, I'll give a shout-out to Sabine.

She's always open to ideas; to furthering discussion to help the community. Her duels are always fun to witness, whether she's calling them or dueling.

[Sabine]

Aww thank you! I'm glad you enjoy Sabine's crazy antics and my OOC mostly incoherent ramblings and run on sentences. lol.



I am going to pick Aric.

I don't know if you've already been picked or not, but you're new to me!

I just wanted to say it's been awesome seeing you jump right into the duels, being a good sport, welcoming interaction (good or bad!), and just being there regularly and dueling your butt off. You have been a joy to interact with OOC and IC. Thank you for your contributions to the community.

[Aric Delevingne]

Aw, gosh. Thanks, Sabine! That means a lot to me!

I'm very thankful to everyone who has interacted or dueled with me and helped me learn and just made it fun.

There's really so many people that I would like to thank and give shout outs to! Hope for helping me out in learning and taking me as a mentee without any hesitation. Jewell for the great scenes and encouragement in my writing, which I didn't know anyone read until it was pointed out by her! Addie for the really fun duels that are just great to write out and have challenged me to write better and duel better! Sabine for being nice and welcoming and for both calling and dueling in her own crazy, great way. Lirssa for, well, everything that's been said! Being so encouraging and nice and helping me stay involved IC and OOC.

But I wanted to really give a shout out to Eden Parker/DUEL Eden. I still really fondly remember the duel she called on my first night against Cane that was different from other duels and super fun and really got me hooked. Eden is such a fun character to see in the room and is always welcoming to everyone it seems like is always there to call duels! Eden's just a great face to represent the community.

[Eden Parker]

Aric, thank you so much your kind words! I love dueling, I love this community, and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to share fun times with the other people here!

I'm also thrilled to get to pass the ball to someone else who deserves praise: Kheldar. You're such a great, solid presence in dueling. You handle Eden's bubbly personality around your character with incredible straight-faced tolerance, it always makes me laugh. You run your shift, the tournaments, and your work as coordinator with such ease that it's easy to forget how much work I'm sure it is. And I especially appreciate you being receptive to my ideas--you set me at ease and made me feel like I could come to you any time in the future, and I so appreciate that. Thank you!

So, Kheldar, you're up!

[Kheldar]

Aww thanks! I mostly look at it as self interest. I do all that stuff so the place is still around when I wanna play heh. It's actually nice, people have stepped up quite a bit in the past few years. I do way less now than I've had to do in a long time.

Now I gotta pick someone else though. That's a tough one. I could have gone with almost anyone on this thread already. Not to repeat, I'm goina say Taneth!

Taneth has always amused me with her wackiness and the way she engages everyone. She's a positive character that makes the room more fun to hang out in.