The End of an Era

[Edge]

It's sometimes hard to believe CD has been around for nearly twenty years now. More than half my life has been spent in this community, and the majority of that has been spent as a part of the Admin team, working alongside FireWraith, Vincent, and some of the other admins we've had through the years - Belladonna, SirVen, WhiskeyDingo, and many more - to bring this server to life and keep this community running, friendly, happy, and growing.

Nothing lasts forever, though, and as with all things there's a time when it's right for an ending. As of today, I will be stepping down from my position as Admin on CD.

There is a lot going on and that has been going on, stressors and occupations and situations I'm dealing with - in NWN and the CD community, as well as in my life and well-being as a whole - that combined have made the past year less than stellar for me overall.

As a result, and with some advice, I've decided the easiest way to cut back on some of the stress and expectations is to step away from the responsibilities of the Admin position and to simply focus on my quests and storytelling and playing alongside the rest of the community as a regular DM, at least for now.

This decision was not one I came to lightly, nor one that was done rashly or quickly - I made the original announcement to the other Admins and the SDMs in mid-July, and to the DM team at the beginning of August. I stuck around through the usual end/beginning of month wrap-up to help take care of the usual bookkeeping that comes with each monthly changeover, helping one last time to wrap up the necessary duties of my position and leaving the team with a clean slate to move into the next month with. As with all such things, these took time and the diligence of the upper staff to work through and complete, but now my role in those is done and I can step away without interrupting any ongoing important business or burdening the remaining staff with excess unfinished work.

In addition to remaining on the DM team and continuing to run plots, I will also remain/continue participating with the dev team and build team, as I'm still helping work on things like class design and balance and the long-awaited loot items update. :SOON:{tm}

Maybe some time in the future when my life has calmed down and some of the external stressors have abated I can step back up as an SDM or even an Admin again if needed, though I don't imagine that'll be any time soon, a year or so at minimum but probably longer. Until that time I'll be happy to focus my attention on telling stories and making plotlines and treasures for the community to enjoy.

I strongly urge everyone to not see this as in any way a judgement on the other Admins nor a complaint or condemnation of CD as a whole. While I did seek encouragement, advice, and suggestions from several of my peers that aided in making this decision, it was not in any way due to any grudges, complaints, or problems with the staff or community. I and the other Admins are still on exceedingly good terms and will continue to work together - both as storytellers and as developers and builders for the server - in the years to come.

I'll continue to see everyone both in-game and topside, telling stories and filling my vault up with more and more weird ECL characters and continuing to participate as a part of the DM team and a citizen of this community.

See you all clientside.