So this is it. After over two years, I finally had to give up this little thing we have. For the moment, I am having trouble finding the right words to articulate my farewell. I mean, how does one do justice to all those memories? How does one put into words how fascinated I was when I first joined this game, "The Matrix Online", finding myself fighting- and defeating, to my astonishment, bizarre Agents wearing reddish sunglasses? How does one express the intrigue I felt as I raced hundreds of other players to be the first to free Neurophyte from her enigmatic captors? How do I say how much the friendships I've made here mean to me?
I can't. Not really, anyway. To try to sum up all the words I've exchanged both IC and OOC over such a long time would be a fruitless exercise that would ruin and depreciate the true and immeasurable value those things held.
So, instead, I'm going to be a wimp and hide behind the lyrics to a song that, I think, fits perfectly. I'll let "Vienna" by The Fray do the heavy lifting for me while I figure out the rest.
"Vienna" by The Fray
The day's last one-way ticket train pulls in.
We smile for the
casual closure capturing.
There goes the downpour,
Here goes my fare thee well.
There's really no way to reach me.
There's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone.
Only so many words that we can say
Spoken upon long-distance melody.
This is my hello,
This is my goodness.
There's really no way to reach me.
There's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone.
Maybe in five or ten
yours and mine will meet again,
Straighten this whole thing out.
Maybe then honesty need not be feared
as a friend or an enemy.
This is the distance.
And this is my game face.
There's really no way to reach me.
No, there's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone
So this is your maverick.
This is Vienna.
In short, the game was fun. The possibilities were endless. But the possibilities were squandered. The opportunities were passed up. I could go on a tirade until the ends of MxO about how things could have been done properly and who should or should not have been axed from the development staff (Does Chadwick count as a dev? ‘Cause he'd be the first to go if I was Supreme Overlord of the SOE, but, hey, maybe it's just me.) but I won't. This is my fare thee well, not my graffiti scrawl.
In the future, I may back. More than likely those of you who have been around long enough to know me and have me on your buddy list will see "Austrian" in green again someday. But for now, I'm taking that last one-way ticket train. I will be leaving a lot of things in the air, yes. I know many of you have been waiting patiently for the advancement of a dozen or so plots and stories left suspended awkwardly in mid-air. I apologize for that and no, I haven't forgotten. I'm currently in the process of writing up a monster of a thing to tie up all the loose ends (ie What happened to The Katana? Who stole The Merovingian's Mercedes? Will Austrian ever figure out where he came from? Will Alice and he ever get married and have some sort of normal relationship? How do they get the caramel in those *CENSORED* Caramilk bars? Et cetera)
Those who were involved in these stories, or wish to become involved in them, can still do so. Unlike in the song, there really are a few ways to reach me. E-mail is always the best way: [email protected] and [email protected] Just write me there and I'll involve you in the Conspiracy of Coolness. The story, once its completed, will be made available here. If I can't post it, I'll just find someone wanting to double their post count and give it to them to put up on my behalf.
And what good is any "Auf wiedersehen" thread without some personal acknowledgements? So please bear with me as this will be a long list, no doubt. These are, of course, in no specific order.
Digita1Spirit: My first FM ever. The crew was pretty low-maintenance back then, but you were always wonderful to have aboard. You were the voice of reason (or sanity, perhaps) and I appreciated every word you "spoke". When I was partial to over-reacting and being melodramatic, you were there to give me a much more realistic take on things. Many a crisis averted, and many a time I've missed having you with The Hapsburg since those good ol' days.
Alicethepattern: I don't think I've ever encountered a more caring person. My creativity really benefited from our conversations. On the topic of those conversations, though, I have to apologize for the quasi-spamming of those obscure moral theories. It's rare that one finds someone else with an interest in philosophy and living a moral and contented life. Keep doing what you do, and maybe we'll both wind up saving the world. Looking forward to working with you still on RP stories for The Matrix and just general friendship.
WGAnubis: I learned a lot about leadership from you. To be honest, during the Triluminary days, I never thought I'd see me wearing the DA tag. Heck, I don't think anyone could have predicted that faction merger or the eventual outcome of it. But it happened and you were a stand-up guy about all of it, looking past the old squabbles between our factions' members and welcomed myself and mine as if we had always been DA's, just wearing different tags. Maybe we really were. Either way, you lead the way- and rightly so.
Sieges: Your energy and enthusiasm bring just a bit more to the game for everyone around you. To be honest, once you joined MxO, I don't think you ever missed one of my Events. Whenever I put something on, there was a bit of uncertainty? Would this Event succeed? Would anyone show up? Were the puzzles too hard? Was the story too obscure and complex, or too cliché? But there was always one element of certainty- and that was that you would make every effort to attend and, somehow, would help turn what might have been a disaster into a good time for everyone. I hope that energy and enthusiasm never fades away and that it continues to imbue your life.
Nigh7Shad3: You're a stand-up guy, what can I say? You have amazing talent. Your artwork has been startlingly beautiful. Your RP was always engaging. Remember the time we acted out the rescue of Lamberg in The Real over Faction Chat? I never would have thought it possible, but those were some of the most tense and engaging moments I've ever spent in-game, waiting for those darned capacitators to charge up and wondering if destroying the Hover-barge was a moral thing to do. Poetry to my violence-fixated soul lol
Norseman: Not a man of many words, but certainly a man of action and, without a doubt, a man of your word. I'd take those two latter qualities over a chatter-box any day. I was impressed from the first time we met after the faction merger and have only continued to be impressed. Stay strong (you always are) and I may just see you in EvE soon. The details on the "foreign countries" arc should be worked out as I write this.
Wixard: Always a good friend. Always dependable and capable of being relied upon. When things in Triluminary turned sour, you just plugged your nose and were there right alongside me to make sure the right thing was done in the end. Leadership and politics can turn ugly sometimes and it can be tough to stay motivated. But it's much easier to endure when there's someone just as strong helping to shoulder the burden.
Kshana: You introduced me to RP. Until I attended one of your Events, I wasn't aware that there was an RP community in MxO. Sure I was a noob and it was during "The Race to Find The One", but I can't thank you enough for the connections and the inspiration.
EndlessVoid: To tell you the truth, I was excited about nearly every IC exchange we had. The detail of your character and the style with which you played him always made it feel... authentic. The conversation would always feel "Matrix-y", which is hard for many to capture. Here's to time well-spent.
Darminian: An honour-bound comrade, no matter the context of our interactions. Sure we started off diametrically opposed IC for a while. But our characters were able to put that behind themselves rather nicely and I always found you to be very respectful and thoughtful OOC. I'll be by to have tea again someday, so make sure the homeless people don't take over that restaurant.
NightTrace: I always have the utmost respect for someone with a good understanding of the military- even if it is the American military :p The uneasy peace between our two characters was always a neat exercise in tension, and I only wish our IC interactions had been more numerous. Keep soldiering on, Generalista 
Covenant & Conrac: I don't think we ever met IC. But I did really enjoy your reports whenever you completed one of my missions. You both made writing up the missions and thinking the storyline through a worthwhile endeavour. The story is not yet over, but there was a hiccup. A major one as the official storyline began to conflict badly with the path I was heading down. But a way forward was found and I'm working on it. We'll touch base and there will be closure to the story of The Merv's missing automobile.
And now my fingers hurt. I don't think I've typed this much in one sitting in a long time. Before I go, I figure I should apologize to the dozens who I intended to make note of in this post but ran out of time to write. Many of you have meant much to me, and I appreciate all of the memories- the good and the bad.
I should also mention where I'll be now that I'm not going to be jacked-in anymore. Over the next year or so, I'll be working on a Grad thesis in Political Science, my field of choice, on developing new strategies for intergovernmental organizations (ie the African Union, the United Nations) for ensuring peace and security in Africa. The thesis is, by all accounts, an ambitious one and it is my hope that somewhere, somehow, what I come up with will help save some lives. In other news, I've been encouraged to run federally for election in Canada. I've finally decided to let the encouragement get to my head. In the next election, I'll be running as a Liberal candidate in the Calgary area. My girlfriend has already run in the past as a New Democrat candidate and she will be again, in the Red Deer area. So between campaigning for myself, campaigning for my second most favourite person, writing this cursed thesis and the other things that Austrian does to inflict my presence on others, I won't be an idle person.
So this is your maverick.
This is Austrian.
Auf wiedersehen alle. Ich bin Stölz dass habe ich mit Ihren gespielt.