So. I figured if I was going to procrastinate about school tomorrow, I might as well do something fun with my time. Here are some thoughts on reappearing after about a year and a half. First of all, I really wish I had not left. It was inevitable for me, I had school and sports and work. Mostly I wasn't having fun on the server anymore, but it was easy for me to let this server (and Minecraft entirely) fade out of my life. But looking back on it, I wish I could have said goodbye to others who are no longer active, or at least checked in every month or two. So here is my extensive (probably too detailed, oops) narrative on rejoining and the changes on the server. Part 1: Intro/Thoughts Last night, I was browsing the Steam sale, and I saw that the Minecraft Storymode game by Telltale was on sale. And then I started thinking about how I used to play Minecraft all the time. And then I tried to find this server (It took about five minutes, the downside of having your server name as "Minecraftserver.com"). After finding the website, I attempted to search my name. Of course, I couldn't because I wasn't logged in. So I tried to log in, and quickly realized I hadn't a clue what my password was. Ten minutes and a password reset later, I was logged in. The forum looks way different than it did when I was active, but it looked about the same. A new map, obviously, and new people. The chatbox was quiet, but it was a Sunday night so I didn't really think about it. Minecraft wasn't downloaded on my current laptop, which meant if I wanted to see the server I'd have to go get it. 15 minutes later (probably?) I had Minecraft downloaded and I joined the server. It was weird, when I joined, because I was immediately greeted by a chorus of "Welcome!". A few recognized me, but there were only like 15 people on and most of them I had never seen before. Definitely a sentimental moment, because I remembered joining for my first time, and being greeted just as enthusiastically. Same with my second time joining. I distinctly remember welcoming newcomers, or just greeting anyone who came on. So it was weird. Here I was, a year and a half later, only 3 people recognized who I was, and I was just as welcome as I was when I joined four years ago. Wild. I spent a couple of minutes talking to Marshall and Kenny about people who had left/who was still active. I also realized I had absolutely no idea how to play. As in, I'm still trying to get rid of dirt with a pickaxe. Yikes. I'd say I spent around two hours wandering around the server checking out what was new, and then I went to bed. Overall, a good first impression. People were just as friendly, spawn just as classy, mostly the same rules. But I still feel like something is missing. It's probably because a lot of the people I used to talk to are inactive. Maybe it's something else, I will keep you posted. I looked through some of my old posts this morning, and one of them caught my eye. It was written about a month before I stopped being quite as dedicated, and I talked about how I felt everyone was obsessed with the economy and the community wasn't the same as it was when I joined. I also said that it wasn't some "'Bye I'm out ya'll post" (ok not those words), which was pretty ironic. I scoffed at my past self. Still, I enjoyed looking through old threads/conversations. I still feel nostalgic about it all. Part 2: Building a Home So I logged back on this morning, and there were a few more people on that I recognized. Still no close friends, but I'm not in a position to pick and choose. I quickly realized that if I wanted to be able to have fun I would have to do something other than wander around getting shot by skeletons. I mean, believe me, there's nothing I love more than some vanilla Minecraft (Edition: rehder24 Gets Rekt by a Mob of Spiders) but flying is pretty handy. I found an island in the middle of an ocean (Duh, it's an island) and built a dinky little cabin. I'm not exactly rolling in cash, so it's wood and cobblestone. Go me. I plan to make it look cool, but I'm kind of a quitter so we will see. I've noticed a lot of the same people, who are obviously dedicated, or in the same time zone as me, were on. I wish there were more of them, but it's nice to see that there are people who openly care about improving the server and being there. Thus ends my narration on the past 24 Minecraft related hours. It was kinda boring but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
The thing that was missing was probably just you missing the good old times when everybody knew your name. I miss all of the people that used to be active too, but it's just the way things go. People quit, new people join.
I've been around the server now for almost 3 years. I come and go mostly because of school and work, but I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.. or at all
