Um, as lots of us know I sometimes scream out, &quot;Help, help - I've started typing and I can't stop!&quot;  This is one of those times...  Let's just call it a &quot;getting to know you post.&quot;  hehe  So a warning, and a good luck wish too.  Good luck making it to the end!

Thanks for the update, Dread.  It doesn't sound like my not being around, alone, is causing FSE to miss raids so I feel a bit better 'cuz of that.  I'm still on a work schedule that only allows me gaming time on Sat/Sun/Mon, with five weeks of out of town vacation coming up next week.  I still HATE this schedule and am sorry I haven't been there for the guild for several weeks.

I can't remember when I joined FSE, but I think it was two or maybe two and a half years back.  The summers have always been difficult for me 'cuz of the way things slow down, but at the same time I've learned it's only a temporary few months.  Many of us are old enough to have kids and indeed support families, so I understand that summertime is family time and I can completely understand and accept this.  I figure it's a price you pay to be involved in a group of people like those in FSE.  Plus I've learned that it gives me a chance to branch out a little, maybe work on some alts or group with personal friends more often.  I enjoy being a member of FSE, I appreciate the work the leaders put into it and the attitudes of individuals fit me like a glove.  While I wouldn't mind trying out a hard core guild to experience more contact if I had a work schedule that would allow it, but my guess is such an endeavor would be short lived.  The general attitudes of most people in those types of guilds just grate on me.

As I've read reviews and posts in various places online regarding the current status of the game in whole, it would appear there is large concensus that WoW has had its day in the sun and is on the decline.  I don't know how true that really is, but I do know that I, along with family, friends and regulars I used to play with, have slowed way up on game time.  So, I tend to believe things may very well be on the decline.  I have gone through a few slumps in this game, but they are normally relatively short lived and I'm back on track with &quot;can't get enough&quot; again.  This current slump of mine, though, has been going on for nearly two months.  All I've really been interested in is raiding and grouping with the guild - the rest has been more of a chore.  I'm not sure where this will end up, but I don't see my game ending anytime soon.  I will most certainly be available for any raid or group with guildies that I can possibly be there for.

I have been taking the opportunity to work on a couple of alts during these slow times.  They're not guilded yet, so there have been lots of times I've been playing the game but haven't been in the guild list.  My plan has been to get them to 60 or 62 before I request guild admission and they're just about to level 55 right now.  In the past handful of weeks I've backed off them a bit; been watching more tv, many drinks in hand.  But once they hit the magic 60 guildies should at least see me online more often again.  Most of the time I've spent online while on my current schedule though has been late night and early morning - when I check there is more often than not nobody online, or if it's not too late or too early yet there may be 1-2 others on.  It gets a bit lonely, but it's not the first time I've had to deal with this kind of a schedule so I was prepared for this outcome when I ended up with this work schedule. /sigh

Another thing too...  With my brother making plans to move back to the lower 48 it's really been making me think about family, and about being alone here in Alaska again.  I've been longing for family, and most of my family and friends who came to Boulderfist so we could play together left for another server long ago.  We're a group of mature adults who want to enjoy the game and as &quot;non hardcore&quot; as I am, they are even less.  The pointless &quot;kiddie ganking&quot; gets old and most of those close to me in rl said their goodbyes to BF because it's a PvP server.  I can understand that, and to be honest, had I known what I know now back when I started I would not have chosen a PvP server.  But I stay now mostly because I like FSE and feel I have a relationship with the members.  I also have too much of a presence on BF to just up and start anew on another server, with my five higher level chars.  (I've had a long standing goal to have chars with all primary skill maxed out such as enchanting, smithing etc., and I'm getting relatively close to achieving that silly goal.)  GAH!  My point was supposed to be that I've been missing family so I've been checking to see if they're online on the other server and end up being sucked in to my level 10 this or that, even when I find I'm there alone.  I've spent a few nights doing that instead of working on my alts or being online on Kray in the past couple of weeks.  Again, though, this is during times when there's nothing going on with FSE or I'd be all over joining up with members to do something.

In the end, I enjoy FSE.  For those newer members who do not understand the dynamics of the guild I'd say hang in there.  I remember sticking around through my first summer, thinking the guild was probably going to fall apart but feeling close enough with the members that I didn't want to leave.  After summer I saw the guild grow strong to a point I had not seen it before.  Like all guilds, FSE ebbs and flows...  But, unlike so many other guilds - even the really big hard core guilds - FSE doesn't crash.  I'd hate to lose fun members who might not understand the dynamics.

I think this summertime down time is part of what has allowed FSE to continue where other guilds have fallen apart; maybe peeps have an opportunity to &quot;recharge their batteries&quot; on a regular basis instead of getting permanent burned out.  We also have a strong core of rl friends.  While I've been saddened at losing some people who've been FSE icons, at least to me -- people I felt I had close in-game relationships with, things have continued to hold strong.

It's been hard recently for me to see all the work Dread and others have  put into recruiting efforts to watch peeps use FSE to gear up and move along, or to gear up alts so they can get their alts into their main's guild.  I support Dread in his decision to invite them to leave, though it did seem to cause a mass exodus!  I mean, we've been running kara to the point of boredom for lots in the guild, sticking to it only to help others.  And to have peeps make a commitment to the guild with plans to back door us after FSE has helped them out?  Yeah, I agree with Dread - we don't need dishonest backhanded people in the guild who choose to use others to further their standing in a SOCIAL game.  But nontheless, it is hard to see so much work be near for naught.

We have a good thing going here, and I don't see it kicking dirt any time soon!  There are lots of people in the guild who are a lot of fun to get to know.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the guild and look forward to more good times!

[b:a7c1d5a7fb]EDIT:[/b:a7c1d5a7fb]
Ouch!  I nearly just deleted my post after seeing the post from Uda...  But it doesn't really change where I stand so I left it.  Uda is one of those people I referred to - someone I feel a kinship with; it hurts to have people like that step out.  But I can understand - burn-out, real life responsibilities, all that.  And Uda has needed time away in the past, hopefully I'll see you again after the next expansion!

It's a little different with me - I don't have a significant other or a family, and I don't anywhere near my parents, siblings and extended family.  I do have a job which thinks personal time is for sissys, but other than that and propery ownership I don't have a lot of stuff demanding my time for now.