I think I wrote a similar thing a couple years back for WoC's 10-year, but here it is again.
I joined WoC in Nov 2002. For many years I had heard of all these online fantasy games (Everquest, Ultima, Diablo, etc) that folks were into. I had always intended on checking one out, but was loathe to spend the actual cash. Plus, I had been a tabletop gamer for a decade previous, so if it didn't work like "D&D", I wasn't too motivated.
Then a WoC'er by the handle Harridan told me of this game called Neverwinter Nights that was basically D&D 3.0, with online gaming components. It was just what I had been looking for.
So, that November, I picked up a copy of the game. I played the Campaign just enough to get a feel for the controls and then joined WoC. (Yep, I bought NWN just to join WoC.)
My first char was an Elven Arcane Archer before PrCs were included. Embrenestis Laurentian. I ended up rebuilding him as such a few years ago. But this first attempt I was crap at builds and leveling, so he didn't make it past, I think, level 12 or so. My next char was more lasting. Evil Priest/Barbarian Duregar named Brick OrcRender. He ended up in the KRL and I played him until the big Server Crash of '03.
After that, I didn't log into WoC much, spending most of my time on other PWs... like Cornflower's Glorwing, or later Dawn of New Magic (by a former GW'er). Those PWs were good, but didn't really have the same "feel" as WoC. They lacked something about this community, and to this day I can't honestly say what that is. I stuck around on those PWs for about a year.
2003 was a big year of change for me... not only because I was "testing the waters" of other PWs, but because of many other changes. I got married in the summer, my wife graduated college, and we got two cats. Then in August, there was one week that was a complete game changer. I lost my car (dropped transmission), my job (without car couldn't drive the 50 miles to work), and apartment (without employment couldn't pay rent). We ended up packing our belongings in a U-Haul and with my very last $100, drove to my parent's house. We stayed there for a little more than a year.
In 2004 I joined the USAF. Training took me away from the game, and I ended up uninstalling NWN for a long while. More than a year. Mainly because I realized I was way too addicted to it and wasn't doing my growing family any favors.
(my marriage almost didn't happen because of NWN, and my first child was born in '05.)
Late 2005 I decided to reinstall NWN and put limitations on myself. I'd only play certain days at certain hours. I still abide by that, for the most part, though interweb surfing still tends to get carried away sometimes.
I was in Japan at the time, having arrived Oct '04.
When I reinstalled the game, I returned to WoC and made new characters. One, Red Thunderaxe, you all should know by now as the new NPC proprietor of the BLI.
He was my longest lasting character, having been built before Gretch and being played some after her death. Gretch was also built around this time, based on a successful build from Glorwing. I always enjoy subverting the min/max tendency of builds which is where my idea for a halforc sorceress came from.
And to make her a Verinian, well, that was just perfect. She was arguably my most successful character, and my most loved. Even though she was crap in combat (re: anti-min/max), but her RP was very memorable. In fact, the multitude of RP threads that dealt with the events leading up to and following her death are some of my most prized memories.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
2006 I moved again, this time to North Carolina. I had another 6 months of training that took me away from NWN. But when I came back, Gretch became my main focus. I got her into the Arcanum, and eventually rose to Guild Leader (I don't remember what year that happened though.)
'07 I left the Air Force due to politics. There's a long story behind that, but this post is becoming a wall of text already, so I'll skip it.
Anyway, the job hunt wasn't going well, so we ended up foreclosing on the house. Luckily, I landed my current job mid 2008, so we were able to move back up north before the bank took possession of the property. After a short stay at my parents (again), we found an apartment. We've moved once more since then, but this'll be our last one until the final move into a 30-year house.
'09 I became a DM, so I had to give up the GL-ship of the Arcanum. That's what prompted me to write Gretch's death. (That, and felt it was time to let her go. Though I do still miss her.)
Since then I've had a few other characters. Notably the rebuild of Embrenestis Laurentian, a female Dwarf (using a male toon) that wasn't as successful as I had hoped, and Mallister, my super-double-secret Torn Shadows mage. He was a lot of fun, and not just because of his infiltration RP in the Arcanum. I put a lot of secrecy behind him; not only a new GSID, but new forum accounts and everything. I was very careful to separate "zeppy" from him when I replied to posts and/or logged into WoC. I think about 5 to 10 people ended up knowing who I was.
After that, I built a couple new characters I currently play (on occasion). John Thomas, my Innuendo Machine and member of the CAF. And Raych'ell, introverted and socially awkward Draconic Initiate.
And now, I've applied and interviewed for a meteorologist position in South Carolina. It's a really cool job involving Antarctic support. Still waiting to hear back whether I've got it or not, but because it's government-related, it might take a while.
TL;DR:
WoC changes:
- Joined '02, left '03-04, re-joined '05, GL, Staff, Admin, then left all Staff positions in '11 or '12. Now I'm just a player like everyone else.
- Roughly 8 characters.
Life changes:
- got married
- had two kids
- joined and left the USAF
- had financial ups and downs
So, anyway, that's my story.