Robilarr and Cerato's absence

Rob and I have decided that we cannot play FFXI like we have been. It’s sucked up far too much of our RL and I think the demise of Fury brought that into a sharp focus. Rob asked me to post this on his behalf too. He hopes in the future he’ll be able to logon every now and then without letting it take his entire day/evening. He told me today he’s been consciously not logging in mostly because he wants to start doing the things he used to do so frequently (e.g. Hiking, hanging out with his buddies, working on his music). I wholeheartedly support him in that. I know for myself, the end of Fury coupled with getting a new job has made me re-prioritize a lot of things. In doing so, I realized how much I’ve neglected (RL friends, career development, old hobbies I used to love).

When Fury ended we wanted to provide a soft landing for Fury folks, re-connect with other in-game buds, as well as making the game fun again and less work, hence, the resurrection of Divine Shadow and the creation of these forums. We adore our in-game friends, rest assured, but we need to step back and make some changes. I know y’all understand what a time sink this game can be. I don’t need to explain that. I’m just sorry we didn’t fulfill our original intention for Divine Shadow. I just hope you can understand that this is one of those “Oh shit, my life is shifting…I need to hang on for the ride” moments. I can’t promise anything, but I’m hopeful that when my life settles down I’ll find the time and energy to logon and hang out for a while.

With that said, we didn’t want to abandon any of you. So I’m asking this: Is there someone who wants to take over? I’m willing to make people moderators on this forum. So far it’s just me, Rob, and Veralynn. Rob also told me I’m free to logon to his account and sack people. I dunno, maybe some of you will feel like doing something else, but if you like this little group and think you have the time; you are welcome to try your hand at creating/maintaining something. The only rule we really ever had was to have fun and be nice to each other. I’m wondering if there is someone online more frequently that feels like they’d want to do this. Let me know either in here or via PM. I'm also hoping someone (Rocketpants or Dragon prehaps?) can relay this to Baldwin please as he doesn't have a PC with internet access.

I intended to say more, but I took an antihistamine and I’m fading fast (I got poison oak in a bad way weeding in our yard ….HA! That’s my reward for attending to RL stuff?). Let me know if you’re interested in being sacked and/or made mod here on the forums. I really like our group. You’re a great bunch of people and I’d hate to see anyone get lost in the shuffle or feel neglected. BTW, we're doing OK. Nothing "bad" is happening. I don't want to worry anyone. Also, I check these forums daily as well as my email, so never hesitate to send me a PM or email.

Yours in itchiness,

~C

Let me be the first to comment! I adore the both of you, both as leaders of our previous LS, our current LS, and as wonderful friends. Without the both of you, my journey in the game would not have been near as memorable. You both are like my brother and sister that were always there for me whenever I needed help. Robi, I can remember the countless times in the castle farming for goodies and we got that NM, I didn't even realize he was an NM until you said, "Wait, don't pull. . . . " and I had already brought him back to camp with a few of his buddies! But hey we won, got a pretty decent drop if I remember and continued on to more mobs and eventually the treasure chest! Cerato, I'll never forget my first day in Sky as BLM farming pots. The "heavy footed" blm soon learned not to over nuke something that could squish me in 2 seconds and of course you were there with encouragement for me. It's funny how fast you learn when you're staring up at the ceiling. I can't also thank you enough for the awesome signature you made for me as well. I wish the both of you happiness in your journey's together! You both deserve what you desire and have both given 110% to this game in both Linkshells. Maybe when winter starts setting in (or cooler weather to you Californian's) we can see you guys on a little more. I know I like to enjoy outside as much as possible during the summer time myself Cerato, however I also know what poison oak/ivy looks like and try to avoid it although the doctors say I'm pretty immune to it. Funny story, I went in for him to look at a scar that I got while in my back yard one day and it was all pussy. I showed him what I had rubbed up against and he said that it was poison ivy but my body didn't react the way it should had. Instead all I got was a scratch with clear liquid that came out every now and then. Please, please please, promise me though that no matter what you will both continue your journey's in happiness, health, and love for each other. It's all to often that people loose sight of the real "r/ex drop" in life and take things for granted. You will both be missed, but not ever forgotten!

I have only just meet you in this shell, But I have heard how great you both are from my friends who were in Fury. It was those great people and some of my friends who encoraged me to join this shell, and although I just met most of you. I will miss you just the same.

Tha being said, I can completely understand where you are comming from. I am slowely working my way back from a long break for many of the same reasons. When I first strated doing endgame (sky) I hooked up with a great bunch that would meet 3 times a week. we all had fun but I didnt want to stop haning out with my friends who weren't endgame level or joined other shells, So I was playing about 5-6 days a week. this was to much and I lost focus on my RL goals.

Take some time, see how you feel, If you decide to come back, you will find many of your friends are still around ready to welcome you back and help you get back in the swing of things.

Good luck with all of your endevors, Most of all Have fun wether it is in RL or a game, life is to short not to take some time to enjoy it.

Thank you for the support and kind words. It’s very much appreciated. I hate to make this sound so final, as I’m unsure whether it is or not. I just know that as I carry on in RL, I had a nagging feeling about the shell…well the people in it I mean. I feel much better today after logging on and chatting with Desant and Vera. Now I can relax and do the things I need to do. Thank you for that!

Baldwin, Veralynn, and most recently, Desant are the sackholders of Divine Shadow.

Pretty sure most of you already know Veralynn. He’s been playing a long time now and has a wealth of knowledge about the game. I know he’ll be busy doing some endgame activities soon but I’m sure he’ll be dropping in now and again.

FYI: Baldwin, in case you haven’t met him yet, is a DS sackholder and one of the original pearl holders. He and Rob met during the 360 beta (along with Rocketpants (Wappel), Killuanl, Dylanjames, and Athenaisis. Later, on Quetzalcoatl, we meet Nightdragon and together accomplished feats of great daring the bards still sing about today. I’ve yet to talk to him about all this but will likely logon to my Xbox soon and chat with him there. Baldwin lives in the U.K. and doesn’t have a pc so you’ll probably never see him here in the forums. He’s one of the nicest and funniest guys I’ve had the pleasure to meet in-game. Never hesitate to shoot him a tell if you have questions or concerns. I only mention that because some of you might have not have met him as he’s GMT and not present on the forums.

Desant has kindly offered his services to help manage the LS. We’ve known Des quite awhile now. He’s a great guy all-around, very reasonable and has a sense of humor. Feel free to chat with him anytime regarding LS matters.

You’re in good hands. Thanks again to everyone for your support. I intend to check this site regularly as always. As I said before, I’m on the pc more often than not, so never hesitate to send me a pm or email if you have any questions or concerns.

Hi Cerato / Robi,
I spoke to Baldwin at length last night and he told me you had sent him messages on XBL.
He is shortly coming back online again, and I have told him that as we are in the same time zone and he has no acces to a PC, I will post his messages on his behalf. - He can just dictate them to me over the mic on XBL.

On a wider note, I was not in Fury, and at that time was on another server, but judging by what you have done in this shell in such a short time, it must have been awesome.

Thanks to you both for making my FFXi experience better and more enjoyable. Thanks for all your help.

Hope to see you both online again from time to time - keep in touch.

Well guys it will be the end of an era...

I remember when Divineshadow was only starting out, we had a solid 6 members at first. We even made our own pts most of the time!

Robi on BRD, Cerato on MNK, Kill on MNK, Wappel on SAM, Gala on PLD and me on WHM. I mean what better setup is there??? We all hit 75 around the same time (except for gala of course!). We experianced it all together, and had alot of fun along the way too! Then there were the dreadded CoP missions. (And to think i leadded some of them... perhaps thats why you guys only got to finish them *AFTER* i left the game for a bit >.>) Although without the CoP missions i wouldnt of met Baldwin. We also took on some of the KSNMs..... and won! (If memory serves me well, we got both you (Cerato and Kill your destroyers!) I guess if you think we accomplished alot considering Gala was the only "Experianced" player at the time.

I'll miss you guys, but I have a feeling you will be back. I mean i tried to leave the game already and have come back.... (*Cough* 3 times now *Cough*). But it was knowing you guys will be there for me when i come back that made the decision so easy.

@Cerato, (Without giving too much away) do you remember when Wappel asked if i was a guy or a girl. My reply brought him to complete silence

@Robi, I remeber how frustrated you were when you started Blu. It was the first job you had that wasnt always "needed" for a pt. (unlike you Whm and Brd) Although i understood where you were coming from only too well, it was back in the old LOLDRG days when. (to all DRG levelers of today, you have no idea how easy you guys have it now!!!! call wyvern was still the DRG 2hr when i started it!)

Recently i returned to the game, it appears it was good timing, one of the "Originals" needs to stick around to keep an eye on the Divineshadow ls for you guys. Wappel has moved server, Kill is playing in the big boys league now, Baldy is M.I.A at the moment, Gala is taking the longest power nap in history, and now you two are taking a (tempory i hope) leave of absence.

Weither or not you guys come back to the game is up to you, but just promise me one thing, whatever you choose, make sure it makes you happy!

For now i say
Slán mo cardie (Goodbye my friends)

Scython wrote:Hi Cerato / Robi,
I spoke to Baldwin at length last night and he told me you had sent him messages on XBL.
He is shortly coming back online again, and I have told him that as we are in the same time zone and he has no acces to a PC, I will post his messages on his behalf. - He can just dictate them to me over the mic on XBL.

Thank you, Scython for the kind words and keeping Baldwin informed. It's very much appreciated!

Nightdragon wrote:(If memory serves me well, we got both you (Cerato and Kill your destroyers!) I guess if you think we accomplished alot considering Gala was the only "Experianced" player at the time.

Yup. I even wrote a haiku about that for the 2007 Celestial Nights event:

All this, you arranged
Two dragons in Horlais Peak
Cesti drop like rain

LOL! Yeah we relied heavily on Gala. Always felt safer with her around.

Nightdragon wrote:@Cerato, (Without giving too much away) do you remember when Wappel asked if i was a guy or a girl. My reply brought him to complete silence

Poor, poor Wappel…like a child upon learning there is no Santa Claus. To his credit, he recovered quickly and as far as I know, that didn't affect our LS relationships.

What's this about Wappel switching servers? Where'd he go? Why? I'm sure he has his reasons...just curious.

Knowing Baldwin, he’s probably just playing some other games. As I think about it, with Rob and I gone, we have 2 sackholders in NA time (Veralynn and Desant) and 1 (Baldwin) in EU time. DS could probably use another EU timezone person.

Dragon, if you think you’ll be online a few times a week, I see no reason you can’t be a sackholder. And, as you said, you have history with this LS. Our UK/EU folks may want to expand or something and need a couple sackholders to do that. Rob will logon soon to do that. Thanks for keeping the original DS moving forward.

The day I see you two leave is the day I find a tear in my eye. I have known you both for the past 3 years now. And during that time I have realized that I still to this day lean on you two You Cerato, and Rob have helped me so much, and I really wish to return the favor somehow. I wish I had been able to get on during my "Vacation" To get this sooner. But Alas it has eluded my attention. And well, I am sad that I have not been here. If there is anything I can do at all. You both know I'm on here everyday. So Please, if there is anything I might be able to do I would love to lend my hand this time. I do hope to see you both soon. I lost contact from you two and claimed it back, and now lossing it again. So I want to do something for you two if possible. I really hope you two do find time in the future. You are right about the time sink. It really takes alot of time to really get this game over with. I have say most I have really want to say. I hope to see you two soon. Rl is more important then this game but I know we will all miss you. Thank you for your generousity and your kindness. See you soon you two.

Wyph, you are so freaking precious It was nice to reconnect with you on FFXI. There's nothing you owe us. We all play our games for fun and friendship both of which you have shared abundantly with us.

Wyph wrote:You are right about the time sink. It really takes alot of time to really get this game over with.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That made me laugh for real. Truth be told, I expressed concern when Rob told me you were gonna join us in Quetz. Of course it'd be great to see you and hang out again, but I worried about the sheer amount of time (read: forever) it takes to play the game. Yeah, it never ends. I'm one fight away from attaining Tachi: Kasha weaponskill. I got some pretty sweet level 75 gear for that SAM of mine, but.....until I think I can come back casually, I'ma steer clear for now. I know you understand.

But hey! I check these forums (obviously) so, let's stay in touch indeed. Keep me updated.

~C

I am still a child at heart, but I am an adult in my mind. I have learned so many things from you two even if it was only in a game, but it was still real knowleage that I use today. I know I will still see you but it is still a lost to me. You both will be missed by me for sure. But do keep in touch if you can. You have all my emails if that is what it comes to ^_^;; You are family moving away lol You going to be leaving but I know I will see you again Thank you both for taking this noobish youngster under your wing, and for the time, I had alot of fun. Thank you for the friendship that I know I hold dear ^_^;; man this shows how much I am a hopeless romanic lol Well, I think I am done with that ^_^

Wait,

I've seen a lot of teary posts... I thought Robi and Cerato were just taking a long-needed break? Am I wrong?

A break doesn't mean they'll never come back.

-Vera

Wait,

I've seen a lot of teary posts... I thought Robi and Cerato were just taking a long-needed break? Am I wrong?

A break doesn't mean they'll never come back.

Yes this is true, but we all know it is going to be a long time til we see them, if they are handing over the clan.