To hell with the ability to UCM with it - take THAT away completely - and I will simply be lost without it.
Now - lost MAY seem like a huge word - but, while I can play without the benefit of something playing "for me", and have done so for years - many of which did not involve the use of Decal at all (ask my first Patron and Monarch) - I stubbornly refused, adamantly, to use Decal, but eventually I got tired, dead bone tired, weary, bored and frustrated with endlessly looking for, and subsequently not finding that damn Ralirae character.
Then El Track opened a new world of ease of play for me.
And I found that elusive Aun and got my skill credit thank you very much.
I found countless corpses, not only my own, but of friends and even complete strangers in places I'd never been.
I found Plaguefang.
Twice.
I found The Pure One before he would spawn every 5 clicks....
Self buffing and the countless other inane and useless repeatative things required just to play - were eased significantly. El Tank does it all from directions to loot profiling to salvaging and sorting to usting to buffing both self and friends; to healing and staming self, friend and fellows - it's uses are brilliantly conceived and myriad. And cannot be replaced by anything else out there currently. Not effectively, not as conveniently, no matter how cleverly you configure or combine. The day Elgar announced his retirement, whatever his reasons, I DL'd as many plug-ins as I could and used them in as many combinations I could, using what seemed to make sense and using input from many many others and found that the game simply sucks without that ease of use I have come to rely on utterly.
Asheron's Call and El Tank are as far as I am concerned - one.
Now I find it noble, kind and honestly surprising to see how many people here are wishing El the best and thanking him for the things he has done for this community. And I have already stated my admiration for his contriubution and given my thanks for the petulant whining he has had to endure each and every month when they prop the game and Decal for a short while is down - and our precious Plug-in cannot be used.
But, while I am both grateful and thankful, and do wish him the very best in his pursuits, I have limits to the amounts of hypocracy I can stomach. Not Elgar's, and not any of yours - those of you reading this either. Instead, I find myself filled with loathing towards myself - as frankly with all these kind words and pleasant platitudes, not very deep down, no, actually simmering right on the surface, oh what the hell, roiling forth in a twisted raging mass is one ass load of pissed off.
Pissed off that something that I have come to rely on to play this game and MAKE it enjoyable for me, is going away.
And pissed off enough to state plainly that in my opinion, regardless of whether it is wanted, warrented or even right - that You Elgar, in your "I don't support Turbine anymore" stance, that walking away isn't going to hurt Turbine in the long run. But, let us assume a worst case scenario. Yes, if enough people DO walk away and quit the game because that ease of play they've come to count on, people like me have come to count on, then Turbine loses revenue. Hell, if they lose enough revenue, they pull the plug entirely. And I concede that if it comes to that, you will have dealt Turbine a death blow. The Biggest Global Ever. But I'll be damned if that's who you've really hurt. Everyone seems to be tip-toing around the fact that it's us, the countless players who will lose the ability to USE this plug-in, THOSE are the ones that are getting hurt here. And if an El Tank free AC kills AC, then guess what, you've deprived all of us the game we love. Speaking worst case mind you.
For me it would boil down to responsibility. As a Monarch, I have a responsibility to my clan in this game. I have friends who want to play newer brighter games. They push and prod me tirelessly to join them. But I have a responsibility to those who remain here, friends and clanmates all. I don't want to talk them into going anywhere else, to do anything else, because this is where their fun is. Along these lines, for me, if I had the ways and means to MAKE a plug-in as wonderous as El Tank, and I had thousands of people that relied on it for their enjoyment of the game - then I would feel an obligation to them as well. Aye, you're not bringing it down today, or tommorrow. Aye, you've not made paying on Pay Pal a mandatory thing - and you've put up with enldess grief from a thousand different directions while providing an oft times thankless service, all for free. And yes, you'll give us time to seek out other solutions to our needs, and yes, yes, there are other plug-ins out there that at least vainly attempt to do what El Tank can. And ultimately, of course, we could remove decal completely and do what god, country and Turbine always envisioned, and play the game as is - 3rd Party App free.
But again, speaking for myself, and not anyone else:
I don't ever want to go back to that day. Not ever.
And finally I'm pissed because it looks like I will have little choice.
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Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - DM for 28 Years!
Asheron's Call: Bleys Icefalcon; Monarch of Renaissance - on Harvestgain
If you want someone to be politically correct, I suggest not engaging me in conversation.
Asheron's Call: Bleys Icefalcon; Monarch of Renaissance - on Harvestgain
If you want someone to be politically correct, I suggest not engaging me in conversation.


