Theo's Retirement Announcement

[DM Theophanies]

Hello folks,

I just want to leave a brief note to announce my retirement from the HDM seat and the DM team in general. Real-life has been getting the better of me for months now and I feel the DM team is in a great place, so its time. For those not in the know, this is my second retirement. I started on the DM team in early 2014. I've been campaign coordinator of two campaigns. I've been in the HDM seat twice now and longer than I wanted to be. The responsibilities that come with this position can be brutal. I've had to make a lot of difficult decisions in this seat. I don't envy Chant or Boo, but I do trust that they will continue to make the right calls.

On my way out, I do want to leave you, the player-base, with some advice. I credit former HDM Narshe for inspiring this (including the thread lock).

1) It is great to have grand, ambitious plans, but you cannot get anywhere without the first step. Enjoy the journey, be inclusive, let others influence and affect your story. This goes for DMs and for other players.

2) There are many, many, many more of you in the community than there are DMs. This can mean a TON of incoming private messages. If you don't get immediate feedback, bump in a week. It's not personal nor is it really intentional. That is the pace in which the team moves though, so please adjust your considerations accordingly.

3) Take interest in plots and follow up with the DM who is running it. Send them a message and ask about following up and try to set up a time. Make sure you have a group that can all invest their time and energy. You'll have far more success if you include others, that is a longstanding principle of the DM Team.

4) Be kind to each other. As someone who has had to deal with many, many escalated issues, it is exhausting, to say the least. The golden rule of the server to be respectful of each other. So many incidents could be avoided if people would just breath and let things go. Don't let other player's mistakes ruin your game.

Farewell, Baldur's Gate, at least with this hat on. For one last time, with all of the stories I got to tell, I hope you enjoyed.

Kind regards,
THEOPHANIES