Now for the longer version.
I won't be mentioning any names in this post for thanks, good byes, or "hey, remember that time?" - not because you didn't have an impact on my time in EQ, but because everyone had an impact on my time in EQ, and I'm sure I'll forget someone. To my friends, if I didn't say good bye to you already in game, I'm sorry. I must have missed you when I was online last.
There are lots of factors that lead me to this decision, most of which relate to time. Within the past year I've had a lot of changes to my life - new girlfriend, new job, and as of tomorrow, a new place to live (first time I will actually own a place I live in, very excited). And there are a few things I've given up on for some stupid reason I'm looking forward to getting back in to - cooking, rock climbing, and reading.
With my new job, I've found I'm under-educated with it and am spending a lot of time after work with training, reading, or just doing extra work. I'm enjoying it immensely - I get to work on projects all across the world.
New girlfriend... well, I don't think I need to explain that one
.New place to live. For the past 5 years I've been living in hotels, camps, renting places to live, or staying with my father. All because I've been working out of town for my old job and it didn't make sense to purchase a place. With the new job brings a steady location and I can finally set some roots of my own. With a shorter commute to work (58 minutes down to 12), my time frees up to cook myself a decent meal to help get rid of this belly I've developed.
Thank you everyone for making EQ enjoyable. I created Thrillho about halfway through HoT and progressed quickly through the levels and AAs. With raiding in my sights I managed to go from a guy who knows nothing and can barely survive a riposte in HoT yard, to a guy who still knows nothing but can molo in Sepulcher. I wouldn't have been able to progress that quickly without help. I've tried to repay that help as much as possible, or at least pay it forward. I hope I haven't fallen short in that respect.
I'm not sure when my account goes to silver, but I won't be renewing it in the foreseeable future. I might log in from time to time to see how things are going, but with a silver account I won't be able to do anything.
I hope I made all of your EQ experiences better. Give 'em hell in RoF. The raids look awesome. And be sure to use those jesters - Jaerlyn loves 'em.
Thrillho / Jeff
PS: 5 TAs for...
Final count:
Alsa Thel Droplet: 730
Alsa Thel of Magic: 81
Alsa Thel of Beasts: 104
Alsa Thel of Fertility: 125
Alsa Thel of Decay: 134
Alsa Thel of Tides: 325
Alsa Thel of Battle: 529
Alsa Thel of Oratory: 581
Alsa Thel of Splendor: 762