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When I left and gave up on Gaia... 3 years ago, I didn't really think much about the friends I was leaving.
The site had changed in ways I had never foreseen when Carandra convinced me to join this new fledgeling site in 2003. It was new, exciting, fun. And hey, we were playing with paper dolls making the cutest outfits we could!
This new community was bustling. The Marketplace did not exist yet. Trading? What was this? One of the newest items out of the new shop owned by Sasha, costing a whopping 10k gold, was something almost unheard-of for me to afford; a Royal Blue Kimono.
All I saw was fun times and people who shared my burgeoning interest in anime and manga. I'd spend hours talking about who knows what, building up relationships and bonds with people who, for all intents and purposes, I'd never meet in real life.
The Internet was still a frightening, scary, boogeyman-infested sea of darkness.
Through those glorious first two years, I saw the rise of the Gaia Exchange. The advent of the Price Guide Wars of 2004; the GEN vs EVIL vs SIN/JPG. The scandal of the zombie vials and zombie invasion. The Marketplace. The GEPD, a group focused on trying to help scammed users report their grievances to the mods as soon as we could.
It was a tumultuous time filled with fun. I was crowned with the title of the "Queen of the Exchange" or "The Diplomat", even though I had never really participated in the cutthroat buying and selling the Exchange was known for.
Then I became a mod.
I'm not going into any of that. I learned a lot, did a lot, helped masses of people, but burnout hits the best of us. I left with nothing but my own health and sanity in mind.
I left the site, intent on focusing on my life outside of the forums. I went to the life outside of the game.
And it stayed that way for just about 3 or even 4 years. The time flies.
But I have just learned tonight, it wasn't without a cost.
Tonight, I received notice of someone's birthday in this fancy Notification system Gaia put in... who knows when. A name I hadn't seen in 7 years. Happy to see a familiar face, I popped over to her profile, intending to say hi and make small talk, and try to remember the old days I had with that person.
I will never have that chance.
Over a year ago, her sister made one post in this person's thread, and one post in her profile.
The person had passed away in November 2010.
Rest in peace, Kormadoka {Christina}. I'm so sorry I could not say that sooner.
 Aquafire · Thu Feb 16, 2012 @ 02:24am · 3 Comments |
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