*Old lady voice.*
I joined December 24th, 2011, that's four years ago today! A friend begged me to join, so, I did. I was lucky enough to join on the day that LKD gave the community wings for Christmas! What an exciting day, my friend was so excited, and I was too! Even though I hadn't know a time before that we didn't have wings, heh.
Anyway, a couple days after that came LKD's last update on the game (at least, one that he made mention of on the bo. I was young, I've never really browsed the forums (as you can see, I have no floof-o-meter or really... any posts). I just played the game, role played, join packs (Vs, Battalions, it was a grand ol' time), I spent all my free time in game. I really couldn't have given two short and curlies about checking the news and such.
Buuuuut I started to notice after a while there were no updates, bug fixes, etc. I wondered why Kovu sir stopped posting in the little side box. By the time I realized he was gone, it'd been two years. Which is sad to be honest. My friends even teased me that I brought bad luck upon the game (which was just a joke of course). XDD Anyway, I've been waiting quietly in the shadows, lurking on FH every so often. Sometimes I attempted to rejoin old groups of mine, but it's difficult for me to stick around most of the time (since my interest in different things rises and falls like a flood). Not to mention the fact that many of my old friends are long since gone, and finding a literate pack or pride that has a long-term goal set in mind is like pulling teeth! Perhaps I'm being too picky, heh.. Today was one of the days I decided to pop on the forum, completely forgetting that this is my FH birthday, yay me!
I thought that eventually LKD would come back. *More old lady voice.* I've waited so long! But alas, he never has, but you know what? I think it's AMAZING that the mods have stuck around for the love of this game and community. Things have been difficult on them, I'm sure of it. Having the source code yanked out from underneath them, unable to sate their users' demands for bug-fixes and updates. I bet it's akin to having a child asking for food, but having none to give, and that's sad.
But nonetheless, here we all are. The mods are the only reason why this game is still on the radar, and for that I think they deserve all the love and appreciation that we all have to give! They didn't have to keep it going, but they did, and boy, I sure am thankful. So even if none of them see this, I just want them to know that as a long-term member, I really, really appreciate you! Even if I don't play all the time, coming back to FH floods me with nothing but fond memories, and I love you all for it so much!
I saw mention of making a new game, and I think that is a wonderful idea! While I'm not familiar with game mechanics and my art can be pretty rough, I would support it all the way. The makers of Arokai are making slow progress, but last month they added a multi-species demo. They could potentially be of interest to any one of you to get behind. I will say however that the progress is very slow, and they do take moderately long hiatuses every so often. They have not given a release date and refuse to, which is understandable (however frustrating it can be when you're so excited for it!) The game will have NPC's and a plot, but I do believe you can just role play on your own. Here is there official forum:
http://arokai.proboards.com/Let LKD keep his source code; we have a good thing going here, with a great community and benevolent mods. While he may have given us the beauty that is FH, you, me, the mods; everyone made it what it is, and that, I think, is what counts.
On a side note, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to you guys! I really hope it's wonderful.