Hey Argo,

The short of it - The only purpose of this post is to express I'm happy being back.

The long of it -

I've been away from DDO about 4-4.5 years due to many reasons, but the main one being the birth of my second son. What can I say, babies eat up free time. For gaming, I focused more on console single player stuff where I could save/quit as the need arose with real life. I would periodically check the forums over the years, and still get updates when new content came out. Occasionally I'd update the game and log in on a bank toon just because, but also to be ready to play in case the urge hit.

About a month and a half ago, I'm not sure why, but the urge hit stronger than usual. I logged in and saw just how much new content had been added and how much things had changed. Additionally, I could see how much powercreep had happened in my time away. One can argue all day if powercreep is good or bad for the game. That's not the point of this post. The point is that in addition to having to relearn game mechanics, my characters felt weak (some of my old guildies would argue they always were). My main, Paryan, had last logged as a lv 10 Warlock shortly after they came out. This was his last life needed for single completionist.

As soon as I logged in, an old friend messaged me with the, "holy ****, no way!" kinda message. It felt good to see a familiar name and have my characters remembered. We ran some stuff together and he really helped me relearn my way around. After a day or two of seeing if I was here to stay, I bought points for Ravenloft and Sharn as well as few packs I was missing. Still need 1-2 packs to have the full game again...The Barovian freebie weapon really helped me feel a bit more capable. Ravenloft was awesome! Love the feel, the environment, all of it. It was great to come into quests and not know instantly what I was up against. Sharn is good too, but I enjoy the theme of Ravenloft more.

I've always been a bit more on the casual side of playing, but since coming back I've gained completionist and ran another druid life back to 20. Now playing around in Epics for a bit to try and help with gear, and loving Borderlands. I may spend some time ETRing on this life (Wolf druid) as I'm enjoying it immensely. It's amazing how quick it all comes back...where the traps are, which way to turn in a quest, etc. Some quests were like riding a bike even after 4+ years. Thought Spies would trip me up, but it was like I never stopped running it.

There are a few things I know I need to work on. I left before Reaper was a thing and have 0 EXP here...This will all change, but I felt too far out of the loop to jump right in, but this is also where the limited groups are. As such, I've been soloing 95% since I came back. All on elite, but still not reaper. I miss the old guild and weekly raid schedule, and while the guild is still here, it's missing a ton of people and the sense of community. I recognize some names of people running past me in public places and I hope the closing of hardcore brings even more people back. Crafting is all new and needs work, and there's just soooo much new gear, it's overwhelming to figure out what I want/need etc. Any new named item is a quick calculation in, "is this better than what I have...do I keep it, or is it sentient jewel food...?" Right now just looking to get better.....not the best in slot, but that'll come.

All in all, I'm psyched to be back. I'm happy to solo, but enjoy playing with others when I can (play about 6-9 hours a week). The game has grown so much since I've been away. The nostalgia for the old stuff is still there (TS never, ever gets old.....) and there's enough new stuff I feel like a noob at times. It's exciting again to see something for the first time. Maybe not quite as cool as the first time in Plane of Night, but that's hard to top.

Until I came back, I didn't realize how much I missed the game. No other game on PC or console has held my interest so long. (Dragonrealms was close). Yeah DDO has it's share of bugs/issues...it's still more fun than not for me.

Anyway, yeah...that's it. Happy to be here.