Warning: Big Pointless Personal Post Below
The below post is essentially a big mass of psychological mess and probably belongs in a Shrinks notebook or atleast a diary.
You don't have to read it, I'm just writing for myself. Don't waste your time reading it if you're just going to complain that I write too much.
I personally had a large decrease in play-time on Blockland starting around October-time 2010.
At this time I purchased Minecraft and then Terraria, which I got very addicted to. I didn't become a big part in their community
*, but I spent a lot of time just playing the game. Likely equal to the time I spent on Blockland when I initially started to play it.
So, this ultimately took me off for some time as I was experiencing other games I enjoyed. Which there isn't a problem with.
At this point in time I was 15 and in my last year of compulsory education, Year 11. So, I likely took atleast a little bit of time off as I focussed/worried about studying for my final exams. Not much however. This was probably the gradual decrease in my time spent on Blockland and the Forums.
I very definitely peaked over Summer 2011 in spending time on here. I was also pre-occupied with other games and such, but I had a big summer break and I made the most of it and played a fair amount of Blockland and spent a decent time on the Forums. (This might have been when MLP became big, actually. But that wasn't a factor in me spending less time on the Forums. It's just a bit of relation to my timeline to the Forums' timeline.)
Anyway, September 2011 came along and I was aged 16 and in my first year of College (Sixth Form/Year 12). So, I most definitely spent more time focussed on study here. Maybe I didn't spend a lot of time actually studying, but my study at college drained me more and I spent less time on games like Blockland which required more concentration to play.
At this same time I also found myself in a bit of a weird social place. From 2004 to 2009 I lived close to one town in my area and I went to the junior and comprehensive schools in that area, and I had a very definite group of friends who I had grown up with for a good amount of time (6 and a bit school years). I always lived some distance from any of these friends so I didn't have much contact with them outside of school, beyond one friend,
Liquid, who introduced me to Blockland in 2007. He was probably the only person who I really talked to or spent a lot of time with (online) outside of school.
Anyway, since I moved school and town in late 2009, I found myself at a different school making new friends. Which I did, but it's weird to get into new friends who have known each other for atleast 5 years, and some 11 or more. These people I didn't spend too much time with outside of school, mainly due to not really knowing them exceedingly well and how far away they all lived from me and each other. A number of them are also very computer illiterate and communicating online (beyond ocassionally chatting on Facebook) was never going to happen.
So, I found myself with some new friends I didn't really know too well. And I was also seperated from a large number of friends who I had known for years, but had no way of getting in touch with. Many of them now lived atleast 45 minutes to 1hour and a half away, plus a costly bus ticket.
I would organise meet ups with them quite a bit for the first year, but there was often a lack of care on their side. I seemed to be constantly out of place, in having to travel the furthest and also having to organise everything for everyone else.
Then I got in an argument over a petty joke on Facebook that didn't even involve the person I was arguing with. Which sort of made hostilities between us and made me, alongside the lack of care for the work I put into trying to meet up with people, rather angry and ended up giving up on organising it all.
Which meant that my old friends essentially ceased communications with me due to laziness. I'm partly to blame here, but it was all fairly distributed.
So, I was stuck with a lack of friends who I could spend more time with on either side. Although I did have Liquid.
Who admittidely I probably spent most of my online time with.
But, Liquid had his own problems and things in real life, and again maybe through a lack of effort on my end or his, I would say we probably drifted apart a little bit. Liquid joined a community of people whom I didn't know. I don't resent that, but I found myself atleast a little alienated, since his community all had a common interest which I didn't share making it a little bit harder for me to play with Liquid when he would invite his other friends along with. I've made friends with some of them since and am good friends with them, but it's still weird.
**So, due to the fact that I am completely weird in my way of playing multiplayer things, in that I seemingly do not ever enjoy myself without having a friend on with me, and the fact that Liquid was spending more time with other people, and I wasn't interested enough with Blockland on my own, and the time taken by studies and stuff, I ultimately spent less time on Blockland and these Forums in particular.
**I suppose I also blame the fact that I've never made much relationship with people on here. My only good friend who I talk to regularly from Blockland is Liquid, and I knew him from before either of us knew of Blockland and he introduced me to it.
I've had another good friend who I have very sadly mistreated in that I have completely ignored him, actively, mainly due to all the troubles and stuff boiling over me as written above. And I regret that fact, since he's a great person, but I feel like I've left it too late to get in contact. He'd probably welcome me back with open arms but I'd always feel some sort of tension there.
So my biggest loss to Blockland is that unlike many other people here, I haven't made any permanent friends through Blockland, which many players have.
* I mean this in that, I'm not a big part of this community, but at the very least I know that some people atleast know of me and might read what I post and put some value to the things I say.** I could probably have cut that all down to this one paragraph at most. Atleast I realise where I blabber on too much.
Warning: End Of Massive Text Wall
I'll just sum it up quickly.
I play less now because I don't have as much time due to schooling and I don't have as many friends playing as I used to or my friends aren't as interested or are pre-occupied with other things
As for other people, I'd say either something similar to me, or they have better things to do or other commitments.
