Hoodie, you're here! I can't believe it! You don't even know how much we've missed you. I'm so glad you've made new friends. And I'm glad you're finally back. <3

This is so sweet!! True that it certainly caused some lag haha, but the idea behind this is very heartwarming. Grateful for you to have hosted this little event for people who were able to participate! <3

The game is definitely not as active as it maybe was years and years ago, but there is definitely still a lot of life inside it despite that, and I am willing to bet that the players still around aren't planning on abandoning it anytime soon. True, people aren't very active inside the game most of the time, but take into consideration that a lot of people are exhausted, people have busy lives, people have their own troubles and worries, and sometimes it just does good to open a peaceful comfort game to rest in and have it in the background for comfort, while handling the real world's troubles.

Or, alternatively, a lot of people focus on IC aspect of their characters and focus on roleplay/building stories with their characters. Sometimes people just need an escape from the real world, and this, I have found out, is a wonderful way to do that. This is a 20 years old community so of course there is bound to be friendships that have lasted very, very long, so it's only natural that people do hang out with those they are more familiar with.

Not to mention, the forest is full of characters that are In-Character, as in roleplay sense, and they tend to hang out with other IC characters they have met. They're not an indicative of people's feelings towards you, ever. IC characters act as the character themselves would act, not the player.

Most people here also have social anxiety or are just extremely shy, plain and simple. But if you reach out to people, there is surely going to be an echo back sooner or later; all the people I have connected with over the past year have welcomed me with open arms and we have been able to create wonderful things together. It just takes time and effort, and having the courage to take the first step. <3

No group you see in-game is closed off, people are always welcome to join any pile of characters you see, really! <3 People of this community are genuinely so sweet.

True also that there isn't much communication in the forums nowadays, but frankly it is just generally viewed easier over Discord, as people feel more comfortable using that, and most players do roleplay, so that too is significantly easier over that. Not to mention the forum having its issues now and then...

Oh my goodness!

What a huge party this is!

Yes, welcome back to the Forest! I totally agree with your statement. We spread the light with kindness and love to all players who have been a part of our game's history. Seeing huge events, like this one, brings awareness to this community of who we are as our Forest Friends and Family.
I, too, have helped and supported players by giving Forest Magic sets. Every Halloween and Christmas, I bring candles as a gift for all players. That is my tradition of spreading kindness to everyone around the world. I have been playing this game for 16 years. Looking back, we had such a wonderful time. Beginning in 2010, I started with my first deer, Jeweleye. I think that you met him in his sunlit mushroom circle, doing the ritual sun dance!

Since 2017, my deer character, Widmung, has always been helping new players who enter this tranquil forest. We want them to feel welcome to this game. Over the past years, I photographed fine-art screenshots of huge events and family gatherings. Those photographs tell a story of who we are and how big this community has grown. We all have a mission in life, and we fulfil our obligations in the real world. It is not only that we are away from the game, but the immersive forest is forever cherished in our memories.

I believe that we, as a community, can continue to share our stories through our creativity in art and literature. We should bring awareness to everyone, here in this Forest. We bring peace, tranquility, and happiness to all deer-kind. Let us share the light with this world!

It depends on how long this game lasts. Let's hope that the developers (M&A) can fix the issues on the newer version of this game. We will see what happens next.

Thank you for sharing this historic event to everyone! I hope to see you soon in the Forest!


Candlelight Nocturne No. 2

Yes, Eris! I'll coordinate another deer dance in the future! You're more than welcome to join in anytime!

I don't think sentiments of feeling lonely were any jab at you Ferne or Rin, you two are staples of the TEF community, here and on the TEF discord. Ferne and Rin, and the others active here on the forums, are all so open and very very very welcoming to all, new and old.

But I also understand how being surrounded by very established characters and friend groups can be lonely. It feels like everyone already has their characters established with others. And when your own characters don't have any established friends, it can kinda seem like others aren't interested in making friends. At least meaningful ones, as all of those roles are filled. Even with new characters made, the close friendships and cliques are immediately filling the important roles with other ocs. At least I feel this way on the discord / RP side of things. People are more receptive to those who have better art, popular characters, a presense, etc. This is just human nature and real life unfortunately. I'm not blaming anyone for that. I can personally say an 'echo back' does not always happen. It's why I had to leave the TEF discord server. I lost count of ignored messages. Aside the point, before the game was flooded with RP characters, the game was solely a place of silent connection. It wasn't based on if your OC would like the other deer or not. And I say this as someone who enjoys making OC's too. So it's no dig at the RP community for being IC. It comes from an understanding of both sides completely. Missing the nostalgia of the well populated forest where there was always deer willing to play.

Genuinely, I hope my comment didn't offend either of you, it wasn't towards either of you. It was more towards the TEF community as a whole. Being in other communities, even ones as toxic as Path of Titans-- it just isn't that way. There are enough new people to allow new close friendships to form. I know this game is different, but even then, it can be a very isolative community without meaning to be. I just wanted to share the sentiment to Kitty, that this game has made me feel lonely as well, and that I'm very comforted in her words, and the fact that I'm not the only one who has felt a bit lonely in this community. <3 I feel being open and honest about that can help us lonely people find stronger connections as well, maybe allowing us to find our own close friendships. Sorry for the long text. I just wanted to validate the feelings of not fitting in and share my own perspective!

Much love to all of you here in the community. <3 I'm so happy to be back!

I'm terribly sad I missed this!! I left home just as you gathered around the Gods.
Widmung, I'd also love to attend if you organized a dance party like this at some point. I hope I won't be away from my computer during it!

Dakota, your pictogram is so familiar to me. I used to be more active in-game under the name "Vanilliana" between 2016-18. It feels like we used to be deer friends from back then. I'm not sure, but whatever the case, when I saw you pop up in-forest when I was still at home, it stirred something in me. Sadly my memory is garbage, I remember no specifics, but it was a good feeling. I really appreciate that! I hope to catch you in-forest sometime with one of my deer. <3

I am happy I was able to catch some of this and let Dem join and observe from the distance... the lag wasn't an issue, as seeing this made me smile, but it also evoked curiosity and fear that's very in character for Dem; I hope it's ok she joined the dance briefly thank you for your company and sweet reminder <3 it makes me beyond happy when I see activity and new players discovering this hidden gem and joining!

I wish adult life didn't have me in it's grip when I'm already so low on energy most of the time... but this will always be true, as long as I'm in the forest, I will try to find time for interactions and keeping people company. <3 I agree with what Ferne and Petaldance said on this, I'm just a poke away if I'm at my computer!

I think it's also worth noting the following:

a) The veteran players (the ones that tend to be in 'cliques') are older, and likely have busy lives that limit their time for both playing actively in-forest and forming new friendships. It was much different in the 2000s and 2010s; players tended to be younger, with much less responsibility and more free time on their hands. There was more engagement on the TEF site itself, and although plenty of people did a lot of roleplaying over MSN/Skype, it wasn't EXCLUSIVE to there the way it tends to be now.

b) The game itself is not that engaging! I say this as someone who's been playing since 2008 and loves the game dearly; once you get in, there isn't always much to DO in the game. You really have to make your own fun, so to speak - which again, is much easier when you're young + have less responsibilities, and/or you're just not distracted by a lot of other things at the time. For me, even as someone who does try to play more 'actively' inforest and doesn't really have an in-game friend group, I tend to end up just sitting around as well because like... Well, yeah, I could have my deer wander around aimlessly. But I could also be doing literally anything else with my time. I could be playing games that offer a more interactive experience, for one. (Again, said with love for the game - I do not WANT it to be more like other games. But it would be silly not to acknowledge that it has drawbacks!)

c) The playerbase is still very small, and M&A aren't interested in growing it. There's no marketing for TEF and it's a very niche game to begin with - these are things I love about the game and I don't want them to change, but I think it's undeniable that the game mostly appeals to a very specific kind of playerbase, similarly to the way old MMOs like Furcadia are now mostly inhabited by people AFKing because it doesn't bring in new players much. It's very difficult to bring new people into TEF, much less get them to stick around for long. It always has been, really. But I think it's especially difficult now in a way that it wasn't before. It's also possible that a lot happens off-site in Discord servers where people who only use the game and/or community site don't see it.

d) All of this creates a self-perpetuating cycle, unfortunately. It's hard to maintain interest in the game when no-one is playing the game, so even if you're trying your best to be active, things don't always line up right. You know? I might WANT to connect with people (IC or OOC) etc, but with such a small userbase to begin with, it's hard to do that even if someone is active in the Forest - and again, there isn't much to DO in the game together aside from surface-level frolicking around. Posting on TEFc definitely helps with this but people have so little time and energy that the effort of posting on a forum can be too much, understandably so.

In general I don't think the players are the problem. Maybe the widespread pattern of cliques is, but I can't really fault any veteran players as individuals for staying in their friend group when... you know, they're mostly all adults with busy lives and limited energy for newcomers.

Saying that, though, TEF has always been like this to at least some degree. Believe me, I've got old posts from 2010 talking about this exact thing somewhere, lol. It's just the nature of small gaming communities, as well as TEF having developed a particular kind of culture over the years. I can absolutely sympathise with people struggling to find somewhere for them or their characters to fit in, but it's certainly not a new problem nor do I think it makes the community itself bad or toxic. The community site, at the very least, seems very welcoming and friendly to new players and there is MUCH less public drama than there was Back In My Day... It's my hope that this (along with online culture changing over time + people becoming more aware of appropriate boundaries when roleplaying) has also made the community safer than it used to be for younger, more vulnerable people.

Anyway: I love the original post, seeing so many deer Devouted and dancing like that does bring back a lot of nostalgia! I wish the Twin Gods still visited the Forest to encourage stuff like that. TEF holds a special place in my heart despite the problems I've had with it in the past; I don't think I'll ever be able to leave permanently even if I wanted to, ha.