This is Not the End

Ever since HeroScape was discontinued, I've seen a disturbing trend begin to spring up. The week of the discontinuation, a good number of members sadly quite HSers. Others struggled on for a time, but the continually dropping numbers and lack of activity finally convinced them, too, to leave the halls of Valhalla.

A few dedicated souls remained. The various customs departments kept the spirit of Scape alive. Map and scenario creation abounded. CoN staggered on, despite low numbers of players. HSers still breathed.

Over the years since the discontinuation, I've seen people, over and over, give up and leave. Their reasons are always the same. "No one is on anymore." "I don't play HS anymore." "The site is dead." Every time I see one of these reasons, I know that another spark of the flame that is HeroScape has flickered and died.

And that's what HeroScape is: a flame; a flame made up out of us, those that remain. Yes, the game was ended. WotC gave up on it. But that doesn't mean that we need to. We are the game now. We are all it has left. People might leave because they think the game is dead, but it is that very act, leaving in and of itself, that is killing the game.

Nothing is dead as long as there are those that believe in it. As long as there is a single flicker of hope left, the spirit remains.

I know some might think that we are holding on to a lost cause. What is there to be gained by clinging to something that will likely never return? A life. A spirit. The essence of a great community that does not deserve to die simply because a game company decreed it be so. They gave up on us. But I will not, and I believe - I hope - that I am not the only one.

Many will say HeroScape has ended. But this is not the end. Not if you don't want it to be.