A Wake

First, it’s very nice to see this site come alive. A death has a funny way of making one evaluate what one really has and value it. We have a lot - A great game, and each other. It’s almost kind of a relief to have WOTC of it. Heroscapers awake!

Secondly, crap. Damn. Rats. Although I was not-so-enthused about the Dand D waves the death news stunned me. Where will new players be able to get terrain? Anyone can make interesting customs, but it’s the terrain....

A game at our house often is often made of three time sections: 1) building the map. This is sometimes the longest section. We love water, especially streams and waterfalls and lately we have really been getting into building maps that have caves and dungeons and shadow as well. I have been making cave entrances out of Styrofoam- when I get one I’m proud of, and when I get my camera repaired, I’ll show you.

Part 2 of our game is choosing armies. I’m very slow at this. Part 3 is actually playing.

Anyway, as I was saying, I was stunned. And being a part of the great many scapers who were online together and posting and taking that news together was very moving for me. But I’m kind of a gushy guy.

I went home after work (I still have a few weeks left before my job ends) and kind of wandered around the house. I told my kids and they were okay with the news. We feel so cut off from the mainstream of Heroscape that it doesn’t really affect them. To them, Scape is ours, and they’re not really that aware that other continents of Scape exist.

They asked me how the Scapers on this site were taking the news, and I replied that the younger folks were really bummed and the older folks were talking about gathering and drinking a few pints in honour of a lost friend. But what was I feeling? I was definitely bummed- but I’m a kid at heart- but I also felt an urge to go do something. I don’t drink so I decided to go to the LGS.

It was half an hour before closing. There were a couple of MTG orcs shuffling around, but other than that the place was quiet. All of the Scape was beautifully displayed (how can it not be beautiful?) just where it always was. I wanted to shout “don’t you know it’s ending?” But I didn’t. I just looked at all the boxes. Touched them. They even still had a wave 8 hero pack with Sir Dupuis. In the end I decided to by a SOTM set. It was my symbolic pint, but I’d get to keep it forever. Terrain, drool, drool...

I showed it to the kids and told them we didn’t have to ever open it. My daughter said yeah, maybe it will be worth something NIB someday. The next day my two youngest sons, the three year old and ten year old got into and opened it all up and played with it. I thought it was okay. That’s what it was meant for.

The next evening I was seeing my sweetie, and she could tell right away that something was up. I hadn’t told her yet that I was losing my job yet again, after not losing it yet again. She’s a good one, so she waited until there was a quiet time and it was just the two of us. I told her about losing my job again. I’m pretty much past caring or reacting- it’s been too many times- but she was mad.

I hesitated. Should I tell her about Scape sort of finishing? I decided it was too important to me not to tell her.
I chose my words very carefully. I prefaced it with “I know it’s just a game....”
But you know what? That’s when I choked up. Not talking about my job, about our future which is partially dependant on me earning money, but when I tried to tell her about the long queue of commentsas we got the news. All of us together, you and I, are something more than I’d realized.

And it is so nice to see things continue. As my job ends and I get booted out the door I will try hard to remember this experience. Scape hasn’t ended, and neither will I when I’m let go. Things continue. Victor Hugo said “as the purse is emptied, the heart is filled.” I’ll change it around a bit and say “when the tiles run out, things will get more interesting.”