DarkMoonEnigma
Virtualsense Official
Staff member
Moderator
Community & Media Manager
Virtualsense Media Team
VCAT Team Member
Almost 12 years ago when I first stepped into Entropia Universe, it was my first virtual world and I had no idea what to expect. My brother had been playing for a month and said you have to check it out. I had not played any other MMOs or MMORPGs, and was never active playing the other games that so many already had in their well of experience, but I knew that I was about to embark upon a journey like no other.
The excitement of real time connections with a globally-diverse community sent my senses into overload, and as time passed and I discovered the depth of possibilities, I knew this was going to be a journey that would be both teaching and rewarding. What didn't surprise me, was the variances of behaviors that traversed the real into the virtual, and how they were applied to a gaming environment. Some predictable given the dynamics, and some not so predictable, which gave pause to learn some lessons.
I was given opportunities that I never thought possible, but I also saw possibilities and pushed myself beyond boundaries that I had never crossed before, nor entertained as something I would consider. There are many people to thank, but those who know me know who they are, and that I appreciate them. I had a love/hate relationship with MindArk over the years and was quite vocal at times, but constructively, even in my most intense moments. In all, not once did I ever dismiss the fact that I love Entropia Universe.
This universe is like no other, and one we all approach from a personal and subjective perspective because every experience is unique, even in the face of shared game dynamics. Working with MindArk and Planet Partners over the years behind the scenes when opportunity presented itself, I had many of my questions answered, and gained an appreciation for the challenges on both sides ... development vs participants.
It was October 1st, 2013 that I left the game with my original avatar (MindStar9 - who is on ice right now), and only logged in to keep her in active status. For 2 years I still kept up with this evolving universe, and checked in on the many friends I made that were so dear to me, including Anhithe. It was one year ago when opportunity knocked the loudest, and I was extended the most incredible offer to join Ant in partnership to achieve his vision for Monria, because ...
... he had just bought the Moon.
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
After the stunning news, I actually wasn't so shocked because this is part of what he does. He's a savvy business man, and has made purchases in Entropia Universe over the years and developed them to the point of presenting him the opportunity to go all in and capture the Moon.
On November 26, 2015 it became official, and we didn't waste any time working on ideas and laying out a road map that would get us from here to there in hopefully the shortest amount of time possible with regard to what we wanted to do with development. Ant and I were already on the same page when it came to community, and he laid a big responsibility in my lap, but then he knew I was up for the challenge. There was reasonable anticipation that I would have my stumbles along the way, but they would still serve a purpose ... and they have, in a most rewarding way when it comes to sorting out the good stuff.
Community Manager implies engaging in community activities, and that would be correct, while also being a more generic title when you consider the infamous bullet-point list that Ant loves to add to when he thinks he can slip one in there. The truth is, my number one priority is our Moon community, and making sure we can evolve the environment to the degree of delivering better experiences. However, we can't do that alone, and that's where the members of our community are incredibly vital to where we go from here.
BUILDING TEAMS THROUGH THE COMMUNITY INITIATIVES PROGRAM (CIP)
The past year has certainly been an exercise in trial and error. Ant and I are both inherently trusting to a degree, and like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but when it proves us wrong in some instances, we evaluate the circumstances and change what we need to change to be more effective.
Ant, Kendra and I are very much giving and helpful souls, and I think you have witnessed that during our last year together. It's unfortunate that some will look at that as a weakness and take advantage, while others will embrace it and join it in order to foster a more cohesive community. The latter are the individuals that we definitely want to have with us to help build Monria's future.
Through great effort with the teams that have evolved over the last year, these amazing team members have made immeasurable contributions to help support what we want to accomplish for Monria. We will continue to refine the elements that comprise the inner workings of these teams so that we can bring the community the best we have to offer. There is great respect and appreciation for them beyond words.
The Monria Space Travel Program under the management of @Eric Shade Avenged and his Assistant Manager @Leodolfr Leon Stronghorse has flourished, and they have developed an amazing pilot and support crew for our Mothership the Yamato, and a successful Monria Repair Skilling Program.
Our new Monrian Born Program is managed by @RosaRaine Buns and @Superraine raine r456 in an effort to guide our Monrian Born players through their initial experiences and beyond. Events, activities, team hunts, and field trips are on the agenda to expand knowledge and increase the fun factor.
Due to December being another holiday month, we have postponed the start of our field trips until after, but Rosa and Raine are gathering all of the details needed to assist our Monrian Born accomplish newbie missions across the universe for the experiences and to collect some goodies. They will also in the meantime, help to facilitate team hunting and sharing knowledge to guide our Monrian Born in the best way possible.
The Monria Volunteer Support Team (MVST) program replaces the previous Mentors Program. We no longer recommend or endorse any one Mentor for our Monrian Borns, but rather do our best to connect them with our Volunteer Monria Mentors so they can make their own choices with the potential of working with other Monrian Borns to learn of their experiences with Mentors as well. It is not required that they have a Mentor, as we will ensure that our guidance is always available to support their experiences.
The Monria New Arrival Tutorials (MNAT) is coming along slowly but surely, and @Hovno, @Noz and @Gatekeeper have worked with me and made contributions to what we currently have in place. We want to expand on this effort, but it's a matter of sorting out the time and digging in again ... it will happen. In the meantime, there is information available to our Monrian Borns to help them navigate the Moon, and also to learn a bit about how Entropia Universe works from various perspectives, even the Moon Manager's.
Ant and I share our Progress Updates here and here as frequently as we can, or when there's enough time passed that there is something to bring to the community's attention. We are big on keeping you informed, and when there's news to share, even in between the Progress Updates, we will post.
WHAT'S IN THE FUTURE FOR MONRIA'S COMMUNITY
Remember when ^ up there somewhere ^ I mentioned possibilities? I have never lost sight of that in all my years traveling this universe, and I won't start now. I did a lot in the past with my original avatar and pushed some boundaries, but I have a lot of lattitude in this partnership with Ant to explore new opportunities, and entertain possibilities that are only limited by our imagination and to the degree of what we do as a community. Don't be shy, jump in and get wonky with us.
As your Chief Fun Officer (CFO), a title emphatically bestowed upon me by the boss, I will do everything in my power to engage you in activities and events that will ... cause you to have fun ... but some will also have you shaking your head and wondering ... have they really all gone mad on the Moon ... and of course the answer to that question will always be ... yes. We revel in the fact that we have a dark side to play with when it suits what we want to accomplish, or the other fact that we can push our boundaries with possibilities.
Ant and Raine (Rosa joins them at times) are working together to test our Monria Boxing Ring environment because in the Fall of 2017, we should be launching our annual Monria Boxing Championship event. We intentionally had our 2-handed boxing gloves designed for lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight divisions to accommodate designing the event criteria. When we get close to organizing the premiere of this event, we will let you know in an announcement. In the meantime, you can skill and practice in our boxing ring, and watch for events and random giveaways where you can acquire our boxing gloves.
The next event will be our Christmas event to top off 2016, which will most likely be Saturday, Dec 17th so we don't interfere with Christmas Eve the following Saturday. For 2017, we will have the usual events like New Years, Valentine's Day (wonder who the new sacrifice will be), an even grander St Patrick's Day event with some really cool surprises, might do something for Easter (not sure yet, the bunny population is totally out of control, so there has to be something we can do), have another Monria Independence Day event in July, definitely Halloween and of course our two year anniversary event in November, topping it all off with our Christmas event.
However, with us, it's expect the unexpected, so there could be more, and even some surprises along the way.
WHAT'S GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES
There's always planning and organizing, but that's not just with Ant and I, it includes our team members at times whose feedback we value very much, and while we may not implement everything, it is important to us. The work schedule can be quite frenetic at times because of things that can't always be planned, but have an immediate need. This can divert our time to the degree that it takes us away from what might be considered normal and usual, but with Monria, nothing is quite normal, and we like it that way.
Having self-managing teams in place means that I don't have to be overly involved and can focus on other things that need my attention that I find difficult to get to at times. It can become quite frustrating because I want to get it all done and throw it out there for the community, but that's not always possible. Projects require time, and time is my worst enemy, but I'm pretty fun when sleep deprived.
The Writing
I have writing projects out the wazoo and desperately want to tackle them as soon as possible. However, what saves me is accepting the fact that our first year has been spent building a foundation to expand upon, and this is actually going to help me when I finally become glued to the keyboard.
I have 3 more Kipling Chronicles to take us out of that era and will transition us into a shift in direction with our Monria Back Story. Mysteries will be solved, secrets will be revealed, and we will discover some interesting things about the Moon that has kept us in limbo with a bit of confusion and trepidation. We have fought victoriously against Cthulhu and his minions, and no doubt we will find ourselves continuing to engage in emblazoned battles to prevent total and complete control of Monria by the intruding darkness that invades sense and sanity. These are hard-fought wars that continue to renew our faith in community.
Then there's the Official Monria Storyline that will spawn from the back story, and will be an evolving and growing history of a new era on the Moon. Ant mentioned that we have carried the Cthulhu theme with our events and activities, but we are not bound by mythos dictate that would keep us a one-note-samba, but rather have flexibility to create our own blend of variables that lend themselves to holding onto a dark theme, while also infusing other possibilities into the fabic that will be the future of Monria.
We are also entertaining additional Quest Line Initiatives that will help our Monrian Born in their beginning experiences on the Moon and beyond. This would involve a level of writing that would be quite fun for me, but of course, this would be in partnership with Ant. Again, it's a time thing, and we are setting priorities.
One thing I want to really stress about the writing is, that some community members will become a part of our evolving storyline. Angel of Shadows and WangXiang are two such community members, as well as Sophia Angel Heart and others. We want our community to be and feel a part of what we are building.
Monria Media Website
I desperately need to get back to this project as well, and now that we pretty much have the programs in place that we want to have in place with amazing teams, this will free me up more to get back to project work so that we can launch more things for the community.
The Monria Media Website will be all about community. It will showcase who we are as a Moon community, and what we are able to accomplish together. I will write player profiles, and showcase our activities so that others can see just how much fun we have, and how we do it on the Moon. I will write original Monria articles, and fill the website with information that shows the rest of the universe who we are.
There will be a section to highlight our Shop Owners. I will do a profile on the active Shop Owners and do a photo shoot to complement the profile. It will be another opportunity to give greater exposure to those who are working hard to benefit our community from an economic perspective.
Monria Radio Station
We will launch our own radio station at the same time we launch the media website. This will give us more opportunities to engage with the community and bring yet another dimension to the fun factor. We already have ideas that we are working on, and those will be revealed with time.
Monria Forum
Both Ant and I work as Admins behind the scenes, him more technical and me more structure. We will continue to fine-tune the forum environment so that it becomes more efficient. I periodically cruise through content and move what's no longer viable to our private archives section so that you don't have too many unnecessary things to go through when looking for what you want.
If you have any requests or suggestions, please let us know. We may not always be able to accommodate you, but we will do our best to work toward better efficiency.
PERSONAL NOTE TO THE COMMUNITY
I try to make myself available as much as possible, but my time is quite divided with all I do, and oftentimes diverted because of needs, either from Ant or the community. When I am in the game, it's not too often that I get to just ... breathe ... because I'm generally in work mode fielding PMs, working with teams, or preparing for events or activities, as well as sorting out things that even the most mild-tempered person would find a bit challenging, but that's the nature of the beast.
However, our private staff forum is my sanctuary, and where I can unleash the intensity that consumes me sometimes, but with good reason. Ant is a magnificent intensity diffuser, and Kendra, she brings a calm and a different perspective that puts me in pause mode. She's actually quite brilliant behind the scenes in our private team forums with her suggestions and ideas, as well as pitches in where she can to help facilitate what needs to be done. She's a wonderful Monria Team partner as well, and a lovely blessing, although she challenges my purple matter at times with some things she says and does, but that too is refreshing.
I may not always do it right, and I may stumble sometimes, but I can promise you that my heart and my intentions are always where they need to be. I will continue to bring what I can to the community to increase the fun factor, and join Ant in listening to what you have to say, as well as how you would like to experience the Moon environment. As Ant has mentioned, we may not always be able to implement some ideas, or if we can, not always in the time-frame we'd like to, but if we continue to work together, time is on our side.
@Pusherman, the other (more complete nut case) member of our Monria Management Team, is the crazy-ass brother you can't help but love because there's nothing else that really fits, and I love him to pieces because he just fits into my world perfectly in ways that others so totally don't.
There's one person in particular that I want to give recognition to because it is so deserving. That would be @OberonNightSeer. He has been in our universe only a year shy of my own longevity, and while I knew of his amazing aerial platforms, I had never experienced them until I decided I wanted to do a player profile on this Wizard of creative masterpieces.
He wasn't much for the profile, but invited me for a private experience on January 13, 2013. I guess you could say the rest is history, because in the moments of that evening's adventure, I was so totally captivated under the spell of the Wizard, and so overwhelmed with the experience that it inspired me to write -- Under the Spell of a Wizard -- which I will post in the Entropia Universe Archives section at the forum. We are fast approaching our 4 year anniversary on 1/13/17, and are still going strong.
Obie has become an integral part of some of the things that we do on the Moon that expands and elevates (literally) the fun factor in ways that are both stunning and mesmerizing. He does this with our full blessing and total support, and will continue to give us his Wizardry of magic as we push the boundaries even more.
I love this Master Ninja Wizard who has become part of Monria's "Expect the Unexpected" profiles, and brings a uniqueness that we love sharing with our community. He's always up to something, and date nights are never boring. We have taken a few of our friends on some crazy excursions, and I can foresee perhaps opportunities born of possibilities where we get to entertain more than one step beyond.
Thank you Obie for combining crazy with amazing and giving us your untethered Wizardry, and also for caring about and supporting the magic that is Monria.
NOW THE REALLY MUSHY PART
Yes my dear partner in this incredible journey we have embarked upon, you get your own section because it's a move to make Pusher jealous. The two of you are always competing at something, but I have to say, the DNA-barcode brings a Moon full of fun during those - you're going to buy the steak dinner - moments.
I know that you aren't always available either, but I also know that you work tirelessly behind the scenes with MindArk regarding development, marketing, and overall Moon business, so it's understandable. I have to say that I am incredibly impressed with how you built the Monria/MindArk network to help facilitate what we would like to accomplish for the Moon. I love the MA guys who care about what we're doing, and have even gotten on board with some of our ideas. It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out over time.
When I accepted your invitation to help bring your vision for Monria to life, I literally had no clue how it would unfold, but you have given me implicit trust, and allowed me to develop with the community in ways that I never could have imagined. This partnership started in blind faith, and it has grown into something incredibly special and solid. Thank you for giving me the freedoms that you do, and for entrusting the community into my care while you do the boss stuff. I may be in the trenches every day with coal on my face, but I now have magnificent help, and I love our teams immensely.
It also helps to be a card carrying member of the Monria Crayola Packin' Team (MCPT) with it's own Glossinary. It's a tension-diffusing environment that allows grown-up girls their 5 year old moments to not only color outside the lines, but obliterate the lines altogether and go Monet on everybody's ass. Ok, maybe not everybody, but some bodies that make the hit parade. Members do not reveal themselves, so do not ask, or it will cause us to call an emergency meeting to discusss things that shouldn't be discussed.
See how that works ... I am now diffused.
Perhaps it was because I was getting a bit emotional, but that's because I've known Ant for so many years, and know that the calibre of his character comes complete with honesty, integrity, and a sense of humor that knows no bounds, which continues to endear me to him even after all these years. I am grateful, and I am immensely challenged right now to find more words to describe just how much respect and love I have for this man who walked innocently into my life and continues to cause an explosion of bullet-points, but also SO damn much fun that the bullet-points become blurred and inconsequential, at least for a while.
Thank you Ant, for allowing me to continue doing for our community what I love doing the most, but on an even grander scale than I could have imagined.
I am now mental from writing all of that. Perhaps Pusher and I could share our mentalness at some point and swap notes about the catalyst.
Love you Ant, you're simply the best. Yes, this is a family affair, because I feel more family than friend.
