Farewell Shadowfax

[Surreal]

Farewell Shadowfax,

After 2 Years we say goodbye to one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. Shadowfax has been retired. With it comes some melancholy, some great times, and even better friends. It opened up a platform to meet and adventure with people from all over the world, normally fractured by servers meant for individual reasons. Many of us will go our own way, some will hopefully stick together for the future, we all are better off for the experience. I for one am sorry to see it go.

Yes, Shadowfax was light on population, but that was made up for by having such a tight knit community for those that decided to call it home. The near lack of lag was a seriously noticeable different from 'Live' servers.. It was a complete difference in balance, sure the Auction House was hit or miss, but if someone needed something, asking in world chat 'often' you would get what you need. Need help talking a particularly difficult critter? There were constantly people willing to assist. Some new person asking in world chat "Why is world chat so quiet" often sparked continuous conversations.. in world chat.

There were a great many personal Kinships, as housing pretty much completely open. A Few larger Kinships...

A Turn of Events - The largest Kinship on Shadowfax for a goodly portion of it's beginning. I had the honor of meeting quite a few wonderful people from this Kin. Unfortunately came to an early demise.

Fathom - Not much to say, like clockwork they'd show up for a week or so with each new level bump then fade away for a few months.

Valinoria - Our friends from Germany, even up to the last days of Shadowfax continue to raid with The Warg Party Bus as we continue to ride out our final days. A wonderful group of people, I can't say enough good about them.

The Warg Party Bus - What can I say, we've had some ups and downs, grown and shrank. We took in as many as we could and tried to be a positive group of people in Shadowfax. We had many from the US, as well as various European Countries, and at least one Adorable Hobbit from Australia in our ranks.
From Ela, to Besvara to finally myself, it's bittersweet to carry the Kinship to the end of the world.

That being said, I wish everyone who ever stopped by on Shadowfax the best of luck in the future, and as the Bus moves on to Gladden, we'll miss those destined to elsewhere, but try to carry forth with who we've always been.

So if you're ever bored, feel free to stop by Gladden and take a ride on The Warg Party Bus, Formerly of Shadowfax.

So long and thanks for all the fish...

~Aeshael
Kin Leader
Warg Party Bus
Shadowfax / Gladden


PS. Porkchop, may he rest in peace.

 

[Issybelle]

Well said Aesh. The past 2 years on Shadowfax has been the best time I have had in Lotro, and thats entirely down to the great people I have met. First with Turn of Events and then with Warg Party Bus. Guess I can thank Hobaningans for introducing me to Warg Party Bus.

Never really expected to be raiding on this server, just wanted to experience the landscape on deadly. But fell in with Turn of Events and caught the raiding bug. From Rift two years ago to Gwathrenost last weekend, so glad that we kept this server ticking over right til the very end.

Far too many people to thank for making Shadowfax a great place to experience Middle Earth so I'll just say thanks everyone.

 

[istvana]

Very well put - I will miss Shadowfax. I certainly do not love wargs - and am just as certainly not a party animal - but the kin was a great one. I had too many characters with favorite names stockpiled on Crickhollow to go to Gladden - plus after the kin decided to go there the server got more crowded and lag got worse. I wish you-all the best of luck there.

But my time on Crickhollow will have to be shared - I found Shadowfax somewhat addicting and against all my plans set up a new family of low levels on Treebeard despite my preference for faster content releases and a less draconian experience haircut. The community there is much like that on Shadowfax was.

 

[Niko]

Aesh,

Short. Succinct. And beautifully, well stated.

Shadowfax was a server that was small and quiet, and if you wished to enjoy the adventure alone, perhaps without seeing another sentient player, that option was available. However, if you wished to engage with others, ask for help or assistance, there was almost always someone there--perhaps lurking quietly in the background--that was willing to answer that call.

I applaud myself for responding to an open invitation, extended to all players of Shadowfax reading world chat, to join a merry band of folks in the Warg Party Bus kin. I never considered myself as a person that was "kin material". But I quickly saw that most everyone there was kind, and patient, and invited a confirmed soloist to join fellowships, even raids, to expand his experiences as a player. (Although, if I must be honest, I did have reservations about a kin with a name like "Warg Party Bus"! I always considered myself more aligned with a kin name such as "Bidets and Confused", a classic, for sure!)

So here's to Shadowfax, its community, and the times spent together, sometimes silently without seeing another player anywhere, and I do mean *anywhere*. I will remember the parts of which made such a small server strong: some effort, but effort nonetheless, was required by anyone whom wished to be part of the vibrant community that existed under the surface. Events had to be scheduled, plans had to be made, relationships and bonds had to formed and maintained. Hell, I am not even a person good with names, but even I could remember most kin members by their primary and alternate toons. Including those that didn't begin with "Ken" (Hi, Ken!).

To the Wargs, I'll see you over on the lands of Gladden. To others, may you find your new homes as pleasing as those we called home on Shadowfax.

Cheers,

Niko
The Perpetually Confused,
The Very Frequently Dead by Misadventure,
The Stander in Puddles He Shouldn't Be Standing In,
The Frequently Distracted,
and,
Kinsman of the Warg Party Bus, Shadowfax, and Gladden.

 

[Issybelle]

Damn it Niko, I wish I could have summed up my time on Shadowfax as beautifully as you have here.

Playing on this server has been an education on raiding for me, but also on an education on kin politics. I have much more appreciation now for the vastly different ways there are to experience an MMO. The fragile symbiosis between "casuals" and "raiders" is something that I will be mulling over for a long time to come.

I applaud myself for responding to an open invitation, extended to all players of Shadowfax reading world chat, to join a merry band of folks in the Warg Party Bus kin. I never considered myself as a person that was "kin material". But I quickly saw that most everyone there was kind, and patient, and invited a confirmed soloist to join fellowships, even raids, to expand his experiences as a player

Aeshael and Besvara, that Warg Party Bus has this reputation is entirely down to you two; when a choice had to be made, you made the right choice.

 

[Narangren Tirthallion]

I never played on Shadowfax, but to those of you who have decided to join us on Gladden, I would like to say welcome! We're happy to have you.
It's a smaller server, compared to the others, but we have good folk and even better food.
Reading your post, and those in reply to you, I wish I had spent some time there, meeting the folk, making friends, but Gladden is my home, and ever will be.
Song and dance, food and fellowship, these are the hallmarks of your new home. I hope you enjoy your stay. We're simple hobbits, after all. (Or in my case a complicated Man.)

Here's to new adventures and new friends, I hope to see you on the battle's front, or wherever your journeys take you.
Welcome to Gladden.

To you and yours, from me and mine,
Until swords part,
-Narangren Tirthallion, Leader of Alone in the Shadow

P.S. Gladden has an unofficial Discord server that's used by people across kins and playstyles if anyone wants to join us there: https://discord.gg/4AQ4v5mzV8

 

[Usisthi]

Those are great words Aeshael. I loved Shadowfax, it was my home, a server with very little going on, but that was the beauty of it and everyone was so close, no one was gold digging there, you could run things and it felt like a family. We of Valinoria also had a low point so with me then a new leader emerged that made Valinoria blossom again, our friendship with Warg Party Bus was great, I love everyone of them and belong to my close Shadowfax family, I miss them a lot, it feels so foreign with other clans also every other server is so foreign. All of you from Shadowfax you are great don't forget that !

Usisthi
Leader of Valinoria
Shadowfax / Gewaihir

 

[Ark]

Back to play Lotro one year a go, start on shadowflax mine new adventure, in the very first day i already up on board of Bus. So many adventures with polite, fun and crazy peoples inside that bus made me enjoy at the max mine time at Shadowflax. The experience was so good the i move mine very old characters from Arkenstone to the new adventures of Wargs to Gladden. Thank you all for the blast fun and so many fresh blood. I am sure the next year will be amazing :amor: