Friends
The most important thing for me on 2b2t. Those were the friends I did. I mean… I based with over 70 people during these two years? Can you believe that? The best part is that they were all nice basemates… Only 2% of them actually were bad people, so this means that 98% of the people you meet and base with on 2b2t, they will probably be good and trustful people. At least using my experience as an example.
However making friends can be hard on this server… Because of the anarchy aspect. You always need to give the first step. It’s a blind move and you risk a lot. But you either do that or rot alone at your base.
When I made Anatolia, my first base, I quickly got bored. A week after I had made the main house, walls and farm, I invited this funny guy in the chat. His name was Drewbookman. If you read the “Tale of Valkyria” in this blog, you’ll know how this ends, but before we even got to Valkyria, Drew was a nice basemate. He made an amazing rail system and also a efficient blaze grinder at the nether. Pyro was invited later with Drew vouching for him. I had no idea who he was, but Drew said he was cool. So to avoid making the wrong impression and giving him a warm welcome, I actually expanded two more floors in the main house and made a room just for Pyrobyte. A decorated room. He loved it and felt welcome at our place.
My first solo base soon became my first group base. We would eventually meet the hitlerwood crew at the temp map Hause did and have lots of fun there. I then proposed that we continue at 2b2t. They told me to choose a location. And that’s how Valkyria happened. Since then… I made lots of friends and few enemies.
I just started playing to have fun and adventure and suddenly I was the leader of this huge group just 2 months later after I joined 2b2t… That was a fucking wild ride.
But the message I want to pass here is: don’t be afraid to trust. Make people comfortable around you, specially new people. Make them feel welcome and respect them. They might not make the same for you, but at least you are doing your best and that’s what counts. That’s how I made the friends I did and the bases I did.
Bases
The bases I did were amazing to me. I always see them as a collection of people’s visions. I never forced people to build on a grid. They could pick the places and claim to build. Anywhere.
Anatolia, Argos Outpost, Erebus Ice Palace, Valkyria, Belegost, Rhadamantis, Valhalla, Asgard I, Nova, Fenrir, Asgard II, FOB, Rebellion, Wrath Outpost. I planned all these bases, but I didn’t
built them alone. There were group efforts. All my bases on 2b2t were group bases. I never had a solo base. I was always with people around since the day of Anatolia. And with people around you, you also attract problems, either from inside or outside, either accidents or betrayals. Its something a base leader needs to deal with. You slowly learn to don’t get attached to the blocks, because deep inside you know they can’t be gone tomorrow. Instead I tried to attach myself to people. No matter what happened, I kept people close. I gave them the benefit of the doubt… And more importantly, I gave them a direction to follow when shit happens. And it seems to have worked, because the groups I made endured even after bases were destroyed. They could destroy the blocks, but not us. And that made a lot of people angry and envy.
What matters to me is the experience, not the blocks. And man, I had a great time building and planning those towns.
Leadership
I never intended to lead anyone either. They just needed a guy to worry about who was coming to the base next and where this or that person could build. It was like a silent election which I had no idea I was a candidate. I accepted the responsibility over the base and did my best, facing both the success and failure. The good and the bad moments. The pressure and stress. I didn’t made myself the leader, they did. It was always like “Ask Sato when he comes online” “idk, talk to Sato”
That’s basically how things started for me. At Asgard I, xarviar declared me an honorary oldfag due my achievements and fast 2b2t career. I was just 8 or 9 months old.
Journey
2b2t is really a journey. It was to me and I believe it is for every player that decides to invest his time on this server. But it’s not just a journey through to the land. Not just a journey through the blocks. To me, 2b2t was a journey of self-discovery too.
I know what you must be thinking “What the fuck is he talking about?” I’ll explain.
Before 2b2t, I never thought I could do the things I did here. Lead a group of 20-30 players in a anarchy environment? Build 14 group bases in the most hostile Minecraft server? No. This server showed me I could give people a direction. It showed me faith in humanity even in the most improbable place. And It also showed me how much of a emotionless monster I can be
Back in the Second Incursion, I did REALLY bad stuff. I was taken by this frenzy at spawn. I became a spawn killer, getting to kill 400 people by the end of the event. I broke people. Not just their avatars. I also broke their spirit.
New players with the desire to start their adventure and explore, with their crappy tools and some food, trying to survive hard… And then I show up and kill them without explanation.
They ask me things like “Why?”. Most times I didn’t answer. I had fun in making people mad and angry. I had fun in ending their chances to escape spawn and by doing that, destroying their dreams of journey. It was then that I started feeling remorse. The best case I can remember is meeting bigbang105 at spawn. He was newcomer that I provoked to punch me. Then I killed him. He was passive, doing nothing to me. He just defended himself from my threat and I killed him knowing that I provoked his attack.
I apologized to him after realizing the douche I was and gave him diamonds and food to escape spawn. He accepted my sincere apologize and we became friends. He is now known as EX0DlSS. You might call me a newfag lover, but we all were in their spot at some point.
I really had a lot of remorse from my actions at spawn and all the good people I killed that could have become my friends and basemates instead.
But after almost 3 years of 2b2t, when I tell people that I miss being a newfag, they react like “What?” “I don’t”. I understand that because they are not me. When I started, everything was so fresh and exciting to me. It was a new world beyond me to explore. Now I explored a lot. Everything feels old and what was once fun is now a burden. A burden to keep the legacy that started at Valkyria alive. It’s like carrying a huge weight on your back while people whisper at your ears “new valk when?”. I don’t have fun at 2b2t since… I don’t even remember. Its became more of a job and duty than enjoyment. People keep to ask me for new bases and to keep the dream alive, but they don’t notice I have to deal with the stress. With the pressure it brings. And eventually the stress takes over the fun, making it look insignificant. The Third Incursion was the last act of the “Valkyrian Legacy” and also the most stressful. I did it for the best of the group. To keep it together and to show our strength.
This is why I decided not to make any more group bases. I am the last Valkyrian. At least from the original ones. I am tired to carry the burden that I helped to create. A race to make Valkyria be remembered and to spread it group spirit across the server… And I think I did a fucking good job.
Community
The second thing I love the most is the server itself. It’s the people online and also the people that don’t play anymore. I tried show my love for 2b2t. To give the server something they would enjoy and find useful. I made the 2b2t posters; I continued the 2b2t cards that Coldwave started; I continue to write more blog posts about the knowledge and stories I have stored in my head and I did the timeline, which is my best contribution. I mean, now with the facepunch threads gone, that timeline is the only reminder of the things that happened before. That or the people that lived those things, but sadly most of them are gone after so long.
I did the things I did because I love this server and everyone inside. Even the aspie cunts. Yes, even popbob… Like that brother you hate and respect at the same time.
I’ll eventually be gone too, like the rest of the Valkyrians and all the others that came before me. Everyone will, until only popbob and his alts remains online :D
Thank you for reading and good luck!
This has been a guest post for The 2b2t Blog, where anyone can write about anything 2b2t related.
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