A family. Best friends. A place where I can feel comfortable. My life is leading me to ecc. <3 you guys.
This may be TMI, but: ECC is a place I can let go of real world issues. A place that has rules that are enforced. A place where someone can start at the bottom and work their way up. Too many servers are lacking in these areas. Either they do not allow someone to work their way up (complete world resets every 6 months and you lose everything), or the rules aren't enforced (griefers and language running rampant like a bunch of 2nd graders with no supervision). Sidebar: After I started ECC I had a friend come to me to try another server that they had started up. After weeks of pestering, I finally relented to see what it was like. The first person I met was pretty cool and very helpful. 15 minutes later I ran out a few hundred blocks, found a cave, set up a chest, and started mining. I locked the chest (my experience here taught me that you always lock the chest first thing), and was mining about 10 blocks away behind a turn. I happen to see a staff person fly in, break the lock on my chest (they used signs to lock their chests), open the chest, and then leave. This happened in the span of about 2 minutes. I thought it was rude they didn't say hi, didn't ask for me to unlock the chest, and then didn't lock it when they left. Infact, I honestly don't think they even saw me standing there behind the wall. If I hadn't been paying attention, I wouldn't have known what had happened and wouldn't have known the chest was unlocked. I promptly left. I just didn't feel safe there. ECC is a place I feel safe. I am an older player, and I am a competative player. I also like to help my fellow players when I can and try to steer them well. ECC provides that balance. I am able to be a hermit and work on my private storage area if I want. Or go out and help players who are new and see the rewards of them thriving with that help. I am able to escape the pressures of the real world for a few hours each night and I don't have to worry about policing/parenting as the mods on this server do their job well above what I expect with this type of service. And it's free. I don't have to pay for anything except the one time cost of the game. I am on a budget and can't pay a per month fee. I love how I am able to buy gift cards/features with game money and those who have the means to pay real money are able to keep this place running. I look forward to playing with a great community and group of friends everynight (except when my neighbor's internet is on the fritz like these past few weeks). I have met a great bunch of people and when I am not able to be on, I really miss everyone. I never played Toontown, but I did read a great article on how it is closing and a lot of player that grew up playing it are displaced with the loss of the community feeling. I can relate because I think ECC is more than a game, it is a growing community of which I love being a part.
ECC to me is 85/100th's of all of my two year minecraft experience. I started out on small home-pc run servers and some singleplayer. I found ECC almost 2 years ago 1.7 years now, and I haven't left since. It's finding friends, seeing people go, seeing people fall, fail, but at the same time many strive, succeed, and conquer, and grow. ECC is the closest mc experience to life as I can think. Especially with it's dynamic economy. I love ECC. It's friends, It's challenge, it's community, it's everything.
ECC? It's a battleground in the middle of the nether. Griefers blowing fireballs at you, scammers taking all your stuff, people swearing at your left and right. There is supposedly a "staff" team, but they are just poor people trying to find hope in the middle of it all. It's a constant struggle to stay alive. Market prices are choking off all your air, farming prices make the poor even poorer. Lag is eating you alive. And on top of that, your addicted to it. There's no stopping you from struggling onward. You want to stop but, there is no hope left.
For me, ECC is like a "getaway." The community is so big, and mostly friendly. I will soon be meeting 2 people that play ECC. It will be an interesting experience.
