I love our community
I don't often talk about this but I do truly love our community. The HDG community is so full of wonderfully creative and welcoming people. People who are always eager to help and collaborate. People who are always so excited about one another's ideas and creations. This community has introduced me to some of my best friends, to the love of my life, helped me discover so many new and important things about myself. It's changed so much over the years, having gone from a handful of people on a tiny private server to a community of thousands. And I'm really proud to have been one of the people that helped build it.
It hasn't always been smooth sailing. At times, there's been drama, arguments, hurt feelings. I've had my share of night crying over something someone said to me, or feeling like my feelings had gone disregarded, unheard, or like a crucial part of the community that I love had been lost, or changed beyond recognition. I've gained and lost valued friends. People I truly care about, love and respect have both as individuals and as creators have walked away from the community. Sometimes simply because they outgrew it, other times because of hurt. I've spent more hours than I can count mediating disagreements, trying to mend bridges, some of them fixable, others not so much.
But even through the worst of it, I love this community, I love the shared work that so many people have helped create. I love the promise of HDG, a living, breathing creative space built in collaboration with what is now hundreds of creators. Some, like myself have been creating for about as long as HDG has been a shared setting. Others are brand new. Nothing excites me more than seeing someone new come in and blow people away with a fresh take on the setting. Nothing excites me more than seeing my friends, and fellow respected creators gush over a new work (especially if it's one of mine :)). To me, HDG feels like it's in a renaissance. New ideas flourishing, new authors creating.
And despite the bumps in the road, despite the good old days I often miss so dearly, I'm so glad to have seen this community grow, and to still be a part of it. Because it feels stronger, more friendly, and more welcoming than ever. And that's because of people like you, creating in it, reading it, sharing your love and appreciation for the creators. So thank you for helping make the community I love so great.
