Dr. TypeSomething 
Level 3
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So I assume I will be lambasted for being corny and cheesy. But I have spent a lot of time on here, and really appreciate the game, and want to thank Fizzer. And because the forum could use some fluffy bunnies and warm fuzzies. And perhaps I want to torture everybody with a long, probably boring story. tl;dr I think is the way people say it.
A few years back I get an email from a friend from undergrad entitled "So it's been a long time since we sat down to play a game of Risk...". And he was right. It had probably been about 10 years. That group of friends was dispersed around the globe, so sitting down to play a board game obviously wasn't happening. But I like Risk. We would spend the entire night yelling at each other and getting "mad" at each other for backstabbing, all while preparing to backstab somebody else. Seven hours later, somebody would win. It was great.
But when I got the email invitation to Warlight, I didn't think much of it. I have never been an on-line gamer. I have literally never gotten into a game, unless you count fantasy sports. So I signed up because my friends did, and when I had to come up with a user name I didn't have one handy because I don't regularly sign up for things online, and I just needed to type something, so I went with the extremely clever "TypeSomething". I thought nothing of it. We started with a 6 player FFA. Within 2 turns I was hooked. We all were. I now know that game was played horribly, and with horrible settings (we played auto-distribution on the Earth map and the player that won started out with both the USAs and Canada and won easily). But we were all hooked. We played quite a few FFAs, with winner choosing the next map. I loved it.
But something happened that ruined our FFAs. Backstabbing in Warlight was quite different from backstabbing when we were all sitting around the table playing in real life. I am not sure what it is... perhaps because you aren't endlessly shaking dice and it is so final in Warlight. Perhaps because you can't do it laughingly... it just happens. But people got really mad at each other. It got to the point that friendships of 20+ years were threatened. So we decided we couldn't do this. We decided that the only way we could ever play was with anonymous accounts. We tried to figure out ways to set up fake emails and randomly assign them to people. It was too much work. Everybody but me and J Russ quit Warlight entirely (Fizzer, this is the one thing that I think is really needed in Warlight. The same thing happened with a second group of people that I invited. They couldn't handle the backstabbing and needed to be anonymous. I don't know if this is a unique to me, but I put all my votes in the UserVoice for that and none for anything else because I think its extremely important). I'm glad J Russ stayed because he's hilarious and it's nice to have a real-life friend here too.
Warlight is the best video game I have ever played. Period. No qualifiers necessary. Like I said, I am not one to be into online games. But this game is perfect for me. I like that I can take my turns when I want. I can regulate the amount of time I want to spend. And there is a huge variety, and being a "medium earth specialist" I don't even take advantage of it. And despite playing it, on the same settings now for a long time, I still find each game fun. Burnout hasn't happened, though going into a losing tailspin can be frustrating and has caused me to briefly quit the ladder a couple times. I don't know what makes games go viral, but I really feel this game should. It has something for everybody. Somebody can play 3000 games in 3 months if they want. Or they can play a few hundred in three years like myself. People can make maps. There are a variety of settings. You can play with your friends, you can play with random people, or you can play with your enemies. It's just... great. I really expect that instead of getting stupid updates on facebook about how much corn or sheep somebody has, we will be getting updates on Warlight. But hell, what do I know about gaming? I just know this game is really good.
I also have to thank Warlight for helping me get through my doctorate. The last few years of almost any doctorate are pretty brutal, and distractions are actually necessary (in moderation of course, and Warlight is perfect for me because you can play in moderation). I started getting into this with 2-3 years to go. I won the membership tournament, despite having only played 50 games and played players who were (and still are like HHH) clearly better than me. Warlight was a welcome stress relief. When I did finish my doctorate, I changed my name to Dr. TypeSomething. Usually I make fun of people who like to puff up their chest and act like they are all that because they are a doctor. This is the only scenario in my life in which I did so, mostly because I actually felt like Warlight helped. And well... I had to do it somewhere. Why not online where I don't know anybody and nobody cares? But, perhaps deservedly so, that has made me a lighting rod and was probably a bad idea. But I think Warlight was responsible in some small part in me finishing a very difficult task, so I give it my salute.
In any case, I want to than Fizzer for this amazing game. I really hope that it takes off. It is obvious that you know what you are doing, and I hope that also translates to the marketing side of things as well. When I say this is the best game I have ever played I truly mean it, and wish i the best. Thank you.
tl;dr.
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