Sad to have left but grateful for the memories

TL;DR - left ML in 2022 to focus on being a new mother, came back to forums to relive a bit of nostalgia.

I’ve only posted here once or twice but I was part of the many covid boomers who joined in 2020 when the world was in lockdown. Back then there were many new players, those who played casually and left after learning of the washing meta, and those who braved through all the BS to become some of the best endgame players today. I ended up somewhere in between.

Playing ML was so liberating. It gave me the social interactions I desperately needed during a time where we were completely shut off from the physical world, and it invoked a lot of childhood memories I didn’t know were still there. In my 2 years of playing ML from 2020 to 2022, I’ve met people from across the world (a few locally, and one across borders). Although I was never really one to interact with the wider community, I’m thankful for the small circle of friends who’ve accompanied me on organised and/or unplanned content runs, and those who accepted my flaws in said runs. Needless to say, I’m grateful for the ones keeping this forum and game alive by constantly questioning the status quo and inviting changes, for better or for worse, who were the voices for the casual (silent) players like us.

unrelated (thoughts on parenting)

Spoiler

It’s been well over a year since motherhood took over my life completely. I’m not sure anyone here could relate - I’m at that phase where I’m perfectly happy with my new status and a wonderfully adorable baby under my care. Yet sometimes, I also long for the freedom that I once had, being able to join boss runs at basically any time I wished (sometimes back-to-back) and hunting for cards till 4 AM in the morning, simply because I was 4/5 and it couldn’t possibly hurt trying just a wee bit longer. Motherhood is tiring, fulfilling but also inexplicable - you do have pockets of time to yourself but you can’t imagine indulging yourself completely without feeling ripped to shreds by the guilt.

End of digression. Anyway, re-reading the forum and seeing familiar names again made me realise that ML may have been a thing of MY past, there’s no saying that it can’t be in my future as well. Granted, I will never be able to play the same way I did before (not for the next few years), I just want to voice my appreciation for this community after staying silent for so long. For those tryhards, I hope you continue to remain sweaty and find new ways to challenge the meta and push the boundaries. For casual players like me, I hope you will find your gaming experience to be as fulfilling as mine.

It’s bittersweet, but I will be signing off now. If you took the time to read all this, thanks for staying till the end.