The Enclave

I’ve not quite known what to say, but I know I wanted to post something today. To the world of Anthem, and to the magnificent humans who came together to make it: THANK YOU. Anthem is, and always will be, something incredibly special to me because it’s a place where life happened. It feels perhaps odd to say I’m mourning a world I’ll never be able to revisit again. Perhaps it isn’t. I’ll never be able to stand on the cliffs of Bastion where my husband, friends, found family, and perfect strangers once stood together, simply admiring the beauty of that world. All while doing the Shepard shuffle and throwing a flare into oblivion, of course. Never again will I fly up into the sky, over waterfalls and through ancient ruins that were once magnificent castles. I’ll never have a sandwich with Owen again, or tea with Faye, or hand tools to Haluk as he stubbornly fixes a strider. I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to be with these beautiful characters again, and my heart aches for the creators who gave them and the world in which they lived life. Anthem is infused deeply into the core of my heart because, again, for me it was never just a video game. My husband and I met solely because of this game. It was an integral part of our lives throughout its lifecycle; so many moments revolved around it. We played its music at our wedding, and its melodies have continued to find their way into my headphones through the ebbs and flows of everyday life ever since. Today unknowingly, in its final moments and literally at its last breath, we were running the Temple of Scar stronghold with two very dear friends when the servers were cut. We were able to complete the run, finished the fight. We even made it through the familiar post-mission stats and reward screens. And then, almost beautifully and poetically sad, we couldn’t reconnect. The loading hung. The server errors appeared. And then the realization hit. And that was that. Gone. I feel a little silly writing all of this, but as so many of the characters say in the game: it all mattered. It made a difference, in ways big and small, and now, for me I suppose its own new way, always will. Over the weekend I was able to capture the campaign once more, and one day I’ll watch that back, though it’ll feel different. Thank you to everyone who had a hand in Anthem’s creation. Strong alone. Stronger together. Always.