The story of MrSocks75

I have been a member of the EMC community for a more than four years now and figured it was time to tell the story of how and why I ended up on the Empire and why I stick around.


Sit back and fasten your seat-belts, this is going to be a long and bumpy ride. Sorry, no tl;dr;


Back at the start of 2014 I was in the best place possible in terms of life. I had the dream job, the house, the car, and all the toys a big boy like me could want. I had it all! Well, almost all, but you get the idea. Life was just so darn good. Wait. This isn't the best place to start...


Back in 2012 my young at heart neighbor-we will call him Tim-kept insisting I let him visit so he could play this video game named CraftMine or something like that. Tim was in his twenties but was autistic so he had the mind of a 12-14 year old. He loved playing video games but could only play them while visiting his nearby relatives as he didn't have a computer or console to play on. That is where I come in. He knew I had a computer. In fact he had been spotted peaking through my window (at my system) on more than one occasion. After talking to the lads mum I started letting him come over and play his video game a few hours each week or so. It made for a very happy Tim.


I played a few times and knew I would like the game (after getting killed a few times.) Creepers! Yeah, I got hugged by those lovable greenies a few times. My issue was I was working a lot. I didn't have time to play games back then and so-other than my weekly-ish time with Tim-I didn't bother with Minecraft much at all.


Okay, back to 2014...


While helping my friend Elvis build his spaceship (That statement is truthful and completely factual but I will not explain it now.) I had an accident that resulted in my right leg being crushed under a pile of metal shelving. What followed was two plus weeks in hospital and three surgeries to "repair" my leg. I say "repair" as that was never fully done due to health insurance issues that I also will not go into here. Needless to say I ended up unable to walk. I kinda do a job where being able to walk is important and so I was laid-off. After a little more than six months of not being able to work I lost all my "things". I went from having it all to having almost nothing.


Before losing my home in August of 2014 I had been playing Minecraft more and more on my own. I had been gifted an account and-bored with single player-was on the hunt for a server to play on. Those were interesting days... There was one server I landed on that required me to post 50 messages on their forum before I could build. I just left. On another server an Admin was telling me about the no grief policy. The policy was griefing was not allowed except for Admins (they called themselves 'Kings') as they felt everything belonged to them. There are loads of Minecraft servers (then and now) but not many quality ones.


But I wasn't playing Minecraft-or any other game-back then for fun. I was playing to escape the reality of my life. A life that was ripped and torn and bounced all around until nothing recognizable was left. The final blow after losing my home was having to move 1200ish miles south to live with family. As a person that prided himself on living his own life and making his own way that move was painful in more ways than words can describe. I was crushed. I was beaten. I felt as empty as empty can feel. I no longer had the will to live.


By some chance I found myself on EMC one day in the "tutorial". The "tutorial" that really didn't teach me anything about EMC's features. Out of the 4-5 Players on that night I was welcomed by Blackstone71 and LabBlo (now EvilBlo-though there is nothing evil about her!) I was made to feel so welcome so quickly by these two that I stayed. Initially I struggled with remembering that there was a difference between the /waste and /wild and couldn't understand why I had no diamonds buried on my res. But all was good. I am a fast learner and soon found myself offering the same welcome to other new Players. It wasn't too long before LabBlo (EvilBlo) was telling me to apply for Staff. I didn't think I had a chance of getting it but applied so that I could tell her I did. Was quite surprised when Krysyy offered me the promotion. Being a part of the Staff Team added to my sense of purpose and community on EMC and also led to Aikar offering me a spot on the Dev Team. I had never coded in Java before and my other development skills were rusty but he gave me a chance and thus even more purpose.


It's crazy to think that a simple, silly, blocky type game could actually start a healing process, but it did! I was far from my friends back then and had felt alone for too long. Now I felt like I was part of a community again. That sense of community has only grown and grown over the years. EMC is just an awesome place. Not always perfect, but awesome nonetheless. I have since counted EMC as my virtual home and safe space.


Part of me is in EMC's code and for a time EMC, Krysyy, Aikar, the Staff Team, and the community at large were my reason. Things are no longer grim in my life! I am back to having my own place, have the car, and some 'toys'. I got to live a dream and travel the world a bit with only a backpack on my back (ask Aikar about the time I climbed a 'mountain' to do some coding.) More importantly I am working in the field I am good at and love (Emergency Medicine) and although EMC is no longer my sole reason it is and will always have a huge place in my heart.


This post hits on some deep subject matter and I debated not posting it due to that. Originally wrote this in September for my 4 year EMC b-day thread. That being said if after you read this you can relate and want to chat my inbox is always open.

Thank you EMC!


~MrSocks

I am glad to hear the story of how the socks came to be and I hope to see you around for days to come

Didn't see this yesterday when you posted - loved the read, and so happy you are not only a part of this community but staff as well. Thanks for all you do