Where I fell out of love with ETK

There was once a point I've debated singing ETK's praises here. I've enjoyed the game to the point where I've had plans in creating a youtube beginner's guide for NTK players that were frustrated with NTK's stagnation. The truth is, ETK actually has something going for it; the subclass system is interesting and dynamic, there's a lot of thought put in the universe that's continuously growing, and the community is something that's actually really tight-knit and charming. In the past, I've wanted to write here to help grow this community because the world showed so much promise.

When I started playing a couple months back, I was immediately engaged. Since then, I've put in time trying to develop a nearly non-existent (yet looking to grow) subpath RP, enough effort to become an ee-san stat player (ee-san has yet to be released), and became one of the largest Carnage presences the game has in present day. I'd like to think that the few people reading this that play ETK would already know who I am, and have good things to say about me.

I'll reiterate: ETK does a lot of things right. And it's for this reason, and the great friends that I've made, and hope of the game's future, that I've genuinely tried to help the trajectory of this interesting project to continue to grow into something we all can enjoy.

But I quit ETK. The problem I have with ETK stems from one source: the game's GM, Stelio. It's hard to not make this sound like a personal attack, but in all sincerity, it's not my intention. Instead, I hope to highlight the critical flaw that's marred the entire experience for me, and many people before me that have left for the same reason. The thing is, I can jive with the laid back atmosphere ETK has set-up. It might be off-putting from an NTKer at first because it's so different, but if you embrace it for what it is, GMs playing pranks on people or being very casual to others can actually be enjoyable and a fun change of pace. The difference with Stelio is that he is as disrespectful, egotistical, and mean-spirited as they come. It's borderline sociopathic behavior when you come to realize the self-harm he's inflicting from all the helpful and good people who have left the game because "Stelio is being Stelio." If you're not on his short list of ETK pals, you'll routinely be called a nigger, be told to shut the fuck up, be killed for no reason, be threatened for having your class nerfed for not shutting the fuck up, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. It's simply the most disenchanting experience I've had whilst playing a video game.

The experience is akin to having a 4chan troll for a GM in a game you actually care about. In the end, it's just not worth spending time there for me anymore. I'm done being disrespected when all I've done was been respectful and invested myself trying to help. I'm done playing this game because I'm done supporting this person. If you want to play a game where for the 4th day in a row the GM sages repeatedly that he's drunk, and will reward in game currency to whoever plays HoTS with him, ETK might be your place. For others, steer clear. You'll get burned for falling in love with the rest of the game, only to learn that it's run by the wrong person.