Denn and I worked very closely during his time in FFXIV, as both of us were the main storytellers/GMs for our guild.
Denn as a person was a force to be reckoned with. It was actually hard to believe he didn't have much experience roleplaying, and no experience with GMing. He started small when it came to GMing with us, he made a character named Cicero who was nothing more than a minion to our main villain. However, Denn brought ideas to the table I'd never even thought of, he was completely unafraid of giving me some insight and playing his villain with the loose set of rules I'd given everyone. He was able to weave those tiny threads I gave and turn it into probably one of the most memorable villains we ever had, starting from a henchmen, to second in command, and finally over taking our main villain completely to become the next Big Bad. I'm sure some of you interacted with him as the flamboyant cat, he liked to take all his characters out into the world and rp with everyone he could.
His creativity and enthusiasm for crafting a story easily matched my own, and we found ourselves coming up with plotlines together - sometimes parallel and not intersecting but still together. He was a great partner in crime, we bounced off each other almost effortlessly, and he was the only one I trusted so much I didn't even need to hear what he had planned next (Though he told me anyway). His ideas were wilder, bolder, riskier than mine and, while I pulled him back from those lofty heights more than once, he taught me to step outside of my own comfort zone and take the risks that we think we can't do in MMO RP. He always knew how to build off the ideas that I already had, and knew how to start things while I was afraid it was too soon.
I met him in 2014 and 2015 - for the NB annual Vegas meets. His enthusiasm for Roleplay turned out to be just an Enthusiasm for life itself. I always considered him somewhat of a nihilist with a devil may care attitude, but at the same time he cared very deeply for the people he let into his life. Over the course of these 2 meetings, he talked to everyone about their hopes and fears and what they thought about the world. He was genuinely interested. Constantly said he just wanted to see people smile. He was a risk taker and a goof ball, someone who constantly said he was trying to get his shit together, that he would be better someday.
He was already better, he just didn't see it.
Denn took some time off the game in order to really focus on school (He was going into the medical field) and talked about how he was wanting to write a book. I loved that idea, it seemed like a natural progression of his creativity. When I told him I, too, wanted to write a book, he immediately said he wanted to read it. I believed him because that's just how he was, his love for people was enormous. He managed to sneak into the game sometimes though, and he was in talks with me and Ellion for coming back for the expansion with a whole new story idea.
The last time I talked to Denn one on one was a few months ago. In July, I had to take my own time off the game due to my worsening mental health issues, and he immediately sent me well wishes and told me he was finally out of the darkness and getting his shit together, and he knew that I could find my way out too. In hindsight, that makes all of this really unfair.
We were all going to see him in Vegas this year, as 9 of us are headed down for FanFest in October. He was excited, posted in the thread and told people he was really looking forward to it. Told us we had to go because it was going to be his last year in Vegas...
It's too hard to think about him being gone.
Denn as a person was a force to be reckoned with. It was actually hard to believe he didn't have much experience roleplaying, and no experience with GMing. He started small when it came to GMing with us, he made a character named Cicero who was nothing more than a minion to our main villain. However, Denn brought ideas to the table I'd never even thought of, he was completely unafraid of giving me some insight and playing his villain with the loose set of rules I'd given everyone. He was able to weave those tiny threads I gave and turn it into probably one of the most memorable villains we ever had, starting from a henchmen, to second in command, and finally over taking our main villain completely to become the next Big Bad. I'm sure some of you interacted with him as the flamboyant cat, he liked to take all his characters out into the world and rp with everyone he could.
His creativity and enthusiasm for crafting a story easily matched my own, and we found ourselves coming up with plotlines together - sometimes parallel and not intersecting but still together. He was a great partner in crime, we bounced off each other almost effortlessly, and he was the only one I trusted so much I didn't even need to hear what he had planned next (Though he told me anyway). His ideas were wilder, bolder, riskier than mine and, while I pulled him back from those lofty heights more than once, he taught me to step outside of my own comfort zone and take the risks that we think we can't do in MMO RP. He always knew how to build off the ideas that I already had, and knew how to start things while I was afraid it was too soon.
I met him in 2014 and 2015 - for the NB annual Vegas meets. His enthusiasm for Roleplay turned out to be just an Enthusiasm for life itself. I always considered him somewhat of a nihilist with a devil may care attitude, but at the same time he cared very deeply for the people he let into his life. Over the course of these 2 meetings, he talked to everyone about their hopes and fears and what they thought about the world. He was genuinely interested. Constantly said he just wanted to see people smile. He was a risk taker and a goof ball, someone who constantly said he was trying to get his shit together, that he would be better someday.
He was already better, he just didn't see it.
Denn took some time off the game in order to really focus on school (He was going into the medical field) and talked about how he was wanting to write a book. I loved that idea, it seemed like a natural progression of his creativity. When I told him I, too, wanted to write a book, he immediately said he wanted to read it. I believed him because that's just how he was, his love for people was enormous. He managed to sneak into the game sometimes though, and he was in talks with me and Ellion for coming back for the expansion with a whole new story idea.
The last time I talked to Denn one on one was a few months ago. In July, I had to take my own time off the game due to my worsening mental health issues, and he immediately sent me well wishes and told me he was finally out of the darkness and getting his shit together, and he knew that I could find my way out too. In hindsight, that makes all of this really unfair.
We were all going to see him in Vegas this year, as 9 of us are headed down for FanFest in October. He was excited, posted in the thread and told people he was really looking forward to it. Told us we had to go because it was going to be his last year in Vegas...
It's too hard to think about him being gone.
![[Image: tumblr_n92fndN0EH1rujdn8o1_500.gif]](https://33.media.tumblr.com/449e130ac31106ec8aeda3d0f121d76b/tumblr_n92fndN0EH1rujdn8o1_500.gif)
