I think FatherXmas hit the nail on the head. There is nothing else like it, and there really wasn't anything like it before, either. I'm sure the OP will smile when I use the phrase, Paragon figured out how to bottle lightning... for a while at least.
Honestly though, it bothers me to this day. It was so bad, I've been picking up my comics since August and only in the past few weeks am I starting to read them and get caught up (don't collect a bunch of titles, but they do add up). I knew I'd want to read them eventually, but even looking at them reminded me of 'my game'. Only in the past few weeks, since December, have I been checking out these boards tentatively because just being here reminds me of what I lost, though at least I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
I have a storage box I put all my boxes (at least one of every box they produced), binders, books (from the Prima guide to the novels), and notes in. It's sitting in my office off to the side. I'll never throw them out, but It'll be a while before I look over them again.
.. and outside of this forum, Co* is the last place I will use the name Lycantropus to go by. That name started with Co* and for me at least, it will end there. He is as much a part of that world, as that world was a part of him, to me. Just wouldn't feel right. In my mind, he's still on those steps in Atlas somewhere, holding his torch to keep the light alive in Paragon.
I've reached the point where I can look back on it fondly, but for a while it really affected me that much, and still does to some degree. I mean I didn't let it affect my life, work, tabletop group, etc. and even my online group from there is still pretty much together in another game, and I'm very thankful for that, but it had an effect on me more profound than I expected it would. My little online group doesn't talk about it much, it's like scratching at a scab when we do, but we all fairly feel the same, and with each game whatever complaints we have, we'd remind ourselves that "there's no place like home"; which basically means nothing is going to be like what we had, but this is what we got to work with.
So I occasionally load up Icon and reminisce when I don't think I'll get too depressed looking at it... but yeah, just like Lyc standing on those steps 24/7 when I wasn't playing 'til the day it closed... Just remember, none of us are alone, and I still miss it, too.
yezz....
I suppose we're just expected to open our wallets and be an elf in 'World of Warcraft' , play some 'Star Wars- Revenge of the Ewoks", or be an unshaven grunt in a mindless Red vs. Blue shoot 'em up game......wow, haven't seen those concepts before.
Nope, we take as long as we need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and find another game or activity that makes us happy until either any of the plan Z's comes through and doesn't suck, or we find something that makes us even happier to spend our free time on, and never EVER forget or take for granted what good you have in your life, no matter how dark things seem sometimes.
Remember, and I don't know or care who said it first, but it's a great saying: A Hero never quits; A Villain never stops!
Lyc~ the 'yeah that was probably a little melodramatic, but sincere' werewolf