Dear Players,
I'm pleased to announce that October 18, from the this day forward, is an official holiday in EFU: it is, in fact, Halfbrood appreciation day. Most of you probably know DM Halfbrood a bit from his industrious DM'ing (at least, EU players!). But I bet you don't know him as well as I do.
Who is DM Halfbrood? DM Halfbrood joined EFU relatively early on in Chapter 1, which was a distressingly long time ago. How he found us I have no idea. I believe he frequently played then under the moniker "DrUNk AnD DiSsoRderLy," which was often an accurate description of his mental state. Even more accurate was his other account name: "ISmokeAFattyAndThrowRocksAtTheCats." Nevertheless, he had the knack and played memorable Spellguard and Society PCs.
One common early legend about Halfbrood is that he is a secret brother of another famous EFU personality, Dangerous Dan. This was believed by the player-base at the time, but (I believe) has never been truly confirmed or denied. There are even whispered myths of an IRC dare that resulted in an EFU-related tattoo that found its way onto a butt-cheek, but who can truly say if there is any truth to these preposterous notions? I may have seen photographic evidence, but who can really trust my old memory?
DM Halfbrood was inducted on April 2, 2011 which would have been sometime in EFUA, our second chapter. He swiftly proved himself to be an indifferent and lazy DM, which didn't really surprise anyone. However, by the standards of the time, he was refreshingly drama-free. Drama-free DM'ing is worth every penny, believe me.
DM Halfbrood enjoyed finding small corners of the server to make his own, developing his taste for oddity and amusement in a highly characteristic manner that was specific to his deranged personality.
These small seeds for the grotesque blossomed into increasingly impressive and reliable DM'ing as the months and years rolled on. He became one of the Great Order DMs of EFU:A/M. The Numinous Order was one of the most successful and memorable factions of EFU:A/M, an EFU original that gave huge shape to the themes, plots, events, and feeling of those early chapters.
His appreciation for the vibes and feeling of EFU lore was always there, and he was often in cahoots with his brother-from-another-mother Dangerous-Dan. The two enjoyed their late night ramblings, scribbling upon google docs and proffering up their ideas together as prophets and madmen. Many of these ideas found their way into the most foundational and significant aspects of EFU lore, some were tragically consigned to the dust bin by their tasteless colleagues.
DM Halfbrood was established as a TOP DM from these and countless other contributions, but I think his truly great second act probably arrived sometime in mid EFU v5: City of Rings. Halfbrood had always been an inventive toolset tinkerer, but it was sometime around then that he started to build in earnest. Outstanding and mechanically challenging brutal quests followed, deep ring adventures that fulfilled the chapter's desperate need for more original high-level questing content. Halfbrood rapidly become a master builder.
It was in one of those building sprees that Halfbrood had one of those truly great moments of genius. Busy arranging to placeables to construct enormous roadways laid out across desert expanses, Halfbrood had a thought. "Giants," he pondered. "Are really cool."
This moment of GIANT ENTHUSIASM, along with other similar deep thoughts from other DMs, was one of the absolute key moments that led to the slow gears of EFU Development to settle in working towards a desert-oriented chapter that would HUGELY develop existing EFU lore and themes regarding GIANTS which are, indeed, really cool.
Halfbrood played a truly GIGANTIC role in v6 building, busily churning out more areas than anyone and becoming one of the great legends of EFU Development. He continues to kick huge amounts of ass, a titan of the EU time-zone who probably DMs for more players than anyone and has for quite a long time. He is always in the trenches, sniffing out what to get fixed, working away to make sure EFU is healthy on every level. He really deserves a lot of credit, and I hope players will take a moment to thank him here or in Discord. This place could not possibly exist without him.
yay for halfbrood!
it's hard to tell playerwise who built what area, but i have been so thoroughly impressed by the toolset design ive seen, as well as the worldbuilding, lore, and atmosphere of v6. you can really tell that it was a labor of love. i like it a lot, and i also really enjoy halfbroods dming when i get to see him do his thing!
and it is true. giants ARE really cool
The giants ARE incredibly cool. Seeing that giant road in chapter 5 was, probably, one of the coolest moments I had on chapter 5.
Thanks for everything!
Thank you Halfbrood!
Stellar job with EFU! Thank you for making something that has continued to be a continuous source of great enjoyment. I really hope you understand how much I appreciate the work that is put into EFU.
Thank you Halfbrood for all the great times that we've had and those to come.
Thanks for making a game that always has me coming back. I always drifted from server to server unsatisfied but the hidden bits of lore, roleplaying, factions, intrigue, all of these things have latched me onto this world in particular.
Halfbrood plays a huge part of what makes EFU unique for me.
Hilarious as a player and always willing to invite someone new along, super friendly. Helped me understand a lot more about EFU and was easily one of the kindest people to not just me when I was still new.
Incredibly inventive and regularly makes the game feel fresh with the content he creates. I am always excited to hear he's working on something and has never disappointed in the delivery.
Thank you Halfbrood, for everything you have done, and will eventually do.
Troll and goblin, in a fun sense.
Your playing and DMing are always resulting in joy.
Thank you.
Happy Halfbrood Day, to all who celebrate :)
But seriously, thank you to Halfbrood and all of the DM team for their work
we need to revive the secret brother lore
I can pretty confidently say that I would not be as attached to this place as I am without laughs and support from Halfbrood. Thanks for many good years of fun, big HB
ive seen the tattoo
I've seen the photo...
Halfbrood always had an uncanny ability to bring the mystical (mistcal?) to life really well, whether it was on his old order clerics or as a DM. He has a great sense of humor that both brings depth but also provides the appropriate level of entertainment to our server in a different way, often at the "speed of horse".
We love you, Halfbrood!
Happy Halfbrood day!!! =]
When HB says 'I am so tired' in #efu-main I know the big dump of content is coming to EFU!
Also recieved unexpected insight from DM HB a while ago during Zhuri's charter development.
Thank's for all the good stuff :)
Over the years I've seen flashes of the man known as Halfbrood.
And I can say, that to me there is no one else who better encapsulates the spirit of EFU.
Thank you for all your honest years of service.
A huge part of my in game experience with the lore has been through the ruins and environmental stories of the giant. It in no small part is a great mystery that has kept me making conspiracy theories.
Happy Halfbrood day, Glad you're here, you've helped make the fourth an exciting time too.
Thanks for all you do Halfbrood!
The pillar of stability in all this chaos.
(that said your grease pillars shall forever haunt my dreams)
I misunderstood you at first, HB. I thought you were a baddie because I didn't understand a dumb situation back then.
Now that I understand that situation, and have seen more of you? A positive presence at all time. I hope we silly players can enjoy your great work for a long time
i've seen the tattoo with my own eyes i swear..
I appreciate you, Halfbrood, you're blunt and honest, you have a remarkable sense of patience and you have a commitment that can be measured in time, but is better measured in the fun had along the way.
Here's to you, buddy.
And yes, giants are pretty fuckin' rad.
You are a genuinely amazing guy.
The time and effort you put into the server is commended, thank you for taking the time from your day to support this server and provide the people who play here needed DM infrastructure to make their dreams into the memorable stories that you and the dm team make possible. I hope you have a lovely day and more of them to come.
Everything you've done for EFU has provided the community with countless thousands of hours of fun. Your quests are a joy and giants are cool as hell. Thank you for everything!
Happy DM Appreciation Day! Halfbrood, you've been around for a great amount of years, and your DMing is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your dedication to the server! Cheers!
Thanks for being you. <3
I am late, but I just want to say I appreciate all the time and effort that halfbrood puts into the server. Even when he bullies me. <3
Half Brood AKA Half Noob is the best and been here forever!
One of the best DMs! Appreciate everything you do for this community.
Halfbrood is an artist of the highest caliber and I greatly appreciate his many works, some such as Spem Nurto, giant knob goblin, and others of such quality. Alas other artists of a similar vein find him often and I wish him only the softest padded cell when the Musky Beggar saga continues and inevitably finds it's way to his attention.
Godspeed.
I've known Halfbrood from his first PCs and I have always thought he was a good chum. I always enjoyed my interactions and the sense of humor and light-heartedness and scum he imparts which is to me an essential ingredient of EfU. An Upper needs a Lower, light needs shadow and a server needs a Halfbrood.
Here's to you.
Halfbrood is the king of knowing something about everything.
I wouldn't know half of the things I know how to do in the client if I didn't have him to show me.
new proposition: every day is hb day <3
I am one of the newest players in the grand scheme of things and I saw HB work with my own eyes. Thank you for it, HB - let us hope for another ten years.
Working with HB is simply a delight. I enjoyed all of our brainstorming and collaborations so far and I'm sure I'll enjoy the thousands more to come.
It's been amazing to see how far HB has come in all aspects of EFU, and his continuous commitment and effort in EFU for many years, for me personally since the days of v5 dev days, to v5, v6 dev and now v6.
I've known Halfbrood here and there since the earliest days of EFU1 when together we murdered a beloved HOBGOBLIN DRD as corrupt lawmen.
He is responsible for some of my most positive experiences in EFU both as a DM and as a player. The fact is the EFU landscape just wouldn't look or feel the same without him. He's gone from a puttering tinkerer to a top tier builder in the toolset and client in short order.
When I think of the heart of EFU Halfbrood is one of the first names to come to mind.
An enormous influence on EFU and a titan of the FRIENDLYMEN of old.
Halfbrood is the best DM of all time.