wo weeks ago, we asked you to share your personal experiences with Tibia in 2020. We are extremely happy about the overwhelming response we have gotten, and want to thank each and every one of you who told their story – we appreciate it a lot. As announced, each Community Manager picked five posts, before the overall top five posts were determined among them. The top five stories have been compiled below, and all 15 chosen posts are listed in this forum post. We did not make any changes to the stories, including grammar or spelling mistakes. Enjoy the read!

Making a difference

This year has been very challenging for me. I spend hour after hour trying to save lives working as an ICU nurse. I've never lost more patients than I did this last year. I've never had fewer relatives be able to say goodbye to their loved ones. I will never forget the night I sat next to this one woman in her late forties. Just the day before I had held an ipad in front of her so she could talk to her children one last time. That night she slowly passed away, no relatives around her because covid quarantaine wouldn't allow it.

Why do I write about this in this challenge? If you lose patient after patient you need someone to talk to so you stay sane, and with strict a lockdown going I rarely get to spend time with my real life friends. Instead I found solace in my tibia friends and guild. Every single time I login you are there for me, to help me think about something else. Heck most of you don't even know I am an ICU nurse and that is great. Because it allows me to leave the insanity of the ICU behind and think about something else. It feels great to banther with you, to care about a hunt or someone invading your spawn. That night I lost that woman I logged in and you were there for me. It is exactly what I need to mentaly recharge for yet another shift. Thank you for helping me keep it together.

– Relvara

2020. No longer only nostalgia, but present.

I'm 21 and Tibia has been in my life for as long as I can remember. I will not talk about some specific experience, but the whole thing itself. This game always meant to me more than words could tell, it was childhood defining. I was retired for so long, yet I kept checking how this game was evolving... For so long, I thought that it kept evolving but I just didn't like the way you did the evolution.

Although, 2020 was the year that I figured how wrong I was. All I needed was a small break, so this game could hit me like a truck like it did when I first started in Rookgaard. It brought me everything that it did in the past... Friendships, moments, rage, but always led to a moment of happiness.

For me, it's no longer nostalgia. It's the present. This game was big back then and now it's even bigger. We just have to adjust to every cycle and enjoy the best of it.

All in all, it's not just a game. It's a place where many people have the power to change my life, or atleast improve my day, and I can change someone's life too. You have no idea how happy I was when someone gave me a Boots of Haste the first day I returned, it wasn't for the BOH. It's just a virtual item. It was for the meaning, all I saw in those BOH, was every sweat I've put in the past to get my first BOH and how united is this community.

For most of us, it's been the toughest year. But where would we be if there wasn't this community, making us forget how chaotic is the world out there for a second?

Yes, we can war. Yes, we can fight. But we all have something in common: we love this game, and thats pretty much all it is needed, isn't it?

2020. No longer only nostalgia, but present. The game that unites people, even if there is apparently nothing that can unite them.

– Azra Bloom

How a simple Orc can be such an amazing experience

A Gaspar Dorag's tale!

It was late night and I had level-up myself already that day.

In order to relax I was just standing at Thais depot reading some books I've collected around Tibia. Going throught some stories and tales, I've remembered the story about Sam, and how a simple Orc stole he's Backpack a long time ago. I went then to talk to him and ask about it.

When I mentioned his backpack, he was surprised, but then he realized I didn't have it with me.

I couldn't do less than check out for it. So I took my supplies and went once again troughout tibian lands.

I left the city of Thais trought the northern gates, rided my water buffalo north-east, crossed Lubo's adventurer shop, the bridge next to the huge Mount Sternum, rided north all the way to the Dwarf Bridge. At this time, old memories came into my mind, how scary was to take this same trip many years ago, when I started my adventures for the first time.

How many times I've crossed that bridge, sometimes alone, sometime along with my friends, but always searching for adventures.

In orther to make my trip shorter, I took a shortcut. A tunnel that lead me not far from the Rorc Plains.

After crossing the plains I was finnaly at Ulderek's Rock, or at it was commumly know at my time The Orc Fortress. I've entered the fortress and went down the stairs to avoid most of the trouble, crossed several types of orcs but I didn't wanna fight any of them. After walking all the way trought the tunnels I took the stairs up, and for my surprise I've found the miserable thief. I've killed him and recovered Sam's Old and Used backpack.

I was really excited and surprised on how, after all this years, a simple Orc still could make me feel amazed.

Hope to see you around.

Gaspar Dorag

– Gaspar Dorag

It was never just a game

When the real world stopped in front of the threat of the virus, the Tibia's universe opened up again for me after a hiatus of more than 10 years. This re-encounter saved me from the abyss of social isolation and brought me exciting entertainment inside my home.

The option was to start over so I could live, once again, a complete immersion in all experiences. With a great number of new challenges.

From the first minotaurs beheaded at Downport to the recent arrows shot in the chest of First Dragon.

I hunted butterflies in the explorer society, I was Mr. Grizzly Adams' henchman, I saved the life of a community of monkeys, I was in the hands of the inquisition and I survived a mortal kombat. I walked through the coldest islands and I also went to the pits of inferno.

I joined the thieves' guild (my mother can't know), the brotherhood of bones, did a secret service for CBG and joined the green side of the genie lamp.

One day, I hid myself inside a box to fool the guards. I still have pains on my back when I remember that.

And I even started walking on one hand! It is amazing!

I have also became a master of the kitchen as in real life, if I say so myself.

During this journey, I started to use my own name in the char, something I’ve been wishing since I’ve started playing, back in 2002, in Libera. That was also pretty cool.

For months, I’ve lived with a generous friend who gave me a bed at his residence in Thais. Recently, I rented my own house, also in Thais, and decorated it in my way. It looks great. Everyone should take a look.

It looks like just a game. But it is not. I came back because other friends have come back as well and my return made others friends return too. This made us all to recover the relationship that we have had a long time ago.

There is nothing more beautiful than when the game goes beyond pixels and touches the heart.

Very soon the vaccine may give us back to that world we had before but it will not change the love I have for you Tibia.

Thank you for being beside me during this quarantine. Thank you for everything.

– Vinicius

2020 began as a year with such promise. After receiving a promotion at work , achieving some personal financial goals and making lasting connections I will not soon forget, the year seemed off to a great start.

About 6 months into the pandemic and social isolation, however, I began to feel severely depressed. I longed for a way to connect with people as the days began to feel like a broken record on repeat - nothing really standing out to differentiate each day from the next.

Early in the fall I remembered a game I had played off and on since early childhood that had always brought me so much joy to play, and decided to install Tibia on my newly built gaming PC. As luck would have it, several of my closest friends in the game would also begin playing shortly thereafter, completely by chance!

Having not spoken to most of these people in years, the flood of emotions and excitement were overwhelming, at a time when the days had grown dark and dull. We made the decision to re-form a guild we had all been a part of many years prior on our new server, and began to reach out to every old contact we could, wanting to get the old gang back together again. After putting out the "bat signal" so to speak, we've successfully established contact with 10 or so people and our newly re-formed guild is beginning to resemble the one from many years ago, and the process has been nothing short of a whole bucket of nostalgic fun and good times :)

We did learn that someone who had impacted us all from our early days of Tibia had passed away, and spent a sober evening remembering all the ways that player had impacted us with her willingness to help and take care of every player on our server. Those of us who have returned are committed to continuing her legacy of good will and have tried to find ways to improve the game experience for all, by being helpful members of the community and welcoming new players into our ranks and into our hearts.

I look forward eagerly to what 2021 has in store!

– Cyan Lancer