Relan is no longer with us

[Rodo]

I don't know how to say this otherwise, but Sam and I thought we should say something here, because it felt right. For those of you on the Facebook TCO group you have have already seen this, but here is what we shared earlier today. Please keep Starz/Kristy in your thoughts tonight.

Friends,
It is with the gravest heart that I have been asked to share with you all that our leader, the glue that has held us all together for the better part of 20 (!!) years, Christopher Fisher, The Jacket, Relan, passed away earlier today. Kristy gratefully welcomes PM’s but respectfully asks that we hold back from calling her personally at this time. Chris has countless virtual friends and Jeff Messer an I have taken up the task of assembling those people we can find for a virtual remembrance in the to-be-determined future.
More will come in the following days. For now keep Kristy in your hearts and maybe pop into LOTRO for a moment and think of him.
Respectfully,
Sam/Doc/Rivv/Civv/Shiv

[Callack]

It is a sad day indeed. I finally got to meet them last year and I've been with TCO since 2005. I'll miss him. Let me know when the memorial is. I would like to attend. I'm not a member of the TCO group since I didn't know about it, but I am friends with Jeff so yall can reach me.

[Kal]

I had heard through Facebook that he was sick, but never in my most disturbed dreams would I have thought it could come to this. Chris was the soul of TCO and a stalwart, adamant friend that I miss fiercely. He enriched our lives and made this gaming past time of ours a real treat to be part of.

Farewell friend. May the force be with you.

[Day]

Wow... that is really sad to hear. I had not yet had the pleasure of meeting the Jacket. TCO and Relan were always the same to me, I could not think of one without the other. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and Prayers are with you Starzia.

"here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in Peace! I will not say: do not weep, for not all tears are an evil."

(Thank you for sharing this here Rodo, I don't get on Facebook often)

[Fyre]

This comes as a total shock to me.

While I never met him in person I had numerous conversations with Relan and he is someone I was proud to call a friend. He gave me a chance to run a team for TCO and that team became something amazing up untill the day it shut down. And I will definitely never forget the insanity that was the Minecraft server when we were all playing that together, that was some of the best times I have ever had seeing what we could come up with and do.

I can honestly say he is someone that definitely made an impact on me as far as how kind he was. I was someone that had no real history with TCO, and was taken in and treated like a family member. It was definitely to soon for him to be gone, but sadly we have no control over things like that. I will say I regret that we hadn't spoken in awhile, and hadn't gamed together for even longer.

Since I met him through Star Wars, it seems fitting to end with this.

"Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you that transform into the Force" - Yoda

[Rodo]

Wow... that is really sad to hear. I had not yet had the pleasure of meeting the Jacket. TCO and Relan were always the same to me, I could not think of one without the other. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and Prayers are with you Starzia.

"here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in Peace! I will not say: do not weep, for not all tears are an evil."

(Thank you for sharing this here Rodo, I don't get on Facebook often)

You are most welcome, that was the thought in posting here too, even as infrequently as the site is visited these days. And thanks everyone for the thoughts, it's been a weird and I keep saying surreal past 24-48 hours. For some of you that don't know, Sam, Chris, and Kristy actually made it to my and Jessica's wedding back on 10/10/2010, as our first in-person meeting, our small contingent of TCO representation that's been such an important part of our lives. We really haven't talked all that often over the past several years, but with the nature of our (all of ours, really) relationship, there's always that comfort in having old friends a few keystrokes away...especially for those like Jess and I who value hermitage as our way of life. The thought that I can't just reach out and send Chris, send Relan a quick tell any more is just not processing.

[Kal]

Sam, Chris, and Kristy actually made it to my and Jessica's wedding back on 10/10/2010, as our first in-person meeting, our small contingent of TCO representation that's been such an important part of our lives.

I remember that, fondly. I was happy to see the guild represent at the wedding. By the powers, has it been almost 10 years already??

[Starzia]

Wow, it's been a long time since I've been in the forums. Thank you for the kind words. It's been helping me to read all these messages and memories from those who cared for him. He was so kind and he impacted so many lives. He was my whole world and I am so lucky to have gotten the 10 yrs that we had. We should have had more time but things don't always work out the way we want them to. I am thankful to have so many people stepping up to help me when I need it most. TCO is a major part of that. ❤❤❤

[Rodo]

I thought I'd share some comments from Holocron himself, Raph Koster about Chris....

"Stunned and saddened to hear that Christopher Fisher passed away.

I first interacted with Chris back on the Star Wars Galaxies forums all the way back in 2001 or 2002, where as KStarfire he was a central pillar of the community. Engaged, funny, opinionated, cheerful and positive, he was eventually a member of the Galactic Senate.

When I founded Metaplace, he was interested right from the get-go, and became one of the top creators on the service. So many hours hanging out in our worlds, chatting, trading code tips, talking online worlds, listening to music...
Eventually we offered him a job, and he sat just a few desks away from mine, continuing on through the Playdom era and long after I had left, working there at Disney.

It is a tragic loss, and my deep deep condolences to Kristy Fisher and all his family and friends. He will very much be missed."

[Mithrin]

I'm... not even sure how to process this news. Relan/Chris was our guiding light in SWG, EQII, LotRO, and beyond, and the world is a darker place without him. He was a good friend and brother to many of us in-game & IRL. I got a lot of good advice from him over the years we gamed together, and I deeply regret that I drifted away from MMOs, and TCO in general, as time went by. I always assumed we'd have time to reconnect, you know?

May the Force be with you, Jacketman, and may the Valar watch over you on your journey across the sea.



I've got all sorts of screenshots from those early games with Relan if anyone's interested. For now, I'll keep it to this pic I have of the infamous jacket.

YT-2400.jpg

[Rodo]

I'm... not even sure how to process this news. Relan/Chris was our guiding light in SWG, EQII, LotRO, and beyond, and the world is a darker place without him. He was a good friend and brother to many of us in-game & IRL. I got a lot of good advice from him over the years we gamed together, and I deeply regret that I drifted away from MMOs, and TCO in general, as time went by. I always assumed we'd have time to reconnect, you know?

May the Force be with you, Jacketman, and may the Valar watch over you on your journey across the sea.



I've got all sorts of screenshots from those early games with Relan if anyone's interested. For now, I'll keep it to this pic I have of the infamous jacket.

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I know the feeling Mith. It's easy to take for granted these online relationships we've all built up over the years. You just expect to always be able to reach out to someone. If you have more pics or videos, definitely please start gathering them. We'll be putting out a call for that kind of stuff in the next few days. PROBABLY thinking of just opening up a Google Drive share for everyone to drop things rather than me or Sam being the bottle-neck.

[Mithrin]

I know the feeling Mith. It's easy to take for granted these online relationships we've all built up over the years. You just expect to always be able to reach out to someone. If you have more pics or videos, definitely please start gathering them. We'll be putting out a call for that kind of stuff in the next few days. PROBABLY thinking of just opening up a Google Drive share for everyone to drop things rather than me or Sam being the bottle-neck.

Got it, Rodo. I have about 1,000 screenshots between SWG, EQII, & TOR, another 1,000 from STO (although TCO's stint in that game was quite short), and almost 6,000 from LotRO. I've gotta have a few good memories in that ~3.5GB.

[Rodo]

I'm posting a link in the TCO Lounge for any photos or videos anyone would like to share, thanks all.

[Joesicar]

Sad very sad this news, sadder that I was not paying attention to this website or facebook to notice it. What a true shame. I learned SWTOR under him and was proud meeting him. Starzia’s and his wedding celebration seems to recent. Starz my heart goes out to you. Relan will not be forgotten.

[Rodo]

If anyone else out there hasn't received email information about the memorial by now and would like to attend this weekend, please PM me or Sam and we'll get the information to you. Thanks all.