'Tonga Wedding Cake Topper!

[Kiara]

<p align="center"><img src="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/content/en/news/banners/newbanners/communitynews_banner2.jpg" width="500" height="125" /></p><p align="center">Pyper (a Warden tonga) and Fievall (a Brigand tonga) of the Crushbone server and members of the guild Knights of the Shadow Dragon are going to be getting married in May. They shared this awesome cake topper that they had made with us and what better day to show it off than Valentine's Day? Conga-rats you guys!</p><table width="500" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><table width="500"><tbody><tr><td width="250"><a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/images/en/features/articles/ratwedding/cake_topper.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/images/en/features/articles/ratwedding/cake_topper_th.jpg" border="0" width="250" height="350" /></a></td><td width="240"><p><span style="color: #ffffff;"><strong>Where did you meet?</strong>We met at an EB Games store where we both worked.</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffffff;"><strong>Who made the cake topper?</strong>The cake topper was created by <a href="http://www.intuitionkitchenproductions.com" target="_blank">Mike Leavitt </a>and is made of polymer clay. </span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="color: #ffffff;"><strong>What are your favoruite things about EQII and does playing together make it more fun? </strong>Pyper's favorite thing about EQII is helping others out. I love throwing out a SoW or heal to any wandering player that appears to be in need.Fievall's favorite thing about EQII is questing and having a good time while raiding with friends.Playing the game together definitely makes it more fun.</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table>

[Wilde_Night]

<p>Too cute!  I suddenly want one, just to have.  The level of detail is wonderful.</p>

[Seagoat]

<p>Oh my goodness! That is all sorts of awesome! <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Krishti]

<p>Awww it makes me want to get remarried so I can have something like that too!  Of course that would mean hubby and me picking "mains" to have as a topper.  Or we could just have a small army of alts on top of the cake <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" /></p>

[Beckah]

<p>That is just too cute!</p><p>A huge congrats on your upcoming wedding! <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Juravael]

<p><span style="color: #99ccff; font-size: small;">That is so awesome - I love it!!</span></p><p><span style="color: #99ccff; font-size: small;">Congratulations <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" /></span></p>

[denmom]

<p>Oh wow...that's just gorgeous and grats to the happy couple!</p>

[Cyliena]

<p>That is very cool.. congrats to the couple. <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Professor E.]

<p>Very cute!</p><p>Congratulations to the happy couple.</p>

[Cloudrat]

<p>Awesome!!</p>

[Trouserwaffles]

<p>Cute pic, but you might wanna fix that link.</p>

[Growlinger]

Congrats to Pyper and Fieval.

[Lillaanya]

<p>Too cute!  Congrats!</p>

[Anordil]

<p>Omigosh! that's super cute! Congratulations! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/47941865eb7bbc2a777305b46cc059a2.gif" border="0" /></p>

[Nightho]

<p>That is the cutest thing I've ever seen related to a game! Adorable, huge congrats! I hope you two are very happy together!</p>

[Ikke]

<p>Congratulations to the happy couple.</p><p>The sculpture looks awesome!</p>

[Spindle]

<p>COngratulations! Here's good wishes for the happy couple!</p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">PS-/cough I'd buy an EQ2 tonga action figure /cough</span></p>

[Saihung23]

<p>Polymer Clay eh?....So it is edible then?:)</p><p>Congratulations to the happy couple:)</p>

[Krystara]

<p>That is absolutely adorable. I love it! Congratulations!</p>

[Khiara]

<p>I met my soulmate on EQ2 and we've been together for almost 6 yrs now and are fabulously happy <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>I was a lil lvl 14 fury in QH ...completely lost on what I should do to make my toon better.  I'm looking at people around me and notice this..at the time..max lvl 50 fury on his horse and my mouth DROPS at his gear.  So I'm like..ok..he's a fury I'm a fury..I'll just go over and ask for some advice...what could it hurt??  We struck up a convo..he asked if I minded if he examined me I said go ahead.  *giggles* I should insert here that my beloved is a diehard endgame raider and a bit of a ...oh heck...A COMPLETE gear snob lol   That being said he examined me all of two seconds and I got the reply tell of "Follow" So off we went to the broker and he bought me some replacement items..I was actually wearing NO STAT items and some cloth *giggles*.  He also bought me ...I believe it was a full MC cuirbolli set ...instructed me on where the Down Below was..and sent me off to level and grow. </p><p>We kept in constant contact after that..tho I felt a bit like I was bugging him lol.  The rest is history and we got married December 23rd 2008. </p><p>I should also state that EQ2 was my first and ONLY MMO experience <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Dareena]

<p><cite>Khiara@Kithicor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>We kept in constant contact after that..tho I felt a bit like I was bugging him lol.  The rest is history and we got married December 23rd 2008. </p></blockquote><p>I have to admit that I'm curious.  At times, you hear these kinds of stories.  But at what point do these kinds of online friendships turn into something real?  I mean, obviously someone will bring up the subject of real life interaction.  Yet it's always kind of baffled me about where that invisible line is and how people seem to cross it together.  Perhaps it's because I make my own mental seperation between my various social circles.</p><p>Though I really am curious.  How do people go from online gaming buddies who are complete strangers to actually getting married?  The odds of a long distance relationship, let alone forming the basis for a real life relationship, seems remarkably difficult and I've never been able to wrap my head around it.</p>

[Starvingthwartist]

<p>My husband and I also met on EQ2. I had meant to send a feedback to SOE before we were married, but I never got around to it. We met in the international guild Norrsken, on server Venekor (may it rest in peace). I played from the US, and he from the UK.</p><p>I admit I had an instant crush on his character name/race combo, and harbored that very strange feeling for quite some time. After a while, when our main characters' level was closer together, we spent more and more game time together. The guild itself was quite close-knit... We started posting pictures on our website, and many of us spoke of casual real-life events here and there. Needless to say, I went more in-depth with one particular member... And as Khiara above me said, the rest is history. We were married 7th November of 2008. We still play the game together, though sadly we are no longer a part of Norrsken.</p>

[ratdeath]

<p>Congrats to yous.</p><p>The Grim Squeekers approves of thises! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>SQUEEK!!</strong></span></p>

[Nae]

<p>Thats is the cutest and most romantic thing I have seen in a while. Congrats to you Fivell and Pyper!!!!</p>

[Mikkachu]

<p>That's just so, so, so cute!  Congrats, and the best to you both!</p>

[CorpseGoddess]

<p><cite>Dareena@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Khiara@Kithicor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>We kept in constant contact after that..tho I felt a bit like I was bugging him lol.  The rest is history and we got married December 23rd 2008. </p></blockquote><p>I have to admit that I'm curious.  At times, you hear these kinds of stories.  But at what point do these kinds of online friendships turn into something real?  I mean, obviously someone will bring up the subject of real life interaction.  Yet it's always kind of baffled me about where that invisible line is and how people seem to cross it together.  Perhaps it's because I make my own mental seperation between my various social circles.</p><p>Though I really am curious.  How do people go from online gaming buddies who are complete strangers to actually getting married?  The odds of a long distance relationship, let alone forming the basis for a real life relationship, seems remarkably difficult and I've never been able to wrap my head around it.</p></blockquote><p>My husband and I met online, but in a Yahoo group for goths.  In July of 2002, I had joined the group and was looking through the members and saw his profile and thought, "Hmmm".  At the same time, *he* was reading my intro post and was thinking, "Hmmm."  One night, I was on messenger and noticed he popped on, so I sent him a message to say hi.  After that, we started messaging nearly constantly and exchanging emails.  At the time, I was living in NH and he was in Vancouver, BC.  The next week, he called me on the phone and we spent HOURS that entire weekend talking.  Over the next 5 months, it was messaging, talking and exchanging packages in the mail back and forth.  He even talked to my mom and my brother on the phone.  That December, he finally said, "I can't take it any more---I'm buying you a plane ticket and flying you out here."  ***DISCLAIMER:  I am in no way advocating going across the country to meet someone who is, in essence, a complete stranger.  This is my experience and my decisions***</p><p>Anyway, we had been in such close contact for that 5 months (and my brother said, "Go for it!"), that I decided to go.  We both knew that everything else had "clicked" for us---we had talked about everything under the sun and in the process of our various communications with each other, had become friends.  And then fallen in love.  We knew the last puzzle piece was actually being in each other's physical presence. </p><p>I flew out on Boxing Day 2002 (the longest and most nerve-wracking flight of my life!).  When I got to the baggage pickup level, he saw me, I saw him---we went running at each other and immediately just fell into a kiss.  It was the most natural thing in the world, and the last puzzle piece fell into place.</p><p>I moved to Vancouver that following March, and we married on Halloween 2003 (because we're Sad Olde Goths!).  I got my permanent residence in Canada, then my citizenship, and we have been happy ever since.</p><p>That's *my* story, but to answer your question---it just sort of happens.  When it's right, it doesn't matter the arena in which you meet or the miles between you.  If you want to be together, you'll continue to grow that bond until you *are* together.</p><p>So inspect somebody's gear in game, send somebody a message---you never know where it will lead you!  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p>

[megaira13]

<p>Congratulations to the bride & groom - LOVE the cake topper!!  lol it'd be so fun to have figurines made of our toons just for fun, nevermind on a wedding cake -that's great. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p><p><em><strong>"Yet it's always kind of baffled me about where that invisible line is and how people seem to cross it together.Yet it's always kind of baffled me about where that invisible line is and how people seem to cross it together."</strong></em></p><p>lol I think this is one of those things that becomes quickly apparent to the people in the situation.   Rapport can happen anywhere and it doesn't have to be in person.    It can be in the delivery of conversation: a style you recognize and respond to.  It can even be via body language in-game.   You just know...and you're suddenly sure you're both on the same mental channel.    The lines pop up like laser beams in a dust cloud.</p><p>On the flip side, have you ever been in a group with someone that irritates you just by the way they chat?  It's not so much what they say, but how they say it.    Someone who ...hits enter... and drags out...their sentences...and you wonder...what the frack...their problem...is?    lol</p><p>Haiku!</p><p>William Shatner chat</p><p>Doesn't always get the girls. </p><p>Better luck next time?</p><p> We can convey so much more of ourselves than even we realize, through text and gesture...positive OR negative. lol</p><p><em><strong>"The odds of a long distance relationship, let alone forming the basis for a real life relationship, seems remarkably difficult and I've never been able to wrap my head around it."</strong></em></p><p>I think this is also thought provoking just on the basis of a friendship.  How many folks have met friends in-game that have become lifelong friends?   Do you look at your EQ friends as people you would want to know outside the game?  Your close friends you would want to keep for life? </p><p>Many people feel they're just passing through...but if you're "passing through" for one, two...five... years... and you've been talking and spending time with the same people throughout, then your perception is in error: you HAVE built "real" friendships, and tangible connections exist with those people.  </p><p>If, after all that time, you (general you, not specific) think you're friendship-free, then you may be a bit of an idealist who is so focused on watching the horizon that the landscape starting at your feet and reaching outwards, is totally lost.</p><p>All of the friendships I've had in game - the ones that took a turn for the worse and blew up, the ones that have faded out, the ones that are still kicking and healthy - have all changed me.  They've all been very "real," albiet sometimes in different ways.    The place of meeting and building that friendship is a fantasy, not the relationship itself.   There are some definite pitfalls to online relationships of any sort that do need to be accounted for (the extra "drama" of distance, the ease of miscommunicating in text, etc), but those are not necessarily make/break.   It's more that the healthier relationships tend to outlast that goofiness.</p><p>The point being: we forget that we're highly adaptable creatures and capable of adjusting not only our way of doing things, but also the perceptions we get bogged down and trapped in.  This applies to how we interact with people online, who we interact with and how we view our relationships with them.   We're a very digitally connected culture, currently, and if we don't adjust and adapt our perspective, we risk sliding through years of surface interactions with people like a kid on a slip 'n slide  - no anchor, or depth or weight to our interactions to hold us steady.   We have to decide to reach out and grab hold or get flushed. lol</p><p>Look at people who 'guild hop' and constantly chase the carrot of being "first" - it's understandable and it's a gameplay style,  but for me, personally, a more rewarding experience has been putting down roots in one place, surfing out the highs and lows the guild goes through, and forming attachments.    I've *created* my own depth in what could have been a shallow dip through an MMO and out the other side to another game.   In some ways it has held me back from some "perks," in others it has free'd me to do other things I couldn't have done, and to see things more creatively.   The entire experience as a whole, because I chose to adapt my perspective, has taught me a great deal about myself and I've found lessons in the game that are directly applicable to real life situations.</p><p>This is in part thinking out loud, because I've often felt bummed that my friends in game will fade away after we stop playing MMO's.    That doesn't have to be the case, though.  It is up to you and your friends to adjust and adapt to new forms of communication and make an effort to stay in each other's lives.   In any relationship, people change and must either adapt or part ways, so choose to adapt. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p><p>At least these days, popular social networking sites accessible from cell phones, computers, ipods and web devices make it easy to keep up, at least on a casual day to day basis, with friends and the goings on in their lives, without being right up their noses.  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p><p>We need a "toonbook"  - a gamer varient of facebook/classmates.com where people can continue to hide behind their avatars if they like, but can keep up with their old game pals... mmo's, rpgs, fps's, etc. </p>

[Kiara]

<p><cite>Nianna@Permafrost wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Cute pic, but you might wanna fix that link.</p></blockquote><p>Thanks.  Didn't realize it had done that. </p>

[Krishti]

<p>My husband and I have been together now 14 years.  We met on a local BBS. (for the kidies out there this was "baby" internet)  We spent a good amount of time chatting on line.  We got to know each other fairly well before we first met in person.  We lived fairly close to each other so there granted was not much of a long distance thing. </p><p>Our families both thought we where nuts marrying some one we met on line <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" />  All these years later though it worked out for us.</p>

[Whilhelmina]

It's one of the cutest thing ever <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> My husband and I met in a yahoo group about Tolkien <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Kamimura]

<p><cite>Dareena@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I have to admit that I'm curious.  At times, you hear these kinds of stories.  But at what point do these kinds of online friendships turn into something real?  I mean, obviously someone will bring up the subject of real life interaction.  Yet it's always kind of baffled me about where that invisible line is and how people seem to cross it together. </p></blockquote><p>My fiance and I also met online, a forum for EQ1 actually. We were good friends for about two years and then... I don't know. We just knew it was time for it to become something more. Actually, not all that different from how many RL relationships form... start as friends, and somewhere along the line you realize you're in love. It's not always clear when that happens to the couple, because it's not truly a solid line that is crossed. Things just fell into place. Not that it wasn't hard at times. We lived across the country from each other, but we met many times over a few years (both our familes actually met when we first met, which was.. interesting. :p Safe though, I guess, lol.), and now we been living together for almost five years now.</p>

[PsiaMeese]

<p>Pre-conga-rats on the wedding! And thanks so much for sharing this with the community. The artist you found to make that is top-notch.</p><p>I don't even play a Ratonga. But I'm with Spindel. I'd buy a Ratonga action figure. Not to mention a *<span style="font-size: x-small;">cough* </span>Kerra<span style="font-size: x-small;"> *cough*</span>.</p>

[Telbain]

<p>That is, quite possibly, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen! I love it!</p>

[Fievall]

<p>Hey thanks everyone =)  Sorry didn't reply sooner, but we have been really busy.  Glad everyone enjoys the topper =)  We enjoy his work so much we are thinking about having more done in the future on our mounts..  It would be nice if soe offered a service like this hint hint wink wink =P</p><p>Again thanks everyone =)</p>

[Aerfen]

<p>Super cute!!</p>

[Pyper]

<p>Pyper here and I just wanted to thank everyone for the well-wishes and congratulations!</p><p>Fievall and I can't wait to have the topper actually at the wedding.</p><p>Thanks again and Safe Travels around Norrath!</p>

[Starvingthwartist]

<p>Streppoch, that's very close to how it happened with us. On the flight, I wasn't nerve-wracked at all... But when we saw eachother, and ran to eachother, it all fell into place.</p>