/e HoldTorch for one of our own: Ascendant

[dwturducken]

I don't know if anyone ever got ahold of Butcher, at the end. VV was going to try, but I think she said they don't travel in the same circles.

I've been doing a little digging (cyber-stalking?), and have come up with nothing more than we already know. A's social media activity dropped off about a month ago, but that isn't really proof of anything, except that something suddenly took up his time. The local paper has no mention of him, even a notice of his passing.

[downix]

Already agreed upon.

"This memorial statue and phonebooth was dedicated by Saul Rubenstein in memory of Tre Chipman."

The full statue description, now that I'm not on the smartphone:

Made out of pure Xenonite, this statue depicts Tre riding on a dinosaur with a leprechaun sidekick, outfitted with a phone booth in one of the dinosaur legs. Upon the base of the statue, advertisements for breakfast cereal and something called the Hole....

[FourSpeed]

Just saw this thread.   

I hadn't chatted with Ascendant but once or twice, though I did manage
to occasionally catch snippets from some of his various and hilarious
phone calls.

He was one of the truly iconic players / characters in the game.

Very sad news, indeed.

[AltaholicX]

The full statue description, now that I'm not on the smartphone:

Made out of pure Xenonite, this statue depicts Tre riding on a dinosaur with a leprechaun sidekick, outfitted with a phone booth in one of the dinosaur legs. Upon the base of the statue, advertisements for breakfast cereal and something called the Hole....

Don't forget the laser sword. 

Something more reserved though maybe with just him talking into or holding his cell phone open in one hand would be all you'd need to bring on the laughter and the tears.

[downix]

Could have that written up as the "original proposal by his agent" which then was scaled back after budget and safety concerns....

[Turjan]

As a UK player with most of my toons on Union and Defiant, I only really knew the great Ascendant by reputation, and never did get to meet him ingame. He's an impossible act to follow and will be greatly missed by our community.

I'm feeling doubly gut-punched now because as I mentioned in this post I just lost a great friend and fellow CoH player less than a fortnight ago.

That's two heroes who sadly won't get the chance to see Paragon City reborn. But while they won't see it in person, we shall, and we will carry their memories with us into that new world.

/e holdtorch

[Zekiran]

Don't forget the laser sword. 

Something more reserved though maybe with just him talking into or holding his cell phone open in one hand would be all you'd need to bring on the laughter and the tears.

And the burning halo hahahahah... man. THIS? This is the kind of legacy people should leave.

[Black Pebble]

When I first started playing the game, I looked up to Ascendant. He was a player who managed to make the game even more fun for everyone. I actually thought he was a dev, at first, because how else could he be so clever, influential and so well respected? It meant that any one of us could be important in our favorite game. When I started working at Paragon, I thought he had left the game, but lo and behold, he was still around.

Melissa "War Witch" Bianco had a box of Ascendant-o's on her desk, and I always wanted one for myself. It was a beautiful, hand-crafted piece of work which I know she still has prominently displayed somewhere.

When everyone got together for the Unity Rally, I was incredibly moved by the show of support, but what topped it off was seeing THE Ascendant holding up the torch along with everyone else! He was the first bona fide hero in the game for me, and it was an honor seeing him standing so proudly.

I truly wish there was a way to honor him the way he deserves in COH. The loss is even worse because aside from us, folks out there will never get a chance to understand why Ascendant meant so much to all gamers.

[Lenya]

I just was lucky for one time to meet him in AP at the train station, doing one of his awesome phone calls.
There goes another major part of our beloved city.

RIP

[Omega Force 1990]

Maybe a new ATIO for tankers, Ascendant O's.   

[IrelandLove]

My heart hurts.
I feel so blessed to have known him and gotten close to him, both IC and OOC.
There will never be another like him.
 

[Taceus Jiwede]

I didn't have the pleasure of knowing him so I don't have much to say.  But he meant something to this community and our game and I feel I should pay my respects.  RIP Ascendant. my heart goes out to him and his loved ones.

[Wulfen]

Tre/Ascendant: On the phone with the Almighty.

Would love to hear that one!

[Wulfen]

When I first started playing the game, I looked up to Ascendant. He was a player who managed to make the game even more fun for everyone. I actually thought he was a dev, at first, because how else could he be so clever, influential and so well respected? It meant that any one of us could be important in our favorite game. When I started working at Paragon, I thought he had left the game, but lo and behold, he was still around.

Melissa "War Witch" Bianco had a box of Ascendant-o's on her desk, and I always wanted one for myself. It was a beautiful, hand-crafted piece of work which I know she still has prominently displayed somewhere.

When everyone got together for the Unity Rally, I was incredibly moved by the show of support, but what topped it off was seeing THE Ascendant holding up the torch along with everyone else! He was the first bona fide hero in the game for me, and it was an honor seeing him standing so proudly.

I truly wish there was a way to honor him the way he deserves in COH. The loss is even worse because aside from us, folks out there will never get a chance to understand why Ascendant meant so much to all gamers.

very well said.

[Wulfen]

My heart hurts.
I feel so blessed to have known him and gotten close to him, both IC and OOC.
There will never be another like him.
 

hug

[houtex]

I had to quote this, because it just about says what I wanted to say:

This thread is just the embodiment of what I love about you guys. I never had the pleasure of meeting Ascendant, nor was I able to catch one of his phone calls, but hearing the stories and reading about him makes me realize what a great guy he was. He will be missed.

And, Posi, if you're still following this, thanks. That's also a huge part of what is so great, here.

When I saw the name, I knew instantly 'who' he was from reputation.  We've lost a good one in Ascendant, with an 'A'....'D-A-N-T'.

Rest in peace, Tre.

[Reiraku]

I knew of his legacy long before I ever got to meet him in game. When I first ran into him in the D, I was kind of star struck. We were RP'ing and it was one of the most enjoyable times I ever got to spend in game. Before he left, he asked me "Wait a sec, why don't I have you on my global list?" Truly, he was one of the nicest people anyone could ever hope to know.

Don't worry, Tre. We'll take it from here. I promise.

[LadyImmolatasia]

This is just awful to hear. Best wishes to his family. I didn't know him all that well, personally, but I can tell just from the sentiments here and his actions for the community that he was truly a wonderful person. I can only hope his family remains strong in this time and that he is in a better place.

[Victoria Victrix]

I've only just started to get over my mother's death, and now this....

I refrained from posting until I could speak on the phone to Duel Christian, the long time friend (since 9th grade) that was with him until the end.

Tre succumbed to complete liver and kidney failure resulting from an undiagnosed problem that he successfully hid from everyone, including his doctors.  Around the first of June weekend he was sent to the emergency room completely jaundiced.  He was told to see his doctor as soon as the office was open to have gall bladder surgery scheduled and sent home.  A few days after that, he was found by his mother in a state of confusion; he was rushed to the hospital where it was finally found that his liver and kidneys were completely shut down.  An effort was made to restart them, which was unsuccessful.  As he continued to crash, he was sent to a hospice, where he finally lapsed into a coma, and left us.

Tre and I were not close friends, but since the closing of CoH we were becoming so.  I RP'd with him several times on live, and was so impressed with his arc writing that I wrote letters of recommendation for him to game companies (alas, nothing ever came of them).

He spent huge amounts of time with me in chat when my mother died, merely offering comfort, a chance to vent without making any judgments, and being unbelievably compassionate and kind.  Regardless of everything else, there is no doubt that Tre was one of the kindest, most compassionate, and caring individuals I have ever met in this game.  He also had a knack and a gift for comedic writing that was at a professional level.

So, after consulting with my fellow writers, and pending approval of his parents, Ascendant will be written into the Secret World Chronicles superhero series from Baen starting with Book 4, as a steady character in the bar called Normality, and we will be using his one-sided conversations with Saul verbatim as comic relief.  We are also dedicating the book to him, so as long as those books are in print, Ascendant will be making people laugh.

It's not much, but it's what I can do.

[Captain Electric]

Ms. Lackey, I've read your post six or seven times now. Not because it doesn't make sense. Just kind of in disbelief.

Regarding you and your family, and Tre and his, I didn't want to click away without saying something. But there's nothing I could say that could fix this. If I could, I would. When my sister died, there wasn't anything anyone could say. But they still said things, gave me platitudes, awkward emails, with quotes and pictures. They did it because they loved me, and it was all they could do, and it was better than doing nothing. It didn't make me feel better then, but it makes me feel better now. So here I ramble.

If anyone from Tre's family sees this, I hope you click around, do some Googling, and look for the wide trail of respect and admiration that Ascendant left behind. He is being saluted and mourned across this community and many others, in forums, YouTube videos, and will be memorialized in books, articles, and virtual worlds. We're a strange lot sometimes, but we are people with lives; and Tre improved our lives wherever and whenever he crossed our paths. I cannot recall a single moment involving Tre "Ascendant" Chipman when things didn't improve instantly upon his arrival.

VV, I was recently reading the Wikipedia entry about your Valdemar universe. I would love to see Valdemar or your Secret World Chronicles turned into a virtual universe some day. Captain Electric would fly to defend your super hero universe in a heartbeat.