I was originally contacted to help with this game in the early years of my Bachelor's Degree, when I was studying literature and trying to get a break in the videogame industry solely as a writer. The idea was to bring in a freelance writer to help create a cohesive universe for a relaunch of the game into version 2.0. They asked me to try and create a backstory for their universe that would include all the major player-created factions in a natural way to reward those players for their effort and passion, which I believe I accomplished. However, I never got the chance to finish the project due to my inability to juggle the responsibilities of University and working on that.
The main lesson I learned from this was to not bite off more than I can chew. Back then, I was unprepared for the responsibilities of juggling real-life obligations and other projects. However, I also learned about how the passion of the players can drive the developers to do better and create even more compelling experiences for the players' sake, as well as their own. Looking back, I'm proud of the small things I did and wish I could have seen my participation in that project to its end.
Here, I believe was when I first learned of the mutual respect that can grow in a developer/player relationship and how it can drive the developers to do even better.